Are You What Your Avatar Eats? Health-Behavior Effects of Avatar-Manifested Self-Concept

Drawing on the self-concept activation and goal-priming account of the priming effect, this study examined how self-concept—i.e., ideal self, ought self, and actual self—can be harnessed as a model for avatar customization in digital games to promote healthy-eating behavior. Female participants (N = 133) customized an avatar in a digital game to reflect either the ideal, ought, or actual self. Participants then selected food items for their avatar within the digital game as well as food items for themselves to eat afterward. Results suggest that for participants using an ought-self avatar, the extent to which they were conscious of their health was positively related to healthier food choice both within and after playing the game. No such effect emerged for participants who used an ideal- or actual-self avatar, indicating that participants formed the goal of being healthy only with regard to the ought self. This study demonstrates that avatar customization in a digital game can serve a regulatory function by representing individuals’ duties and responsibilities, thus, causing them to adopt such attributes manifested in their avatar during and after the game.     

空气污染的不良效应及理论模型:环境心理学的视角

空气污染的不良效应不仅限于生理健康损害,还涉及认知功能、情绪和行为等多方面的消极影响。针对空气污染不良效应的形成机制,以往研究提出了环境应激模型和社会-环境交互模型,这些理论模型强调空气污染的不良效应不仅涉及污染的直接暴露程度,也取决于个体的身心状况以及他对空气污染的主观评价。基于以往研究的不足,尤其是环境心理学介入空气污染研究的可行性,未来研究可着眼于改进空气污染的心理学研究方法,开展空气污染的环境应激和风险感知研究。     

The role of the ventral and dorsal pathways in reading Chinese characters and English words

Previous literature in alphabetic languages suggests that the occipital-temporal region (the ventral pathway) is specialized for automatic parallel word recognition, whereas the parietal region (the dorsal pathway) is specialized for serial letter-by-letter reading ( [Cohen et al., 2008] and [Ho et al., 2002] ). However, few studies have directly examined the role of the ventral and dorsal pathways in Chinese reading compared to English reading. To investigate this issue, we adopted the degraded word processing paradigm used by Cohen et al. (2008) and compared brain regions involved in the processing of degraded Chinese characters and English words during lexical decision, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The degraded characters/words were created by inserting blank spaces between radicals of Chinese characters or syllables of English polysyllabic words. Generally, the current study replicated the effects of Cohen et al. (2008), showing that in Chinese – like in alphabetic languages – character spacing modulates both ventral (bilateral cuneus, left middle occipital gyrus) and dorsal (left superior parietal lobule and middle frontal gyrus) pathways. In addition, the current study showed greater activation in bilateral cuneus and right lingual gyrus for Chinese versus English when comparing spaced to normal stimuli, suggesting that Chinese character recognition relies more on ventral visual-spatial processing than English word recognition. Interestingly, bilateral cuneus showed monotonic patterns in response to increasing spacing, while the rest of the regions of interest showed non-monotonic patterns, indicating different profiles for these regions in visual-spatial processing.     

Effects of level of processing on emotional memory: gist and details

The object of this study was to investigate whether level of processing (LOP) modulates enhanced memory performance for emotional stimuli, and, if so, whether the LOP effects relate to their gist and details. During the study phase, participants were presented with colourful pictures with negative, neutral and positive valences and encoded the emotional pictures under either a semantic (living/non-living judgement) or a perceptual (left/right position judgement) condition. During the test phase, they judged whether the presented picture was old or new in Experiments 1 and 2, and also judged whether a specific concept, labelled using words, had been studied in Experiment 2. The results showed that under both encoding conditions, the details of both negative and positive pictures were recognised better than those of neutral pictures. Also, the gist of negative pictures was recognised better than that of neutral pictures but only under the semantic condition. These data provide evidence that the LOP differentially modulates enhanced emotional memory for gist and details of pictures.     

Implementing family‐friendly employment practices in banking industry: Evidences from some African and Asian countries

We examined the effects of family‐friendly policies (child‐care benefits and work flexibility benefits) on organizational commitment and work–family conflict in four developing countries: China, India, Kenya, and Thailand. We also explored the boundary condition (e.g., perceived importance of family‐friendly programmes) under which family‐friendly policies are more (or less) effective in influencing organizational commitment and reducing work–family conflict. Results revealed national similarities on the effect of flexibility benefits on organizational commitment and work–family conflict. Specifically, we found that across the four countries work flexibility‐related family‐friendly policy was positively related to organizational commitment and negatively to perceived work–family conflict among those who perceived this policy as more important than less important. Instead, national variations are found in the results regarding child‐care benefits. Among these four countries, Kenya and Thailand are two countries in which child‐care‐related family‐friendly policies showed a significant and positive relationship with organizational commitment and/or a significant and negative relationship with work–family conflict. We also found child‐care‐related family‐friendly policies had differential effect among people with various perception of policy importance in Kenya and Thailand, but not in China and India. Particularly, child‐care‐related family‐friendly policy results in greater organizational commitment and lower work–family conflict among those who perceived this policy as more important than less important in Kenya and Thailand. Implications for cross‐cultural research, theory and practice are discussed.     

汉字认知过程中整字对部件的影响

英文研究中,"字优效应"是单词促进字母加工的一个重要依据。但中文研究中还存在一些争议。本研究通过两个实验考查了汉字的部件认知中,汉字整体对局部(部件)的影响。实验刺激材料分为三种,即左右结构或上下结构的真字、假字与部件字。目标部件为既能够放置于三种字符的左侧,又能放置于右侧(上部或下部)的汉字部件。实验一采用Reicher-Wheeler实验任务,先呈现刺激材料350ms,掩蔽后再呈现需要判断的目标部件,被试对目标部件进行按键反应。实验二中采用部件判断实验任务,先呈现需要判断的目标部件,再呈现刺激材料,被试对刺激材料中是否包含目标部件进行按键反应。记录反应时与正确率。27位健康女性大学生参与本实验。结果显示:(1)不论是Reicher-Wheeler实验任务还是部件判断实验任务,均显示部件字的部件认知判断速度最快。真字与假字相比,无"字优效应"。真字与部件字相比,存在着"字劣效应"。这些结果表明,汉字整字对汉字部件认知加工起到抑制作用;(2)两个实验任务均表现出汉字结构方式效应,即对左右结构的汉字的部件认知比上下结构的汉字更快;(3)部件的空间位置对部件识别存在影响。实验一中对下部件分辨最困难,分辨时间最长;实验二中发现对左部件的反应最快。字符结构方式效应与部件空间位置效应既存在于真字中,也存在于假字中。     

166例冠心病患者活动平板试验中室性心律失常的分析

探讨冠心病患者冠状动脉狭窄程度与室性心律失常的关系,用Mar-quette Case16型活动平板系统测试,采用改良的Bruce方案。结果显示,偶发室早在单支狭窄和多支狭窄中无明显差异,恶性室性心律失常发生率在多支狭窄中较单支狭窄明显增高。冠心病患者出现的恶性室性心律失常提示病变严重或预后较差。     

理性化的情感——东汉“矫情崇礼”现象探究

东汉出现了一股"矫情崇礼"的社会风气,表象背后是儒家礼制的日益渗透和"人情"的逐渐被"恶"化。面对情礼关系这个纷杂却又永恒的人生课题,"矫情崇礼"现象的出现彰显了东汉独有的时代特征。     

四参数Logistic模型研究进展及其评析

在测验中存在着低能力被试答对高难度试题的猜测现象,和高能力被试答错容易试题的睡眠现象,此时可以使用四参数模型来分析测验数据.Barton和Lord认为应用四参数模型的实践意义不大,但结论的依据不充分.近年来研究者从测验项目拟合,改善被试能力估计等方面进行了分析,认为在四参数模型下可以有效纠正被试能力高估或低估现象,认为单、两、三参数模型是四参数模型的特例,建议使用四参数模型.     

宗教向高校渗透的隐性形式:文化宣教

在境外敌对势力主导的向高校的宗教渗透中,文化宣教已成为一种隐性形式。一些宗教团体和非政府组织打出"学术交流"的旗帜,资助国内一些高校和研究机构的学者建构教会之外的"文化神学",翻译出版以宣教为宗旨的图书,以"请进来"、"走出去"的方式举办带有宣教性质的研讨班,开设"知识性"、"学术性"的宗教课程和讲座。此类文化宣教,同教育与宗教相分离的原则相悖,是境外敌对势力同我争夺大学生的重要举措。