婴儿指示性手势与其语言学习的关系

指示性手势是指明空间中某个物体、处所或事件的手部动作,在婴儿1岁时出现,与婴儿的语言学习存在着较强的相关,然而目前尚不清楚为什么会存在此相关。可能存在两种内在机制:(1)指示性手势影响婴儿的学习环境——引发了适时的语言输入;(2)影响学习者本身——帮助婴儿创造有效的学习状态并示意给他人。未来的研究需要探讨这两种机制如何交互作用,以及如何将指示性手势作为诊断或干预工具,用于识别和帮助有语言障碍风险的个体。     

Perception of scene layout from optical contact, shadows, and motion

Kersten et al (1997 Perception 26 171-192) found that the perceived motion of an object in a 3-D scene was determined by the motion of a shadow. In the present study, we compared the effect of a shadow to that of a second object on the ground in determining the perceived position in depth of a floating object in both dynamic and stationary scenes. Changing the second (lower) object from textured to dark increased the influence of the second object on the judged position of the first object. Giving the second object zero thickness had this effect only if it was also dark. Variations in the height of the floating object were important with a second object but not with a shadow, in motion scenes. With alternative shadows present, the position of the floating object was determined primarily by matching speeds, with matching sizes as a secondary factor. These results show some similarities but important differences between the effect of a second object and that of a shadow.     

The adaptive character of the attentional system: statistical sensitivity in a target localization task

A localization task required participants to indicate which of 4 locations contained a briefly displayed target. Most displays also contained a distractor that was not equally probable in these locations, affecting performance dramatically. Responses were faster when a display had no distractor and almost as fast when the distractor was in its frequent location. Conversely, responses were slower when targets appeared in frequent-distractor locations, even thou targets were equally likely in each location. Negative-priming effects were reliably smaller when targets followed distractors in the frequent-distractor location compared to the rare-distractor location, challenging the episodic-retrieval account Experiment 2 added a 5th location that rarely displayed distractors and never targets, yet responses slowed most when distractors appeared there. The results confirmed that the attentional system is sensitive to first- and higher-order statistical patterns and can make short- and long-term adjustments in preferences based on prior history of inspecting unsuccessful locations.     

Designing action games for appealing to buyers.

This study aims to identify design features for action games that would appeal to game-buyers, rather than game-players. Sixteen frequent-buyers of computer games identified 39 design features that appeal to buyers by contrasting different versions of Pacman games. Twenty-eight versions of Pacman were then evaluated in terms of the identified design features by 45 participants (27 male and 18 female college students). Qnet2000 neural network software was used to determine the relative importance of these design features. The results indicated that the top 10 most important design features could account for more than 50% of "perceived fun" among these 39 design features. The feature of avatar is important to game-buyers, yet not revealed in previous player-oriented studies. Moreover, six design factors underlying the 39 features were identified through factor analysis. These factors included "novelty and powerfulness," "appealing presentation," "interactivity," "challenging," "sense of control," and "rewarding," and could account for 54% of total variance. Among these six factors, appealing presentation has not been emphasized by player-oriented research. Implications of the findings were discussed.     

风险沟通与公众理性

突发风险事件所导致的恐慌,其危害程度可能远远大于风险事件本身。当灾害突然降临的时候,公众能够启动理性的程度是应对危机的重要基础。文章提出了公众理性的概念,并界定和探讨了公众理性的构成以及公众理性的干扰因素;同时,通过SARS事件,着重分析了风险沟通的性质、特点,以及风险沟通对公众理性干预的可能途径和条件;目的是为总结SARS风险危机和建立应对突发风险事件的心理系统提供理论依据,以更好地促进我国在风险沟通领域的研究与实践。     

飞行员情境认知的模糊综合评判

借用环境科学中环境质量评价的概念和方法,建立了飞行员情境认知的多级模糊综合评判模型,并用该模型对飞行员的情境认知进行了综合评判。研究表明,用模糊综合评判方法评价飞行员的情境认知可以提供真实、全面的飞行认知信息,为飞行员的训练有效性及安全性提供可靠依据。     

卢梭的问题——纪念卢梭《论科学与艺术》发表260周年

作为体制外的思想家,卢梭的《论科学与艺术》是他一生思想的雏形,它贡献了卢梭式的雄辩,一种激情与理性完美的结合。本文探讨了卢梭思想的深刻之处,即他将自由与幸福分别考虑,并把自由与绝对孤独联系起来,激情的最深处似乎是无激情的,且无法与人交流的,正是在这里导致了朝向道德法的精神超越。