The Role of Sketching States in the Stimulation of Idea Generation: An Eye Movement Study

Sketching is widely used in design to generate creative ideas. Design studies present stimuli during sketching to enhance creativity. This study examines the effect of stimuli presented during different sketching states, especially of those presented during the stuck period. It conducted a sketching experiment that enrolled 41 students with an average of 5.7 years’ practice in industrial design. The sketching with stimuli presented at regular intervals, those with stimuli presented during the stuck period, and those without stimulus were compared. Eye movements during the sketching processes were recorded. The attention to stimuli, and the direct applications of stimuli to design ideas, and the idea connection and idea differentiation were analyzed. Participants sketching with stimuli presented during the stuck period had a higher sketching quality, compared with those in other experimental conditions. They fixated longer on stimuli, built more links among related ideas, and had a more differentiated and balanced exploration. This study then proposed the mechanisms of stimuli processing. The stimuli presented at regular intervals were stored and acted as additional memory. The stimuli presented during the stuck period were dissected and acted as supporter, inducing a more creative sketching.     

Episodic future thinking in children compared to adolescents

Episodic thinking involves the ability to re-create past and to construct future personal events, which contain event-specific (episodic) and general (semantic) details. The richness of episodic thought for past events improves as children move into adolescence. The current study aims to examine changes in episodic future thinking and to establish the cognitive underpinning of these changes. Typically developing children (n = 14) and adolescents (n = 15) were tested using an adapted version of the Child Autobiographical Interview (CAI) that required generation of past and future personally relevant events. Relational memory and executive skills were also examined. Significant developmental gains were found in richness of events recall across temporal directions (past and future) and across different types of details (episodic and semantic). Developmental gains in richness of past events were also shown to correspond to developmental gains in generation of future events. Moreover, developmental changes in relational memory and (to a lesser extent) executive functions were found to relate to increases in the amount of episodic (but not semantic) details provided. Our study highlighted the similarities between past and future episodic thinking in typically developing children and adolescents. It also raises a possibility that children with developmental and neurological disorders with impaired relational memory and/or executive skills may be at risk of difficulties with episodic thinking.     

Electromechanical behavior of single-walled carbon nanotube thin films

Carbon nanotubes have been intensively studied owing to their great potential in nanoelectronics and nanomechanical devices. Recently, experimental results have shown that single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) change their electronic properties when subjected to strain. In this study, the electromechanical characteristics of SWCNT networks were investigated for the application of printable strain sensors on flexible substrates. SWCNT films were formed on plastic substrates of poly(ethylene terephthalate) using a spray process. In this manner, we were able to control the transparency and obtain uniform electrical properties of the films. The films are isotropic on account of the random orientation of bundles of SWCNTs. Experimental results showed a nearly linear change in the resistance across a film when it was subjected to tensile strain, even in the inelastic range of the flexible substrate. The results demonstrate the potential use of SWCNT films for highly sensitive printable strain sensors on a macroscale.     

情绪性工作记忆对选择性注意的影响

选取大学本科生33名,采用情绪启动范式与再认范式相结合,要求被试依次完成情绪词识记、目标面孔性别判断及情绪词再认任务,探讨保存于工作记忆中的情绪性刺激对面孔性别判断任务的影响。结果显示:(1)在中性和恐惧情绪启动刺激条件下,被试对目标面孔性别判断的反应时要显著长于悲伤条件。(2)在愉悦情绪启动词条件下,线索提示有效性差异显著;在无效线索提示条件下,启动刺激的不同情绪效价差异显著。(3)对情绪面孔性别与被试性别一致性/非一致性两种条件下反应时对比发现,男、女被试在情绪面孔性别判断任务中均表现出异性相吸效应。综上所述,保存在工作记忆中情绪刺激会对面孔性别的识别产生自上而下的影响。     

在押毒品犯人格的基本特征及其相关因素的研究

本研究以 3 78名在押毒品犯为被试 ,以CPI为测量工具 ,探讨了在押毒品犯的基本特征和类型特征 ,并采用方差分析技术研究了影响毒品犯人格的若干因素。结果发现 ,与对照组相比 ,在押毒品犯除了在“自我控制”分量表上未发现显著差异外 ,其余的 1 9个分量表上均有显著差异 ;在押毒品犯在四种人格类型上的分布不平衡 ,主要集中在Delta类型 ;年龄、关押时间对毒品犯的人格特征的变异有一定影响 ,而减刑次数的影响不显著     

中小学生阅读图文课文的眼动实验研究

本研究采用眼动方法,对85名小五、实二和高二年级学生阅读图文课文的阅读理解指标和眼动指标进行考察。结果表明：（1）学生阅读不同呈现方式和难度课文的阅读理解指标和眼动指标,一般都具有明显的年龄发展特征;（2）学生阅读不同呈现方式课文的阅读理解指标和眼动指标,有图课文大多显著优于无图课文;（3）学生阅读不同难度课文的阅读理解指标和眼动指标,易课文显著优于难课文。     

移植免疫中微嵌合现象给我们的思考

随着移植免疫学研究的不断深入发展,诱导免疫耐受克服移植排斥反应已成为器官移植的主要研究目标。Starzl提出“双向移植排斥理论”并阐述临床使用免疫抑制药物下移植排斥反应的特点,突破了原有单向移植排斥理论的框架。“双向移植排斥理论”及理论内存在的问题给予我们众多有益的思考,在移植免疫学研究中,只有坚持用系统原则动态的看待事物间的联系与矛盾,进行科学实践,才能获得正确的理论,从而进一步推动移植免疫学的发展。