Incremental planning in sequence production

People produce long sequences such as speech and music with incremental planning: mental preparation of a subset of sequence events. The authors model in music performance the sequence events that can be retrieved and prepared during production. Events are encoded in terms of their serial order and timing relative to other events in a planning increment, a contextually determined distribution of event activations. Planning is facilitated by events' metrical similarity and serial/temporal proximity and by developmental changes in short-term memory. The model's predictions of larger planning increments as production rate decreases and as producers' age-experience increases are confirmed in serial-ordering errors produced by adults and children. Incremental planning is considered as a general retrieval constraint in serially ordered behaviors.     

Cognitive assessment in Chinese patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage

A subgroup of patients who survive aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) may have significant cognitive deficits. The aim of the current study was to determine the efficiency of cognitive tests and frequency of cognitive impairments associated with aneurysmal SAH in Chinese. A series of 116 patients with aneurysmal SAH were assessed before surgery. Only 37 patients have completed all tests. The other 79 patients had discontinued because of their clinical conditions, recurring severe headaches, refusing or misunderstanding due to low education. We found that one or more cognitive functions were impaired in 70.3% of the 37 patients, SAH patients were especially impaired in functions that are related to visual reproduction, verbal fluency, and executive functions. The results suggest that the patients have impressive cognitive deficits after aneurysmal SAH. A battery of appropriate cognitive tests should be developed for use by doctors and nurses.     

"Economic man" in cross-cultural perspective: behavioral experiments in 15 small-scale societies

Researchers from across the social sciences have found consistent deviations from the predictions of the canonical model of self-interest in hundreds of experiments from around the world. This research, however, cannot determine whether the uniformity results from universal patterns of human behavior or from the limited cultural variation available among the university students used in virtually all prior experimental work. To address this, we undertook a cross-cultural study of behavior in ultimatum, public goods, and dictator games in a range of small-scale societies exhibiting a wide variety of economic and cultural conditions. We found, first, that the canonical model - based on self-interest - fails in all of the societies studied. Second, our data reveal substantially more behavioral variability across social groups than has been found in previous research. Third, group-level differences in economic organization and the structure of social interactions explain a substantial portion of the behavioral variation across societies: the higher the degree of market integration and the higher the payoffs to cooperation in everyday life, the greater the level of prosociality expressed in experimental games. Fourth, the available individual-level economic and demographic variables do not consistently explain game behavior, either within or across groups. Fifth, in many cases experimental play appears to reflect the common interactional patterns of everyday life.     

The influence of significant others on attitudes, subjective norms and intentions regarding dietary supplement use among adolescent athletes

Dietary supplement use has increased significantly over the past decade. The use of supplements among adolescents seems to be influenced by their beliefs and attitudes. The influence of coaches, parents, and athletic trainers also may be important. The purpose of this study was (1) to determine whether attitudes are a better predictor of adolescents' intentions to use dietary supplements than are subjective norms, and (2) to assess the influence of significant others (coaches, parents, and trainers) on attitudes, subjective norms, and intentions among adolescent athletes. Adolescents (N = 1,626) who were enrolled in grades six through twelve in nine public schools completed a self-report questionnaire that measured attitudes, subjective norms, and intentions regarding dietary supplement use. Results indicated that attitudes were a better predictor of intentions to use dietary supplements than were subjective norms. It was also found that trainers had more influence on the attitudes, subjective norms, and intentions of adolescents regarding supplement use than did parents and coaches. Implications for prevention are addressed.     

人类创造力的本质是什么

就目前人类的知识所及,人类社会的发展是一个从原始到现代的逐渐演化过程。在这个过程中,社会的每一次进步都是与人类自身的创造力分不开的。从远古的茹毛饮血到现代的煎烤蒸焖;从原始的树穴洞居到当今的摩天大楼;从刀耕火种到机械化作业;从牛车到航天飞船……。这一切无不是人类创造力的体现。     

创造力测量手段——同感评估技术（CAT）简介

同感评估技术（consensusassessmenttechnique）,又称主观评价法,是Amabile于1982年提出的评价创造力的一种方法。文章简要回顾了同感评估技术出现之前,基于发散思维测验的创造力评价法及其局限性。人们在寻求新的创造力评价方法的过程中,提出了同感评估技术。文章重点介绍了同感评估技术的理论基础,即它的同感定义和概念定义,然后说明了同感评估技术的具体使用方法、发展,以及在各领域的应用情况。最后,通过与创造性思维测验的比较,对同感评估技术作了评价,指出了CAT的优势和存在的问题     

群体参照效应的验证

该研究全面考虑各种参照条件,选取三个参照群体(家庭、学校、性别),在中国被试身上验证群体参照效应。结果表明:以家庭、学校、性别为参照群体在中国被试身上验证了群体参照效应的存在,而且不同群体群体参照效应的程度不同;同时与选取西方被试研究的比较中得出群体参照效应既存在跨文化的一致性,也存在跨文化的差异性。     

目标定向、自我效能感与主观幸福感的关系

以207名企业员工为研究对象,探讨了目标定向、自我效能感与主观幸福感的关系及自我效能感在目标定向和主观幸福感之间的中介作用。结果表明:学习目标定向、工作自我效能感和社交自我效能感均对主观幸福感有着显著的正向影响;主观幸福感对任务绩效有着显著的正向影响;同时,工作自我效能感在学习目标定向和主观幸福感之间起着完全中介作用。     

家长式领导与员工工作投入:心理授权的中介作用

对国内402名员工的关于家长式领导、工作投入和心理授权的问卷数据进行了分析,探索中国文化背景下组织特有的家长式领导与员工工作投入之间的关系及心理授权在二者关系中的中介作用。结果表明,家长式领导中的仁慈领导和威权领导两维度对员工工作投入有显著的预测作用;心理授权在仁慈领导和工作投入之间起着部分中介作用。