Comparison of methods for constructing confidence intervals of standardized indirect effects

Mediation models are often used as a means to explain the psychological mechanisms between an independent and a dependent variable in the behavioral and social sciences. A major limitation of the unstandardized indirect effect calculated from raw scores is that it cannot be interpreted as an effect-size measure. In contrast, the standardized indirect effect calculated from standardized scores can be a good candidate as a measure of effect size because it is scale invariant. In the present article, 11 methods for constructing the confidence intervals (CIs) of the standardized indirect effects were evaluated via a computer simulation. These included six Wald CIs, three bootstrap CIs, one likelihood-based CI, and the PRODCLIN CI. The results consistently showed that the percentile bootstrap, the bias-corrected bootstrap, and the likelihood-based approaches had the best coverage probability. Mplus, LISREL, and Mx syntax were included to facilitate the use of these preferred methods in applied settings. Future issues on the use of the standardized indirect effects are discussed.     

Cross-linguistic relations between quantifiers and numerals in language acquisition: Evidence from Japanese

A study of 104 Japanese-speaking 2- to 5-year-olds tested the relation between numeral and quantifier acquisition. A first study assessed Japanese children’s comprehension of quantifiers, numerals, and classifiers. Relative to English-speaking counterparts, Japanese children were delayed in numeral comprehension at 2 years of age but showed no difference at 3 and 4 years of age. Also, Japanese 2-year-olds had better comprehension of quantifiers, indicating that their delay was specific to numerals. A second study examined the speech of Japanese and English caregivers to explore the syntactic cues that might affect integer acquisition. Quantifiers and numerals occurred in similar syntactic positions and overlapped to a greater degree in English than in Japanese. Also, Japanese nouns were often dropped, and both quantifiers and numerals exhibited variable positions relative to the nouns they modified. We conclude that syntactic cues in English facilitate bootstrapping numeral meanings from quantifier meanings and that such cues are weaker in classifier languages such as Japanese.     

Responsibility Attribution For Violence Against Women: A Study Of Chinese Public Service Professionals

This study examined how Chinese public service professionals attributed responsibility to victims and perpetrators of violence against women (VAW). A total of 2,308 Chinese public service professionals in Hong Kong completed questionnaires on attitudes toward women, VAW–related perceptions, and assignment of responsibility to actors in written VAW vignettes. Compared to agency professionals consisting of medical doctors, lawyers, and police officers, communal professionals consisting of psychologists, social workers, and nurses attributed a higher level of responsibility to VAW victims and perpetrators. For both professional groups, attitudes toward women and educational attainment were the most salient predictors of responsibility attribution to VAW victims and perpetrators. Perceived VAW effects on victims were also a robust predictor of responsibility attribution to perpetrators. With regard to group differences, gender was predictive of responsibility attribution for communal but not for agency professionals. Except for perpetrator responsibility attribution for agency professionals, age was also predictive of how professionals assigned responsibility to VAW victims and perpetrators.     

如何理解智能光谱的沟通桥梁作用

首先分析了儿童学业成绩与智能发展的关系,接着援引美国的“光谱计划”（Project Spectrum),解释智能光谱（Multiple Intelligences Spectrum)评量跟传统学业成绩（academic achievement)评量有甚么不同之处,继而说明Gardner是如何理解智能光谱的沟通桥梁作用,最后探讨家校可以如何携手合作,利用智能光谱作为适性教育的工具。     

The information content of panoramic images I: The rotational errors and the similarity of views in rectangular experimental arenas

Animals relocating a target corner in a rectangular space often make rotational errors searching not only at the target corner but also at the diagonally opposite corner. The authors tested whether view-based navigation can explain rotational errors by recording panoramic snapshots at regularly spaced locations in a rectangular box. The authors calculated the global image difference between the image at each location and the image recorded at a target location in 1 of the corners, thus creating a 2-dimensional map of image differences. The authors found the most pronounced minima of image differences at the target corner and the diagonally opposite corner--conditions favoring rotational errors. The authors confirmed these results in virtual reality simulations and showed that the relative salience of different visual cues determines whether image differences are dominated by geometry or by features. The geometry of space is thus implicitly contained in panoramic images and does not require explicit computation by a dedicated module. A testable prediction is that animals making rotational errors in rectangular spaces are guided by remembered views.     

The Disenchantment of Nonsense: Understanding Wittgenstein's Tractatus

This paper aims to argue against the resolute reading, and offer a correct way of reading Wittgenstein's Tractatus. According to the resolute reading, nonsense can neither say nor show anything. The Tractatus does not advance any theory of meaning, nor does it adopt the notion of using signs in contravention of logical syntax. Its sentences, except a few constituting the frame, are all nonsensical. Its aim is merely to liberate nonsense utterers from nonsense. I argue that these points are either not distinctive from standard interpretations or incorrect. Instead, the Tractarian elucidations help to shed light on the nature of language and logic, and introduce the correct method in philosophy. Philosophy deals with philosophical utterances and Tractarian elucidations by pointing out that they are nonsensical. By doing this, one is helped to see that what they appear to be saying is shown by significant propositions saying something else.     

Effective group work with delinquents in Hong Kong

The principle of matching services to needs suggests that group work would be most effective when it targets those most in need of the services--delinquents with low involvement with the family and high involvement with friends. Less time with the family indicates a greater need for conventional social control, while more time with friends may entail a greater need for learning social skills in order to resist delinquent peer influences. To address these needs, developmental group work is appropriate for delinquents identified by social workers. The effectiveness of services tend to be contingent upon the delinquents' relationship with family and friends. To test this hypothesis, the present study collected data from 190 delinquents in Hong Kong. It was found that developmental group activities were beneficial to delinquents who spent less time with family and/or more time with friends. For delinquents in general, developmental group activities were helpful in diminishing delinquency. Moreover, the help was significantly greater for delinquents who spent more time with friends.     

Social Studies and Ideological Beliefs in Mainland China and Hong Kong

Research in the West suggests that social science education enables students to become more liberal and less prejudiced in their outlook towards other people. This is the first study to test this thesis – the enlightenment thesis – in Chinese societies. Data were collected from 1,221 college students in Mainland China and 1,174 students in Hong Kong enrolled in a total of 29 institutions. The results show that though social science students showed significantly less interest in individualistic explanation and gender role traditionalism than other students, they did not gain from longer stays in college. These findings do not support the enlightenment thesis in Chinese societies. Instead, the findings that Mainland students favored nationalism significantly more and authoritarianism and individualist explanation significantly less than did Hong Kong students are consistent with the dominant ideology thesis.     

Family Strain and Adolescent Delinquency in Two Chinese Cities,Guangzhou and Hong Kong

Elucidating the conditions in which family strain takes effect in adolescent delinquency is one avenue along which to substantiate general strain theory. These conditions include family relationship and the type of delinquency. In the context of Chinese societies, the conditions also include the differences between socialist, collectivist Mainland China and capitalist, more individualist Hong Kong. We collected survey data from 1,026 secondary school students in Guangzhou in Mainland China, and from 1,116 in Hong Kong, to demonstrate these conditions. The results, which indicate the intimate relationship between parents and adolescents, verify that family strain has a very strong impact on adolescent delinquency. In this connection, family strain comprised parental support as a negative indicator. However, the effect of parental support on adolescent strain was only weakly negative in Guangzhou and even positive in the case of nonworking mothers. The differentials in parental influence between Guangzhou and Hong Kong are attributable to the different family policies and structures in the two cities. On the other hand, family strain exhibited similar effects on two types of delinquency, violence and status offense.