Prosocial Behavior and Subjective Well-Being in School among Elementary School Students: the Mediating Roles of the Satisfaction of Relatedness Needs at School and Self-Esteem

Applied Research in Quality of Life - We examined the multiple mediating effects of the satisfaction of relatedness needs at school and self-esteem in the relation between prosocial behavior and...     

具身道德隐喻映射机制的双向性及其问题——基于具身效应“可重复性危机”的思考

具身认知研究虽已取得令人瞩目的进展,但某些具身效应存在可重复性较低的问题。若长期忽视这一问题,将严重损害心理学的科学性,甚至引发一定程度的“可重复性危机”。本文从道德概念清洁隐喻的两大映射方向出发,基于两大实验类型对相关研究中可能存在的问题因素分别展开分析。未来研究应关注更注重社会互动的组织道德,将道德概念具身隐喻研究引申到现实问题中,并借助认知神经科学技术更全面地考察身体经验、情绪体验和认知加工在道德清洁隐喻加工中的作用。     

The cognitive underpinnings of emerging mathematical skills: Executive functioning,patterns, numeracy,and arithmetic

Background: Exposure to mathematical pattern tasks is often deemed important for developing children's algebraic thinking skills. Yet, there is a dearth of evidence on the cognitive underpinnings of pattern tasks and how early competencies on these tasks are related to later development. Aims: We examined the domain‐specific and domain‐general determinants of performances on pattern tasks by using (a) a standardized test of numerical and arithmetic proficiency and (b) measures of executive functioning, respectively. Sample: Participants were 163 6‐year‐olds enrolled in primary schools that typically serve families from low to middle socioeconomic backgrounds. Method: Children were administered a battery of executive functioning (inhibitory, switching, updating), numerical and arithmetic proficiency (the Numerical Operations task from the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test‐II), and three types of pattern tasks. Results: Contrary to findings from the adult literature, we found all the executive functioning measures coalesced into two factors: updating and an inhibition/switch factor. Only the updating factor predicted performances on the pattern tasks. Although performance on the pattern tasks were correlated with numerical and arithmetic proficiency, findings from structural equation modelling showed that there were no direct or independent relationships between them. Conclusions: The findings suggest that the bivariate relationships between pattern, numeracy, and arithmetic tasks are likely due to their shared demands on updating resources. Unlike older children, these findings suggest that for 6‐year‐olds, better numerical and arithmetic proficiency, without accompanying advantages in updating capacities, will no more likely lead to better performance on the pattern tasks.     

Spanish adaptation of a perceived Social Support Scale in sportspeople

Social support is a variable that has a great influence in the sport context. In fact, this variable not only affects the athlete's performance but it has also shown to be related to psychological disorders such as Burnout Syndrome. The aim of this paper was to illustrate the Spanish adaptation of a social support scale in the sport context. The normative group who took part in the final version of the research was composed of 397 athletes aged between 13 and 64 years old (mean= 19.23 and standard deviation= 6.67). The scale shows: adequate factorial and construct validity, acceptable fit indexes (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin= 0.785, Root Mean Square Residual= 0.078; Kelly's criterion= 0.075), a negative correlation with the dimensions of burnout and no relationship with respect to self-esteem. In addition, it also shows high reliability (a= 0.88). Furthermore, statistically significant differences have been found in relation to genders - where women require greater social support. In contrast, males tend to display a lower level of social support with team players and international athletes. Moreover, differential item functioning (DIF) was carried out to explore sex bias, however, none of the items exhibit DIF problems.     

The relationship between blushing propensity, social anxiety and facial blood flow during embarrassment

To investigate blushing in relation to blushing propensity scores and core elements of social anxiety, facial blood flow was monitored in 86 normal volunteers during an embarrassing task (singing a children's song). Increases in facial blood flow were greater in women than men, as were scores on the Blushing Propensity and Fear of Negative Evaluation scales. In addition, high scores on the Blushing Propensity and Social Interaction Anxiety scales were associated with large increases in facial blood flow during singing. However, this appeared to be due primarily to social anxiety because the association between blushing propensity scores and changes in facial blood flow disappeared when social interaction anxiety scores were taken into account. These findings suggest that people generally base their beliefs about blushing on cues other than changes in facial blood flow. Social anxiety may augment increases in facial blood flow during embarrassment, independently of expected or perceived blushing.     

Linking Adult Attachment Styles to Relationship Satisfaction in Hong Kong and the United States: The Mediating Role of Personal and Structural Commitment

Maintaining a satisfying heterosexual relationship is important to many individuals?? happiness and physical health. Evolutionary theories on the formation of relationships suggest that adult attachment and relationship commitment are universal mechanisms for securing and maintaining such mating relationships. This study sought to understand how these two mechanisms may link to each other and how they in turn contribute to relationship satisfaction with one??s current partner in Hong Kong Chinese and American cultures. Similarities in the model for relationship satisfaction were found among young dating couples in the United States and Hong Kong. Specifically, attachment anxiety was positively linked to structural commitment, whereas attachment avoidance was negatively related to personal commitment. Both dimensions of attachment (anxiety and avoidance) and both components of commitment (personal and structural) were found to predict current relationship satisfaction significantly and equivalently across cultures, with the pathway from attachment avoidance to current relationship satisfaction similarly mediated by personal commitment in both cultural groups. These results were interpreted in terms of a probable universal logic informing the interpersonal dynamics involving attachment and relationship commitment.     

Experimental determination of trapping efficiency of optical tweezers

We report an experimental determination of trapping efficiency of optical fields acting on spherical particles diluted in viscous fluids. This parameter was derived from experimentally calculated trap stiffness for micron-sized silica beads with particle radii of 1.5 and 4.8 microns, respectively. In order to obtain the trap stiffness, we used the equipartition theorem, and introduced an experimental procedure to calibrate the optical tweezers set-up. The method consists of the calculation of the trapping efficiency by using the curves of the trap stiffness vs. the incident power. Using this approach we measured the efficiency for different values of displacements of the beads in the optical trap, and compared these results with numerical and theoretical calculations reported in the literature, and an excellent agreement was found. We have shown that the ratio of efficiencies is very close to the ratio of the particle radii.     

The effects of behavioral inhibition/approach system as predictors of Internet addiction in adolescents

This study aimed to determine how the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) and the Behavioral Approach System (BAS) affect Internet addiction in adolescents. Two hundred and eleven high school students participated in this study and completed the Young’s Internet Addiction Test (IAT), BIS/BAS scales, and several self-administered questionnaires about depression, anxiety, and impulsivity. Hierarchical regressions showed that BIS and BAS × BIS emerged as significant predictors of IAT; however, only BAS-fun seeking subscale predicted IAT among BAS related subscales. In further analyses, the BAS-fun seeking subscale was mediated by impulsivity and anxiety, and BIS was mediated by anxiety and depression. The current findings imply that BIS and BAS interdependently influence vulnerability to Internet addiction through both shared (anxiety) and different (depression and impulsivity, respectively) pathways.     

Running away from unwanted feelings: Culture matters

Findings from past research have suggested a link between experiential avoidance and expressive suppression. However, there is emerging evidence showing that the suppression of emotional expression may have different meanings depending on the specific cultural context. Taking a cultural perspective, the present study aimed to examine whether the link between experiential avoidance and expressive suppression is comparable or divergent between two cultural groups [i.e., European Americans (EAs) and Chinese (CH)] with different cultural norms surrounding emotional expression. We hypothesised that the positive association between experiential avoidance and expressive suppression typically found among EAs would be attenuated among CH. Furthermore, the observed cultural group difference in the experiential avoidance–suppression link was hypothesised to be mediated by beliefs in emotional self-control. Data from 224 EA college students and 190 CH college students provided a clear pattern of support for our hypotheses. Implications for current theories on experiential avoidance are discussed.     

Central executive involvement in children's spatial memory

Previous research with adults found that spatial short-term and working memory tasks impose similar demands on executive resources. We administered spatial short-term and working memory tasks to 8- and 11-year-olds in three separate experiments. In Experiments 1 and 2 an executive suppression task (random number generation) was found to impair performances on a short-term memory task (Corsi blocks), a working memory task (letter rotation), and a spatial visualisation task (paper folding). In Experiment 3 an articulatory suppression task only impaired performance on the working memory task. These results suggest that short-term and working memory performances are dependent on executive resources. The degree to which the short-term memory task was dependent on executive resources was expected to be related to the amount of experience children have had with such tasks. Yet we found no significant age-related suppression effects. This was attributed to differences in employment of cognitive strategies by the older children.