Transfer of attachment functions and adjustment among young adults in China

This study was designed to examine the process of attachment transfer from parents to peers, as well as factors related to this transfer process among Mainland Chinese. A total of 147 Chinese college students (with a mean age of 21.44) completed questionnaires that measured attachment style, attachment transfer, attachment support from various figures, loneliness, positive/negative affects, and self-esteem. Major findings of the current study include the following: (a) Hazan and Shaver's sequential model of attachment transfer was generalized to the Chinese sample; (b) the extent of attachment transfer was found to be associated with participants' emotional states (loneliness and positive affect) and was a significant predictor of these emotional states beyond the effects of attachment style and attachment support. As one of the first studies exploring the phenomenon of attachment transfer among young Chinese adults, conceptual and applied implications of these findings are discussed.     

Judging egocentric distance on the ground: occlusion and surface integration

On the basis of the finding that a common and homogeneous ground surface is vital for accurate egocentric distance judgments (Sinai et al, 1998 Nature 395 497-500), we propose a sequential-surface-integration-process (SSIP) hypothesis to elucidate how the visual system constructs a representation of the ground-surface in the intermediate distance range. According to the SSIP hypothesis, a near ground-surface representation is formed from near depth cues, and is utilized as an anchor to integrate the more distant surfaces by using texture-gradient information as the depth cue. The SSIP hypothesis provides an explanation for the finding that egocentric distance judgment is underestimated when a texture boundary exists on the ground surface that commonly supports the observer and target. We tested the prediction that the fidelity of the visually represented ground-surface reference frame depends on how the visual system selects the surface information for integration. Specifically, if information is selected along a direct route between the observer and target where the ground surface is disrupted by an occluding object, the ground surface will be inaccurately represented. In experiments 1-3 we used a perceptual task and two different visually directed tasks to show that this leads to egocentric distance underestimation. Judgment is accurate however, when the observer selects the continuous ground information bypassing the occluding object (indirect route), as found in experiments 4 and 5 with a visually directed task. Altogether, our findings provide support for the SSIP hypothesis and reveal, surprisingly, that the phenomenal visual space is not unique but depends on how optic information is selected.     

Maternal Employment and Family Socioeconomic Status: Unique Relations to Maternal Stress,Parenting Beliefs,and Preschoolers’ Adjustment in Taiwanese Families

With the rapid increase in women’s labor force participation in Asia, a greater understanding of the impact of maternal employment on parenting and child development in Asia is much needed. The present study examined the concurrent relations between maternal employment status and family characteristics (e.g., socioeconomic status/SES, family structure) in Taiwanese families, and the unique relations of maternal employment and family SES to maternal stress, parenting beliefs, and preschoolers’ socioemotional adjustment. In a school-based sample of 511 preschoolers (age range?=?4–6 years, 52.9% girls), their mothers, and teachers in Taipei and Taitung, mothers reported their employment status, family characteristics, perceived stress and parenting beliefs. Mothers and teachers rated preschoolers’ adjustment. Results showed that compared to unemployed mothers in Taiwan, employed mothers were more likely to come from families with higher SES and fewer children, and nuclear (vs. extended) families. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized model. Mothers from lower-SES families reported higher stress and higher endorsement of coercive parenting, and lower endorsement of authoritative parenting than mothers from higher-SES families. Controlling for SES, employed mothers endorsed higher coercive parenting than unemployed mothers. Mothers’ endorsement of authoritative parenting was associated with better child adjustment by mothers’ (but not teachers’) reports, whereas maternal stress and coercive parenting were associated with poorer child adjustment (by mothers’ reports only). In sum, maternal employment was intricately associated with family SES in Taiwanese families, and the two contextual factors shape parenting and child adjustment in different processes.     

Sources of Meaning in Life Among Chinese University Students

The current studies were designed to explore the structure of sources of meaning in life among Chinese university students. In Study 1, we content-analyzed 171 students’ answers to the question of what made their lives meaningful and derived 74 frequently mentioned ideas. Then, we composed a questionnaire based on these ideas and administered it to another sample of 523 university students in Study 2. Seven underlying dimensions were identified through exploratory factor analysis: Self-development (i.e., to accomplish one’s aspirations and actualize one’s potential), social commitment (i.e., to contribute to society and to adhere to moral principles), interpersonal relationships (i.e., relationships with family members, friends and others), secular pursuits (i.e., stable jobs, material possessions and social status), experiences in life (i.e., to experience all the joys and sorrows in life), civilization (i.e., reading, thinking, music and arts), and autonomy (i.e., to make decisions freely and take charge of one’s own life). Results are discussed in light of the philosophical influences in Chinese culture, especially those from Confucianism and Taoism.     

Consumer evaluation of net utility: Effects of competition on consumer brand selection processes

This study explores how brand-related information is integrated within a competitive environment. Specifically, we develop a structural equation model of competition between two brands, which includes each brand's price-quality characteristics (i.e., net utility). The model simultaneously tests how the net utility of the focal and competing brands affects consumers' attitudes, intentions, and choice regarding the focal brand. This study extends existing research with the findings that price-quality evaluations of a focal brand and net utility perceptions of competing brands influence consumers' attitudes, intentions, and choice regarding the focal brand. Thus, in order to attract consumers to their brands, marketers should focus not only on improving the performance and net utility of their own brands, but also on studying competing brands in the marketplace.     

The linear perspective information in ground surface representation and distance judgment

Most ground surfaces contain various types of texture gradient information that serve as depth cues for space perception. We investigated how linear perspective, a type of texture gradient information on the ground, affects judged absolute distance and eye level. Phosphorescent elements were used to display linear perspective information on the floor in an otherwise dark room. We found that observers were remarkably receptive to such information. Changing the configuration of the linear perspective information from parallel to converging resulted in relatively larger judged distances and lower judged eye levels. These findings support the proposals that (1) the visual system has a bias for representing an image of converging lines as one of parallel lines on a downward-slanting surface and (2) the convergence point of a converging-lines image represents the eye level. Finally, we found that the visual system may be less sensitive to the manipulation of compression gradient information than of linear perspective information.     

A distance judgment function based on space perception mechanisms: revisiting Gilinsky's (1951) equation

In her seminal article in Psychological Review, A. S. Gilinsky (1951) successfully described the relationship between physical distance (D) and perceived distance (d) with the equation d = DA/(A + D), where A = constant. To understand its theoretical underpinning, the authors of the current article capitalized on space perception mechanisms based on the ground surface to derive the distance equation d = Hcosalpha/sin(alpha + eta), where H is the observer's eye height, alpha is the angular declination below the horizon, and eta is the slant error in representing the ground surface. Their equation predicts that (a) perceived distance is affected by the slant error in representing the ground surface; (b) when the slant error is small, the ground-based equation takes the same form as Gilinsky's equation; and (c) the parameter A in Gilinsky's equation represents the ratio of the observer's eye height to the sine of the slant error. These predictions were empirically confirmed, thus bestowing a theoretical foundation on Gilinsky's equation.     

Conditionals and consequences

We examine the notion of conditionals and the role of conditionals in inductive logics and arguments. We identify three mistakes commonly made in the study of, or motivation for, non-classical logics. A nonmonotonic consequence relation based on evidential probability is formulated. With respect to this acceptance relation some rules of inference of System P are unsound, and we propose refinements that hold in our framework.     

西方道德形而上学分型研究论纲——从柏拉图到马克思·舍勒

一般来说,伦理学研究有三个层次:一是道德形而上学研究;二是道德哲学研究;三是应用伦理学研究.目前学术界对于伦理学的分型研究主要是在道德哲学和应用伦理学领域展开,相对来说,对于道德形而上学分型研究则关注较少."道德形而上学"是关于"道德的纯粹理性的概念体系",它主要是探究伦理价值概念与命题证明系统.以"伦理学的哲学本性"为根本原则可以将西方(从柏拉图到马克思·舍勒)道德形而上学理论划分为五种型态."应当之应当"的道德基础是西方道德形而上学分型研究的判定标准.