Free Time Management Contributes to Better Quality of Life: A Study of Undergraduate Students in Taiwan

This study was designed to identify the relationship between free time management and quality of life, exploring whether the amount of free time or the way people using their free time relates to their quality of life. Data were collected from National Pingtung University of Science and Technology in Taiwan. Of the 500 questionnaires distribute, 403 usable questionnaires were received with an 81% response rate. The result has found a positive relationship between free time management and quality of life. Contrary to this, there was no significant relationship between time allocation and quality of life. Results might indicate that people who manage their free time well lead to better quality of life. Suggestions based on the observed relationship and directions for future researches were discussed.     

Hostility in the real world and online: the effect of internet addiction, depression, and online activity

Hostility online has not been evaluated by an empirical investigation. This study aims to evaluate (a) the difference between hostility in the real world and that online and (b) whether the difference is associated with Internet addiction, depression, or online activities. A total of 2,348 college students (1,124 males and 1,224 females) were recruited and completed the Chen Internet Addiction Scale, the Center for Epidemiological Studies' Depression Scale, and the questionnaire for online activity. Further, the Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory-Chinese version-short form was utilized to evaluate hostility in both real and virtual worlds. The results demonstrated that the levels of all four dimensions of hostility were lower when getting online than those in the real world. Subjects with Internet addiction had higher hostility both in the real world and online as do subjects with depression. Further, college students with Internet addiction had increased expressive hostility behavior and those with depression had decreased hostility cognition, hostility affection, and suppressive hostility behavior when getting online. Lastly, the buffering effect of the Internet on hostility was attenuated among subjects paying the most online time in chatting, and those using the Internet mainly for online gaming had higher expressive hostility behavior not only in the real world but also online. These results suggest that attention should be paid to interventions concerning aggressive behavior among subjects with Internet addiction or online gaming and chatting. On the other hand, depressed college students would be less hostile after entering the Internet. It is suggested that the Internet would be one possible interactive media to provide intervention for depression.     

Playing shooter and driving videogames improves top-down guidance in visual search

Playing action videogames is known to improve visual spatial attention and related skills. Here, we showed that playing action videogames also improves classic visual search, as well as the ability to locate targets in a dual search that mimics certain aspects of an action videogame. In Experiment 1A, first-person shooter (FPS) videogame players were faster than nonplayers in both feature search and conjunction search, and in Experiment 1B, they were faster and more accurate in a peripheral search and identification task while simultaneously performing a central search. In Experiment 2, we showed that 10 h of play could improve the performance of nonplayers on each of these tasks. Three different genres of videogames were used for training: two action games and a 3-D puzzle game. Participants who played an action game (either an FPS or a driving game) achieved greater gains on all search tasks than did those who trained using the puzzle game. Feature searches were faster after playing an action videogame, suggesting that players developed a better target template to guide search in a top-down manner. The results of the dual search suggest that, in addition to enhancing the ability to divide attention, playing an action game improves the top-down guidance of attention to possible target locations. The results have practical implications for the development of training tools to improve perceptual and cognitive skills.     

A cGMP-dependent protein kinase gene, foraging, modifies habituation-like response decrement of the giant fiber escape circuit in Drosophila

The Drosophila giant fiber jump-and-flight escape response is a model for genetic analysis of both the physiology and the plasticity of a sensorimotor behavioral pathway. We previously established the electrically induced giant fiber response in intact tethered flies as a model for habituation, a form of nonassociative learning. Here, we show that the rate of stimulus-dependent response decrement of this neural pathway in a habituation protocol is correlated with PKG (cGMP-Dependent Protein Kinase) activity and foraging behavior. We assayed response decrement for natural and mutant rover and sitter alleles of the foraging (for) gene that encodes a Drosophila PKG. Rover larvae and adults, which have higher PKG activities, travel significantly farther while foraging than sitters with lower PKG activities. Response decrement was most rapid in genotypes previously shown to have low PKG activities and sitter-like foraging behavior. We also found differences in spontaneous recovery (the reversal of response decrement during a rest from stimulation) and a dishabituation-like phenomenon (the reversal of response decrement evoked by a novel stimulus). This electrophysiological study in an intact animal preparation provides one of the first direct demonstrations that PKG can affect plasticity in a simple learning paradigm. It increases our understanding of the complex interplay of factors that can modulate the sensitivity of the giant fiber escape response, and it defines a new adult-stage phenotype of the foraging locus. Finally, these results show that behaviorally relevant neural plasticity in an identified circuit can be influenced by a single-locus genetic polymorphism existing in a natural population of Drosophila.     

罗隐《太平两同书》的社会政治思想

罗隐是唐末五代时期的一位儒、道兼修的人物,著有《太平两同书》等。《太平两同书》之宗旨,乃在力图揉合道、儒两家思想而提炼出一套供统治者采用的“太平匡济术”,全书分贵贱、强弱、损益、理乱等十个问题,从不同侧面对“致太平”之“本”和“术”进行了讨论,其中既有丰富的社会政治思想,亦不乏深刻的辩证思维色彩。     

University students' Internet attitudes and Internet self-efficacy: a study at three universities in Taiwan.

This study was conducted to explore university students' attitudes and self-efficacy toward the Internet. Moreover, the relationships between their attitudes and self-efficacy toward the Internet were also investigated. The sample of this study included 1,313 students, coming from three universities in Taiwan. It was found that male students expressed significantly more positive attitudes than females on their "perceived control" of the Internet. The male students also revealed better Internet self-efficacy than their female counterparts. Moreover, students having more on-line hours per week, in general, displayed more positive Internet attitudes and Internet self-efficacy. In addition, students' grade level also played an important role in their Internet attitudes; graduate students tended to possess more positive Internet attitudes. More importantly, students' Internet attitudes were highly correlated with their Internet self-efficacy. The results in this study seemed to reveal that students' attitudes toward the Internet could be viewed as one of the important indicators for predicting their Internet self-efficacy. It is also suggested that some training programs or courses may be helpful in improving university students' attitudes and self-efficacy toward the Internet.     

A covariance structure analysis of employees' response to performance feedback

This longitudinal study used D. R. Ilgen, C. D. Fisher, and M. S. Taylor's (1979) feedback process model as a theoretical framework to determine whether a sequential chain of cognitive variables mediates an individual's response to performance feedback. One hundred two employees were surveyed 2 weeks after their performance appraisal, and performance was assessed 11 months later at the end of the review cycle. Covariance structure analysis supported the convergent and discriminant validity of the constructs underlying the model and the constellation of structural relationships. A set of cognitive variables was found to completely mediate the relationship between an individual's receipt and response to feedback. Implications for the feedback process and future research are discussed.     

城市化过程中的当代农村基督教

香港建道神学院学者梁家麟博士从80年代至90年代末专注收集农村教会资料,著有《改革开放以来的中国农村教会》(1999年香港建道出版社)。该书“就农村教会作为中国主流的现象,探讨基督教在中国未来的角色和挑战。”本文根据近年来调查所得,重点研究农村天主教徒和新教徒在市场经济的冲击下发生的变化,回应梁书。一、农民和农村的历史命运从世俗层面考查,农民教徒和非教徒农民都生活在农村,依附于土地和农业经济。农民教徒在经济、政治方面的社会地位的变迁,是同非教徒农民基本一致的。中国社会科学院社会学研究所耗费三年时间调查研究了20年…     

人格理论的系统发展观初探

文章以遗传论、精神动力论、学习论、特质论、社会文化及认知一情感系统理论为基础。利用系统科学中的系统论观点,对人格理论进行系统发展观分析。该观点将人格看作一个复杂的“大”系统,它包括外部系统和内部系统两部分。外部系统即外环境系统,内部系统则分为个体心理系统和个体行为系统,其核心是个体心理系统,它由认识系统、情意系统、自我系统及需要系统构成。人格的形成是内外两个系统相互作用、循环运动的结果。     

Physical activity and psychological well-being in advanced age: a meta-analysis of intervention studies

A meta-analysis examined data from 36 studies linking physical activity to well-being in older adults without clinical disorders. The weighted mean-change effect size for treatment groups (d(C). = 0.24) was almost 3 times the mean for control groups (d(C). = 0.09). Aerobic training was most beneficial (d(C). = 0.29), and moderate intensity activity was the most beneficial activity level (d(C). = 0.34). Longer exercise duration was less beneficial for several types of well-being, though findings are inconclusive. Physical activity had the strongest effects on self-efficacy (d(C).= 0.38), and improvements in cardiovascular status, strength, and functional capacity were linked to well-being improvement overall. Social-cognitive theory is used to explain the effect of physical activity on well-being.