In search of a measure to investigate mental performance among children: Development of the mental speed test

Processing speed is a component of general intelligence and an indicator of learning potential. There is a need for robust measures of mental speed based on contemporary theoretical developments. The current study addressed this need by proposing a mental speed test for children aged 60 to 96 months (5 to 8 years) and examining its psychometric properties. The test included indicators of perceptual speed, memory speed, reasoning speed, and fluency-flexibility speed presented through nonverbal items administered individually using touchscreen tablets. After establishing gender non-bias and concurrent validity with a contemporary intelligence test (i.e., ASIS, r = .59) with 107 children, the next administration included 373 children. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with subtest scores revealed a single-factor structure accounting for 45% of the total variance. Additional data from 212 children were used to assess structural validity and gender bias, which showed acceptable goodness of fit, providing evidence of the validity and reliability of the new measure for further use.     

美国的反邪教运动(下)

反邪教运动对立法的影响力。反邪教运动把最初的目光从上帝之子扩展到所有的新膜拜团体、邪教组织,并开始寻求立法工作的支持。早在1974年,忧心的家长说服加州参议院儿童和青年委员会主席、国会参议员召集“邪教对今天的青年人的影响”听证会。从70年代到80年代初期,关于反邪教法规的争论,推动和说服立法工作者提出了许多处理邪教活动的法案。某些法案提议在解除程序进行期间,允许并认可家长和家庭作为邪教成员的保护者和监督者。在其他方面,反邪教人士还探寻对“非传统宗教团体”约束和加强管理的规定,这些规定强制非传统宗教团体在允许潜…     

社会转型时期鬼神迷信泛滥的原因与对策

改革开放以来,两个文明建设不断向前推进,科学精神逐步深入人心。但也应看到,某些地方鬼神迷信的沉渣假借科学和传统文化的名义重新泛起,在社会生活中严重泛滥。为什么鬼神迷信现象在我国社会转型,经济社会发展最好的时期表现得如此严重?本文就其根源与对策作以探讨。一、鬼神迷信现象是唯心主义有神论的必然反映鬼神观念是在人类长期的认知过程中产生出来的,开始仅是一种迷信而已,后来,人类社会的发展出现了阶级分化,占统治地位的剥削阶级思想家,为了维护自身的统治地位,将人们已有的迷信思想加以理论化和系统化,并进而产生出了有神论。有…     

Relationship of social rank in mice to growth,endurance, and fertility

The influence of the social rank of male mice, determined by the outcome of fights, was assessed on their growth, treadmill performance, open-field behavior, and morphometric traits. Fertility of mated females was also investigated. Special attention was paid to the relationship between the male's social rank and body weight. Winners of fights were heavier than losers; their latencies were shorter, and they showed more locomotor activity in an open field test. Winners also had higher absolute testicular and epididymal weights. These males had a positive influence on the reproductive fitness of the females with which they were mated.     

Effects of Gender, Age, and Education on Assertiveness in a Nigerian Sample

Two hundred fourteen (214) married persons, 101 men and 113 women aged 20–60, with at least high school education, participated in the study which investigated the effects of gender, age, and educational attainment on assertiveness among married persons in Nigeria. The Assertive Behavior Assessment scale (ABAS; Onyeizugbo, 1998 ) was used to measure assertiveness. It was hypothesized that persons with higher educational attainment will report more assertiveness than persons with lower educational attainment. Results supported the hypothesis. In addition, interactions between gender and age, and gender and educational attainment were found. Younger men reported more assertiveness than younger women whereas older women reported more assertiveness than older men. Also, women participants of lower educational attainment reported more assertiveness than their men counterparts whereas men of higher educational attainment reported more assertiveness than their women counterparts. Results of this study suggest that women in Nigeria may become more assertive with age.     

One-to-one and polyrhythmic temporal coordination in bimanual circle tracing

The authors manipulated movement amplitude in a bimanual circle-tracing task to alter the natural tracing frequency of the arms. Participants (N = 14) traced different-diameter circles simultaneously with the two arms in either in-phase (0 degrees) or antiphase (180 degrees) coordination, using the index fingers or plastic styli. Movement amplitude altered the natural tracing frequency of the arms, as demonstrated by the following 2 findings: (a) The larger the difference in circle diameter, the larger was the shift from the fixed-point values of 0 degrees and 180 degrees, and the shift increased as movement frequency increased. Those results are consistent with the manipulation of delta omega in the bimanual pendulum paradigm. (b) Increasing movement frequency induced transitions from 1:1 to non-1:1 coordination, contrary to findings in previous investigations of polyrhythmic coordination. Tactile feedback played a minimal role in stabilizing bimanual coordination in the current tasks.