Spatial orienting in the visual field: a unified perceptual space?

Visual attention can be oriented toward a spatial location in the visual field exogenously by an abrupt onset of a peripheral cue. In a series of behavioral studies on exogenous orienting of attention with a double-cue paradigm, we demonstrated a functional subdivision of perceptual space in the visual field. Specifically, inhibition of return (IOR) is much stronger at periphery relative to perifoveal visual field up to approximately 15° eccentricity, suggesting two dissociable functional areas in the visual field. To further investigate the generality of this functional subdivision of the visual field, we measured IOR effects with another single-cue paradigm and applied a very short cue-target interval that was typically anticipated not to observe any inhibitory effect at all. Consistent with this expectation, no IOR effects at the eccentricities up to 15° were observed. However, significant IOR effects beyond 15° eccentricities were consistently demonstrated. These results not only revealed an early onset of IOR for more peripheral stimuli, but also confirmed that the perceptual space in the visual field is not homogeneous but underlies a functional subdivision with a border of ca. 15° eccentricity.     

fMRI correlates of inhibition of return in perifoveal and peripheral visual field

When a target appears in the same peripheral location as a previous cue, responding is typically delayed if the cue-target interval is relatively long. This phenomenon is termed inhibition of return (IOR) and has been suggested to reflect an attentional bias in favour of novel visual space. It has been demonstrated recently that IOR is much stronger in the far periphery than in the perifoveal visual field. The present study further investigated the neural mechanisms underlying this eccentricity effect of IOR with an event-related fMRI technique. The results demonstrated a stronger activation in visual cortex for perifoveal processing and a broader activation in multiple brain areas for peripheral processing. When IOR effects were compared between these two areas, a stronger activation of the fronto-parietal network was evidenced for perifoveal versus peripheral IOR, while the prefrontal cortex was more strongly involved in the peripheral IOR versus perifoveal IOR. These results suggest that different neural mechanisms are mediating the dissociable inhibitory functions between the perifoveal and peripheral visual field.     

Non-target language processing in Chinese-English bilinguals: a study of event-related potential

The event-related brain potential (ERP) technique was used to investigate the neural mechanism of non-target language processing in Chinese-English bilinguals. Participants were presented with a mixed list of Chinese and English words and required to make conceptual decisions for words in one language and ignore words in the other non-target language. Regardless of whether the nontarget word was in Chinese or English, the ERPs they elicited were modulated by word frequency, suggesting that their meaning had been accessed. The N400 peak was delayed in the English as the non-target language condition, probably because participants were less proficient in English. The results suggest that the non-target language can be processed during conceptual tasks with participants' proficiency in this language being a critical factor.     

Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of a short-form of the EMBU among Chinese adolescents

The present study used a sample of Chinese adolescents and validated a short-form of the Egna Minnen Betr?ffande Uppfostran: One's Memories of Upbringing (s-EMBU) assessing perceived parental rearing styles. A Chinese revision of the s-EMBU by the authors was administered to a total of 779 high school students, ages 11 to 19 years. Exploratory factor analysis with half of the sample yielded a three-factor solution of Rejection, Emotional Warmth, and Overprotection, accounting for 47.1% of the total variance onthe father form and 48.8% of the total variance on the mother form. Then, confirmatory factor analysis indicated a good fit of the three-factor model to the data in the other half of the sample. The three subscales consisted of 6, 6, and 7 items, respectively. Scores on these subscales had Cronbach alphas ranging from .71 to .81, indicating adequate internal consistency. These psychometric properties suggest its applicability for research with Chinese adolescents.     

Visual processing of music notation: a study of event-related potentials

In reading music, the acquisition of pitch information depends mostly on the spatial position of notes, hence more spatial processing, whereas the acquisition of temporal information depends mostly on the visual features of notes and object recognition. This study used both electrophysiological and behavioral methods to compare the processing of pitch and duration in reading single musical notes. It was observed that in the early stage of note reading, identification of pitch could elicit greater N1 and N2 amplitude than identification of duration at the parietal lobe electrodes. In the later stages of note reading, identifying pitch elicited a greater negative slow wave at parietal electrodes than did identifying note duration. The sustained contribution of parietal processes for pitch suggests that the dorsal pathway is essential for pitch processing. However, the duration task did not elicit greater amplitude of any early ERP components than the pitch task at temporal electrodes. Accordingly, a double dissociation, suggesting involvement of the dorsal visual stream, was not observed in spatial pitch processing and ventral visual stream in processing of note durations.     

Sports spectator behavior: a test of the theory of planned behavior

The theory of planned behavior has been applied to sports and exercise behaviors. According to this theory, human intention to take action in a specific context is guided by three antecedents: attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. Behavioral intention mediates the relationships between these three considerations and its ultimate performance. However, this theory has seldom been applied to the behaviors of spectators of sporting events. A sample of 269 volleyball spectators in Taiwan was studied to examine whether people's intention mediated their attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control toward a given behavior, watching the 2010 Fédération Internationale de Volleyball World Grand Prix in Taipei. Regression analyses did not support behavioral intention as a mediator. This result is discussed in the context of planned behavior.     

Kullback–Leibler Information and Its Applications in Multi-Dimensional Adaptive Testing

This paper first discusses the relationship between Kullback–Leibler information (KL) and Fisher information in the context of multi-dimensional item response theory and is further interpreted for the two-dimensional case, from a geometric perspective. This explication should allow for a better understanding of the various item selection methods in multi-dimensional adaptive tests (MAT) which are based on these two information measures. The KL information index (KI) method is then discussed and two theorems are derived to quantify the relationship between KI and item parameters. Due to the fact that most of the existing item selection algorithms for MAT bear severe computational complexity, which substantially lowers the applicability of MAT, two versions of simplified KL index (SKI), built from the analytical results, are proposed to mimic the behavior of KI, while reducing the overall computational intensity.     

Association of <Emphasis Type="Italic">ADAM10</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">CAMK2A</Emphasis> Polymorphisms with Conduct Disorder: Evidence from Family-Based Studies

Twin and family studies have shown that genetic factors play a role in the development of conduct disorder (CD). The purpose of this study was to identify genetic variants associated with CD using a family-based association study. We used 4,720 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from the Illumina Panel and 11,120 SNPs from the Affymetrix 10K GeneChips genotyped in 155 Caucasian nuclear families from Genetic Analysis Workshop (GAW) 14, a subset from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA). 20 SNPs had suggestive associations with CD (p < 10⁻³), nine of which were located in known genes, including ADAM10 (rs383902, p = 0.00036) and CAMK2A (rs2053053, p = 0.00098). Our results were verified using the International Multi-Center ADHD Genetics Project (IMAGE) dataset. In conclusion, we identified several loci associated with CD. Especially, the two genes (ADAM10 and CAMK2A) have been reported to be associated with Alzheimer’s disease, bipolar disorder and depression. These findings may serve as a resource for replication in other populations.     

Predicting school achievement from cognitive and non-cognitive variables in a Chinese sample of elementary school children

The present study had two aims: First, to investigate the joint and specific roles of working memory (WM) and intelligence as predictors of school achievement. And second, to replicate and extend earlier findings (Spinath, Spinath, Harlaar, & Plomin, 2006) on the incremental validity of non-cognitive over cognitive abilities in the prediction of school achievement. The present sample consisted of N = 179 Chinese primary school children in the fourth grade. All measures including working memory (WM), intelligence and motivational items were assessed in class. Teachers provided test scores for the domains of Chinese and Math. We found that WM was a good predictor of school achievement and comparable in predictive power to intelligence. Together, cognitive ability including both WM and intelligence explained 17.8% and 36.4% of the variance in children's Chinese and Math scores, respectively. The relative importance of WM and intelligence varied with school domains with greater predictive power of WM for Math while intelligence explained a greater proportion of the variance in Chinese although the magnitude of this difference was only moderate. Domain-specific motivational constructs contributed only marginally to the prediction of school achievement for both Chinese and Math.     

Confucian Dynamism,the Role of Money and Consumer Ethical Beliefs: An Exploratory Study in Taiwan

Consumer ethics is the moral principles and standards that guide consumers to determine the certain consumption behaviors are ethically right or wrong. Whereas cultural and personal dimensions are crucial constructs affecting individual ethical attitudes and behaviors, few studies consider Confucian dynamism and the role of money in consumer ethics. Confucian dynamism, a cultural dimension based on Confucianism, has played a central role in guiding moral obligations and ethics in human relations in several East Asian countries. Thus, this study tested its hypotheses using a sample of 521 respondents obtained via a systematic random sampling technique. The authors find that individuals with a higher tendency to Confucian dynamism are less tolerant of unethical practices. These findings also show that the role of money partially influences consumer ethical beliefs. Finally, we examine the impact of demographic variables and find age and education affect consideration of ethical values.