Li,Qing, and Ethical Transformation in the Xunzi

This paper analyses the connection between knowing Dao and ethical transformation in Xunzi’s thought. While there have been many discussions concerning what Dao is and how one may come to Dao, there has not been sufficient attention on how knowing Dao leads to ethical transformation. In Section 2, I explicate Xunzi’s concept of bi 蔽 (obscurity) and suggests that one’s not knowing Dao has to do with a certain problematic state of the heart/mind. In Section 3, I analyse xu虛 (vacating), yi 一 (focusing), and jing 靜 (stilling), which are remedial practices for knowing Dao, and bring out the importance of discerning li 理 for Xunzi. In Sections 4 and 5, I propose an interpretation of the relation between li 理 and qing 情 in the process of ethical transformation. In Section 6, I highlight some remaining ambiguities that can be further investigated to deepen our understanding of Xunzi’s thought.     

Resilience: enhancing well-being through the positive cognitive triad

The present study tested whether the relationships among resilience, life satisfaction, and depression could be explained by positive views toward the self, the world, and the future (positive cognitive triad). Structural equation modeling and mediation analyses were conducted based on 1,419 college students in Hong Kong. The model of positive cognitive triad as mediator between resilience and well-being fit the data (comparative fit index = .94, Tucker-Lewis index = .93, root-mean-square error of approximation = .08). Findings showed resilience to be significantly related to positive cognitions about the self, the world, and the future. Individuals who had higher level of resilience held significantly more positive cognitions and reported significantly higher levels of life satisfaction and lower levels of depression. The utility of the positive cognitive triad as the mechanism through which resilience enhances well-being was supported. Applications in cultivating resilience and positive cognitions in counseling services are discussed.     

Normative Controls and Self-Reported Counterproductive Behaviors in the Workplace in China

Les comportements contre‐productifs (CPB) sont des comportements déviants de salariés qui violent les normes et les valeurs de l’organisation et nuisent à la fois à l’entreprise et à son personnel. Il est montré, dans cet article, que des réactions négatives de la part de l’entourage professionnel peuvent avoir un effet de contrôle normatif et contrecarrer les CPB. On a posé l’hypothèse que le contrôle normatif formel perçu (c’est‐à‐dire les réactions de la hiérarchie envers les CPB) et le contrôle normatif informel perçu (c’est‐à‐dire les réactions des collègues envers les CPB) médiatisaient l’effet du nombre de personnes présentes au travail sur la fréquence d’apparition des CPB. 155 salariés ont répondu à un questionnaire d’auto‐évaluation. Les résultats confirmèrent que le contrôle normatif formel de la hiérarchie médiatisait significativement l’effet de la taille de l’équipe sur les CPB, mais aucun effet médiateur n’est apparu en ce qui concerne le contrôle normatif informel des collègues. Counterproductive behaviors (CPBs) are employee deviant behaviors that violate the norms and values of organisations, and bring harm to both the company and its employees. This paper examined how negative reactions as a normative control from other employees may reduce CPB. It was hypothesised that perceived formal normative control (i.e. supervisor's reactions towards CPB) and perceived informal normative control (i.e. colleagues’ reactions towards CPB) mediated the effect of the number of staff at the workplace on the prevalence of CPB. One hundred and fifty‐five employees participated in this self‐report questionnaire study. Results showed that supervisor's formal normative control significantly mediated the effect of staff size at the workplace on CPB, but the mediating effect was not found for colleagues’ informal normative control.     

华人人际关系的概念化--针对中国香港地区大学生的实证研究

以杨中芳所构建的华人人际关系概念化理论模型为蓝本,并采用以往的实证研究方法为基础,揭示了当代华人对人际关系如何进行概念化及其潜在的认知维度。杨氏模型认为华人人际关系主要由既定成分、情感成分和工具成分组成。该研究以中国香港地区的大学生为被试进行调查,首先采用访谈的形式,分家族、学校及日常生活情境建立人际关系清单。然后采用多维量法(Multi-dimensional scaling)处理被试对关系进行分类的数据。结果发现,在不同的生活情境中,被试均依据情感程度对关系进行分类。在等级差异明显的家族和学校情境中,被试依据辈份和等级差异的突显性进行分类;而在等级差异小的生活情境中,则采用功利程度为标准。本文对被试在不同情境中所采用的不同维度进行了讨论,并提出华人人际关系的义务具有工具性质的实证结果。     

Decreasing household television time: a pilot study of a combined behavioral and environmental intervention

Excessive TV viewing is associated with weight gain across the lifespan; thus developing strategies to decrease household viewing time may be an effective obesity prevention approach. This pilot study (n = 6 families) examined the feasibility and short‐term impact of a 2‐pronged environmental plus behavioral approach designed to reduce TV time in the entire family. The environmental manipulation involved placing TV Allowances (programmed to turn off power after family members had watched 75% of their baseline hours) on all TVs in the home. A kit with behavioral strategies for reducing TV time was also sent to the home each week and family members self‐monitored viewing time. Viewing was objectively assessed with the TV Allowances at baseline and at 8 weeks. A significant decrease in objectively measured TV viewing hours was observed, t(5) = 3.1, p = 0.03, 29.8 ± 10.3 versus 14.9 ± 6.0 h (equivalent of decreasing from 7.5 to 3.7 h per day). Fifty percent of families reduced their viewing time by ≥50%. The acceptability of the intervention was high, with 100% of families reporting they would recommend the TV Allowances to others. Further research is needed to test the long‐term efficacy of the program and its impact on weight. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of initial choices in the prisoner's dilemma

In the two‐person prisoner's dilemma game (PDG), there is considerable evidence that the tit‐for‐tat (TFT) strategy is most effective in inducing the other person to cooperate. One of the important features of the TFT strategy is that it cooperates on the first trial. We varied the initial choices of a simulated other, and tested the effects of (a) initial choices (cooperation or defection), and (b) persistence of initial choices: unilateral cooperation (or defection) on the first trial, first two trials, or first four trials. Results showed that a cooperative strategy—one that starts with cooperative choices—induced greater cooperation than a strategy that started with defections. The results of this study clearly show that (a) a cooperative strategy—one that initiates unilateral cooperation at the outset and then adopts a TFT strategy—is very effective in inducing subsequent cooperation from the other party, (b) the effectiveness of a cooperative strategy varies directly with the cooperative orientation of the other party (a cooperative strategy is more effective against a cooperative than a competitive person), and (c) initial cooperation is more effective if it is repeated more than once. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impaired long-term potentiation and enhanced neuronal excitability in the amygdala of CaV1.3 knockout mice

Previously, we demonstrated that mice in which the gene for the L-type voltage-gated calcium channel Ca_V1.3 is deleted (Ca_V1.3 knockout mice) exhibit an impaired ability to consolidate contextually-conditioned fear. Given that this form of Pavlovian fear conditioning is critically dependent on the basolateral complex of the amygdala (BLA), we were interested in the mechanisms by which Ca_V1.3 contributes to BLA neurophysiology. In the present study, we used in vitro amygdala slices prepared from Ca_V1.3 knockout mice and wild-type littermates to explore the role of Ca_V1.3 in long-term potentiation (LTP) and intrinsic neuronal excitability in the BLA. We found that LTP in the lateral nucleus (LA) of the BLA, induced by high-frequency stimulation of the external capsule, was significantly reduced in Ca_V1.3 knockout mice. Additionally, we found that BLA principal neurons from Ca_V1.3 knockout mice were hyperexcitable, exhibiting significant increases in firing rates and decreased interspike intervals in response to prolonged somatic depolarization. This aberrant increase in neuronal excitability appears to be at least in part due to a concomitant reduction in the slow component of the post-burst afterhyperpolarization. Together, these results demonstrate altered neuronal function in the BLA of Ca_V1.3 knockout mice which may account for the impaired ability of these mice to consolidate contextually-conditioned fear.     

Non‐linear structural equation models with correlated continuous and discrete data

Structural equation models (SEMs) have been widely applied to examine interrelationships among latent and observed variables in social and psychological research. Motivated by the fact that correlated discrete variables are frequently encountered in practical applications, a non‐linear SEM that accommodates covariates, and mixed continuous, ordered, and unordered categorical variables is proposed. Maximum likelihood methods for estimation and model comparison are discussed. One real‐life data set about cardiovascular disease is used to illustrate the methodologies.     

Using the Hands to Identify Who Does What to Whom: Gesture and Speech Go Hand-in-Hand

In order to produce a coherent narrative, speakers must identify the characters in the tale so that listeners can figure out who is doing what to whom. This paper explores whether speakers use gesture, as well as speech, for this purpose. English speakers were shown vignettes of two stories and asked to retell the stories to an experimenter. Their speech and gestures were transcribed and coded for referent identification. A gesture was considered to identify a referent if it was produced in the same location as the previous gesture for that referent. We found that speakers frequently used gesture location to identify referents. Interestingly, however, they used gesture most often to identify referents that were also uniquely specified in speech. Lexical specificity in referential expressions in speech thus appears to go hand-in-hand with specification in referential expressions in gesture.     

The role of spatial integration in the perception of surface orientation with active touch

Vision research has shown that perception of line orientation, in the fovea area, improves with line length (Westheimer & Ley, 1997). This suggests that the visual system may use spatial integration to improve perception of orientation. In the present experiments, we investigated the role of spatial integration in the perception of surface orientation using kinesthetic and proprioceptive information from shoulder and elbow. With their left index fingers, participants actively explored virtual slanted surfaces of different lengths and orientations, and were asked to reproduce an orientation or discriminate between two orientations. Results showed that reproduction errors and discrimination thresholds improve with surface length. This suggests that the proprioceptive shoulder-elbow system may integrate redundant spatial information resulting from extended arm movements to improve orientation judgments.