Between an Example and a Precept,Which Has Greater Importance? A Comparison of the Channels of Socialization in Military Ethics

In this study, I examined what channels of socialization influence the moral behavior of cadets. We conducted a regression analysis of the effects of parents' attitudes to moral education, the standard and potential curriculum of schools, peer groups, and communication media on individual ethics and discipline using 399 sample participants. The participants were recruited through a questionnaire survey on cadets from academy of military, naval, and air force, and four-year based students from R.O.C. National Defense University. The analysis results showed that the cultivation of morality among cadets was directly influenced by the school's potential curriculum (i.e., intern cadres and officers in company) and their parents' attitudes to moral education during early childhood. The results also indicated that the influence of teaching by example was more significant than that of teaching by precept.     

Differentiation of stages in joke comprehension: Evidence from an ERP study

This study aimed to investigate the mechanisms underlying joke comprehension using event‐related potentials (ERPs). Fourteen healthy college students were presented with the context of a story without its joke or nonjoke ending, and then, when the story ending was presented, they were asked to make a funny/unfunny judgment about these endings. The behavioral results showed that there was no significant difference between funny and unfunny items, which meant that subjects could understand funny items as easily as unfunny ones. However, the ERP results showed that funny items initially elicited a more negative ERP deflection (N350–450) over frontocentral scalp regions. Dipole analysis localized the generators in the left temporal gyrus and the left medial frontal gyrus; it is suggested that these areas might be involved in detecting the incongruent element in joke comprehension. Between 600 and 800 ms, funny items subsequently elicited a more negative ERP deflection (N600–800) over frontocentral scalp regions and a more positive ERP deflection (P600–800) over posterior scalp regions. Dipole analysis localized the generator in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), an area involved in the breaking of mental set/expectation and the forming of novel associations. Finally, funny items elicited a more positive ERP deflection (P1250–1400) over anterior and posterior scalp regions. Dipole analysis localized the generators in the middle frontal gyrus and the fusiform gyrus, areas that might be related to the affective appreciation stage in joke process. Unlike that of Coulson and Kutas (2001), the present study might support the hypothesis of a three stage model of humor processing (humor detection, resolution of incongruity and humor appreciation).     

Exploring trust of mobile applications based on user behaviors: an empirical study

This paper explores trust of mobile applications based on users' behaviors. It proposes a trust behavior construct through principal component analysis, reliability analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis based on the data collected from a questionnaire survey with more than 1,500 participants. It is indicated that a user's trust behavior is composed of three principal constructs: using behavior, reflection behavior, and correlation behavior. They are further delineated into 12 measurable sub‐constructs and relate to a number of external factors. The data analysis showed that the questionnaire has positive psychometric properties with respect to construct validity and reliability. We also discuss the practical significance and limitations of our work toward usable trust management.     

Perceptions of Age and Creativity in the Workforce

As the workforce ages it becomes important to examine if there is misperception of creativity and age in work contexts. A laboratory experiment examined perceptions of the creativity of a team with both young and old workers and of a team composed entirely of young workers. Scripted videos portrayed such teams engaged in designing an outdoor advertising campaign. Altogether, 220 participants were randomly assigned to watch one of the video clips and complete a structured questionnaire. No significant differences were observed in the perceptions of the two teams' performance or of the quality of the resulting advertising proposal. In general, there was also no significant difference in the individual characteristics attributed to the four characters on the teams. However, participants aged 35 or above evaluated both teams and all four characters more favorably than participants aged 20–34.     

Paternal Family Expressiveness as a Mediator Between Father's Dispositional Optimism and Child's Dispositional Optimism

Although dispositional optimism serves as a resource for psychological and physical well-being, very little research has explored how to promote child dispositional optimism within the family context. The authors evaluated paternal emotional expressiveness within the family as a mediator of the association between father's and child's dispositional optimism. Participants were 422 father (M age = 44.97 years, SD = 4.21 years)–child (M age = 11.75 years, SD = 0.77 years) dyads in South Korea. Results showed that fathers’ dispositional optimism was positively linked to their expressiveness, which in turn was positively linked to their children's dispositional optimism. No significant gender or socioeconomic status differences were found. The findings have important implications for future research and for preventive interventions.     

Bidirectional Mediating Role of Loneliness in the Association Between Shyness and Generalized Pathological Internet Use in Chinese University Students: A Longitudinal Cross-Lagged Analysis

Abstract

This 1-year longitudinal study examined the bidirectional mediating role of loneliness in the association between shyness and generalized pathological Internet use (GPIU) in a sample of 291 Chinese university students (143 men, mean age =?19.07?years). A fully cross-lagged panel design was used in which shyness, loneliness, and GPIU were assessed at 3 time points separated by 6-month intervals (named T1, T2, and T3). The results indicated that relationships among shyness, loneliness, and GPIU were dynamic and bidirectional. Specifically, T1 shyness positively predicted increased T2 loneliness, T2 shyness positively predicted increased T3 loneliness, and T2 loneliness positively predicted increased T3 shyness. Additionally, T1 GPIU positively predicted increased T2 loneliness, T2 GPIU positively predicted increased T3 loneliness, and T2 loneliness positively predicted increased T3 GPIU. Loneliness was found to play a bidirectional mediating role in the association between shyness and GPIU. Specifically, T1 shyness and T3 GPIU were mediated through increased loneliness at T2, and T1 GPIU and T3 shyness were mediated through increased loneliness at T2. Furthermore, relationships among shyness, loneliness, and GPIU were the same across the 2 groups, with the strength of relationships being stronger for men.     

Aspects of Activity Participation as Risk Factors for Conduct Problems in Children and Adolescents: A Literature Review Using Ecological Systems Theory

This article reviews a wide range of risk factors associated with the development of conduct problems in children, with a particular focus on the influence of time spent engaged in different types of activities. The review reveals the behavioral benefits to children and adolescents of participation in activities with physical, social, and restful properties and those that can be described as structured. Further highlighted is the need for parents and occupational therapists to be aware of children's time use and daily activity participation, and the potential for these activities to be harnessed to facilitate positive behavioral outcomes for children.     

Do knee concentric and eccentric strength and sagittal-plane knee joint biomechanics differ between jumpers and non-jumpers in landing?

The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences of knee concentric and eccentric strength and impact related knee biomechanics between jumpers and non-jumpers during step-off landing tasks. Ten male college swimming athletes (non-jumpers) and 10 track and volleyball athletes (jumpers) were recruited to participate in two test sessions: a muscle strength testing session of concentric and eccentric extension for dominant knee joint at 60 °/s and 180 °/s and a landing testing session. The participants performed five trials of step-off landing in each of four conditions: soft and stiff landing from 0.4 m and 0.6 m landing heights. The three-dimensional kinematics and ground reaction force were recorded simultaneously during step-off landing conditions. The results showed that the jumpers had significantly greater peak knee eccentric extension and concentric flexion torques compared to the non-jumpers. No significant group effects were found for peak vertical ground reaction force and knee range of motion during landing. The jumpers had significantly greater knee contact flexion angle, maximum knee flexion angle and initial knee extension moment compared to the non-jumpers. These results suggest that these athletes adopted a favorable impact attenuation strategy that is related to the greater knee eccentric muscle strength and training.     

Simultaneous Decision on the Number of Latent Clusters and Classes for Multilevel Latent Class Models

The Multilevel Latent Class Model (MLCM) proposed by Vermunt (2003) has been shown to be an excellent framework for analyzing nested data with assumed discrete latent constructs. The nonparametric version of MLCM assumes 2 levels of discrete latent components to describe the dependency observed in data. Model selection is an important step in any statistical modeling. The task of model selection for MLCM amounts to the decision on the number of discrete latent components at both higher and lower levels and is more challenging than standard Latent Class Models. In this article, simulation studies were conducted to systematically examine the effects of sample sizes, clusters/classes distinctness, and the number of latent clusters and classes on the performance of various information criteria in recovering the true latent structure. Results of the simulation studies are summarized and presented. The final section presents the remarks and recommendations about the simultaneous decision regarding the number of latent classes and clusters when applying MLCMs to analyze empirical data.     

The amygdalostriatal and corticostriatal effective connectivity in anticipation and evaluation of facial attractiveness

Decision-making consists of several stages of information processing, including an anticipation stage and an outcome evaluation stage. Previous studies showed that the ventral striatum (VS) is pivotal to both stages, bridging motivation and action, and it works in concert with the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and the amygdala. However, evidence concerning how the VS works together with the vmPFC and the amygdala came mainly from neuropathology and animal studies; little is known about the dynamics of this network in the functioning human brain. Here we used fMRI combined with dynamic causal modeling (DCM) to investigate the information flow along amygdalostriatal and corticostriatal pathways in a facial attractiveness guessing task. Specifically, we asked participants to guess whether a blurred photo of female face was attractive and to wait for a few seconds (“anticipation stage”) until an unblurred photo of feedback face, which was either attractive or unattractive, was presented (“outcome evaluation stage”). At the anticipation stage, the bilateral amygdala and VS showed higher activation for the “attractive” than for the “unattractive” guess. At the outcome evaluation stage, the vmPFC and the bilateral VS were more activated by feedback faces whose attractiveness was congruent with the initial guess than by incongruent faces; however, this effect was only significant for attractive faces, not for unattractive ones. DCM showed that at the anticipation stage, the choice-related information entered the amygdalostriatal pathway through the amygdala and was projected to the VS. At the evaluation stage, the outcome-related information entered the corticostriatal pathway through the vmPFC. Bidirectional connectivities existed between the vmPFC and VS, with the VS-to-vmPFC connectivity weakened by unattractive faces. These findings advanced our understanding of the reward circuitry by demonstrating the pattern of information flow along the amygdalostriatal and corticostriatal pathways at different stages of decision-making.