Unconscious reward facilitates motion perceptual learning

Reward signal plays an important role in guiding human learning behaviour. Recent studies have provided evidence that reward signal modulates perceptual learning of basic visual features. Typically, the reward effects on perceptual learning were accompanied with consciously presented reward during the learning process. However, whether an unconsciously presented reward signal that minimizes the contribution of attentional and motivational factors can facilitate perceptual learning remains less well understood. We trained human subjects on a visual motion detection task and subliminally delivered a monetary reward for correct response during the training. The results showed significantly larger learning effect for high reward-associated motion direction than low reward-associated motion direction. Importantly, subjects could neither discriminate the relative values of the subliminal monetary reward nor correctly report the reward-direction contingencies. Our findings suggest that reward signal plays an important modulatory role in perceptual learning even if the magnitude of the reward was not consciously perceived.     

成人依恋对病理性网络使用的影响:社交自我效能感和孤独感的中介作用

为探讨成人依恋影响病理性网络使用(PIU)的内在机制,采用自陈式问卷调查了483名大学生,通过结构方程模型和bootstrap法考察了社交自我效能感和孤独感在成人依恋与PIU关系中的中介作用。结果表明:(1)孤独感在依恋焦虑和依恋回避对PIU的影响中起中介作用;(2)社交自我效能感和孤独感在依恋回避对PIU的影响中起链式中介作用。研究结论:成人依恋通过社交自我效能感和孤独感的中介作用影响PIU,且依恋焦虑和依恋回避两个维度的中介机制有差异。     

Readiness to accept Western standard of beauty and body satisfaction among Muslim girls with and without hijab

The purpose of this paper was to determine whether there is a difference in the readiness to accept Western standards of beauty in which thinness is an ideal of beauty and attractiveness, as well in body and appearance satisfaction between Muslim adolescent girls attending madrassa and dressing in accordance with tradition, that is to say wearing hijab, and Muslim adolescent girls who do not wear hijab and who follow contemporary Western‐influenced fashion trends. Both of these groups were also compared to a non‐Muslim group of adolescent girls. The sample consisted of 75 Muslim adolescent girls with hijab, 75 Muslim adolescent girls without hijab and 75 Orthodox adolescent girls. The following instruments were used: the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT‐26), the Sociocultural Attitudes towards Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ‐3) and the Contour Drawing Rating Scale (CDRS). The highest level of body satisfaction (despite this group having the highest body weight in the sample) was evident among Muslim adolescent girls attending madrassa and wearing hijab. They also showed significantly less pressure to attain the Western thin‐ideal standards of beauty than adolescent girls who accept Western way of dressing. Research results indicate a significant role of socio‐cultural factors in one's attitude towards the body image, but also opens the question of the role of religion as a protective factor when it comes to the body and appearance attitude among Muslim women who wear hijab.     

愉悦追求在自我调节疲劳与大学生智能手机成瘾之间的中介作用:自然联结的调节作用

采用问卷法对564名大学生进行调查,考察愉悦追求在自我调节疲劳和智能手机成瘾之间的中介作用,以及该中介作用是否会受到自然联结的调节。结果表明：（1）自我调节疲劳对大学生智能手机成瘾具有显著的正向预测作用;（2）愉悦追求在自我调节疲劳与大学生智能手机成瘾之间起着部分中介作用;（3）自我调节疲劳和愉悦追求的关系（中介效应的前半段路径）受到自然联结的调节,即自我调节疲劳对愉悦追求的正向影响随着自然联结的增强而减弱。因此,自我调节疲劳和大学生智能手机成瘾之间存在有调节的中介效应。     

社交媒体自我控制失败影响硕士生主观幸福感的心理机制

为探讨社交媒体自我控制失败、时间效能感和消极完美主义对硕士生主观幸福感的作用机制,采用问卷法对广东省408名硕士研究生进行施测。结果发现：（1）社交媒体自我控制失败显著负向预测主观幸福感;（2）时间效能感在社交媒体自控失败和主观幸福感间起部分中介作用;（3）消极完美主义在社交媒体自控失败和时间效能感的关系中起调节作用,具体表现为对于高消极完美主义者,社交媒体自控失败对时间效能感的负向影响更大。     

Gaussian variational estimation for multidimensional item response theory

Multidimensional item response theory (MIRT) is widely used in assessment and evaluation of educational and psychological tests. It models the individual response patterns by specifying a functional relationship between individuals' multiple latent traits and their responses to test items. One major challenge in parameter estimation in MIRT is that the likelihood involves intractable multidimensional integrals due to the latent variable structure. Various methods have been proposed that involve either direct numerical approximations to the integrals or Monte Carlo simulations. However, these methods are known to be computationally demanding in high dimensions and rely on sampling data points from a posterior distribution. We propose a new Gaussian variational expectation--maximization (GVEM) algorithm which adopts variational inference to approximate the intractable marginal likelihood by a computationally feasible lower bound. In addition, the proposed algorithm can be applied to assess the dimensionality of the latent traits in an exploratory analysis. Simulation studies are conducted to demonstrate the computational efficiency and estimation precision of the new GVEM algorithm compared to the popular alternative Metropolis–Hastings Robbins–Monro algorithm. In addition, theoretical results are presented to establish the consistency of the estimator from the new GVEM algorithm.     

Linking metaphor comprehension with analogical reasoning: Evidence from typical development and autism spectrum disorder

We examined the relationship between metaphor comprehension and verbal analogical reasoning in young adults who were either typically developing (TD) or diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The ASD sample was highly educated and high in verbal ability, and closely matched to a subset of TD participants on age, gender, educational background, and verbal ability. Additional TD participants with a broader range of abilities were also tested. Each participant solved sets of verbal analogies and metaphors in verification formats, allowing measurement of both accuracy and reaction times. Measures of individual differences in vocabulary, verbal working memory, and autistic traits were also obtained. Accuracy for both the verbal analogy and the metaphor task was very similar across the ASD and matched TD groups. However, reaction times on both tasks were longer for the ASD group. Additionally, stronger correlations between verbal analogical reasoning and working memory capacity in the ASD group indicated that processing verbal analogies was more effortful for them. In the case of both groups, accuracy on the metaphor and analogy tasks was correlated. A mediation analysis revealed that after controlling for working memory capacity, the inter-task correlation could be accounted for by the mediating variable of vocabulary knowledge, suggesting that the primary common mechanisms linking the two tasks involve language skills.     

Compositionality of the Constituent Characters in Chinese Two-Character-Word Recognition by Adult Readers of High and Low Chinese Proficiency

Journal of Psycholinguistic Research - In Chinese, the graphic units are Chinese characters, most of which are compound characters. Since a compound character can be different from another one in...     

Gender Inequality Lowers Educational Aspiration for Adolescent Boys and Girls: A Multi-Level and Longitudinal Study in China

Sex Roles - Adolescent students' educational aspiration is a crucial predictor of both concurrent academic achievement and educational attainment later in life. Past studies on educational...