When meaning matters,look but don’t touch: The effects of posture on reading

Much of the reading that we do occurs near our hands. Previous research has revealed that spatial processing is enhanced near the hands, potentially benefiting several processes involved in reading; however, it is unknown whether semantic processing—another critical aspect of reading—is affected near the hands. While holding their hands either near to or far from a visual display, our subjects performed two tasks that drew on semantic processing: evaluation of the sensibleness of sentences, and the Stroop color-word interference task. We found evidence for impoverished semantic processing near the hands in both tasks. These results suggest a trade-off between spatial processing and semantic processing for the visual space around the hands. Readers are encouraged to be aware of this trade-off when choosing how to read a text, since both kinds of processing can be beneficial for reading.     

患者知情同意权代理行使的法律思考

患者知情同意权代理行使是医疗实践中普遍存在的问题。我国相关法律存在规定原则性过强、与患者自主决定权之间存在矛盾以及对侵犯患者利益的救济途径不明确等不足。应从确立患者利益最大化原则、将知情同意权代理行使的相关规定具体化以及适度运用紧急避险原则等几方面完善我国的患者知情同意权代理行使制度。     

National Survey of Client's Perceptions of Chinese Psychotherapist Practices

The present study is a cross-sectional survey that investigates ethical practices among Chinese psychotherapists from the perspective of a large representative sample of Chinese clients (N?=?1,100). In reports from clients, we found that psychotherapists did poorly in providing informed consent and had other ethical difficulties in the therapeutic setting and with dual relationships. We conclude that Chinese culture, especially Confucianism, had significant impact on the attitudes toward the psychotherapists' ethical practices, which complicated ethical dilemmas. It is important for cross-cultural psychotherapists to become sensitive to the influences of traditional Chinese culture when counseling Chinese clients.     

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).     

Cultural influences on terror management: Independent and interdependent self-esteem as anxiety buffers

Terror management theory (TMT) proposes that self-esteem serves as a defense against the fear of death. Previous research has suggested that independent self-esteem is more salient in individualist cultures, whereas interdependent self-esteem is more salient in collectivist cultures. Thus, we hypothesized that in collectivist cultures, independent self-esteem would play a lesser role and interdependent self-esteem a greater role in terror management, compared to individualist cultures. The results support this prediction. In Study 1, personal self-esteem was negatively associated with death anxiety in samples from a Western (Austria) and Eastern (China) culture. However, both self-liking and self-competence were negatively associated with death anxiety among Austrian participants, but only self-liking (and not self-competence) was so among Chinese participants. Surprisingly, collective self-esteem was not significantly correlated with death anxiety. Yet, Study 2 showed that among Chinese participants, relational self-esteem was negatively associated with death anxiety. Study 3 examined the roles of relational versus personal self-esteem in moderating the effects of mortality salience on worldview defense. Among Chinese participants, relational rather than personal self-esteem increased the defense of worldviews centered on collectivist-Chinese values following mortality salience (Study 3a). In contrast, among Austrian participants, personal rather than relational self-esteem attenuated the effect of mortality salience on the defense of individualist-Austrian worldviews (Study 3b). Self-esteem serves a terror management function in both collectivist and individualist cultures; however, the differences between cultural worldviews determine the type of self-esteem that is more relevant to terror management processes.     

The Stability of Literacy-Related Cognitive Contributions to Chinese Character Naming and Reading Fluency

The present study examined the developmental issue of cognitive factors that explain Chinese literacy. Phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, short-term memory, orthographic awareness and morphological awareness and two literacy tasks (character naming and reading fluency) were administered to 408 second-graders, 428 fourth-graders and 496 six-graders. Results from linear regression analysis and path analysis model showed that the five reading-related cognitive constructs explained unique variances in character naming. Second, character naming is primary for reading fluency after controlling other cognitive constructs; third, the relation between the cognitive factors and literacy changes significantly as a function of reading skills. Results give a clear direction to understanding Chinese reading development.     

Mechanically driven alloying forces in the fabrication of a Cr–Zr nanocomposite

A highly supersaturated nanocrystalline Cr–25?wt% Zr alloy has been prepared by mechanical alloying of elemental crystalline powders. High-purity powders of Cr and Zr were milled for up to 20?h. The development of the microstructure was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy. XRD patterns confirmed complete alloying of the Zr and Cr. The contribution of grain boundaries, the chemical potential of a solute atom induced by dislocations, and the elastic strain energy arising from the different sizes of Cr and Zr atoms have been calculated. The alloy formation is discussed with respect to the thermodynamic conditions of the material. The role of internal strains and stored enthalpies by dislocations on solute atoms is the major mechanical driving force for alloying and this is critically assessed in this article.     

贪婪:态度、动机与决策机制

贪婪是人性的重要特点之一,也是哲学、经济学等领域经常讨论的话题.本文首先梳理了贪婪的概念,并将问题聚焦在对于物质的贪婪上.然后总结了贪婪的特点,并提出贪婪的定义.接着阐述了情境因素如何影响个体对贪婪的态度,以及贪婪动机如何影响自利行为.贪婪决策是个体决定是否做出贪婪行为的心理过程,受到自我意识和情绪的影响.贪婪决策过程模型整合了控制性、自动化两类加工方式,阐释了自利倾向与道德自觉相互作用的机制.本文对以上内容逐次进行讨论,并提出了未来研究的方向.     

社会认同与内、外群体态度的关系：群际威胁和群体情绪的中介作用

为探究社会认同、群际威胁和群体情绪如何同时影响内、外群体态度,本研究以中日撞船事件为考察蓝本向天津市431名大学生被试进行调查研究,结果发现：国家认同在认同威胁对两种群体态度的总影响和通过群体愤怒的间接影响中都起到负向的调节作用;群际威胁和群体情绪在社会认同与内、外群体态度之间具有显著中介作用。结论：国家认同在对群体态度的影响中起基础性作用,不同群际威胁与不同群体情绪相对应进而影响群体态度。     

两例先天性无痛症患者的心理生理特点研究 Ⅱ.对致痛性强刺激的知觉和反应

本工作对两例先天性无痛症患者对于致痛性强刺激的知觉和反应进行了研究(例1女,10岁,例2男,13岁)。对照组为20例正常儿童,性别和年龄均与患儿相匹配。 结果:1),生活中痛:两例患儿均无(包括痛感觉和痛反应)。2)实验性痛:①痛感觉:两例患儿均无;②“痛”反应:例1有“痛”反应(脉搏和呼吸的变化以及行为反应明显,大致与正常儿童相似)。例2无“痛”反应(脉搏和呼吸的变化轻微,无行为反应,与正常儿童不同)。 由结果看来,先天性无痛症患者似乎可分为两种类型:不完全型(如同例1)和完全型(如同例2)。存在有“痛”反应而无痛感觉的无痛症患者。 本工作结果从另一侧面为痛的两成分学说提供了依据。