Vocabulary growth rate from preschool to school‐age years is reflected in the connectivity of the arcuate fasciculus in 14‐year‐old children

The acquisition of language involves the functional specialization of several cortical regions. Connectivity between these brain regions may also change with the development of language. Various studies have demonstrated that the arcuate fasciculus was essential for language function. Vocabulary learning is one of the most important skills in language acquisition. In the present longitudinal study, we explored the influence of vocabulary development on the anatomical properties of the arcuate fasciculus. Seventy‐nine Chinese children participated in this study. Between age 4 and age 10, they were administered the same vocabulary task repeatedly. Following a previous study, children's vocabulary developmental trajectories were clustered into three subgroups (consistently good, catch‐up, consistently poor). At age 14, diffusion tensor imaging data were collected. Using ROI‐based tractography, the anterior, posterior and direct segments of the bilateral arcuate fasciculus were delineated in each child's native space. Group comparisons showed a significantly reduced fractional anisotropy in the left arcuate fasciculus of children in the consistently poor group, in particular in the posterior and direct segments of the arcuate fasciculus. No group differences were observed in the right hemisphere, nor in the left anterior segment. Further regression analyses showed that the rate of vocabulary development, rather than the initial vocabulary size, was a specific predictor of the left arcuate fasciculus connectivity.     

人文主义究竟给近代西方文化带来了什么

人文主义是一个动态的概念,其基本内涵产生于文艺复兴时期,并在往后的西方思想文化进程中传承发展,逐渐成为社会的主导意识之一。它的最重要影响力在于其世俗性人学内涵,也就是将世俗的人当作思考万事万物的出发点和中心。人文主义者主张信仰和理性各有其存在合理性的双重真理说,这对提升理性地位有积极的意义。文艺复兴时期以来,西方文学艺术繁荣现象与人文主义诗性智慧密切相关,后者更深层次的意蕴在于启导人们完整地认识人和思想文化的发展。     

大学生的性格优势及与主观幸福感的关系

性格优势与主观幸福感是积极心理学的两大核心研究领域,其中,关于性格优势的"价值实践分类体系"被认为是积极心理学发展至今最具影响的成就之一。研究招募115名在校大学生(69女,46男),分别完成优势价值实践调查、牛津幸福体验问卷,以及生活满意度量表。研究发现:(1)在24种优势中,大学生的五大"显著优势"依次为爱与被爱、正直诚实、感恩感激、美的领悟、善良慷慨;(2)希望乐观、爱与被爱、社交智慧、洞察悟性等性格优势与主观幸福感密切相关;(3)希望乐观、爱与被爱、谨慎审慎、洞察悟性对幸福体验的回归方程拟合程度最优,而希望乐观、宽容宽恕、社交智慧、创造才能对生活满意度的回归方程拟合程度最优。     

Emotional reactions to scandals: When does moral character make a difference?

A scandal can evoke public outrage when it is widely publicized and involves an individual who is perceived to have a high level of cultural representativeness. Two experiments showed that when the scandalous target's moral character was highlighted, emotional responses towards the target were least negative when the scandal was widely circulated and when the target was seen as a representative of his culture. These results suggest that when a cultural symbol is implicated in a widely‐circulated scandal, the negative emotions directed towards the scandalous individual can be alleviated when the public remains confident in his or her commitment to morality.     

震后青少年创伤后应激障碍与社会支持、人格的关系

采用问卷调查法对地震地区933名中学生进行调查,考察青少年创伤后应激障碍的状况,并探讨社会支持在人格与创伤后应激障碍之间的调节作用。结果表明：（1）震后六个月,约67.6%的青少年患有PTSD或部分PTSD。（2）大五人格特质中的神经质对事件影响量表总分以及唤醒、侵扰、逃避均有预测作用;宜人性对事件影响量表总分、侵扰、唤醒有预测作用。验证了社会支持在大五人格与逃避、人格与唤醒、人格与事件影响量表总分间调节效应显著的结论。     

流畅体验、内/外动机、数学焦虑及数学成绩的路径分析

目的：研究旨在考察数学学习中的流畅体验,探讨流畅体验、内/外动机、数学焦虑及数学成绩的关系。方法：招募296名高中生,在数学月考后完成自编考试流畅体验量表、学习动机量表、数学焦虑量表。结果：路径分析表明,存在四条显著路径,即内部动机→流畅状态→数学成绩;数学焦虑→流畅状态→数学成绩;外部动机→流畅状态→数学成绩;外部动机→数学成绩。结论：只有通过考试过程中的流畅体验,内部动机和数学焦虑才能影响考试成绩。     

Improving return rates for health-care outcome

The objective was to test two methods of reducing loss of data in follow-up by abbreviating the questionnaire and offering a token monetary incentive. Primary data were collected between September 14, 1998 and July 23, 1999 from an adult psychiatric population, representing about 50% of all patients, all of whom agreed to participate in a quality-assurance monitoring program. Briefer components of the SF-36 Health Status Survey were expected to yield higher return rates than would the SF-36 plus a form assessing amount of treatment received. Small monetary incentives were expected to result in higher return rates also. Patients were randomly assigned to the groups (n = 73 each). Abbreviation of the questionnaire and use of a monetary incentive each reduced attrition by 10%. A diminishing returns effect for both methods was observed. Further study of a possible interaction between the questionnaire's length and monetary incentive is recommended.