The Reading Maturity Survey: Steps Toward Instrument and Construct Validation with College-Level Readers

There is a need to promote growth past basic reading proficiency toward the more substantial idea of reading maturity. The reading maturity construct has a history of being valued, at least in principle. However, it is a complex construct, and this makes its measurement challenging. The present research study addressed aspects of this challenge by using data collected from an instrument called The Reading Maturity Survey, administered twice to 382 college students, to help validate the instrument and to add one piece of validation evidence to the internal structure of the reading maturity construct. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to identify the latent literacy constructs and to examine the relationships between these constructs. The findings contribute to further psychometric validation of The Reading Maturity Survey, and add one new piece of quantitative evidence supporting the theory-based construct of reading maturity. Because this study provides some preliminary evidence of viable ways to both measure and define this construct, our hope is that the findings would move the reading field one step closer to being able to better recognize an overarching unified construct of reading maturity, perhaps eventually (re)establishing it as a goal that literacy education could pursue.     

Gender Differences in Coping Styles of Chinese Military Officers Undergoing Intensive Training

This study investigated gender differences in anxiety and coping styles under the stress of intense military training. We surveyed Chinese female (n = 470) and male (n = 379) military officers who were surveyed during the third month of a 10-month intensive training program. Results indicated that state and trait anxiety were highly correlated in both women and men. In general, female officers had higher levels of anxiety, greater negative coping tendencies, and less perceived self-efficacy than their male counterparts. When compared with the norm, both women and men had significantly more positive coping strategies. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed factors that influenced male and female state anxiety. Avoidance, which was chosen by women more often than men, in general was less useful for female officers. The most common positive coping style for female officers was problem solving, whereas for men it was help seeking. We suggested that even female officers with lower mental health levels than their male counterparts made active cognitive changes to their coping styles when undergoing intense military training.     

A new highly ordered Al-Ni-Ru decagonal quasicrystal with 1.6 nm periodicity

A new decagonal quasicrystal (the D phase) with a period of about 1.6 nm was found to form in conventionally solidified and heat-treated Al₇₅Ni₁₅Ru₁₀ alloys. The electron diffraction patterns of the Al-Ni-Ru D phase exhibit a large number of quite sharp diffraction spots located at precise decagonal symmetry positions, indicating a highly ordered decagonal quasicrystal with a long-range quasiperiodic correlation. The D phase is formed with a composition close to Al₇₄Ni₁₅Ru₁₁, as determined by energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. By means of high-resolution electron microscopy, the structural features of the Al-Ni-Ru D phase, which are obviously different from that of the Al-Pd D phase (a typical decagonal quasicrystal with 1.6 nm periodicity reported previously), have been revealed.     

Elastic modelling of periodic composites with particle interactions

The mechanical properties of periodic composites containing identical spherical particles are investigated using the principles of micromechanics and homogenization procedures. The averaged strain and stress fields are derived in terms of an eight-particle interaction. The effective elasticity with the cubic symmetry tensor is explicitly obtained. If the interaction term is dropped, then one recovers the conventional Mori–Tanaka model. With further approximations, the dilute model and the self-consistent model can also be obtained within the proposed framework. It is observed that the particle interactions make no contribution to the effective bulk modulus, a result that is consistent with other models and experiments for composites with cubic lattices.     

Valence band structure of the NiAl–Mo alloy from the photoelectron spectrum

The valence band structures of the NiAl–Mo alloy was investigated by photoelectron spectroscopy. The valence band spectra of the NiAl–Mo alloy was shifted away from the Fermi level so that the Ni-d-band centroid moved to a higher energy by 0.22 eV as Mo was added. A possible explanation lied in the overlap of Ni-d bands in the energy with Mo-d and Al-p bands. The participation of Mo-d bands was correlated with the site preference of Mo in NiAl alloys.     

Decagonal quasicrystal with ordered body-centred (CsCl-type) hypercubic lattice

An ordered structure, which was found in a decagonal quasicrystal with 0.4 nm periodicity in a conventionally solidified Al₇₀Ni₂₀Ru₁₀ alloy, has been examined theoretically by the projection of an ordered body-centred (CsCl-type) hypercubic lattice. The ordered structure can be characterized as an ordered arrangement of two kinds of atom columnar cluster with different directions of pentagonal symmetry. Two lattices, which are constructed by connecting the atom clusters in the same directions, can be interpreted as ordered sublattices formed by each of vertex and body-centred positions of the CsCl-type hypercubic lattice. Diffraction patterns calculated from the ordered and disordered body-centred hypercubic lattices replicate well the electron diffraction patterns observed from the Al-Ni-Ru and other decagonal quasicrystals.     

风险社会中公众政治信任的形成机制及影响

风险社会中如何提升公众的政治信任成为焦点。以政治信任形成的终生学习理论为基础,将理性选择理论和社会文化理论相整合,探讨影响政治信任形成的因素,以及政治信任对政治合作的影响。对291名被试进行问卷调查,层次回归结果发现：政治信任在政治透明度感知、宽容度感知和政治合作之间发挥正向中介作用;在负面认知固化程度和政治合作之间发挥负向中介作用;政治氛围感知在政治信任和政治合作行为之间起调节作用。最后,对该结果形成的原因与在现实生活中的应用进行讨论,并对未来研究的发展方向进行展望。     

数学焦虑对工作记忆子系统及数学心算的影响分析

本研究从工作记忆容量的角度入手,探讨数学焦虑对工作记忆子系统及数学心算成绩的影响,并寻求三者之间关系的理论解释。本研究为3×2×2混合实验设计,即三组被试（高、中、低数学焦虑组）、工作记忆两个子系统（言语工作记忆和视空间工作记忆）和两种数学心算任务难度,并记录数学心算的反应时和正确率作为其成绩指标。结果表明在要求较高工作记忆容量的数学心算任务中,数学焦虑通过言语工作记忆和视空间工作记忆都会对数学心算成绩产生影响,其中视空间工作记忆是数学焦虑与复杂数学心算反应时之间的中介变量。     

认知负荷主观评价量表比较

运用双任务实验范式,比较了三种认知负荷主观评价量表的灵敏度与效度。结果发现：在本研究任务条件下,次任务反应时的稳定性、抗干扰性较好,可以作为认知负荷主观评价的标尺;WP量表与PAAS量表的敏感性均较好,其中WP量表的敏感性、诊断性高于后者,TLX量表的敏感性较弱;WP量表与PAAS量表的效度较好,且好于TLX量表。综合各项指标,在中低难度任务下,WP量表是目前认知负荷较为理想的测量工具。     

Cross‐level interactions of individual trait positive affect,group trait positive affect,and group positive affect diversity

The purpose of the current study is to examine the cross‐level three‐way interactions among individual trait positive affect (PA), group trait PA, and group PA diversity on individual work outcomes. Drawing on situation strength theory, we hypothesized that the relationship of individual trait PA with work outcomes depends on the strength of a group's affective contexts including group trait PA and PA diversity. The hierarchical linear modelling results for 261 employees in 42 South Korean organizational teams showed that individuals' trait PA was positively associated with their team commitment, job satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB). The findings also demonstrated that individual trait PA had the strongest relationship with team commitment when group trait PA was low and PA diversity was high simultaneously. In addition, the relationship between individual trait PA and OCB was found to be stronger for affectively diverse groups than for homogeneous groups.