Repetition benefit in mental rotation is independent of stimulus repetition

In this study, we investigated whether there is a repetition benefit in mental rotation that is independent of stimulus repetition (i.e., due to increased efficiency in postencoding processing). Three experiments were conducted, in which different conditions of stimulus repetition (different letters on consecutive trials in Experiment 1, letters of different orientations on consecutive trials in Experiment 2, and priming of rotation direction in Experiment 3) were used, and the extent of repetition of rotation direction between two consecutive trials was manipulated. The results of all three experiments showed clear evidence of a repetition benefit without repeating the stimulus, suggesting that this effect is independent of stimulus repetition and lending support to the notion of increased efficiency in mental rotation as a result of repeated rotation direction per se.     

Two types of behavioral inhibition: Relations to effortful control and attention in school children

This study aimed to examine the relationship of two types of behavioral inhibition, social inhibition and nonsocial inhibition, to effortful control and attention in 7–9-year olds. Social and nonsocial inhibition and effortful control were assessed by questionnaires. The child version of the Attention Network Task was used to measure attention including alerting, orienting and executive attention. Results indicated that in girls, social inhibition was negatively related to effortful control and alerting, while nonsocial inhibition was positively related to orienting; there was an interaction between social and nonsocial inhibition in predicting executive attention in boys. Thus, it is of great significance to differentiate social and nonsocial inhibition when examining the association between behavioral inhibition and effortful control and attention in school-age children.     

Approaching the “Resistant:” Exploring East Asian International Students’ Perceptions of Therapy and Help-Seeking Behavior Before and After They Arrived in the United States

In this study we investigated cultural, familial, and individual beliefs that influenced international students’ perceptions of therapy and help-seeking behaviors. Included were changes in perception or behavior before and after the students came to the US, and factors that influenced help-seeking behaviors. Six international students from East Asian countries where English is a foreign language, including Taiwan, Mainland China, Japan, and South Korea, were interviewed. We used semi-structured interviews and participant observations for collecting data. The findings indicated changes after students came to the US. Further discussions focus on encouraging and discouraging factors relative to seeing therapists, and culturally sensitive interventions for family therapy clinicians.     

The effect of working memory load on the SNARC effect: Maybe tasks have a word to say

We investigated the effect of working memory load on the SNARC (spatial–numerical association of response codes) effect under different number judgment tasks (parity judgment and magnitude comparison), using a novel dual task. Instead of exerting load over the whole block of number judgment trials, in this dual task, number judgment trials were inserted into each interstimulus interval of an n-back task, which served as the working memory load. We varied both load type (verbal and spatial) and amount (1-load, 2-load, and 3-load). The results indicated that the SNARC effect disappeared even under the 1-load condition for a parity judgment, regardless of the type of load. However, during the magnitude comparison task, the SNARC effect increased with increasing load amounts under spatial load conditions; under verbal load conditions, the SNARC effect decreased with increasing amounts of load, and disappeared during the 3-load task. The difference between the parity and magnitude tasks was not attributable to the interval stimuli or task switching. These findings confirm that different spatial–numerical associations for comparing numerical magnitudes and judgments of parity have different needs with respect to working memory resources.     

Factor structure and psychometric properties of the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 in women: a MACS approach to testing for invariance across racial/ethnic groups

This study used data from 3 sites to examine the invariance and psychometric characteristics of the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 across Black, Hispanic, and White mothers of 5th graders (N = 4,711; M = 38.07 years of age, SD = 7.16). Internal consistencies were satisfactory for all subscale scores of the instrument regardless of ethnic group membership. Mean and covariance structures analysis indicated that the hypothesized 3-factor structure of the instrument was not robust across ethnic groups. It provided a reasonable approximation to the data for Black and White women but not for Hispanic women. Tests for differential item functioning (DIF) were therefore conducted for only Black and White women. Analyses revealed no more than trivial instances of nonuniform DIF but more substantial evidence of uniform DIF for 3 of the 18 items. After having established partial strong factorial invariance of the instrument, latent factor means were found to be significantly higher for Black than for White women on all 3 subscales (somatization, depression, anxiety). In conclusion, the instrument may be used for mean comparisons between Black and White women.     

Coordinating spatial referencing using shared gaze

To better understand the problem of referencing a location in space under time pressure, we had two remotely located partners (A, B) attempt to locate and reach consensus on a sniper target, which appeared randomly in the windows of buildings in a pseudorealistic city scene. The partners were able to communicate using speech alone (shared voice), gaze cursors alone (shared gaze), or both. In the shared-gaze conditions, a gaze cursor representing Partner A’s eye position was superimposed over Partner B’s search display and vice versa. Spatial referencing times (for both partners to find and agree on targets) were faster with shared gaze than with speech, with this benefit due primarily to faster consensus (less time needed for one partner to locate the target after it was located by the other partner). These results suggest that sharing gaze can be more efficient than speaking when people collaborate on tasks requiring the rapid communication of spatial information. Supplemental materials for this article may be downloaded from http://pbr.psychonomic-journals.org/content/supplemental.     

简单心算中数学学习困难儿童的数字距离效应

采用事件相关电位(ERP)方法,以阿拉伯数字的简单心算为任务,考察数学学习困难儿童(MD)的数字距离效应。行为数据的结果表明:MD组没有出现数字距离效应,对照组儿童出现了数字距离效应。事件相关电位数据显示:与对照组相比,MD组N270的潜伏期更长;两组被试在N270的波幅和潜伏期上都没有表现出数字距离效应。研究结果表明:MD儿童对数量信息的空间表征存在缺陷。     

初中教师工作满意度的调查研究

对天津市302名初中教师进行调查,以比较不同教师群体的工作满意度状况。结果发现,初中教师工作满意度在性别、年龄、任教年级和学校区域等方面存在显著差异;报酬、进修和工作压力等方面的满意度除人口学变量存在差异外,还在任教年级、学校类型和学校区域等方面存在显著差异。     

看法与论证

本文的主导问题是:我们为自己已经具有的看法进行论证是否多余甚至虚伪?为回答这一问题,我们需要澄清关于论证的一些误解。论证并不只是为了说服别人。从根本上说,论证是把东一处西一处的道理联系起来,使我们获得整体的眼光,或日综观。尽管我们在着手论证之前已经有为之进行论证的看法,但获得了论证的看法,在上述意义上,是一种新的看法。即使我们并没有通过论证达到"共识",论证也并非徒劳,因为它可能有助于多样性之间的相互理解。     

从元分析看传统心理统计的局限性

当前,心理学研究文献中占主导地位的数据分析和解释方法是传统的统计方法。元分析方法已经表明传统的统计方法延缓了心理学理论的创新和知识累积的增长。该文从元分析方法的角度阐述了传统的心理统计在处理研究结果方面的局限性。