A cognitive approach to game usability and design: mental model development in novice real-time strategy gamers.

We developed a technique to observe and characterize a novice real-time-strategy (RTS) player's mental model as it shifts with experience. We then tested this technique using an off-the-shelf RTS game, EA Games Generals. Norman defined mental models as, "an internal representation of a target system that provides predictive and explanatory power to the operator." In the case of RTS games, the operator is the player and the target system is expressed by the relationships within the game. We studied five novice participants in laboratory-controlled conditions playing a RTS game. They played Command and Conquer Generals for 2 h per day over the course of 5 days. A mental model analysis was generated using player dissimilarity-ratings of the game's artificial intelligence (AI) agents analyzed using multidimensional scaling (MDS) statistical methods. We hypothesized that novices would begin with an impoverished model based on the visible physical characteristics of the game system. As they gained experience and insight, their mental models would shift and accommodate the functional characteristics of the AI agents. We found that all five of the novice participants began with the predicted physical-based mental model. However, while their models did qualitatively shift with experience, they did not necessarily change to the predicted functional-based model. This research presents an opportunity for the design of games that are guided by shifts in a player's mental model as opposed to the typical progression through successive performance levels.     

The ground dominance effect in the perception of relative distance in 3-D scenes is mainly due to characteristics of the ground surface

Previously, we (Bian, Braunstein, and& Andersen, 2005) reported a dominance effect of the ground plane over other environmental surfaces in determining the perceived relative distance of objects in 3-D scenes. In the present study, we conducted three experiments to investigate whether this ground dominance is due to inherent differences between ground and ceiling surfaces, or to the locations of these surfaces in the visual field. In Experiment 1, two vertical posts were positioned between a ground surface and a ceiling surface, and optical contact was manipulated so that the two surfaces provided contradictory information about the relative distances of the posts from the participant. The two surfaces were either both above, both below, or one above and one below fixation. In Experiment 2, only one surface was presented, either above, below, or at fixation. In Experiment 3, the posts were replaced by two red dots, and the eccentricity of the optical contact on the two surfaces was equated in each of five locations in the visual field. In all three experiments, participants judged which of the two objects appeared to be closer. Overall, we found a higher proportion of judgments consistent with a ground surface than with a ceiling surface in all locations, indicating that the ground dominance effect is mainly due to characteristics of the ground surface, with location in the visual field having only a minor effect.     

The ground dominance effect in the perception of 3-D layout

The relative effectiveness of the ground surface and other environmental surfaces (the ceiling and sidewalls) in determining perceived layout was investigated in five experiments and a real-world demonstration. In the first three experiments, two vertical or horizontal posts were positioned between two surfaces (ground and ceiling in all three experiments, left wall and right wall in Experiment 1), and optical contact was manipulated so that the two surfaces provided contradictory information about the relative distances of the posts. Observers judged which of the two posts appeared to be closer. In Experiment 4, to control the height on the posts at which the distance judgments were made, a blue dot was attached to both vertical posts at varying heights and observers judged which dot appeared closer. In Experiment 5, the posts were replaced by two gray ellipses to eliminate the effects of the regular shape and texture. Our findings were that (1) among all four surfaces tested, observers showed a preference to respond according to the optical contact information provided by the ground surface--a ground dominance effect, (2) this effect did not depend on the height of the posts in the image, (3) as the scene was tilted away from a ground/ceiling orientation, the ground dominance effect decreased, and (4) this effect was not due to the location of the judgment.     

Hearing about a story character's negative emotional reaction to having been dishonest causes young children to cheat less

There is extensive research on the development of cheating in early childhood but research on how to reduce it is rare. The present preregistered study examined whether telling young children about a story character's emotional reactions towards cheating could significantly reduce their tendency to cheat (N = 400; 199 boys; Age: 3–6 years). Results showed that telling older kindergarten children about the story character's negative emotional reaction towards rule violation significantly reduced cheating, but telling them about the positive emotional reaction towards rule adherence did not. These results show that children as young as age 5 are able to use information about another child's emotional reaction to guide their own moral behavior. In particular, highlighting another child's negative emotional reaction towards a moral transgression may be an effective way to reduce cheating in early childhood. This finding, along with earlier cheating reduction findings, suggests that although cheating is common in early childhood, simple methods can reduce its occurrence.     

Double challenges: How working from home affects dual-earner couples’ work-family experiences

Against the backdrop of COVID-19 pandemic, we draw on family systems theory to elucidate how daily work-from-home status (WFH) affects both members in dual-earner couples. We propose that the WFH exerts intra-individual and inter-individual influences on employees’ and their partners’ work task and family task completion and their subsequent reactions to their work and family experiences. We examined the hypothesized relationships with two daily survey studies on dual-earner couples conducted during the pandemic (i.e., 1,559 daily responses of 165 dual-earner couples from China in Study 1, and 773 daily responses of 57 dual-earner couples from South Korea in Study 2). The two studies provide converging results that working from home (vs. office) increased employees’ family task completion for both husbands and wives and that wives working from home (vs. office) decreased husbands’ family task completion. Further, in both studies, daily work task completion increased felt guilt toward family (for wives only) through increased work-family conflict, and daily family task completion increased psychological withdrawal from work through increased family-work conflict for both husbands and wives. Moreover, we found in Study 2 that on days when husbands had flexible work schedule, wives completed more work tasks when working from home (vs. office) and that on days when wives had inflexible work arrangement, husbands completed more family tasks when working from home (vs. office). Across the two studies, there were no clear gender-difference patterns in husbands’ and wives’ work and family experiences.     

COVID-19 lockdown anxiety harms newcomers' job satisfaction: A cross-lagged panel analysis during snap lockdowns in China

The COVID-19 pandemic may have been a difficult time to join a new organization. Drawing on the feelings-as-information theory, this study explores how COVID-19 lockdown anxiety influenced newcomers' job satisfaction during their first few months of work. We tested 357 new employees working in 84 cities across China. We conducted a longitudinal study, and participants were invited to complete the same survey at two time points. Cross-lagged panel analysis was conducted to test our hypotheses. We confirmed that COVID-19 lockdown anxiety at Time 1 predicted less job satisfaction at Time 2, whereas the data did not support the idea of reverse causality. These findings suggest public health crises like the pandemic can impact newcomers' job satisfaction, especially during China's Zero-Covid Policy.     

自我同一性状态对时间透视体验的结构关系研究

用自编的大学生自我同一性状态量表和时间秀视体检量表对６４１名大学生时间透视的心理结构关系进行了测量。结果表明,在自人达成型与扩散两种没的同一性状态下,不仅对过去、现在、预期未来和理想未来的时间体验上均有积极与消极之分,而且在各种时间体验之间的结构关系上,前者的结构更为清晰,后者更为混乱,从而初步证实了自我同一性状在时间透视体验中的整合作用。     

立体视觉研究中心理物理学和生理学实验的系统及其方法

双眼立体视觉涉及复杂的神经机制,因此在研究这个问题时,一般只能从某一侧面或某种方法入手,本文重点研究采用计算机控制的多功能刺激图形的产生及其在心理物理学研究中的效果,同时介绍了一种可以广泛用于立体视觉研究中的多功能刺激图形发生系统的工作原理和结构设计。     

时间判断的视听通道效应的实验研究

该实验用视觉或听觉两种方式一次呈现两个时距,随机地指定其中的一个时距要求被试立即再现或延迟5秒再现。实验结果表明:①对短时距信息(1秒,1.5秒,2秒)的判断,听觉比视觉具有明显的优势,听觉的再现时距较精确,延迟对听觉的时间信息检测的破坏作用较小;而对长时距信息(10秒,11秒,12秒)的判断,却未发现听觉比视觉有优势现象。②通道效应的产生机制源于记忆的特点而不是感觉储存的特点。③对短时距的判断通常表现为正时间顺序误差,而对长时距的判断则表现为负时间顺序误差。     

谈判心理研究发展述评

20世纪60年代和70年代,谈判是社会心理学研究中一个非常活跃的领域。但70年代后期,谈判研究因认知心理学的兴起而衰落。80年代早期,谈判这一领域在心理学研究中再度兴起,谈判的行为决定研究成为这一时期主流。但90年代后期谈判的社会心理学研究复兴,一度消失的社会因素再次成为谈判研究的热点。该文回顾了西方谈判心理研究的发展,探讨了导致谈判心理研究发展中所发生的诸多变化的原因,并展望了其将来的发展方向。