Measurement of discrimination of separation in elderly persons using a liquid-crystal display and grating method

This study analyzed psychophysical data from younger and elderly people on the influence of spacing between vertical lines, exposure time, and number of vertical lines in a stimulus for visual performance. A total of 50 elderly people and 31 graduate students participated in the experiment. Nine levels of spacing between lines (3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, and 29 points), three exposure times (0.2, 0.6, and 1.0 sec.), and five sets of numbers of lines (4, 5, 6, 7, and 8) were manipulated. Analysis showed enhanced spacing between lines and exposure time improved discrimination of separation. However, although performance on discrimination of separation increased as spacing between lines increased up to 21 points, it was degraded at higher values. A positive effect of number of lines on discrimination of separation was also observed, and performance increased as the number of lines decreased. The effect of age group, i.e., elderly versus younger, on performance was significant. The accuracy of the younger was greater than that for the elderly group. Moreover, three interactive two-way effects were found: group x spacing between lines, number of lines x spacing between lines, and number of lines x exposure time. The present findings could be used as a practical reference in the design of instrument displays in which the operator has to consider the scale and markings on a dial, especially if the display is operated in an emergency or is manipulated by elderly people.     

Involuntary awareness and implicit priming: role of retrieval context

This study examined the role of retrieval context in implicit priming by manipulating percentage of word-stem index as shallow and deep processing while performing a word-stem completion task. 80 subjects were randomly divided into four groups each of 20 subjects: shallow processing or deep processing with few retrieval indices, and shallow processing or deep processing with many retrieval indices. Analysis indicated that proportion of word-stem completion was significantly higher for studied words than for nonstudied words in all four groups and that the subjects in the groups with many retrieval indices had a significantly increased proportion of word-stem completion between studied and nonstudied words than those in the groups with few retrieval indices. Postquestionnaire analysis indicated that more previously studied items were retrieved if many studied items were available during implicit word-stem completion and that only a small proportion of word-stem completion was finished with studied words by the subjects who were aware of the prior studied and test word relations in all four groups. It was concluded that having more studied words retrievable contributed to more being retrieved and that involuntary awareness had very limited influence on the priming in the implicit word-stem completion.     

GGUMLINK: A computer program to link parameter estimates of the generalized graded unfolding model from item response theory

The generalized graded unfolding model (GGUM) is an item response theory (IRT) model that implements symmetric, nonmonotonic, single-peaked item characteristic curves. The GGUM is appropriate for measuring individual differences for a variety of psychological constructs, especially attitudes. Like other IRT models, the location and scale (i.e., the metric) of parameter estimates from the GGUM are data dependent. Therefore, parameter estimates from alternative calibrations will generally not be comparable, even when responses to the same items are analyzed. GGUMLINK is a computer program developed to reexpress parameter estimates from two separate GGUM calibrations in a common metric. In this way, the results from separate calibrations of model parameters can be compared. GGUMLINK can secure a common metric by using one of five methods that have recently been generalized to the GGUM. The GGUMLINK executable program is available free and may be downloaded from http://www.education.umd.edu/EDMS/tutorials/index.html.     

Muscarinic suppression in stratum radiatum of CA1 shows dependence on presynaptic M1 receptors and is not dependent on effects at GABA(B) receptors

Cholinergic modulation of synaptic transmission is vital to memory processes and may be responsible for setting network dynamics in the hippocampus appropriate for encoding of information. found evidence suggesting M1 receptors cause presynaptic inhibition of glutamatergic transmission, while research supports a role of the M2 receptor. We examined muscarinic inhibition of fEPSPs in stratum radiatum of mice lacking m1 subtype receptors (KO) compared to wild type (WT) controls. WT mice exhibit greater suppression of transmission by muscarine as compared to KO in a dose dependent fashion. Oxotremorine shows no significant difference in suppression between WT and KO, while MCN-A-343, an M1 agonist, exhibits a significant difference between KO and WT, with KO showing no suppression. One hundred micromolar SGS-742, a selective GABA(B) antagonist, fails to affect either normal transmission or muscarinic suppression in either WT or KO suggesting that differences in suppression between the groups is not attributable to differences in GABA(B) receptor activation due to muscarinic activation of GABAergic interneurons. These findings support a role for presynaptic m1 mAChRs in modulation of synaptic transmission in CA1, but indicate that other muscarinic receptor subtypes, such as M2, are also involved in suppression of synaptic potentials.     

中小学教师的职业倦怠与工作压力、自尊和控制点的关系研究

本研究旨在探讨中小学教师的职业倦怠与工作压力、自尊和控制点的关系。用教师职业倦怠问卷、工作压力调查表、自尊量表和控制点量表对766名教师进行了问卷调查。结果发现：教师的职业倦怠与工作压力、自尊和控制点之间存在显著的相关关系;教师的工作压力、自尊、控制点分别对职业倦怠的情绪衰竭、非人性化、低成就感具有显著的预测作用。     

Mechanisms linking employee affective delivery and customer behavioral intentions

Past empirical evidence has indicated that employee affective delivery can influence customer reactions (e.g., customer satisfaction, service quality evaluation). This study extends previous research by empirically examining mediating processes underlying the relationship between employee affective delivery and customer behavioral intentions. Data were collected from 352 employee-customer pairs in 169 retail shoe stores in Taiwan. Results showed that the influence of employee affective delivery on customers' willingness to return to the store and pass positive comments to friends was indirect through the mediating processes of customer in-store positive moods and perceived friendliness. The study also indicated that employee affective delivery influences customers' time spent in store, which, in turn, influences customer behavioral intentions.     

中国思想史中"身体观"研究的新视野

本文在评介日本中国“身体观”研究著作的基础上,提出了中国身体观研究的三个新视野：作为思维方法的“身体”、作为精神修养呈现的“身体”与作为展现场所的“身体”,并指出中国文化中身体之“内外交辉”的特质。     

Controllable electron-momentum filter in a δ-doped magnetically modulated semiconductor nanostructure

ABSTRACT

We have theoretically investigated the control of wave-vector filtering (WVF) by introducing δ-doping into a magnetically modulated nanostructure fabricated by depositing ferromagnetic stripes on top and bottom of a GaAs/Al_xGa_{1 ?x}As heterostructure. With the help of an improved transfer matrix method, the Schrödinger equation for electrons in this semiconductor nanostructure is solved exactly and the transmission efficient calculated numerically. We demonstrate that the WVF efficiency is associated closely with the weight and position of the δ-doping, which may be helpful for designing a controllable electron-momentum filter based on such a magnetically modulated semiconductor nanostructure.     

Amorphization of TiNi induced by high-pressure torsion

Using high-resolution electron microscopy, we investigated the initial stages of high-pressure-torsion-induced crystalline-to-amorphous transformation of TiNi. It is found that the deformation-induced amorphization initiated from dislocation core regions in the interior of grains and from grain boundaries. It is believed that both the energy stored in the dislocations and the energy stored in the grain boundaries contribute significantly to driving the crystalline-to-amorphous transformation.     

Core Knowledge and the Emergence of Symbols: The Case of Maps

Map reading is unique to humans but is present in people of diverse cultures, at ages as young as 4 years old. Here, we explore the nature and sources of this ability and ask both what geometric information young children use in maps and what nonsymbolic systems are associated with their map-reading performance. Four-year-old children were given two tests of map-based navigation (placing an object within a small three-dimensional [3D] surface layout at a position indicated on a two-dimensional [2D] map), one focused on distance relations and the other on angle relations. Children also were given two nonsymbolic tasks, testing their use of geometry for navigation (a reorientation task) and for visual form analysis (a deviant-detection task). Although children successfully performed both map tasks, their performance on the two map tasks was uncorrelated, providing evidence for distinct abilities to represent distance and angle on 2D maps of 3D surface layouts. In contrast, performance on each map task was associated with performance on one of the two nonsymbolic tasks: Map-based navigation by distance correlated with sensitivity to the shape of the environment in the reorientation task, whereas map-based navigation by angle correlated with sensitivity to the shapes of 2D forms and patterns in the deviant-detection task. These findings suggest links between one uniquely human, emerging symbolic ability, geometric map use, and two core systems of geometry.