How do giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) respond to varying properties of enrichments? A comparison of behavioral profiles among five enrichment items

This study investigated the responses of 14 giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) to 5 enrichment items (3 manipulable objects, 2 feeding devices) that possess different properties affording varying behavioral opportunities. Enrichment items were quantitatively described by using 12 properties. Pandas displayed no preferences among the 5 enrichment treatments, all of which had similar positive effects on behavioral measures of well-being (behavioral diversity, stereotypy). However, each item promoted a distinct behavioral profile, readily mapped onto the enrichment's properties. These results suggest that it may be important to stimulate behavioral diversity but that specific behaviors or enrichment properties are not required. The unique behavioral topography seen with these enrichments also suggests that providing multiple enrichments with varying properties will maximize overall behavioral diversity.     

Cross- and within-cultural variations in children's understanding of distance, time, and speed interrelationships: a follow-up study

A problem with interpretations of differences in mathematic achievement between students from Asian countries and those from the United States is the seemingly implicit assumption of the cultural homogeneity of Asian societies. Researchers rarely measure the effects of variables within cultures that are hypothesized to be related to differences across cultures. In the present study, the authors examined the effects of socioeconomic status (SES) and quality of instruction on Chinese students' (1st, 3rd, and 5th grades) understanding of distance, time, and speed. The results indicated that (a) low SES in China can impede the development of children's mathematical cognition and (b) higher SES does not guarantee better performance. The implication is that the gap in mathematical performance between socioeconomically advantaged and disadvantaged children can be narrowed or even eliminated through instructional practices that focus on the systematic training of children's mathematical thinking.     

New lessons from knockout mice: The role of serotonin during development and its possible contribution to the origins of neuropsychiatric disorders

Serotonin (5-HT) modulates numerous processes in the central nervous system that are relevant to neuropsychiatric function and dysfunction. It exerts significant effects on anxiety, mood, impulsivity, sleep, ingestive behavior, reward systems, and psychosis. Serotonergic dysfunction has been implicated in several psychiatric conditions but efforts to more clearly understand the mechanisms of this influence have been hampered by the complexity of this system at the receptor level. There are at least 14 distinct receptors that mediate the effects of 5-HT as well as several enzymes that control its synthesis and metabolism. Pharmacologic agents that target specific receptors have provided clues regarding the function of these receptors in the human brain. 5-HT is also an important modulator of neural development and several groups have employed a genetic strategy relevant to behavior. Several inactivation mutations of specific 5-HT receptors have been generated producing interesting behavioral phenotypes related to anxiety, depression, drug abuse, psychosis, and cognition. In many cases, knockout mice have been used to confirm what has already been suspected based on pharmacologic studies. In other instances, mutations have demonstrated new functions of serotonergic genes in development and behavior.     

Relational scaffolding of school motivation: developmental continuities in students' and parents' ratings of the importance of school goals

The authors investigated whether parents and students are consistent, over grade levels, in the importance they assign to school goals. Elementary and high school students (n = 178) and their parents (n = 130) completed a questionnaire addressing the personal importance of students' school goals, defined in terms of school success. Parent-child consistencies in the rating patterns of school goals over grade levels were more common than were inconsistencies. These developmental consistencies support the position that students' school goals are embedded within the parent-child relationship (J. Youniss, 1980; J. Youniss & J. Smollar, 1985) and are scaffolded within it (J. S. Bruner, 1975; L. S. Vygotsky, 1978). Potential sources of relational and phenotypic influences on school goals are discussed, as is the need for effective friendship management and school performance in high school.     

Beyond the Obvious: Chronic Vividness of Imagery and the Use of Information in Decision Making

The authors investigate two competing hypotheses about how chronic vividness of imagery interacts with the vividness and salience of information in decision making. Results from four studies, covering a variety of decision domains, indicate that chronic imagery vividness rarely amplifies the effects of vivid and salient information. Imagery vividness may, in fact, attenuate the effects of vivid and salient information. This is because, relative to nonvivid imagers, vivid imagers rely less on information that appears obvious and rely more on information that seems less obvious. This tendency is so robust that vividness of imagery may amplify the effects of vivid information only when this information is the only information available in the decision field. The findings seem to reflect vivid imagers' tendency to totally immerse themselves in a decision problem and scrutinize the available information creatively.     

从中德儿童技术创造性跨文化研究结果看性别差异

研究者通过对中德儿童技术创造性跨文化研究结果的综合分析,着重讨论了在差异心理学领域一直十分受人关注的性别差异问题。结果发现,无论是中国儿童还是德国儿童,无论是超常儿童还是常态儿童,性别差异具有基本稳定的趋势,而且,在不同的方面具有不完全一致的表现形式。具体表现为：（１）在数字、图形和实用创造性思维方面,在中国和德国儿童中都没有发现创造性思维方面的性别差异;（２）在心理折叠、学习爱好、技术问题理解和     

Color filling-in under steady fixation: behavioral demonstration in monkeys and humans

Color filling-in is a phenomenon in which the color of an object appears to be filled-in by the color of the surrounding field. We have studied the question of whether monkeys perceive color filling-in with near-foveal stimuli under steady fixation. Two monkeys were trained to fixate steadily and to attend to a disk, surrounded by an annulus of the complementary color, in parafoveal vision. Using displays in which the color of the disk was gradually changed to that of the annulus, we trained the animals to signal when they perceived a uniform color field. During the experiment, we introduced a small percentage of trials in which the disk color remained constant, and looked for 'filling-in' responses in these trials. Three human subjects were also tested for comparison. All subjects produced 'filling-in' responses with frequencies that were significantly higher for static disks with blurred borders than for moving disks or disks with sharp borders. This indicates that the monkeys' responses reflected perceptual filling-in, rather than random behavior. The time course of filling-in was similar in monkeys and humans. For the blurred static disks, responses occurred first after 3-4 s of fixation, reaching a probability of 0.2-0.8 by the end of 6 s, depending on the subject.     

Chinese children's imaginary companions: Relations with peer relationships and social competence

We investigated relationships between Chinese children's imaginary companions (ICs) and peer relationships and social competence in 160 children, aged 5–6 years old. Children and their mothers participated in the interviews regarding the details of the children's ICs, including the type of the companion and the quality of the child–IC relationship. Peer relationships were assessed using sociometric nomination and perceived popularity nomination. Teachers rated children's social competence. Here, 55 children (34.3%) were deemed to have engaged in imaginary companion play. There was no relationship between imaginary companion types and child–IC relationship qualities. Children with invisible friends received more positive nominations than children with personified objects. Children with egalitarian relationships received more positive nominations and popularity nominations, but fewer negative nominations and unpopularity nominations than children with hierarchical relationships. Compared with children with hierarchical relationships, teachers rated the children with egalitarian relationships higher in social competence. The results suggest that imaginary companion types and relationship qualities may represent different dimensions of imaginary companions, calling attentions to the different mechanisms underlying imaginary companion types and relationship qualities with respect to social functioning.     

当代知识论:出场路径及其作为方法论和认识论

<正>当代知识论(contemporary theory of knowledge)作为哲学运动,是两股支流的汇合:一是它作为关于"知识是信念"的理论,乃孕育于作为方法论的分析哲学;二是它作为关于主体之经验直观能力的理论,乃是对从笛卡尔到康德的传统认识论的延伸。这决定了它包括两个部分,分别作为方法论和认识论。     

The nonlinear effects of conscientiousness on overall job performance and performance dimensions in the Chinese context

The relationship between conscientiousness and job performance has been found to be nonlinear in the West, which challenges conceptually and empirically the traditional assumption of the single linear relationship. In this research, we examined the nonlinear effects of conscientiousness on both overall job performance and performance dimensions (i.e., task performance, adaptive performance and contextual performance) in the Chinese context. The results of our two studies supported some evidence for the nonlinear effect of conscientiousness on overall job performance. In addition, it was found that conscientiousness has different (linear or nonlinear) effects on performance dimensions. These findings suggest that the nonlinear effects of conscientiousness on job performance deserve further investigation, and a distinction should be made with regard to job performance in personnel evaluation. Results are discussed in terms of the significance of considering the nonlinear relationship between conscientiousness and performance criteria.