5—13岁儿童空间认知发展的研究——判别相等面积的再探

本实验是《5—11岁儿童两种空间关系认知发展的实验研究》的继续,但将内部被占面积改为圆形。结果表明:儿童判别面积从直觉判断发展到推理判断之间经历一种过渡形态。表现为,在同一判别中直觉和推理活动交错;能将被占面积各部分整合成整体,但对剩余面积部分的判别受直觉因素束缚;理解等量减等量所余相等原理,但不能用来解决面临的课题等四种形式。完成这种过渡需要解决三个相互联系的问题。也再次证明儿童判别面积这种空间认知发展,在一定年龄范围存在着阶段性特点,同时儿童这种认知能力的显露程度又以课题条件难易为转移。     

Activity of wrist muscles elicited during imposed or voluntary movements about the elbow joint

To examine the coordination of muscles during multijoint movement, we compared the response of wrist muscles to perturbations about the elbow joint with their activation during a volitional elbow movement. The purpose was to test the following two predictions: (a) Responses can occur in muscles not stretched by the perturbation, as has been reported for other multijoint systems; and (b) the motor pattern in response to a perturbation mimics an opposing volitional motor pattern across the two joints. We recorded the electromyographic (EMG) activity of elbow and wrist muscles as well as the flexion/extension motions at the elbow and wrist joints during individual trials that either involved a response to a torque perturbation that extended the elbow or required volitional elbow flexion. The results of this study confirmed that responses were elicited in the nonstretched wrist muscles when the elbow joint was perturbed. The same motor sequence of elbow and wrist flexors was present for both the volitional and perturbation task (with the forearm supinated), regardless of whether the wrist joint was immobilized or freely moving. The findings suggest that the nervous system relies on the purposeful coupling of elbow and wrist flexors to counter the inertial effects during the unrestricted voluntary movement, even though the coupling does not appear to be purposeful during the perturbation or with the wrist immobilized. The coupling of elbow and wrist flexors, however, was not rigidly fixed, as evidenced by muscle onsets that adapted over repeated perturbation trials and a reversal of the wrist muscle activated (wrist extensor) when the forearm was pronated. Hence, the coupling of muscle activities can be modified quantitatively when not beneficial and can be altered qualitatively with different initial configurations of the arm.     

Manifest needs of prospective counselors: a comparative study

Mean performances of 81 prospective counselors on each of the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS; Edwards, 1959) needs were analyzed and statistically compared with performances of elementary school counselors, other school counselors, urban college students, professional women, Roman Catholic sisters, and the 1959 EPPS norm samples. Performances of the men and women in the prospective counselor group were similar. Men had a significantly higher need for achievement and dominance, but the significance did not reach .01. Two EPPS needs, intraception and nurturance, consistently differentiated the prospective counselor group. Comparisons across samples indicated that prospective counselors were most similar to the two counseling samples and, for the female subgroup of prospective counselors, to the sample of professional women. Largest across-sample differences were found between the female prospective counselors and the Roman Catholic sisters, between the female prospective counselors and norm samples of female college students and female adults, and between the male prospective counselors and the male adult norm sample.     

Intelligence and race: further comments on J. P. Rushton's work.

A review of some implications of J.P. Rushton's 1988 and 1990 work on racial differences in brain mass (size or weight) suggests that his comments do not constitute a viable scientific theory.     

Manual discrimination of force using active finger motion

In these experiments, two plates were grasped between the thumb and forefinger and squeezed together along a linear track. An electromechanical system presented a constant resistance force during the squeeze up to a predetermined location on the track, whereupon the force effectively went to infinity (simulating a wall) or to zero (simulating a cliff). The task of the subject was to discriminate between two alternative levels of the constant resistance force (a reference level and a reference-plus-increment level). Results of these experiments indicate a just noticeable difference of roughly 7% of the reference force using a one-interval paradigm with trial-by-trial feedback over the ranges 2.5≤F _o≤10.0 newtons, 5≤D≤30 mm, 45≤S≤125 mm, and 25≤V≤160 mm/sec, whereF _o is the reference force,D is the distance squeezed,S is the initial finger-span, andV is the mean velocity of the squeeze. These results, based on tests with 5 subjects, are consistent with a wide range of previous results, some of which are associated with other body surfaces and muscle systems and many of which were obtained with different psychophysical methods.     

Factors affecting entrapment in escalating conflicts: The importance of timing

Entrapping conflicts are those in which individuals continue to invest their resources—even in seemingly losing propositions-in large part to justify previous unfilled expenditures. It has been demonstrated that individuals define their motivation for investing very differently at the various stages of an entrapping conflict. One implication of this motivational dynamic is that various factors may differentially affect degree of entrapment (i.e., amount invested), depending upon the point in time at which they are introduced. The present studies were designed to test this notion. All subjects were given an initial monetary stake and had the opportunity to win more by taking part in an entrapping investment situation. In Experiment 1, half the subjects were provided with a payoff chart that made salient the costs associated with investing (Highcost salience condition) whereas half were not (Low-cost salience condition). Moreover, for half of the subjects the payoff chart was introduced before they were asked to invest (Early condition) whereas for the other half it was introduced after they had invested a considerable portion of their resources (Late condition). Entrapment was lower in the High salience-Early than in the Low salience-Early condition. However, there was no difference between groups in the Late condition. In Experiment 2, the perceived presence of an audience interacted with personality variables related to face-saving to effect entrapment. When the audience was described as “experts in decision making,” subjects high in public self-consciousness (or social anxiety) became less entrapped than those low on these dimensions. When the audience consisted of individuals who “wished simply to observe the experimental procedure,” however, high public self-consciousness (or social anxiety) individuals were significantly more entrapped than lows. Moreover, these interaction effects occurred when the audience was introduced late, but not early, into the entrapment situation. Taken together, these (and other) findings suggest that economic factors are more influential determinants of behavior in the earlier stages of an entrapping conflict, whereas face-saving variables are more potent in the later phases. Alternative explanations are discussed.     

4-6岁儿童认知发展过程中直接认知成分与间接认知成分相互关系的研究

本实验是分析学前儿童认知过程中三种不同的条件(实物、照片、语言指示)对儿童计数、操作和比较活动的影响,探讨认知的各直接成分和各间接成分的关系在儿童认知发展中的作用;并了解3—6岁儿童在三种认知活动中的特点。     

豚尾猴(Macaca nemestrina)等灵长类动物反转学习的比较研究

不同种类猿猴脑高级机能的比较生理心理研究的资料很少,并且意见不完全一致。和(1997)曾报道黑猩猩较阿拉伯狒有较大的推断能力。Shell和Riopelle(1958)报道阔鼻猴蜘蛛猴(Ateles geoffroyi),卷尾猴(Cebus albifrons)     

睡眠剥夺时大鼠电休克阈值的变化

我们在研究睡眠剥夺影响大鼠记忆巩固的实验中,观察到睡眠剥夺引起大鼠条件反射的反应时(R T_(CR))明显缩短。我们认为,这可能反映了动物在睡眠剥夺后脑的兴奋性有所升高,本实验用电休克阈值作指标验证这一看法。     

An automated eye movement laboratory for on-line electrooculography

This paper describes an automated eye movement laboratory that uses electrooculography (EOG) to study people’s eye movements while they read. An on-line minicomputer processes bioelectric potentials that correspond to saccadic eye movements. Horizontal saccades larger than 1.5 deg of visual angle are detected and analyzed in real-time as they occur. The laboratory is designed for prolonged yet unobtrusive observation of human eye movements during sustained reading periods of minutes or hours. All important functions regarding data collection and data reduction are performed automatically, according to simple procedures that can be applied uniformly and without bias to nearly all subjects that we study. Results from three experiments are cited in order to quantify the performance of the laboratory with respect to four criteria: saccade detection accuracy, measurement accuracy, sensitivity, and the uniformity of these measures over different subjects.