词切分对语文学优生与学困生阅读影响的眼动研究

采用EyeLink II眼动仪,以小学二年级语文学优生和学困生为被试,考察词切分对句子阅读的影响.实验设置四种空格呈现条件:正常无空格条件、字间空格条件、词间空格条件和非词空格条件.研究表明:(1)小学二年级学生阅读词间空格文本、字间空格文本和正常无空格文本效果相同.(2)与语文学优生相比,学困生阅读任何条件的句子需要更多的注视时间和注视次数.非词空格呈现条件对学困生的干扰更大,表明学困生更依赖文本的低水平信息.文章最后探讨了汉语阅读的基本信息单元问题.     

中学生消费决策风格的特点及其与家庭理财教育方式的关系

该研究以377名中学生为被试,探讨了中学生消费决策风格的特点及其与家庭理财教育方式的关系。结果表明:(1)中学生消费决策风格部分符合Shim(1996)提出的二阶模型(包括质量导向、非理性导向、享乐导向和价格导向等四个二阶因子);(2)中学生消费决策风格的年级差异不显著,性别差异显著,男生在品牌导向上高于女生,在流行导向和娱乐导向上低于女生;(3)中学生消费决策风格可划分为决策随意型、决策紊乱型、决策理智型和决策实惠型;(4)父母消极的理财教育方式会导致中学生形成非理性导向或享乐导向的消费决策风格,而积极的教育引导则能在一定程度上减弱中学生的非理性决策风格,促进其形成质量导向的决策风格。     

基于文化的心理复原力研究

随着对个体心理复原力研究不断深入,文化作为影响个体心理复原力的重要因素日益受到关注,研究者在厘清文化与复原力之间的关系后,尝试以积极心理学的视角,将中国传统文化中"天人合一"、"以人为本"、"自强不息"、"厚德载物"等文化精神引入到个体心理复原力发展的过程中,为个体心理复原力的研究贡献价值。     

玛雅历法和2012年预言

本文详细介绍分析了玛雅"长数"历法中对2012年的"预言"以及相关的几种玛雅历法。玛雅各种历法的产生和运用都和玛雅创世神话及宗教信仰直接相关。文中列举了玛雅纪念碑和手抄本中的历史记载。从玛雅历法的循环性质可以得出结论:2012年12月23日并非玛雅人预告的"世界末日",而仅仅是一个记日历法中一个循环期的结束和另一个循环期的开始。     

Stress induces glucocorticoid-mediated apoptosis of rat Leydig cells in vivo

Stress can disrupt endocrine signalling in the male reproductive axis through high concentrations of glucocorticoids, the hallmark of stress. Our previous work revealed that a stress level of exogenous glucocorticoids could induce apoptosis of rat Leydig cells, which are the primary source of testosterone. The aim of this study was to investigate whether stress can induce apoptosis in rat Leydig cells in vivo and, if so, whether the process is the result of a direct effect of glucocorticoids. In a chronically stressed rat model, serum corticosterone concentration was increased significantly whereas serum testosterone was decreased. The frequency of apoptotic Leydig cells in stressed rats was also increased. Adrenalectomised rats subjected to chronic stress showed an elevated serum testosterone, while the apoptotic frequency of Leydig cells was not increased. It was established that glucocorticoid-induced Leydig cell apoptosis is mediated by glucocorticoid receptors (GRs), which translocate from cytoplasm to nucleus. Adenovirus microRNA-induced downregulation of GR expression in vitro alleviated the corticosterone-induced increase in apoptosis of Leydig cells. These results indicate that the stress-induced increase in corticosterone secretion resulted in apoptosis in rat Leydig cells in vivo, and thereby decreased testosterone synthesis.     

Smaller holistic processing of faces associated with face drawing experience

The type of experience involved with an object category has been regarded as one important factor in shaping of the human object recognition system. Laboratory training studies have shown that different kinds of learning experience with the same set of novel objects resulted in different perceptual and neural changes. Whether this applies to natural real-world objects remains to be seen. We compared two groups of observers who had different learning experiences with faces, using holistic processing as a dependent measure. We found that, while ordinary observers had extensive individuation experience with faces and displayed typical holistic face processing, art students who had acquired additional experience in drawing faces, and thus in attending to parts of a face, showed less holistic processing than did ordinary observers. These results converge with laboratory training studies on the role of type of experience in the development of different perceptual markers for different object categories. It is thus insufficient to categorize expertise simply in terms of object domains (e.g., expertise with faces). Instead, perceptual expertise should be classified in terms of the underlying process or task demand.     

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.     

The nature and consequences of topic avoidance in Chinese and Taiwanese close relationships

Two studies examined topic avoidance in Chinese and Taiwanese opposite‐sex friendships and romantic relationships. Five areas of topic avoidance emerged through analytic induction and cluster analysis: negative appraisal, relational issues, sexual issues, politics, and personal experience. Partner protection, negative relational impact, and self inefficacy emerged as the most common reasons for avoidance. Results revealed that friends, relative to romantic partners, engaged in higher levels of topic avoidance. Taiwanese participants, moreover, avoided discussing politics to a greater extent than did mainland Chinese participants. Lacking closeness was the main reason behind avoidance of political discussion. Topic avoidance was also linked to relationship quality, as relational satisfaction negatively predicted relational issue avoidance and topic avoidance breadth (i.e. the number of topics regularly avoided in the relationship). The authors explain these and other findings based on Chinese cultural codes and historically‐embedded concepts that shape interpersonal interaction.     

Personal Growth and Meaning in Life Among First-Time Mothers and Grandmothers

This cross-sectional study examined personal growth and meaning in life among mothers and grandmothers who recently went through major transitions in a woman’s life. It investigated the contribution of the internal resources of perception of self (self-esteem) and perceived characteristics of the situation (cognitive appraisal of threat, challenge, and self-efficacy) and the external resource of perceived social support, as well as two background variables: age, and frequency of meetings between mothers and grandmothers. Participants were 152 first-time mothers 6–24?months after delivery, and their own mothers who were first-time grandmothers (n?=?152). The results showed differential contributions to meaning in life and personal growth in the two generations, indicating that the proposed variables can indeed explain growth and meaning in life in these life stages. They reveal not only the similarities and differences between the response of mothers and grandmothers to these parallel life transitions, but also how information about one generation may help explain the response of the other. The different patterns of associations which emerged for growth and meaning in life are also discussed.     

Birth cohort changes in Chinese adolescents' mental health

In China, rapid economic growth and increasing social problems constitute two basic characteristics of contemporary social change. During the process of dramatic social change, an emerging question is how adolescents' mental health has changed across birth cohorts. The present paper reviews four studies of crosstemporal meta-analysis conducted by us. By meta-analysis of previous literature, we examined changes in mean scores on mental health measures over time (from the early 1990s to the mid-2000s). It was found that since the early 1990s, Chinese adolescents' mental health deteriorated across birth cohorts, shown in increased scores on the negative indicators of mental health (e.g. mental problems, anxiety, and depression), whereas self-esteem as a positive trait decreased. The dropping trend in Chinese adolescents' mental health could be attributed to social change, especially increasing social problems. Therefore, adequate attention must be paid to potential influences of social change on individuals' psychological development.