The influence of visual short-term memory on size perception

We show that perceived size of visual stimuli can be altered by matches between the contents of visual short-term memory and stimuli in the scene. Observers were presented with a colour cue (to hold in working memory or to merely identify) and subsequently had to indicate which of the two different-coloured objects presented simultaneously on the screen appeared bigger (or smaller). One of the two objects for size judgements had the same colour as the cue (matching stimulus) and the other did not (mismatching stimulus). Perceived object size was decreased by the reappearance of the recently seen cue, as there were more size judgement errors on trials where the matching stimulus was physically bigger (relative to the mismatching stimulus) than on trials where the matching stimulus was physically smaller. The effect occurred regardless of whether the visual cue was actively maintained in working memory or was merely identified. The effect was unlikely generated by the allocation of attention, because shifting attention to a visual stimulus actually increased its perceived size. The findings suggest that visual short-term memory, whether explicit or implicit, can decrease the perceived size of subsequent visual stimuli.     

托马斯"实践智慧"及"智德"思想的意义与价值

托马斯(St. Thomas Aquinas,1224/5～1274)作为士林哲学(Philosophia Scholastica;Scholastic Philosophy)的集大成人物,他以前所未有的周详方式与广大篇幅面对并处理prudentia(prudence)课题,肯定它是理智的"明智",更是四枢德的首德-"智德".智德与其它三种枢德(义德、勇德、节德)并举或连用,为伦理德行的"基本德行"(principal virtues).本文拟从四方面阐明托马斯"实践智慧"、"智德"思想的意义与价值.     

关于世界历史体系的几个问题

近年来,从全球史的角度来理解世界历史已经成为史学界学术研究的一种重要方式。同样是对世界历史问题的把握,却出现了许多不同的观点。出于对学术前沿问题的关注,本刊组织了国内学界同仁对1500年以来的世界历史及其相关问题展开讨论,他们通过会议、书信等方式进行交流、沟通,于是便形成了今天这样的笔谈。从总体上看,这一组笔谈有三个方面的特点:一是突出马克思主义史学观的指导意义。无论是对历史形态的把握,还是对历史具体问题的讨论,始终坚持马克思主义的历史思想。二是多元的历史思维方法。对世界历史,尤其是1500年以来充满动荡和冲突的世界历史,坚持从不同的视角、以不同的思维方式和研究方法,而不是以单向思维的方式去认识,对于寻求历史真理来说十分重要。三是平等对话的讨论方式。资深学者和青年学者可以讨论,作者与作者之间可以讨论,作者与学界其他观点可以讨论。在平等的对话中走到学界前沿,寻求对于这一段历史的真理性的认识。     

领导者的希望和自我效能感对其主观幸福感的影响

该研究采用问卷调查法,检验领导者的希望和自我效能感对其主观幸福感的影响作用。通过对来自重庆市各县、市、区政府机关、公检法和事业行政单位的237名领导者进行调查,将搜集的数据进行层次回归分析、中介效应检验和优势分析,结果显示：希望和自我效能感是领导者的主观幸福感的显著正向预测变量;自我效能感在领导者的希望与其主观幸福感之间有显著的完全中介作用;增强领导者的希望与自我效能感水平对提升领导者的主观幸福感有显著的促进作用。     

Strategic Revenue Management under Uncertainty: A Case Study on Real Estate Projects in India

This paper proposes an approach for strategic revenue management under uncertainty for real estate projects. It integrates three modelling techniques: first, artificial neural network integrated support vector machines for forecasting the profit and loss‐making real estate residential projects; second, analytical network process approach using decision making trials and evaluation laboratory methodology for establishing interrelationships among factors; and third, multiobjective genetic algorithm approach for obtaining optimal numbers and types of apartments in a real estate project. We compare the respective revenues generated with the new number of apartments and price from the suggested revenue maximization model and that of the old practiced one through a case study of India. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Why and how to use virtual reality to study human social interaction: The challenges of exploring a new research landscape

As virtual reality (VR) technology and systems become more commercially available and accessible, more and more psychologists are starting to integrate VR as part of their methods. This approach offers major advantages in experimental control, reproducibility, and ecological validity, but also has limitations and hidden pitfalls which may distract the novice user. This study aimed to guide the psychologist into the novel world of VR, reviewing available instrumentation and mapping the landscape of possible systems. We use examples of state-of-the-art research to describe challenges which research is now solving, including embodiment, uncanny valley, simulation sickness, presence, ethics, and experimental design. Finally, we propose that the biggest challenge for the field would be to build a fully interactive virtual human who can pass a VR Turing test – and that this could only be achieved if psychologists, VR technologists, and AI researchers work together.     

Unconscious integration of pointing relation between two masked arrows

In the present study, by using a briefly masked prime display paradigm, we investigated whether the pointing relation (same or different) between two unconsciously perceived arrows in the prime could be processed. Since only motor response priming can reflect unconscious processing of two arrows’ pointing-direction relation (i.e., a relational integration), we could distinguish the motor response priming from the visual priming in this study which in other studies were not separated. We also manipulated the prime-to-target stimulus onset asynchronies (SOA) by using a 70?ms and a 180?ms SOA. In this experiment, two masked arrow signs pointing in the same or different directions (> > or > <) were simultaneously presented in the prime, followed by two arrow symbols also pointing in the same or different directions in the target. The participants were asked to decide whether the two arrows in the target were pointing in the same or different directions. The results did not show any visual priming effect, but did show that the unconsciously perceived pointing relation in the prime elicited a positive motor response priming effect in RT under the 70?ms SOA condition, and a negative motor response priming effect in accuracy under the 180?ms SOA condition. The results were discussed in terms of self-motor-inhibition (or mask-triggered inhibition) and attention mechanisms. Overall, this study indicated that the pointing relation between the two subliminal arrows in the prime could influence the subsequent responses to the target and suggested that people can integrate unconsciously perceived information.     

The Historic Peace Churches and the Reformations

This contribution considers the broad historical and theological category of Reformation and Reformations in relation to the Historic Peace Churches before turning to a more detailed consideration of recent and contemporary meaning of Reformation(s) in selected settings and needs: Mennonites in Taiwan; Friends in East Africa, especially Tanzania; and the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria. Reformation insights of the 16th, 17th, and early 18th centuries continue to inform, inspire, and sustain Mennonite, Quaker, and Brethren communities in contexts quite different from those in which our communities arose and from one another.     

从概念界定角度看控制感研究中的问题

在目前关于“控制感”的研究中,概念界定一直是困扰许多研究者的问题。研究从控制源、自我效能感两个概念出发,阐述控制感概念与两者之间存在区别,包含更多的内容,提出控制感概念界定可以从方向和强度上予以考虑,并将控制感定义为：个体相信自己能够影响事件地进行而获得所期望结果的程度,而且这种影响是由个体自己而非外界的因素来决定的。概念的清晰界定对于今后控制感的测量和理论发展有着较大的益处。     

Visual pattern memory requires foraging function in the central complex of Drosophila

The role of the foraging (for) gene, which encodes a cyclic guanosine-3',5'-monophosphate (cGMP)-dependent protein kinase (PKG), in food-search behavior in Drosophila has been intensively studied. However, its functions in other complex behaviors have not been well-characterized. Here, we show experimentally in Drosophila that the for gene is required in the operant visual learning paradigm. Visual pattern memory was normal in a natural variant rover (for(R)) but was impaired in another natural variant sitter (for(S)), which has a lower PKG level. Memory defects in for(S) flies could be rescued by either constitutive or adult-limited expression of for in the fan-shaped body. Interestingly, we showed that such rescue also occurred when for was expressed in the ellipsoid body. Additionally, expression of for in the fifth layer of the fan-shaped body restored sufficient memory for the pattern parameter "elevation" but not for "contour orientation," whereas expression of for in the ellipsoid body restored sufficient memory for both parameters. Our study defines a Drosophila model for further understanding the role of cGMP-PKG signaling in associative learning/memory and the neural circuit underlying this for-dependent visual pattern memory.