Teamwork and flow proneness mitigate the negative effect of excess challenge on flow state

Flow theory postulates that flow experience is the most intense under high-challenge/high-skill conditions, whereas an excess of challenge is aversive. This study explores potential moderators that may offset the negative impact of overly high challenge on flow state. The literature suggests that a situational factor, teamwork, and a dispositional factor, flow proneness, may moderate the relationship between challenge and flow state. We tested these moderators with Hong Kong Chinese students whose optimal condition for experiencing flow was biased toward low-challenge/high-skill. A total of 128 participants played puzzles in three challenge levels both alone and in pairs. Although challenge level was negatively associated with flow state, dyadic (team) game (compared with solitary game) and flow proneness mitigated the negative relationship between challenge and flow state. These findings shed light on factors that promote enjoyment in challenging activities even among people in cultures that are prudent about challenges.     

Supervisor Support for Employee Performance in Australia: Mediating Role of Work‐Life Balance,Job, and Life Attitude

Drawing on the job‐demands resources model, we investigated the relationship between supervisor support and employee performance and the mediating effects of work‐life balance (WLB), job and life satisfaction, and organizational commitment in a sample of 305 financial‐sector employees in Sydney, Australia. Results reveal that supervisor support is positively related to employee performance, WLB, job and life satisfaction, and organizational commitment. In turn, WLB, job and life satisfaction, and organizational commitment are positively linked to employee performance. The findings indicate a significant mediation between supervisor support and employee performance only through WLB and organizational commitment. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

工作自主性对中小学教师幸福感的影响：工作重塑与工作家庭平衡的链式中介效应

采用问卷法调查了997名中小学教师,考量工作自主性与中小学教师幸福感之间的关系,检验工作重塑和工作家庭平衡在其中的中介作用。结果显示：工作自主性不仅对中小学教师幸福感具有显著直接影响,且能通过工作重塑与工作家庭平衡各自的中介效应及二者的链式中介效应三条路径,对幸福感产生间接影响。     

Age effects on the control of dynamic balance during step adjustments under temporal constraints

This study investigated the age effects on the control of dynamic balance during step adjustments under temporal constraints. Fifteen young adults and 14 older adults avoided a virtual white planar obstacle by lengthening or shortening their steps under free or constrained conditions. In the anterior–posterior direction, older adults demonstrated significantly decreased center of mass velocity at the swing foot contact under temporal constraints. Additionally, the distances between the ‘extrapolated center of mass’ position and base of support at the swing foot contact were greater in older adults than young adults. In the mediolateral direction, center of mass displacement was significantly increased in older adults compared with young adults. Consequently, older adults showed a significantly increased step width at the swing foot contact in the constraint condition. Overall, these data suggest that older adults demonstrate a conservative strategy to maintain anterior–posterior stability. By contrast, although older adults are able to modulate their step width to maintain mediolateral dynamic balance, age-related changes in mediolateral balance control under temporal constraints may increase the risk of falls in the lateral direction during obstacle negotiation.     

Higher order balance control: Distinct effects between cognitive task and manual steadiness constraint on automatic postural responses

In the present experiment, we aimed to evaluate the interactive effect of performing a cognitive task simultaneously with a manual task requiring either high or low steadiness on APRs. Young volunteers performed the task of recovering upright balance following a mechanical perturbation provoked by unanticipatedly releasing a load pulling the participant’s body backwards. The postural task was performed while holding a cylinder steadily on a tray. One group performed that task under high (cylinder’ round side down) and another one under low (cylinder’ flat side down) manual steadiness constraint. Those tasks were evaluated in the conditions of performing concurrently a cognitive numeric subtraction task and under no cognitive task. Analysis showed that performance of the cognitive task led to increased body and tray displacement, associated with higher displacement at the hip and upper trunk, and lower magnitude of activation of the GM muscle in response to the perturbation. Conversely, high manual steadiness constraint led to reduced tray velocity in association with lower values of trunk displacement, and decreased rotation amplitude at the ankle and hip joints. We found no interactions between the effects of the cognitive and manual tasks on APRs, suggesting that they were processed in parallel in the generation of responses for balance recovery. Modulation of postural responses from the manual and cognitive tasks indicates participation of higher order neural structures in the generation of APRs, with postural responses being affected by multiple mental processes occurring in parallel.     

Maintenance of postural stability as a function of tilted base of support

The experiment was set-up to investigate the mechanisms of postural control by manipulating the base of support angle, using tilted platform wedges. The primary focus was to analyze the coupling of the motion of the center of mass (CoM) and the center of pressure (CoP), and the motions of the leg joints considered as individual components and synergies. The CoM-CoP coupling (both medio-lateral and anterioposterior) was preserved (∼0°) across all tilted platform angles (35°, 30°, 20°, 10° Down, 0° Flat and 10°, 20°, 25° Up), reflecting an in-phase pattern. There was high coherence (∼1) for CoM-CoP in the lower frequency range, whereas contrarily the hip, knee and ankle pair-wise couplings had values ranging between (0.4 and 0.7) across the different platform angle conditions. These findings are consistent with the view that the local pair-wise coupled variables of Hip, Knee and Ankle motions adaptively self-organized to preserve the CoM-CoP in-phase coupling at equilibrium over the baseline (0° Flat) platform condition and all other tilted platform angles. The findings support the hypothesis of CoM-CoP coupling acting as a collective variable that provides the structural integrity of the system for upright quiet standing across the platform angle conditions.     

论皮亚杰的方法论及其当代意义

皮亚杰从生物学的适应性和平衡化概念出发, 论证了有机体和外部环境之间的双向互动关系, 进一步通过认知过程与生物学过程的“同构”, 建立了一种结构论的发生认识论。发生认识论的主要论题包括:主客体相互作用论、认知结构的建构论, 以及心理逻辑论等。皮亚杰的理论建构方法有两个重要特征:第一, 皮亚杰强调功能相对于结构的逻辑先在意义。功能是有机体对环境的适应与平衡化。因此, 皮亚杰的方法论是一种功能论。第二, 皮亚杰方法论的思想基础是辩证法。皮亚杰的发生认识论一方面批判唯理论, 另一方面批判经验论, 最终形成了一套独特的认识论体系。皮亚杰的发生认识论对当今心理学和心灵哲学研究中诸多“难问题”, 诸如“他心问题”、“归纳问题”等, 可能提供了元理论层面和方法层面的引领和启发。     

Computing the COM from the COP in postural sway movements

A method is described for computing the centre of mass (COM) from empirical estimates of the centre of pressure (COP) obtained by means of a force platform. The method is based on a biomechanical model of sway movements in quiet standing, according to which the horizontal acceleration of the COM is approximately proportional to the COM–COP difference. The equations are solved by approximating the solution with best fitting spline functions. The implications for movement control are discussed.     

Discomfort with space and motion: A possible marker of vestibular dysfunction assessed by the situational characteristics questionnaire

Space and motion discomfort (SMD) refers to the situational specificity of symptoms occurring in some patients with vestibular dysfunction, such as those with balance disorders and some with panic disorder. SMD occurs in situations characterized by inadequate visual or kinesthetic information for normal spatial orientation. We report the results of two studies of the construct validity of the Situational Characteristics Questionnaire (SitQ), which has two subscales, both of which measure SMD: the SMD-I and SMD-II. In Study 1, the SitQ was administered to members of a self-help group for balance disorders, a psychiatric sample consisting of patients with panic disorder, nonpanic anxiety disorders, depression, and a sample of normals. SMD levels were the highest in the self-help balance group, next to the highest in the panic groups, and lowest in the remaining groups. In Study 2, the SitQ was administered to otolaryngological patients with vestibular dysfunction and to patients with hearing loss. SMD levels were higher in the vestibular patients. Data on internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and convergent and discriminant validity are presented. The SitQ, particularly the SMD-II, is recommended for quantifying space and motion discomfort in patients with anxiety and/or balance disorders.Study 1 was funded by MH 40757. Study 2 was funded by a grant from the Upjohn Company and MH 19816.     

团队异质性的平衡性对团队创造力的影响

团队异质性的平衡性是指团队中异质性属性的相对分布情况, 是一个从不平衡到平衡的连续谱概念。作为对团队构成维度的补充, 本研究探究其如何通过团队信息深化施加影响于团队创造力。通过对浙江理工大学451名学生的团队实验研究, 得出结论认为：团队知识异质性的平衡性能够积极影响团队创造力, 且团队信息深化在这一过程中起中介作用, 性别异质性的平衡性与团队创造力之间的关系不显著。这一研究结果将有助于打开团队构成和团队创造力研究的新局面。