Lifting weights in neonates: Developing visual control of reaching

To test whether newborn babies take account of external forces in moving their limbs, spontaneous arm-waving movements were measured while the baby lay supine with its head turned to one side. Free-hanging weights, attached to each wrist by strings passing over pulleys, pulled on the arms in the direction of the toes. The results showed the babies applied compensatory forces to keep the hand they faced moving in the same region. In contrast, the (invisible) contra-lateral hand was pulled down by the weights. In a second experiment, where the arms were occluded, both arms were pulled down, suggesting that sight of the arm was necessary in compensating for the weight. In a third, conclusive experiment the babies viewed the arm they were not facing on a small video-monitor and this time the babies kept the visible contra-lateral hand up despite the weights. The results challenge the general view that spontaneous arm movements of neonates are purposeless and either reflexive or due to spontaneous patterned efference to the muscles. Instead, the findings suggest that in waving their arms, neonates are developing visual control of reaching.     

MOVEMENT SUPPRESSION TIME-OUT FOR UNDESIRABLE BEHAVIOR IN PSYCHOTIC AND SEVERELY DEVELOP MENTALLY DELAYED CHILDREN

The effects of a movement suppression time-out, which involved punishing any movement or verbalization while a client is in the time-out area, were evaluated in four experiments. The first experiment examined the effects of a DRO procedure and movement suppression plus DRO in suppressing self-injurious behavior in a psychotic child in three different situations. In Experiment 2, the results of the previous experiment were replicated with two dangerous behaviors in a second psychotic child. In a third experiment, movement suppression plus DRO was compared with contingent restraint in reducing inappropriate poking behavior in two settings. The movement suppression procedure eliminated poking whereas contingent restraint had little effect. In the final experiment, movement suppression time-out alone was compared with exclusionary time-out alone and simple corner time-out alone. Self-stimulation occurred at high levels during the exclusionary and simple corner time-out procedures. Self-stimulation was either suppressed or reduced during movement suppression time-out. The movement suppression time-out procedure produced a larger reduction in the target behavior in all three children. The effectiveness of the movement suppression procedure was explained in terms of the suppression of self-stimulation while the time-out procedure was being applied.     

A THEORETICAL APPRECIATION OF THE ETHIC OF SOLIDARITY IN POLAND TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AFTER

The remarkable movement known as Solidarity recently celebrated its twenty‐fifth anniversary in Poland. This essay provides a theoretical appreciation of the values and principles that guided and undergirded the movement, which greatly contributed to the fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe. This systematic overview of the ethic of the Solidarity movement fills a lacuna in the field of ethics because ethicists who are interested in the concept of solidarity have largely overlooked the Polish experience of the 1980s. This essay attempts to describe the key ingredients of the Polish ethic of solidarity by analyzing both Polish treatises on the subject and accounts of events on the ground. It elaborates conceptual categories and describes characteristic features of the movement in order to provide a phenomenological account of the nature of solidarity embodied in Poland during this era. These categories and characteristics include unity among differences, the foundation of hope at the movement's roots, self‐sacrifice and heroism, promoting the equality and dignity of all, the centrality of participation, the affirmation of “bread and freedom,” an option for the poor, and the insistence on life in truth. Although this essay does not attempt to demonstrate the relevance of this “thick” ethic of solidarity to capitalist, democratic societies today, by way of conclusion it raises questions pertaining to the contemporary significance of the Polish ethic of solidarity.     

当前阅读眼动研究的几个主要问题

当前阅读眼动研究主要想解决以下几个问题：（1）阅读中的眼动主要受语言的低水平因素影响还是受语言的高水平因素影响;（2）眼跳过程中信息加工是完全被抑制还是部分被抑制;（3）眼动过程中词义的加工方式是平行的还是系列的。     

阅读过程的眼动理论综述

该文介绍了解释阅读过程的主要眼动理论,并对早期的视觉缓冲器加工理论、直接假说和眼-脑假说、聚光灯理论、Morrison的眼动理论模型等眼动理论和新近的战略战术模型和E-Z模型等眼动理论进行了评述。最后,对眼动理论的发展方向进行了展望。     

工作记忆、表达方式和同质性对线性三段论推理影响的眼动研究

采用眼动记录法,探讨了工作记忆、两个前提间的关系以及表达方式对线性三段论推理的影响。本实验采用2（表达方式：肯定、否定）×2（前提间的关系：同质、不同质）×2（工作记忆容量：高、低）的混合设计。通过分析总注视时间、第一次注视时间、第二次注视时间和回视,发现线性三段论推理过程既有语言加工的参与又有表象加工的参与。推理过程中的语言表征过程和空间关系的建立都受到工作记忆容量的影响,被试的工作记忆容量越高,就越容易建立语言表征和空间的关系。     

发展性阅读障碍的理论及眼动研究

关于发展性阅读障碍,国外研究者,基于认知和生物因素,先后提出了语音缺陷论、小脑缺陷论、一般性大细胞功能障碍论等对发展性阅读障碍进行解释,并考察了患者的眼动特征,提出了有效的诊治方法。目前,汉语发展性阅读障碍研究主要局限在语音和正字法领域,也涉及局部脑区的功能缺陷,但还未从多角度测查其成因,如眼动。这里,在理论梳理的基础上,系统探讨了发展性阅读障碍者的眼动特征,如注视时间、注视次数、眼跳、回视等,及视觉加工的眼动机制     

Men’s personality and women’s perception of their dance quality

Recent research shows that women judge men who show variability in their body movements as good dancers. Here we report data on women’s perception of dance quality in 48 men, aged 18-42 years, and relate them to men’s self-reported personality traits. Male participants completed a standardised personality inventory (the NEO-FFI) and then danced to a basic rhythm while their body movements were tracked with optical 3D motion-capture technology. Dance movements were applied to a featureless virtual humanoid character and judged on their dance quality by 53 women, aged 17-57 years, who viewed 15 s of the rendered video clips of each male dancer. Conscientiousness and social agreeableness was correlated positively and significantly with women’s perception of men’s dance quality. Extraversion showed a positive correlation and neuroticism and openness were associated negatively with women’s perception of men’s dance quality, though these correlations failed to reach significance. We suggest that male dance movements may convey aspects of their personality, though possible consequences in terms of female mate preferences and selection remain to be explored.     

汉语阅读中的心理词加工

通过两项研究考察了汉语阅读中心理词存在的心理现实性及其加工效率问题。研究1采用词切分任务考察语法知识掌握水平不同的读者词切分的差异,发现他们在词切分上存在很大分歧,语法知识越丰富,词切分差异越小。研究2探讨心理词的加工效率,使用阴影标记目标词,产生四种呈现条件：正常条件、词汇词条件、心理词条件和非词条件,结果发现心理词比词汇词、非词更容易加工。两项研究结果表明汉语阅读的基本信息单元更可能是心理词。     

解读成语中的他人心理与互动心理：来自眼动和ERP的证据

为了探查理解单个他人心理与解读互动心理的差异机制, 在实验一和实验二中分别采用眼动和事件相关电位技术来测评个体解读中文四字成语中的单个他人心理和互动心理的加工过程。眼动实验发现, 单人成语第二个字的总阅读时间显著长于物理成语; 随后, 互动成语前三字的凝视时间显著长于单人和物理成语。脑电实验发现, 在成语呈现后500~700ms, 解读单人和互动成语诱发的额区晚期正成分(LPC)平均波幅显著大于解读物理成语; 之后在700~800ms, 解读互动成语诱发的额中区LPC平均波幅显著大于解读单人和物理成语。眼动注视模式和脑电证据共同印证了理解单个他人的心理与理解多人的互动心理存在时间和强度上的差异。相对于物理表征和单人心理的加工, 理解更为复杂的互动心理需要更长的加工时间和更强的神经活动。