The effects of age and emotional valence on recognition memory: An ex‐Gaussian components analysis

The aim of this work was to study the effects of valence and age on visual image recognition memory. The International Affective Picture System (IAPS) battery was used, and response time data were analyzed using analysis of variance, as well as an ex‐Gaussian fit method. Older participants were slower and more variable in their reaction times. Response times were longer for negative valence pictures, however this was statistically significant only for young participants. This suggests that negative emotional valence has a strong effect on recognition memory in young but not in old participants. The τ parameter, often related to attention in the literature, was smaller for young than old participants in an ex‐Gaussian fit. Differences on the τ parameter might suggest poorer attentional performance in old participants.     

Explanatory factors of distorted perceptions of travel time in tram

This study has two aims. The first is to research the factors that influence deviations in perceptions of travel time with respect to actual travel time by analyzing distorted perceptions of travel time in tram. The second aim is to find out whether these explanatory factors are different for the two segments of users according to the sign of errors in their travel time perceptions, i.e. those who overperceive and those who underperceive travel time.This work is based on an internet survey carried out on students from the University of La Laguna, Spain, in May 2009, using revealed preference data. Several linear regression models were estimated using the backward elimination method of selecting variables. The variable called “perception error rate” is proposed as a measure of distorted perceptions of in-vehicle travel time and is explained as a function of actual in-vehicle travel time and a series of other novel variables, such as the perception of other travel time components (access, waiting, egress), as well as certain characteristics of the trip and traveler. The results obtained provide evidence that some of the variables that explain the distorted perceptions of travelers are different between the overperceiving and underperceiving samples. This finding shows that estimating just one model with a total sample could lead to erroneous conclusions. Since travelers make decisions based on their perceived travel times, transport policy should focus on overperceiving travelers, and specifically on those who travel frequently. According to our results, policies should be aimed at facilitating access to stops, increasing frequency of service to reduce waiting time and decreasing the relative advantages associated with the use of private vehicles. This last point is because travelers overperceive travel time by tram more when accessing tram stops by car.     

角膜屈光手术治疗的综合启示

角膜屈光手术是近年发展起来的治疗屈光不正的重要技术。已应用于临床,并取得了令人鼓舞的结果。尤其是准分子激光的实时扫描跟踪技术,并辅之眼前段成像系统与波前相差技术的一体化,极大提高了手术疗效。纵观其发展过程,认识到角膜屈光手术的发展是多学科联合发展的结果。     

The ideal scaffolding of language: Husser's fourth Logical Investigation in the light of cognitive linguistics

One of the central issues in linguistics is whether or not language should be considered a self-contained, autonomous formal system, essentially reducible to the syntactic algorithms of meaning construction (as Chomskyan grammar would have it), or a holistic-functional system serving the means of expressing pre-organized intentional contents and thus accessible with respect to features and structures pertaining to other cognitive subsystems or to human experience as such (as Cognitive Linguistics would have it). The latter claim depends critically on the existence of principles governing the composition of semantic contents. Husserl's fourth Logical Investigation is well known as a genuine precursor for Chomskyan grammar. However, I will establish the heterogeneous character of the Investigation and show that the whole first part of it is devoted to the exposition of a semantic combinatorial system cognate to the one elaborated within Cognitive Linguistics. I will thus show how theoretical results in linguistics may serve to corroborate and shed light on those parts of Husserl's Fourth Investigation that have traditionally been dismissed as vague or simply ignored.     

简析天人合德的理论意蕴

天人合一是中国哲学的根本特征之一 ,它在传统伦理思想中表现为天人合德。这一命题规定了传统道德的本体、道德价值的本原以及人的道德本性 ,是传统伦理思想最核心的理念和最根本的特征。它固然存在许多理论上的缺失 ,但又极富思辨性 ,对伦理学上的许多重大理论问题都提供了自己的解答。这对于我们今天探究这些问题 ,仍然具有启迪意义。     

外派人员与组织的期望匹配模式对绩效的影响

外派个人与组织的期望具有四种可能的匹配关系。本研究构建了四种关系的概念模型并进行了效度验证。研究数据采自多种行业跨国公司的两组样本,结构方程建模的分析结果表明,构思关系具有良好的诺姆网络效度,个体-组织期望的不同组合模式对外派的绩效有显著影响。该研究结果对于外派经理及其所在的组织都具有重要意义。     

Navigating the narrative: An eye-tracking study of readers' strategies when Reading comic page layouts

In multimedia stimuli (e.g., comics), the reader must follow a narrative in which text and image both contribute information, and artists may use more irregular layouts which must still be followed correctly. While previous work has found that the external structure (outlines) of panels is a major contributor to navigation decisions in comics, other studies have shown that panel content can affect reading order. The present studies use eye-tracking to investigate these contributions further. In Experiment 1, the reading behaviors on six layout variations were compared. The influence of the external structure was replicated, but an effect of text location was also found for one layout type. Experiment 2 focused on variations of this particular layout, manipulating the location of text within critical panels. Panel content was a consistent effect for all variations. While most navigation decisions are made using the external structure, content becomes key when resolving ambiguous layouts.     

Coefficients alpha and reliabilities of unrotated and rotated components

It has been shown by Kaiser that the sum of coefficients alpha of a set of principal components does not change when the components are transformed by an orthogonal rotation. In this paper, Kaiser's result is generalized. First, the invariance property is shown to hold for any set of orthogonal components. Next, a similar invariance property is derived for the reliability of any set of components. Both generalizations are established by considering simultaneously optimal weights for components with maximum alpha and with maximum reliability, respectively. A short-cut formula is offered to evaluate the coefficients alpha for orthogonally rotated principal components from rotation weights and eigenvalues of the correlation matrix. Finally, the greatest lower bound to reliability and a weighted version are discussed.Comments by Henk A.L. Kiers and by anonymous referees are gratefully acknowledged.     

Tests for linear trend in the smallest eigenvalues of the correlation matrix

A test for linear trend among a set of eigenvalues of a correlation matrix is developed. As a technical implementation of Cattell's scree test, this is a generalization of Anderson's test for the equality of eigenvalues, and extends Bentler and Yuan's work on linear trends in eigenvalues of a covariance matrix. The power of minimumx ² and maximum likelihood ratio tests are compared. Examples show that the linear trend hypothesis is more realistic than the standard hypothesis of equality of eigenvalues, and that the hypothesis is compatible with standard decisions on the number of factors or components to retain in data analysis.This work was supported by National Institute on Drug Abuse Grants DA01070 and DA00017. The assistance of Maia Berkane and several anonymous reviewers is gratefully acknowledged.     

Word‐to‐picture recognition is a function of motor components mappings at the stage of retrieval

Embodied approaches of cognition argue that retrieval involves the re‐enactment of both sensory and motor components of the desired remembering. In this study, we investigated the effect of motor action performed to produce the response in a recognition task when this action is compatible with the affordance of the objects that have to be recognised. In our experiment, participants were first asked to learn a list of words referring to graspable objects, and then told to make recognition judgements on pictures. The pictures represented objects where the graspable part was either pointing to the same or to the opposite side of the “Yes” response key. Results show a robust effect of compatibility between objects affordance and response hand. Moreover, this compatibility improves participants' ability of discrimination, suggesting that motor components are relevant cue for memory judgement at the stage of retrieval in a recognition task. More broadly, our data highlight that memory judgements are a function of motor components mappings at the stage of retrieval.