Novice construction of chess memory

Novice acquisition of skilled recall of chess positions was studied in an experiment in which two novices studied a series of five hundred chess positions during a period of several months. They spent fifteen minutes to half an hour a day teaching themselves these positions. As a result their skill in recalling chess positions rose from sixteen percent to somewhere between forty to fifty percent. The learning curve proved to have a shape which indicates that in the beginning learning is very fast but after some 100-150 studied positions the speed of learning decreases substantially. A computer simulation was used to model the results and analyse alternative explanations. Two alternative ways of thinking were tested. In the first, chunk construction was assumed to be based on the neighbourhood of associated pieces. The second model assumed a frequency-based correlative association process. Although the learning curves of the two models are very similar in shape to those of the subjects, the frequency-based associative model gave a better explanation for the data. This is why it is natural to suggest that common co-occurrence in addition to easily recognizable chess-specific characteristics, like colour and type of pieces, guide associative processes during chess players' learning of chess-specific chunks.     

计算机使用中的自我效能感

计算机自我效能感（computer self－efficacy,CSE）是自我效能感理论在计算机培训、计算机辅助技术使用等行为活动中的应用。该文综述了CSE对计算机操作的重要影响。该文也在原有CSE分类（一般CSE与特殊CSE）基础上,提出软件CSE与硬件CSE。另外该文也讨论了影响CSE的各个变量以及这些变量间的关系。最后该文指出了CSE的现有研究特点与未来研究取向。     

The effects of errorless learning and backward chaining on the acquisition of Internet skills in adults with developmental disabilities

An important area in the learning and development of individuals with disabilities is the acquisition of independent, age-appropriate leisure skills. Three adults with autism and mental retardation were taught to access specific Internet sites using backward chaining and most-to-least intrusive prompting. The number of independent steps completed in the task analysis increased following training.     

Virtual reality and the psyche. Some psychoanalytic approaches to media addiction

This paper explores the ramifications of excessive use of media on personality development, the development of symbolic and thinking functions and on psychic reality. In doing so, the questions of whether there are specific media objects possessing an intrinsic symbolic quality, and which attachments in the inner world of a child/adolescent can be mobilized or destroyed are discussed. By selecting specific material, computer gamers use their game to activate the field of a personal psychic reality. Hereby, they attempt some kind of self‐healing. However, after leaving the game, conflicts and traumata re‐enacted but unresolved in the game disappear from their temporary representation without generating any resonance in the gamer's psychic experience. Consequently, although states of mind and affects are activated in the computer game, their processing and integration fail; the game results in a compulsive repetition. The construction and consolidation of retrievable maturation and structural development, the representation of the unrepresentable, succeed in the context of the triangulating analytic relationship, initially through a jointly performed symbolic and narrative re‐experience or the recreation of the game. Theoretical considerations are illustrated by means of clinical vignettes.     

Site preference of refractory elements in γ′-Ni3Al alloyed with Ru

The influence of ruthenium (Ru) on the partitioning behavior of W, Re and Cr in γ′-Ni₃Al has been studied using the Dmol3 method based on the density functional theory. The calculated results show that W, Re and Cr have a preference for the Ni site in γ′-Ni₃Al alloyed with Ru. When Ru substitutes the central Ni atom, the site preference for W, Re and Cr varies. Furthermore, an electronic structure analysis of the alloy in terms of the Mulliken population and partial density of states was performed to elucidate the alloying mechanism of Ru in γ′-Ni₃Al. The results show that the strengthening effect of Ru in the alloy arises from a reduction in the binding energy of Ru as well as p-orbital hybridization between Ru and the host atoms.     

Personality,Parental, and Media Influences on Aggressive Personality and Violent Crime in Young Adults

Debate remains regarding the interaction between predictor variables for aggression, including family environment, media violence, and personality. The current study examined the contributions of gender and personality, exposure to physical abuse and violence in the family, and exposure to media violence in both television and in video games on violent criminal activity. Data from young adults (n = 355) indicated that personality characteristics and direct physical abuse significantly predicted violent crime. Exposure to television and video game violence were not significant predictors of violent crime. These results elucidate the complex interplay between multiple factors related to the etiology of violent crime. These results also call into question the belief that media violence is involved in the etiology of violent crime.     

Much Ado About Something: An Ethic of the Common Good for Information Technology

As the culture of information technology grows and with it the exacerbation of associated problems, so does the body of literature that seeks to reflect on its impact and prospects. The advancements in information technology tend to be outpacing critical reflection and solid ethical analysis. The quality of the foundational ethical work done in information technology ethics has been inadequate, consisting of applied ethics or an appeal to law. This article considers how the richer perspective—the common good, as expressed through the lens of the Roman Catholic Church—can serve as a hermeneutic in the field of information technology ethics, offering a more substantial foundation to address pressing controversial issues associated with this burgeoning field and function as a guide for future developments in this industry. The common good can supplement the operative ways of appealing to law and business ethics to address crime and abuse associated with the World Wide Web with a specifically Roman Catholic paradigm and, in turn, offer a broader and richer appreciation of the societal-wide context that information technology impacts.     

The Influence of Mode of Test Administration on Test Performance

This study examined the influence of mode of test administration (paper based or computer-based) on anxiety levels and test performance. Participants were 44 learners (males = 22, females = 22) from three schools in Johannesburg, South Africa who completed both a computer and paper version of the Differential Aptitude Test—Form K Non-Verbal Reasoning test, the Computer Attitude Scale, the Computer Anxiety Rating Scale and Sarason's Test Anxiety Scale. Test anxiety was significantly related to both computer and paper based testing.