To Preserve or Enhance Life? Nietzsche’s Perspectivist Understanding of Life and Morality

Instead of denouncing sincere Christianity, as it is often assumed, Nietzsche inveighs vehemently against insincere Christianity that interpreters take as evidence for his nihilism. This essay argues that Nietzsche’s perspectivism affirms the positive value of Christian morality as an instrument for life preservation, which is a relative standard for judging various perspectives on life. It also analyzes the negative value of Christian morality as the impediment to life enhancement, which is the absolute standard for evaluating those perspectives. As this study finally argues, it remains to the Overman to once and for all overcome the impediments to life brought on by Christian morality in the creation of a new morality, if in fact what the Overman creates is indeed a new morality.     

A review of behavioral interventions to enhance sports performance

Research on applied behavior analysis and sports performance has become an increasingly popular subject. It involves using behavioral measures to assess the utility of numerous interventions to enhance athletic performance. We identified 101 studies published since the late 1960s focusing on behavioral interventions to enhance sports performance. To determine the breadth of the current research, we identified each sport and the different interventions used to improve performance. Of the studies included in this review, research has investigated 23 interventions with 21 sports. The purpose of this paper is to review the current literature regarding what procedures have been evaluated, the results of this research, some of the limitations, and future directions of behavioral research on sports performance enhancement. In doing so, this review will allow readers to easily browse the current literature by the sport or intervention of interest.     

基于非侵入性脑刺激的认知增强：方法、伦理和应用

作为人类追求卓越的方式之一,基于非侵入性脑刺激的认知增强成为众多学科和公众关注的问题。首先阐述了非侵入性脑刺激的两种主要技术手段(经颅磁刺激和经颅直流刺激)的技术原理及其在提升健康个体认知功能上的应用,并分析了这两种技术可能带来的安全、自主选择、公平等伦理问题,最后总结了该认知增强技术在体育和军事等两个具体领域的应用。未来可进一步提高技术手段的深部脑区刺激能力及该增强技术的持续和真实效果。     

Perceived emotion suppression and culture: Effects on psychological well‐being

Whether the negative effects of emotion suppression on psychological well‐being are applicable cross‐culturally is a long‐debated topic. The present study attempted to shed light on this debate, focusing on the effects of perceived emotion suppression and examining the psychological processes leading from perceived emotion suppression to lower psychological well‐being. We used a scale manipulation to lead 196 American and 213 Chinese participants to perceive themselves as having suppressed their emotions to a greater or lesser extent and then measured their life satisfaction. As expected, both the American and Chinese participants reported lower life satisfaction in the high‐suppression condition than in the low‐suppression condition; this negative effect was mediated by positive affect and moderated by self‐esteem. Specifically, perceived high emotion suppression decreased positive affect, which in turn led to lower well‐being. This effect was observed only for those with low self‐esteem, but the patterns and mechanisms were consistent cross‐culturally.     

体育锻炼促进认知功能的脑机制

不同类型的体育锻炼对各种群体的多种认知功能均具有促进作用, 而相关的生理机制也在不同水平得到研究。在微观水平, 体育锻炼有利于脑细胞的营养供给和能量代谢, 并且能促进神经元的存活和突触生成。在宏观水平, 体育锻炼不仅能够提升海马和小脑等脑结构的体积, 还影响脑区激活水平和脑区间功能连接。值得注意的是, 体育锻炼对认知的促进效应受到诸多因素的影响, 比如个体差异、时间, 以及体育锻炼和认知刺激的相互作用等, 这些影响因素也为在两个水平上系统地阐明体育锻炼促进认知的脑机制提供了新的视角。     

When does a referent public problem affect financial and political support for public action?

In three studies we examined the willingness to support action to remedy a public problem. In Study 1 and Study 2, people were asked whether they would financially contribute to solution of a public problem. In Study 3, people were asked whether they would sign a petition to support a public action. The aim was to test whether the willingness to support solution of a public problem is affected by the type of problem that is used as the referent. We hypothesized that the willingness to support a public action is lower when evaluated in the context of a high‐ as opposed to a low‐importance referent problem (importance contrast effect). We also hypothesized that the importance contrast effect is tied to the perceived relatedness between the target and referent problems. The importance contrast effect should be found only when the two problems relate to different category domains. The findings bear out this prediction. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

非言语声音影响汉语听者言语声音的知觉

采用启动范式, 以汉语听者为被试, 考察了非言语声音是否影响言语声音的知觉。实验1考察了纯音对辅音范畴连续体知觉的影响, 结果发现纯音影响到辅音范畴连续体的知觉, 表现出频谱对比效应。实验2考察了纯音和复合音对元音知觉的影响, 结果发现与元音共振峰频率一致的纯音或复合音加快了元音的识别, 表现出启动效应。两个实验一致发现非言语声音能够影响言语声音的知觉, 表明言语声音知觉也需要一个前言语的频谱特征分析阶段, 这与言语知觉听觉理论的观点一致。     

条件联结觉察在评价性条件反射中的作用

评价性条件反射(Evaluative Conditioning, EC)指通过将一个中性刺激和一个情绪性刺激重复配对, 使中性刺激获得情绪性刺激的情感性评价。条件联结觉察(Contingency Awareness)指被试觉察到中性刺激和情绪性刺激的配对规律。当前, 条件联结觉察在EC中的作用尚存争议。一些研究证明, 条件联结觉察独立于EC, 甚至阻碍了EC; 另一些研究则表明, 条件联结觉察促进EC的发生; 还有些研究发现条件联结觉察在EC中的作用受其他变量的调节。因此, 在将来的研究中, 需发展出更准确的觉察测量、检验其他变量的调节作用、加强多感觉通道的EC研究、探索EC的加工机制。