International Semiotics: Item Difficulty and the Complexity of Science Item Illustrations in the PISA-2009 International Test Comparison

We examined multimodality (the representation of information in multiple semiotic modes) in the context of international test comparisons. Using Program of International Student Assessment (PISA)-2009 data, we examined the correlation of the difficulty of science items and the complexity of their illustrations. We observed statistically significant mean correlation coefficient differences favoring higher-ranking over lower-ranking jurisdictions and non-Western over Western jurisdictions. We examined this correlation as a function of the variety of forms of representation of information used in illustrations. For the highest-ranking jurisdictions, the correlation tended to be positive and its magnitude tended to increase with the number of forms of representation. For the lowest-ranking jurisdictions, the correlation tended to be negative and its magnitude tended to increase with the number of forms of representation. Increased illustration complexity appears to be an affordance in making sense of science items for students from the highest-ranking jurisdictions and a challenge for students from the lowest-ranking jurisdictions. Our findings support the notion that integrating information provided in multiple semiotic modes is critical to science achievement and underscore the importance for science standards and international assessment frameworks to address this skill as intrinsic to (rather than an aspect of) science proficiency.     

锚测验难度水平代表性对垂直量尺化的影响研究

考察了锚测验难度水平对其来源测验水平的代表性对垂直量尺化的影响。采用模拟研究的方法,比较了锚测验难度等于来源测验、位于高低年级测验水平难度区间的第25百分位处及区间第50百分位处时,年级能力分布和垂直量尺特性上的参数返真结果,发现锚题难度水平高于其来源测验非但不会导致垂直量尺化结果变差,在有的情境下反而可能会提高其准确性。研究揭示人们构建垂直量尺时,可以根据内容和其他统计特征的需要对锚测验的难度水平做出适当调整     

Immigrant youth of Indian origin: Generational differences in self-critical perfectionism

A community sample of foreign-born first generation (n = 53) and U.S.-born secondgeneration (n = 57) youth of Indian origin (ages 18–25) was studied. Variables predicting self-critical perfectionism were perceived prejudice, enculturation, and communication difficulty with parents and their interaction with generation status. The differences between the two generations pointed to nuanced self-pressures of Indian immigrant youth, despite good academic standing and middle-class family income. Implications discuss counseling with Indian immigrant youth.     

平衡秤任务复杂性的事前与事后分析

任务复杂性的分析和评估是心理测量学和认知心理学都非常关注的重要主题。以264名小学四、五、六年级儿童为被试,平衡秤任务为研究材料,考察任务在未旋转时第一个因素上的载荷(事后分析)能否作为评价任务复杂性的一个指标,以及关系-表征复杂性模型对平衡秤任务复杂性分析(事前分析)的有效性两个问题。结果表明:平衡秤任务施测后所得所有项目的因素载荷与其难度之间没有显著正相关,即因素载荷的高低没有反映平衡秤任务复杂性的大小;而基于关系-表征复杂性模型对任务的事前分析所确定的任务等级复杂性和知识经验对任务难度的解释率为95.0%,可见,关系-表征复杂性模型提供的分析任务复杂性的思路和方法是较为合理的。     

抚养困难与教养行为的关系及其调节因素

本研究考察了567名2-5岁幼儿母亲的抚养困难与教养行为的关系,并进一步探讨了在高抚养困难情景下母亲教养行为的可能调节因素.结果发现(1)幼儿母亲的抚养困难感受总分与其教养行为的各个侧面均有非常显著的相关,母亲抚养困难程度越高,则其敏感性、参与性、积极情感及对儿童发展的指导性均较低,而其对儿童的消极情感较多;(2)回归分析表明,来自儿童侧面的"积极强化缺乏"、"多动/注意分散"、"不良心境"与"过度要求"以及来自母亲侧面的"缺乏依恋"、"缺乏能力感"等方面的抚养困难是预测母亲教养行为的重要因素;(3)在母亲抚养困难较高的情况下,夫妻双方的受教育水平分别对母亲教养行为的一些侧面具有调节作用.     

阈下抑郁个体对负性情绪刺激的注意解脱困难

本研究拟采用点探测范式及不同情绪内容的面孔刺激（高兴、中性、悲伤和愤怒）考察阈下抑郁个体的负性注意偏向及其内在机制。点探测任务中情绪面孔配对呈现（负性-中性、正性-中性）,配对面孔中的情绪线索位置与靶刺激的位置构成负性一致/不一致和正性一致/不一致条件,同时实验中加入“中性-中性”面孔线索作为一致和不一致条件的对比基线来考察注意偏向的内在机制。结果发现,阈下抑郁个体在负性不一致条件下的反应时显著长于负性一致条件,表明阈下抑郁个体具有对负性刺激的注意偏向;进一步比较发现,阈下抑郁个体在负性不一致条件下的反应时显著的长于“中性-中性”基线条件,而负性一致条件与基线之间差异不显著,表明阈下抑郁个体的负性注意偏向为对负性刺激的注意解脱困难。结果另发现,阈下抑郁个体未能像无抑郁对照组个体表现出对正性刺激的注意偏向。结果表明,处于阈下抑郁状态的个体表现出对负性刺激的注意偏向,具体为对负性刺激的注意解脱困难,其原因可能是由于阈下抑郁个体在注意控制和情绪调节功能上的紊乱。     

流动儿童心理韧性对文化适应的影响:社会认同的中介作用

本研究旨在探讨流动儿童心理韧性、社会认同及文化适应的关系。采用青少年心理韧性量表、流动儿童社会认同量表、流动儿童文化适应困难量表对北京市932名流动儿童进行了调查。经过分析发现：（1）女生、未转学、家庭收入高、父母教育程度高、公立学校的流动儿童文化适应更好;（2）流动儿童的心理韧性对其文化适应的直接预测效应显著;（3）流动儿童的心理韧性可以分别通过老家总认同和城市总认同间接影响文化适应,也可以通过老家总认同和城市总认同的整合更好地间接影响文化适应。     

The influence of perceptual and semantic categorization on inhibitory processing as measured by the N2–P3 response

In daily activities, humans must attend and respond to a range of important items and inhibit and not respond to unimportant distractions. Our current understanding of these processes is largely based on perceptually simple stimuli. This study investigates the interaction of conceptual-semantic categorization and inhibitory processing using Event Related Potentials (ERPs). Participants completed three Go–NoGo tasks that increased systematically in the degree of conceptual-semantic information necessary to respond correctly (from single items to categories of objects and animals). Findings indicate that the N2 response reflects inhibitory processing but does not change significantly with task difficulty. The P3 NoGo amplitude, on the other hand, is attenuated by task difficulty. Further, the latency of the peak of the P3 NoGo response elicited by the most difficult task is significantly later than are the peaks detected during performance of the other two tasks. Thus, the level of complexity of conceptual-semantic representations influences inhibitory processing in a systematic way. This inhibition paradigm may be a key for investigating inhibitory dysfunction in patient populations.     

Cyclic variations in sustained human performance

Biological rhythms play a prominent role in the modulation of human physiology and behavior. [Smith, K., Valentino, D., & Arruda, J. (2003). Rhythmic oscillations in the performance of a sustained attention task. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 25, 561-570] suggested that sustained human performance may systematically fluctuate in a cyclic manner with periods of 1.5 min and 5.2 min. The current series of investigations sought to manipulate those periodicities by altering task difficulty, administering caffeine, and testing on a more ecologically valid task. Strong evidence of a 1.5 min periodicity was found across studies. Most participants did not demonstrate the 5.2 min periodicity. Moreover, the 1.5 min periodicity was resistant to task manipulations and appeared in similar levels across conditions in all three experiments. These rhythms may be indicative of an endogenous system that modulates sustained attention in humans. Evidence supporting this idea and implications of the research are discussed.     

An artificial opposition between grammaticality and frequency: comment on

In a recent Cognition paper (Cognition 85 (2002) B21), Bornkessel, Schlesewsky, and Friederici report ERP data that they claim “show that online processing difficulties induced by word order variations in German cannot be attributed to the relative infrequency of the constructions in question, but rather appear to reflect the application of grammatical principles during parsing” (p. B21). In this commentary we demonstrate that the posited contrast between grammatical principles and construction (in)frequency as sources of parsing problems is artificial because it is based on factually incorrect assumptions about the grammar of German and on inaccurate corpus frequency data concerning the German constructions involved.