A minimal limit-cycle model to profile movement patterns of individuals during agility drill performance: Effects of skill level

Identification of control strategies during agility performance is significant in understanding movement behavior. This study aimed at providing a fundamental mathematical model for describing the motion of participants during an agility drill and to determine whether skill level constrained model components. Motion patterns of two groups of skilled and unskilled participants (n = 8 in each) during performance of a forward/backward agility drill modeled as limit-cycles. Participant movements were recorded by motion capture of a reflective marker attached to the sacrum of each individual. Graphical and regression analyses of movement kinematics in Hooke’s plane, phase plane and velocity profile were performed to determine components of the models. Results showed that the models of both skilled and unskilled groups had terms from Duffing stiffness as well as Van der Pol damping oscillators. Data also indicated that the proposed models captured on average 97% of the variance for both skilled and unskilled groups. Findings from this study revealed the movement patterning associated with skilled and unskilled performance in a typical forward/backward agility drill which might be helpful for trainers and physiotherapists in enhancing agility.     

The factors of female taxi drivers’ speeding offenses in Taiwan

Females choosing taxi driving as a career is rare, therefore, investigating such samples is often difficult. Speeding is one of the most common driving violations, however, there has been no research looking into female taxi drivers’ speeding issue. This study explores the factors of female taxi drivers’ speeding offenses in Taiwan. Data is based on a national survey and includes 235 professional female taxi drivers. The results indicate that female taxi drivers work approximately 27.37 days per month, at a mean of 9.76 h per day. Of the female taxi drivers represented in this study, 22.8% reported at least one speeding offense over a one-year period. The results of a logistic regression model reveal that the determinant factors associated with female taxi drivers’ speeding offenses are significantly related to age, educational level and mileage driven. However, job experience, business operating style, and vehicle engine size are not associated with committing speeding offenses. Practical implications for traffic safety of female taxi drivers are also discussed.     

中学生物理学科问题分类表征层次的研究

以三套分别含有按照解题方法可以分为二类、三类、四类的物理学科问题分类实验材料,对济南市6所中学3个年级766名中学生进行研究,结果表明:不同年级、不同学业水平学生分类表征层次的差异显著,呈现随年级升高而升高的趋势,学优生的水平明显高于学困生,学优生更多地倾向内在分类表征;随着分类任务的类别数量增多,更多学生倾向外在分类表征;不同性别学生的分类表征层次没有显著差异;不同物理学科问题分类表征层次学生的物理成绩之间存在显著差异。     

“Making it explicit” makes a difference: Evidence for a dissociation of spontaneous and intentional level 1 perspective taking in high-functioning autism

The ability of perspective taking is a fundamental aspect of social cognition. The ability to decide, what another person can or cannot see is referred to as “level 1 perspective taking.” This is thought to be a process that we can make use of intentionally, but which also takes place spontaneously. Autism is characterized by impairments of social interaction, which are thought to be related to deficits in implicit rather than explicit perspective taking. In order to assess both levels of processing with regard to perspective taking, we employed an established task in patients and controls. Our results demonstrate that both groups engage in spontaneous level 1 perspective taking. In contrast to controls, however, patients reacted more slowly if they had to verify the other’s as compared to their own perspective, which shows that participants with high-functioning autism have selective difficulties in explicit, but not implicit, level 1 perspective taking. These findings demonstrate that while spontaneous level 1 perspective taking appears to be intact in autism, this ability is impaired in patients when used explicitly.     

不同社交媒体平台上口碑信息是如何影响购买意愿的？——解释水平和加工流畅性的中介作用

研究基于解释水平理论,探讨了不同社交媒体平台上口碑信息对购买意愿的影响及机制。结果发现：（1）不同社交媒体平台可以激发不同社会距离感;（2）接收高解释水平口碑时,社会距离远平台的用户购买意愿更高,接收低解释水平口碑时,社会距离近平台的用户购买意愿更高,平台类型与口碑类型在解释水平上匹配时影响力最大;（3）其机制是：口碑类型通过调节用户心理表征的解释水平对加工流畅性的影响,进而调节了“平台类型→解释水平→加工流畅性→购买意愿”这一链式中介路径。     

免费教育师范生学习适应状况及与报考动机的关系

该研究采用《大学生学习适应量表》考察了679名免费教育师范生的学习适应状况与特点,并探讨了报考动机与学习适应之间的关系。结果表明：1）免费教育师范生学习适应处于中等偏上水平,随着入学时间的增加逐步提高,且略优于普通大学生;2）免费教育师范生在学习适应的不同适应维度上存在性别差异;3）免费师范生报考动机有两大类：自愿报考和非自愿报考,报考动机对免费教育师范生学习适应水平具有显著的预测作用。免费教育师范生的学习适应总体上表现良好,报考动机直接影响入学后的学习适应水平。     

The effect of distance-dependent construals on schema-driven impression formation

Two experiments examine how distance-dependent construal can affect trait aggregation in impression formation. We propose that, because higher- versus lower-level construals promote the tendency to impose schematic structure on information processing, higher-level construals should enhance schema-driven trait aggregation. We test this by examining a classic impression formation phenomenon: the primacy effect (Asch, 1946). Increasing temporal distance (Study 1a) and priming higher-level construals (Study 1b) led participants to form more favorable impressions of targets described initially as intelligent versus envious. Decreasing temporal distance and priming lower-level construals, in contrast, reversed the primacy effect. Thus, the distance of a target, with its associated construal, can impact the aggregation of traits and consequently impacts people's evaluations of others.     

Korean deaf adolescents' recognition of written words for taxonomic categories of different levels

Deaf college students seem to have relatively stronger associations from words for taxonomic categories of basic (e.g., snake) to those of super-ordinate (e.g., reptiles) level than vice versa compared with hearing students in word association (Marschark, Convertino, McEvoy & Masteller, 2004). In deciding whether two sequentially presented words for taxonomic categories of different levels are conceptually related, deaf adolescents might therefore have a poorer performance when they see a category name before than when they see it after one of the corresponding exemplar words. Deaf Korean adolescents were found to recognize words for taxonomic categories of super-ordinate level with lower efficiencies than those of basic level. Their accuracy seemed to reflect a reversed typicality effect when they decided that first-presented words for taxonomic categories of basic level were conceptually related to second-presented words for those of super-ordinate level. It was argued that deaf Korean adolescents went through a temporary stage of having iconic representations of several exemplars of the category aroused in working memory before the abstract semantic representation was fully activated when they saw the word for a taxonomic category of super-ordinate level.     

Context-outcome associations mediate context-switch effects in a human predictive learning task

Four experiments explored the role of contexts in information retrieval after different levels of acquisition training in human predictive learning. Participants were trained where cue (X) was followed by an outcome in context A while a different cue (Y) was followed by the absence of the outcome in context B. When 4 training trials with each cue were conducted, testing the stimuli in the alternative contexts decreased predictive judgments to X and increased predictive judgments to Y. These effects disappeared both when training was increased up to 18 trials (Experiments 1a and 1b), and when the outcome was presented in both contexts A and B (Experiments 2 and 4). When the outcome was presented in both contexts, the nonreinforced cue Y, trained in the presumably excitatory context B, became a conditioned inhibitor (Experiment 3). Additional experience with one of the contexts, but not with both, made the context-switch effect reappear (Experiment 4). These results suggest that irrelevant contexts may enter into direct associations with the outcome before prolonged training leads participants to discard them as predictors.     

Functional analysis and treatment of arranging and ordering by individuals with an autism spectrum disorder

Of the diagnostic features of autism, relatively little research has been devoted to restricted and repetitive behavior, particularly topographically complex forms of restricted and repetitive behavior such as rigidity in routines or compulsive-like behavior (e.g., arranging objects in patterns or rows). Like vocal or motor stereotypy, topographically complex forms of restricted and repetitive behavior may be associated with negative outcomes such as interference with skill acquisition, negative social consequences, and severe problem behavior associated with interruption of restricted and repetitive behavior. In the present study, we extended functional analysis methodology to the assessment and treatment of arranging and ordering for 3 individuals with an autism spectrum disorder. For all 3 participants, arranging and ordering was found to be maintained by automatic reinforcement, and treatments based on function reduced arranging and ordering.