汉语隐喻的语言形式特征及其对隐喻机器理解研究的影响

语言学界对隐喻的研究集中于从概念层面对隐喻进行认知分析,而淡化了对语言表达层面隐喻的典型特征做形式化的概括。然而,概念层面的隐喻却必须通过语言形式层面的隐喻表达来加以体现,隐喻的语言形式对隐喻的理解也具有极其重要的意义。特别是,当隐喻作为一种思维现象被纳入机器理解的研究范畴之后,隐喻的计算机制研究也开始要求高度地形式化隐喻的语言表达。鉴于此,本文面向隐喻机器理解,采用语料统计分析的方法,从大量实际隐喻语料出发,总结汉语隐喻的语言形式的复杂性特征:语言隐喻主要成分取值的不确定性、语言隐喻各成分出现与否的不确定性、隐喻嵌套和递进复用现象的普遍性,进而指出面向计算的隐喻研究困境以及出路。     

A class of multidimensional IRT models for testing unidimensionality and clustering items

We illustrate a class of multidimensional item response theory models in which the items are allowed to have different discriminating power and the latent traits are represented through a vector having a discrete distribution. We also show how the hypothesis of unidimensionality may be tested against a specific bidimensional alternative by using a likelihood ratio statistic between two nested models in this class. For this aim, we also derive an asymptotically equivalent Wald test statistic which is faster to compute. Moreover, we propose a hierarchical clustering algorithm which can be used, when the dimensionality of the latent structure is completely unknown, for dividing items into groups referred to different latent traits. The approach is illustrated through a simulation study and an application to a dataset collected within the National Assessment of Educational Progress, 1996. The author would like to thank the Editor, an Associate Editor and three anonymous referees for stimulating comments. I also thank L. Scaccia, F. Pennoni and M. Lupparelli for having done part of the simulations.     

Defining ‘Dead’ in Terms of ‘Lives’ and ‘Dies’

What is it for a thing to be dead? Fred Feldman holds, correctly in my view, that a definition of ‘dead’ should leave open both (1) the possibility of things that go directly from being dead to being alive, and (2) the possibility of things that go directly from being alive to being neither alive nor dead, but merely in suspended animation. But if this is right, then surely such a definition should also leave open the possibility of things that go directly from being dead to being neither alive nor dead, but merely in suspended animation. I show that Feldman’s own definition of ‘dead’ (in terms of ‘lives’ and ‘dies’) does not leave this possibility open. I propose a new definition that does.     

Community types and mental health: a multilevel study of local environmental stress and coping

Research has found that neighborhood structural characteristics can influence residents' mental health. Few studies, however, have explored the proximal reasons behind such influences. This study investigates how different types of communities, in terms of environmental stressors (social and physical disorder and fear of crime) and social resources (informal ties and formal organizational participation), affect well-being, depression, and anxiety in adult residents. Data are from a survey of 412 residents nested in 50 street blocks. Block stressors and resources were cluster analyzed to identify six block types. After controlling for several individual- and block-level characteristics, results from multilevel models suggest that in communities facing relatively few stressors, higher levels of formal participation are associated with better mental health. Because high levels of formal participation were not found in communities with higher levels of stressors, the impact of participation in such contexts could not be examined. However, results suggest that in communities where stressors are more common, isolation from neighbors may have a protective effect on mental health.     

A general method for computing hierarchical component structures by Goldberg’s Bass-Ackwards method

Goldberg [Goldberg, L. R.(in press) Doing it all Bass-Ackwards: The development of hierarchical factor structures from the top down. Journal of Research in Personality] has recently described a novel method for computing hierarchical component structures via a “top down” design. He calls his method the “Bass Ackwards” approach to distinguish it from more common “bottom up” methods for obtaining hierarchical solutions. Using simple matrix equations, in this commentary I demonstrate that the end result of a Bass Ackwards analysis—that is, the correlations between component scores from different levels of a hierarchy—can be calculated without calculating the actual component scores. By avoiding component-score calculation, Goldberg’s method (a) can be applied to any data set in which a correlation matrix is available, and (b) can be applied to factor scores rather than estimated factor scores. Goldberg suggests that the Bass Ackwards method represents a useful tool for elucidating the underlying dimensionality and latent structure (rotation in hyperspace) of a data set. Computer code is reported in the Appendix A of this article to help personality researchers more fully evaluate this claim in empirical and simulated data.     

Three dimensions of coping and a look at their evolutionary origin

Serious problems persist concerning the conceptualization and measurement of the coping construct. This study examines the properties and factor structure of the COPE questionnaire, one of the most widely used instruments to measure coping, in a sample of 471 patients. A series of exploratory factor procedures are applied at the item- and scale-level, and the resulting solutions are tested both by their congruence with previously published structures and by confirmatory techniques. Our finding of three robust, generalizable, and parsimonious second-order dimensions—Engagement, Disengagement, and Help-Seeking—challenges the original structure. The results are discussed from an evolutionary perspective, on the assumption that the recognition of coping as the activation of vestigial defenses may make a substantial contribution to clarifying its functions and organization.     

The Minority-Majority Conundrum in Northern Ireland: An Orange Order Perspective

Researchers have argued that, depending on the framing of the Northern Ireland conflict, each group could either be a minority or a majority relative to the other. This complicates macrosocial explanations of the conflict which make specific predictions on the basis of minority or majority positions. The present paper argues that this conundrum may have arisen from the inherent variability in microidentity processes that do not fit easily with macroexplanations. In this paper the rhetoric of relative group position is analysed in political speeches delivered by leading members of an influential Protestant institution in Northern Ireland. It is apparent that minority and majority claims are not fixed but are flexibly used to achieve local rhetorical goals. Furthermore, the speeches differ before and after the Good Friday Agreement, with a reactionary "hegemonic" Unionist position giving way to a "majority-rights power sharing" argument and a "pseudo-minority" status giving way to a "disempowered minority" argument. These results suggest a view of the Northern Ireland conflict as a struggle for "symbolic power," i.e., the ability to flexibly define the intergroup situation to the ingroup's advantage.     

SCI/SSCI心理学源期刊的计量分析

采用文献计量学方法,利用JCR对2004年SCI、SSCI收录的455种心理学期刊进行了统计分析与对比研究,以揭示其基本特点与存在的问题,并引发了关于心理学学科分类的思考。推荐了2004年国际影响力最大的28种心理学期刊,供我国同类期刊工作者及心理学者借鉴。最后讨论了如何使我国同类期刊进入SCI/SSCI,及如何在投稿中进行更好的理性思维。     

初二学生学业求助及其影响因素研究

运用问卷调查法,探讨初二学生学业求助的动机特点和文化特色及其关系模式,研究结果表明：（1）学业求助态度和求助行为同成就目标、自我效能和文化因素有关;（2）成就目标、自我效能和文化因素对学业求助行为的影响是以学业求助态度为中介的;（3）学业求助既受动机因素的影响,又受文化因素的影响。     

微观发生法:聚焦认知变化

微观发生法通过在变化发生的整个过程中对行为进行高密度观察和反复试验分析,可以提供关于认知变化的路线、速率、广度、来源以及变化模式的多样性等方面的精细信息,对于理解心理变化的机制有重要意义。该文论述了从发生法到微观发生法的演变过程、微观发生法的研究设计及其合理性与有待解决的问题。