A cross-cultural study of reference point adaptation: Evidence from China,Korea, and the US

We examined reference point adaptation following gains or losses in security trading using participants from China, Korea, and the US. In both questionnaire studies and trading experiments with real money incentives, reference point adaptation was larger for Asians than for Americans. Subjects in all countries adapted their reference points more after a gain than after an equal-sized loss. When we introduced a forced sale intervention that is designed to close the mental account for a prior outcome, Americans showed greater adaptation toward the new price than their Asian counterparts. We offer possible explanations both for the cross-cultural similarities and the cross-cultural differences.     

视听时间再校准：适应空间与适应客体的联合及独立作用

同一事件的视听成分即使同时发生, 由于两种信息的物理传播与神经传导速度的差异, 大脑知觉到它们的时刻仍会存在一定的延迟。时间再校准指大脑可以最小化并适应这段时间延迟的现象。本研究采用“适应—测验”范式, 在适应阶段连续给被试呈现视觉先于听觉或听觉先于视觉128ms的刺激对, 在测验阶段以时序判断任务来测量被试此时主观同时点的变化。通过操纵适应及新异视听刺激对(即适应客体与新异客体)在测验阶段出现的空间位置, 探索空间与客体因素对视听时间再校准的影响。结果发现, 当适应客体出现于适应空间时, 主观同时点显著偏向了时间延迟的方向; 同样显著或边缘显著的主观同时点偏移还发生于适应客体出现于未适应空间时, 以及新异客体出现于适应空间时。研究表明, 视听时间再校准在不同空间中的表现取决于适应空间与适应客体的联合或独立作用。     

LÉVY HIERARCHY IN WEAK SET THEORIES

We investigate the interactions of formula complexity in weak set theories with the axioms available there. In particular, we show that swapping bounded and unbounded quantification preserves formula complexity in presence of the axiom of foundation weakened to an arbitrary set base, while it does not if the axiom of foundation is further weakened to a proper class base. More attention is being paid to the necessary axioms employed in the positive results, than to the combinatorial strength of the positive results themselves.     

浅析中药现代研究的困惑,探究研究策略

中药现代研究是当前医药学界的热点和重点研究领域。在面对中药现代研究取得的某些方面”突破”的同时,也须正视中药现代研究的困惑。从中药研究所面临的困惑出发,探究中药现代研究的出发点、立足点、关键点和突破点,有助于理清研究思路,明确研究方向,确定研究方法与目标,促进中药现代研究的进程。     

Note on Some Fixed Point Constructions in Provability Logic

We present a quite simple proof of the fixed point theorem for GL. We also use this proof to show that Sambin's algorithm yields a fixed point.     

Midlife Perspectives on Falling in Love: The Dialectic of Unique Experiences

This study explores the constructed meanings of falling in love in midlife. In depth interviews were conducted with 12 participants, all of whom had experienced falling in love in midlife. Analysis of the interview data suggest that midlife forms the prism through which the experience of falling in love is perceived: it provides the context, colors the experience, and characterizes its unique nature. The uniqueness is created primarily through dialectic between affirmations (compatibility with the notion of love) and negations (contrasting experiences).     

Asymmetric dominance and phantom decoy effects in games

In individual choices between alternatives x and y, the availability of a third alternative z, judged inferior to x but not to y, tends to increase preferences for x. Two experiments investigated corresponding strategic asymmetric dominance effects in games. In Experiment 1, 72 players chose strategies in six symmetric 3 × 3 games, each having one strategy dominating just one other, or in reduced 2 × 2 games constructed by deleting the dominated strategies. Asymmetrically dominated strategies, even when unavailable (phantom decoy), increased choices of the strategies that dominated them and bolstered decision confidence. In Experiment 2, 81 participants played 12 similar but asymmetric games with or without dominated strategies, and similar asymmetric dominance, phantom decoy, and confidence effects were found.     

The effects of reinforcer magnitude on timing in rats

The relation between reinforcer magnitude and timing behavior was studied using a peak procedure. Four rats received multiple consecutive sessions with both low and high levels of brain stimulation reward (BSR). Rats paused longer and had later start times during sessions when their responses were reinforced with low-magnitude BSR. When estimated by a symmetric Gaussian function, peak times also were earlier; when estimated by a better-fitting asymmetric Gaussian function or by analyzing individual trials, however, these peak-time changes were determined to reflect a mixture of large effects of BSR on start times and no effect on stop times. These results pose a significant dilemma for three major theories of timing (SET, MTS, and BeT), which all predict no effects for chronic manipulations of reinforcer magnitude. We conclude that increased reinforcer magnitude influences timing in two ways: through larger immediate after-effects that delay responding and through anticipatory effects that elicit earlier responding.     

Single and double alternation learning in rats: The role of set size and correction

In many experiments, rats have evidenced extreme difficulty mastering alternation patterns. In three experiments, we explored rats’ ability to learn double alternation patterns and possible reasons behind their past difficulties with such patterns. In Experiment 1, rats learned single and double alternation patterns. In the second and third experiment, we explored the role of correction and interference from stimulus set size on rats’ learning of double alternation patterns. Our results showed that rats easily learned both single and double alternation patterns and that stimulus set size had no noticeable effect on learning double alternation patterns. Findings additionally evidenced that correction played an important role in rats’ learning double alternation patterns.     

When and how communicated guilt affects contributions in public good dilemmas

Two laboratory studies investigated how groups may deal with the strong emotions that social dilemmas often elicit. A first study showed that a new group member evaluated guilt communicated by a fellow group member as more instrumental than neutral emotion feedback when the amount of required resources to obtain the public good (i.e., provision point) was perceived as difficult to obtain. A second study revealed that participants use communicated guilt to draw inferences about both past and future contributions from all fellow group members. Participants also contributed more themselves and adhered to equality more often when guilt versus no emotion was communicated, but only when the provision point was high. Expected contributions from fellow group members mediated this effect.