A shortened version of Raven’s standard progressive matrices for children and adolescents

Numerous developmental studies assess general cognitive ability, not as the primary variable of interest, but rather as a background variable. Raven’s Progressive Matrices is an easy to administer non-verbal test that is widely used to measure general cognitive ability. However, the relatively long administration time (up to 45 min) is still a drawback for developmental studies as it often leaves little time to assess the primary variable of interest. Therefore, we used a machine learning approach – regularized regression in combination with cross-validation – to develop a short 15-item version. We did so for two age groups, namely 9 to 12 years and 13 to 16 years. The short versions predicted the scores on the standard full 60-item versions to a very high degree r = 0.89 (9–12 years) and r = 0.93 (13–16 years). We, therefore, recommend using the short version to measure general cognitive ability as a background variable in developmental studies.     

Psychological individual differences as predictors of refugees’ local language proficiency

Learning the local language is important for the successful integration of immigrants. Previous research has identified a number of sociodemographic factors that are associated with the effectiveness of local language acquisition among immigrants, but little is known about the influence of psychological differences on immigrants’ local language acquisition. In the present research, individual differences in general mental ability (GMA), work search intention, and personality traits Conscientiousness and Openness were studied among recently arrived Syrian (n = 1054) and Eritrean (n = 500) refugees in the Netherlands. The results revealed that in addition to the effects of age of arrival, local length of stay, premigration educational attainment, and psychological distress, GMA and work search intention were positively associated with refugees’ local language proficiency. Additionally, work search intention was found to strengthen the effect of GMA on local language proficiency. No positive linear effects were observed for Conscientiousness and Openness. Some evidence was found for curvilinear relationships between psychological predictors and local language proficiency. Implications are discussed.     

基于一般线性模型框架的心理统计教学

心理统计学教学中,不同的统计方法常常是独立教学,致使学生不易理解各种方法之间的关系。事实上,t检验、方差分析和多元线性回归等方法都可以统一到一般线性模型的框架下,而结构方程是对这个框架的最一般化的描述,且结构方程路径图是呈现这个框架的形象工具。因此,本文尝试用路径图的方式来呈现心理学研究中最常用的统计方法,并将结构方程分析结果与传统分析结果进行对照,帮助学生建立一般线性模型上位概念,将以往孤立的统计方法联系起来。     

语言能力的老化机制：语言特异性与非特异性因素的共同作用

语言能力的衰退是由于一般认知能力衰退引起的,还是由于语言加工系统的衰退引起的,抑或是两者的共同作用?研究中测量了青年组和老年组的一般认知能力(加工速度、工作记忆和抑制能力),以及在词汇、句子和语篇三个水平上的语言理解能力和语言产生能力。结果发现,一般认知能力、语言理解和语言产生能力都存在年老化现象。分层回归分析表明,一般认知能力对语言能力的贡献,以及语言理解能力和产生能力之间的相互贡献在青年组和老年组中是不同的,且存在词汇、句子和语篇水平上的差异。在词汇水平上,青年人的成绩能够被一般认知能力和另一种语言能力所显著预测,而老年人的成绩却不受一般认知因素影响;在句子水平上,青年人的成绩仍能被一般认知能力或另一种语言能力所解释,但这两类变量都无法预测老年人的任务成绩;在语篇水平上,青年人理解任务的成绩显著地受到产生能力影响,而老年人的理解和产生任务成绩则分别可以被一般认知能力和语言理解能力所解释。对组间差异的回归分析表明,一般认知能力和另一种语言能力对组间差异都有显著贡献,且前者的贡献大于后者。上述研究结果表明,语言能力的老化是语言特异性因素和非特异性因素共同作用的结果。     

中医全科医学的哲学反思和现实思考

中医全科医学是一门新兴学科,既融合中医学、全科医学的特点,又是两者的补充。通过对中医全科医学的哲学反思,发现中医学和全科医学具有相关性,两者的整体观念、辨证论治、未病养生等医学观、诊疗方式、思维特点都十分契合,是中西医两大医学体系在哲学层面的交融,都强调整体观、辨证观、预防观。通过研究发现中医全科医学值得大力发展的必要性及意义,并提出推进人才培养、推广适宜技术、推动基层发展等三条拓宽中医全科医学发展的路径,以此并助力中医药事业发展。