Effects of visual complexity and sublexical information in the occipitotemporal cortex in the reading of Chinese phonograms: a single-trial analysis with MEG

We employ a linear mixed-effects model to estimate the effects of visual form and the linguistic properties of Chinese characters on M100 and M170 MEG responses from single-trial data of Chinese and English speakers in a Chinese lexical decision task. Cortically constrained minimum-norm estimation is used to compute the activation of M100 and M170 responses in functionally defined regions of interest. Both Chinese and English participants’ M100 responses tend to increase in response to characters with a high numbers of strokes. English participants’ M170 responses show a posterior distribution and only reflect the effect of the visual complexity of characters. On the other hand, the Chinese participants’ left hemisphere M170 is increased when reading characters with high number of strokes, and their right hemisphere M170 is increased when reading characters with small combinability of semantic radicals. Our results suggest that expertise with words and the decomposition of word forms underlies processing in the left and right occipitotemporal regions in the reading of Chinese characters by Chinese speakers.     

Chinese characters elicit face-like N170 inversion effects

Recognition of both faces and Chinese characters is commonly believed to rely on configural information. While faces typically exhibit behavioral and N170 inversion effects that differ from non-face stimuli (Rossion, Joyce, Cottrell, & Tarr, 2003), the current study examined whether a similar reliance on configural processing may result in similar inversion effects for faces and Chinese characters. Participants were engaged in an orientation judgment task (Experiment 1) and a one-back identity matching task (Experiment 2). Across two experiments, the N170 was delayed and enhanced in magnitude for upside-down faces and compound Chinese characters, compared to upright stimuli. The inversion effects for these two stimulus categories were bilateral for latency and right-lateralized for amplitudes. For simple Chinese characters, only the latency inversion effects were significant. Moreover, the size of the right-hemisphere inversion effects in N170 amplitude was larger for faces than Chinese characters. These findings show the N170 inversion effects from non-face stimuli closely parallel effects seen with faces. Face-like N170 inversion effects elicited by Chinese compound characters were attributed to the difficulty of part-whole integration as well as the disrupted regularity in relational information due to inversion. Hemispheric difference in Chinese character processing is also discussed.     

儿童混合表情识别的发展及与基本表情识别的关系

以193名儿童为被试,采用表情识别范式,考察5岁、6岁及8岁儿童的基本表情识别能力和混合表情识别能力,探讨了儿童在这一年龄段中混合表情识别能力的发展特点,及其与基本表情识别能力之间的关系。研究发现：基本表情识别能力在5岁时已发展良好,混合表情识别能力在8岁时仍需完善,后者是前者的深化,同时还包含对多种表情进行辨认的能力;两种表情识别能力构成了更加完整的表情识别图景。     

中西医结合临床思路浅谈——论辨证与辨病的关系

辨证与辨病是两种不同的思维方式,西医辨病又辨证,中医辨证又辨病,辨病与辨证是中医与西医都遵循的诊治过程,在临床中辩证运用中医与西医有利于中西医结合临床思路的建立     

明式家具和现代家具审美偏好的眼动研究

本研究采用EyelinkⅡ眼动仪对不同类型家具的审美偏好进行考察,共有36名不同年龄被试参与实验。结果发现:(1)不同类型家具的总注视时间、总注视次数和平均注视次数均存在显著差异,明式家具显著多于现代家具;(2)不同家具类型兴趣区的总注视次数存在显著差异,明式家具显著多于现代家具;(3)不同年龄被试的总注视时间、总注视次数和平均注视次数不存在显著差异,即年龄因素对被试的审美偏好没有影响。     

BEYOND RELATIVISM AND FOUNDATIONALISM: A PROLEGOMENON TO FUTURE RESEARCH IN ETHICS

Abstract. This article examines the similarities between notions about the nature of reality held by some Christian mystics (Thomas Merton and the author of The Cloud of Unknowing) and those proposed by physicists David Bohm and Henry Margenau. My aim is to consider how the implications of certain metaphysical interpretations of modern physics may: (1) hold similarities with Christian mystical notions about reality, and (2) be important for guiding future research in ethics. I further look into the traditional approaches to ethical theory that come out of the foundationalist, relativist, and skeptical realist camps and argue that while skeptical realists such as Timothy Jackson are moving in the right direction, further consideration of what is meant by reality is necessary if we are to traverse the gap between foundationalists and relativists. It is here that Christian ethicists in particular have the opportunity to pick up the metaphysical batons carried by physicists like Margenau and Bohm and mystics like Merton and the author of The Cloud and begin investigating the possibility that ethical theory can be approached from a nondualistic perspective.     

汉字部件信息数据库的建立──部件和部件组合频率的统计分析

用ＦｏｘＢＡＳＥ语言统计了６７６３个基本汉字集合中的部件和部件组合的频度信息,建立了“部件数据库”和“部件组合数据库”。前者包含５６７个部件;后者包含汉字中实际存在的７５８３个两部件组合。统计结果表明部件和部件组合均呈偏态分布,绝大多数的频率很低。这两个数据库不仅可应用于研究汉字认知中整体和局部的关系、汉字的学习和记忆,而且也可供汉字学的定量研究、中文信息的计算机处理研究参考。     

论现代高科技在中药复方研究中的应用

中药复方是中医临床治疗的重要方法。由于具有多组分、多环节协同作用的特色,因此在某些方面可能优于以单一成分为主的西药。但是这一特点也增加了对其治疗机理进行研究的难度,从而影响到中医药的进一步发展和走向世界。本文认为应用现代高新技术是中医复方研究和发展的必由之路,但是在具体应用时应注意中医药本身所具有的独特的理论框架和思路,不能拘泥于西药药用植物的研究思路和方法。     

A modern psychoanalytic approach to caregiver support groups

Caregiver support groups traditionally focus on education, reduction of social isolation, and supportive sharing. However, the support group literature has increasingly reflected an interest in the emotional effects of caregiving. While some authors promote the therapeutic value of supporting defenses against painful feelings, others have documented the value of encouraging their expression in groups. This paper is based on the author’s experience in co-leading an Alzheimer’s family support group, using a modern psychoanalytic approach which encourages the full expression of the caregivers’ emotional experience. Using emotional communication to explore resistances to intimacy and aggression in groups, the author demonstrates how the interplay of co-leadership and Modern Psychoanalytic theory and techniques promotes group cohesion and encourages maturational growth in group members. This model is also prescribed as an antidote to leader “burnout,” a not uncommon phenomenon for leaders of such emotionally charged groups. Private Practice, New York, New York.