儿童精细动作能力的发展及与其学业成绩的关系

研究了不同精细动作能力的发展、之间的内在联系及其与儿童学业成绩的关系。被试为151名4－8岁儿童以及30名本科生。精细动作能力的测查包括线条填画任务、图形临摹任务以及筷子技能测验。结果发现：（1）不同精细动作能力的发展速度从高到低依次为线条填画能力、图形临摹能力和筷子使用技能;（2）筷子使用技能与线条填画、图形临摹能力都显著相关,线条填画能力和年龄对筷子使用技能具有显著预测作用;（3）不同学业成绩儿童在各类精细动作能力上都存在显著差异。本研究说明,较基本的精细动作能力是复杂工具性技能发展的基础,同时在小学低年级阶段,儿童的精细动作能力与其学习活动之间存在密切联系。     

效应器在动作序列学习中的作用机制探析

动作序列学习是动作技能学习的重要组成部分,其中大部分动作序列学习都有效应器参与。目前有关效应器在动作序列学习中的作用机制存在两种观点：一是依存于效应器的观点,即动作序列技能的获得依附于具体的效应器,不可向其他效应器迁移,其学习的本质是建立反应或肌肉间的联结。二是独立于效应器的观点,即动作序列技能的获得并不依存于具体效应器,某个效应器获得的技能可以向其他效应器迁移,其学习的本质是建立抽象的刺激表征联结。效应器作用机制随练习程度、意识状态及其他条件的不同而有所变化。     

Use of an analogue method to examine children’s appraisals of threat and emotion in response to stressful events

An analogue methodology was used to present a set of realistic, salient stressors to children in grades 3, 5, and 7. Children (N = 146) viewed eight videotaped vignettes depicting interpersonal and non-interpersonal stressors; these were expected to differentially threaten psychological needs for relatedness, competence and autonomy and provoke different emotional reactions. Analyses showed that scenarios portrayed stressors that were commonly experienced by children and evoked a differentiated profile of appraisals and emotions. When tenets of the motivational theory of stress and coping were tested, scenarios more threatening to needs were more distressing, sadness was linked to relatedness and competence threat appraisals, and fear was a more common reaction to parent stressors that involved dyadic conflict. After accounting for threat appraisals and previous experience of stressors, younger children and girls appraised events as more distressing than older children and boys. Future research could use the analogue procedure to focus on children’s development of regulation and coping with stress.     

A parametric evaluation of the hedonic and motoric effects of drugs: pimozide and amphetamine

This study uses a curve-fitting approach to evaluate the effects of drugs on reinforced responding in rats. The subjects obtained reinforcement according to a series of five different variable-interval schedules (a five-component multiple schedule). For each rat, pimozide, a neuroleptic, decreased response rate, and the decrease was associated with (1) a decrease in the estimated asymptotic response rate and (2) an increase in the rate of reinforcement necessary for half-asymptotic responding. That is, pimozide decreased the proportion of responding maintained by a given rate of reinforcement. In contrast, intermediate doses of amphetamine increased response rate and increased the proportion of responding maintained by a given rate of reinforcement. It was proposed that the response rate asymptote indexes motor capacity, and the rate of reinforcement necessary for half-asymptotic responding indexes reinforcement efficacy; accordingly, pimozide decreased motor capacity and reinforcement strength and amphetamine increased reinforcement strength.     

高中学生心理应激及其中介变量的研究

学生的心理应激与心理健康问题日益受到人们的关注。本研究对浙江省范围内的４３７名高中学生进行应激源、中介变量和应激反应方面的调查研究,并在此基础上,对高中学生的心理应激过程作了较详细的探讨。研究表明：（１）高中学生的主要应激源是学习压力及与家庭亲友的人际关系问题,（２）对高中学生的应激反应有影响的中介变量主要是社会支持和“问题解决”、“逃避”等应对策略。本研究结论认为,在高中学生的心理卫生工作中要注意减轻他们的学习压力,加强社会支持系统的建立及积极应对方式的教育。     

Cognitive processes among skilled miniature golf players: Effects of instructions on motor performance, concentration time, and perceived difficulty

Highly skilled miniature golf players were examined on a simplified miniature golf task under different instructional conditions. Results indicated that requirements to attend to a variety of technical aspects of the game during preparation impaired motor performance, whereas providing players with those aspects of the game they reported thinking of did not affect motor performance. Data on concentration time and perceived difficulty indicated that increasing cognitive demands were associated with a decline in motor precision. The overall pattern of results was interpreted such that attention directed at technical aspects of the game interfered with the players' normal cognitive activity. Susceptibility to interference is a characteristic feature of controlled cognitive operations. Thus, the present results are consistent with the view that conscious cognitive activity may support motor behavior also at late stages of skill development.     

Relationship of resilience to personality, coping, and psychiatric symptoms in young adults

Developing a comprehensive understanding of resilience across the lifespan is potentially important for mental health promotion, yet resilience has been vastly understudied compared to disease and vulnerability. The present study investigated the relationship of resilience to personality traits, coping styles, and psychiatric symptoms in a sample of college students. Measures included the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, NEO Five Factor Inventory, Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations, and Brief Symptom Inventory. Results supported hypotheses regarding the relationship of resilience to personality dimensions and coping styles. Resilience was negatively associated with neuroticism, and positively related to extraversion and conscientiousness. Coping styles also predicted variance in resilience above and beyond the contributions of these personality traits. Task-oriented coping was positively related to resilience, and mediated the relationship between conscientiousness and resilience. Emotion-oriented coping was associated with low resilience. Finally, resilience was shown to moderate the relationship between a form of childhood maltreatment (emotional neglect) and current psychiatric symptoms. These results augment the literature that seeks to better define resilience and provide evidence for the construct validity of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale.     

“The interviewer is a machine!” Investigating the effects of conventional and technology-mediated interview methods on interviewee reactions and behavior

Despite the growing number of organizations interested in the use of asynchronous video interviews (AVIs), little is known about its impact on interviewee reactions and behavior. We randomly assigned participants (N = 299) from two different countries (Switzerland and India) to a face-to-face interview, an avatar-based video interview (with an avatar as a virtual recruiter), or a text-based video interview (with written questions) and collected data on a set of self-rated and observer-rated criteria. Overall, we found that whereas participants reported more negative reactions towards the two asynchronous interviews, observer ratings revealed similar performance across the three interviews and lower stress levels in the two AVIs. These findings suggest that despite technology-mediated interview methods still not being well-accepted, interviewees are not at a disadvantage when these methods are used in terms of how well interviewees perform and how stressed they appear to external observers. Implications are discussed.     

Self and proxy (parents and teachers’) reports of child motor competence: A three-year longitudinal study

ObjectiveThe aims of this study were to: 1) analyse the longitudinal trends in the evolution of the association between children’s actual and perceived motor competence (AMC and PMC, respectively) according to the source of information: children, parents, and Physical Education (PE) teachers; 2) assess whether children, parents, and PE teachers can report on children’s AMC longitudinally (considering the children’s age, sex, and the type of motor competence).Design and methodA sample of 108 typically developing Spanish children (47.12% girls) from five schools participated in this study. AMC and PMC (locomotion, object control and overall MC) data was collected at three time points one year apart. Longitudinal mixed effects models with repeated measures were conducted.ResultsRegardless of the domain of MC, no longitudinal association between children’s AMC and PMC was found. Parents also exhibited limited capability to proxy report their children’s AMC longitudinally. PE teachers’ proxy reports of children’ AMC were associated over time with object control and overall level.ConclusionThis study confirms the necessity of specific training in AMC to effectively report on children’s motor competence. PE teachers can be seen as a potential source to empower children’s AMC and PMC development over time.