时序表征的空间特性

时间是个高度抽象的概念,必须依靠具体的、易感知的事物进行表征。时间表征本质上是隐喻性的,而时间的空间隐喻是时间隐喻表征的原型。受到数字空间表征研究的启示,发现时序表征同样具有空间特性。时序表征具有空间特性具有一定的普遍性,但是在具体的水平或垂直空间维度、“左-右”或“右-左”空间方向上存在一定的灵活性;此外时序能够导致空间注意的转移。     

判断框架对时序知觉位置启动效应的影响

研究采用包含两种判断框架（判断刺激出现的先后次序）的时序判断任务探讨了决策偏向对时序知觉位置启动效应的影响。实验结果表明,时序知觉中存在着位置启动效应,而且在两个靶刺激出现时间间隔不同时,被试在“哪个靶刺激先出现”和“哪个靶刺激后出现”两种判断框架下的正确率存在显著差异,但在两个靶刺激同时出现时并没有出现显著的判断框架效应。因此,本研究推测时序知觉位置启动效应的作用机制不仅包括知觉增强加工过程,而且也与认知决策有关,这为反应偏向理论提供了新的支持证据。     

从概念界定角度看控制感研究中的问题

在目前关于“控制感”的研究中,概念界定一直是困扰许多研究者的问题。研究从控制源、自我效能感两个概念出发,阐述控制感概念与两者之间存在区别,包含更多的内容,提出控制感概念界定可以从方向和强度上予以考虑,并将控制感定义为：个体相信自己能够影响事件地进行而获得所期望结果的程度,而且这种影响是由个体自己而非外界的因素来决定的。概念的清晰界定对于今后控制感的测量和理论发展有着较大的益处。     

Expectation-based syntactic comprehension

This paper investigates the role of resource allocation as a source of processing difficulty in human sentence comprehension. The paper proposes a simple information-theoretic characterization of processing difficulty as the work incurred by resource reallocation during parallel, incremental, probabilistic disambiguation in sentence comprehension, and demonstrates its equivalence to the theory of Hale [Hale, J. (2001). A probabilistic Earley parser as a psycholinguistic model. In Proceedings of NAACL (Vol. 2, pp. 159-166)], in which the difficulty of a word is proportional to its surprisal (its negative log-probability) in the context within which it appears. This proposal subsumes and clarifies findings that high-constraint contexts can facilitate lexical processing, and connects these findings to well-known models of parallel constraint-based comprehension. In addition, the theory leads to a number of specific predictions about the role of expectation in syntactic comprehension, including the reversal of locality-based difficulty patterns in syntactically constrained contexts, and conditions under which increased ambiguity facilitates processing. The paper examines a range of established results bearing on these predictions, and shows that they are largely consistent with the surprisal theory.     

Is Educational Research Any Use?

We begin by examining the widespread scepticism about the value of empirical educational research that is found within sections of the philosophy of education community. We argue that this scepticism, in its strongest form, is incoherent as it suggests that there are no educational facts susceptible of discovery. On the other hand, if there are such facts, then commonsense is not an adequate way of accessing them, due to its own contested and variable nature. We go on to examine the claim that teaching is a moral enterprise whose successful pursuit demands the grasp of moral concepts and their implications. We show that while this is the case, it is a necessary, not a sufficient condition for successful teaching, which also requires a grasp of facts that are relevant to effective teaching and learning. Finally we examine some protocols for educational research. John Gingell, John Gingell is head of philosophy programmes at the University of Northampton, UK. He is the author, with Ed Brandon, of ‘In Defence of High Culture’ (Blackwell 2000) and (with Christopher Winch) ‘Philosophy and Education Policy: a critical introduction’ (Routledge 2004). Christopher Winch teaches at King’s College, London, UK. He is the author of ‘The Philosophy of Human Learning’ (Routledge 1998) and ‘Education, Autonomy and Critical Thinking’ (Routledge, forthcoming, 2005).     

An Impossibility Theorem on Beliefs in Games

A paradox of self-reference in beliefs in games is identified, which yields a game-theoretic impossibility theorem akin to Russell’s Paradox. An informal version of the paradox is that the following configuration of beliefs is impossible:Ann believes that Bob assumes thatAnn believes that Bob’s assumption is wrongThis is formalized to show that any belief model of a certain kind must have a ‘hole.’ An interpretation of the result is that if the analyst’s tools are available to the players in a game, then there are statements that the players can think about but cannot assume. Connections are made to some questions in the foundations of game theory.Special Issue Ways of Worlds II. On Possible Worlds and Related Notions Edited by Vincent F. Hendricks and Stig Andur Pedersen     

Perceived Control Over Aging-Related Declines: Adaptive Beliefs and Behaviors

ABSTRACT— The belief that people are in control of desired outcomes, including those associated with aging, is a hallmark of American culture. Nevertheless, older adults are less likely than the young to believe there are things that can be done to control aging-related declines in areas such as memory. Within age groups, individual differences in control beliefs are related to cognitive performance, health, and well-being. Mechanisms linking perceived control and positive outcomes include adaptive behaviors such as strategy use and physical activity. There is some evidence that control beliefs can be modified in later life, as illustrated in an intervention for fear of falling. Further work is needed to examine the antecedents of perceived control in later life and the implications of control beliefs in other aging-related domains.     

印尼留学生汉语主动句被动句命题表征项目顺序

采用句子-图形验证任务初步探讨了不同汉语水平的印尼留学生理解汉语主动句、被动句所形成的命题表征中的项目顺序特点。结果表明,初级汉语水平印尼留学生理解汉语主动句、被动句后所建构的命题表征中项目顺序均为“受事→施事”;中级汉语水平印尼留学生理解汉语主动句所形成的命题表征项目顺序为“施事→受事”,而其理解汉语被动句所形成的命题表征项目顺序为“受事→施事”。母语主动句、被动句的理解特点影响印尼留学生汉语主动句、被动句命题表征项目顺序;这种影响作用与其汉语水平有一定的关系。