Temporal reproduction

A signal appeared for a certain time period. After the period elapsed, pigeons had to begin and complete a sequence of 15 responses in a time window ranging from the signal duration to 50% longer. Sessions involved as many as 10 different signal durations occurring in a random sequence. The times produced by pigeons often were in the same ranges as those that have been found with adult human subjects. The average times were described equally well as linear or power functions of signal duration. However, instead of the overestimation of durations usually found when animals have timed the duration of antecedent stimuli, the linear functions suggested that the pigeons underestimated the durations of their own behavior. The birds showing the strongest control when the conditions involved eight or 10 different duration requirements revealed the constant coefficients of variation that support Weber's law and scalar timing theory. Scalar timing in temporal differentiation appears to depend on non-ambiguous information about the duration required for reinforcement and on a high degree of sensitivity to the duration requirement.     

实施人类辅助生殖技术如何维护医患权益

根据卫生部有关法规,结合我院实施人类辅助生殖技术中维护患者知情同意权的做法、认识和体会,探讨了医患双方的基本权利和义务、特殊项目的知情同意以及在实施辅助生育过程中应处理好的几个关系.     

Sowing Patriotism,But Reaping Nationalism? Consequences of Exposure to the American Flag

The American flag is a frequently displayed national symbol in the United States. Given its high visibility and importance, the present research examines the consequences of exposure to the flag on Americans' sense of national attachment. We hypothesized that the flag would increase patriotism, defined as love and commitment to one's country, and nationalism, defined as a sense of superiority over others. Two experimental studies supported the idea that the American flag increased nationalism, but not necessarily patriotism. The discussion focuses on the practices surrounding the American flag and its implications for the reproduction of American national identity.     

Third party assisted conception: an African perspective

The central importance of reproduction in all human cultures has given rise to many methods and techniques of assisting reproduction or overcoming infertility. Such methods and techniques have achieved spectacular successes in the Western world, where processes like in vitro fertilization (IVF) constitute a remarkable breakthrough. In this paper, the author attempts to reflect critically on assisted reproduction technologies (ART) from the background and perspective of African culture, a culture within which human reproduction is given the highest priority but which also exhibits a highly ambivalent attitude to modern technology-assisted methods of reproduction. The author considers the ethical crux of reproductive technologies to be linked to the issue of the moral status of the human embryo and argues that a morally significant line of demarcation cannot be drawn between embryos and other categories of humans.     

生生:儒家超越死亡焦虑的根本路径

“生生”思想是儒家超越死亡焦虑的根本路径,具体体现在以下六个方面:宇宙自然视域下的“原始反终”; 血脉和精神传承视域下的“父死子继”; 丧礼和祭礼视域下的“慎终追远”; 体生和不朽视域下的“存顺没宁”; 生死抉择视域下的“杀身成仁”; 知命和立命视域下的“顺受其正”。儒家以“生生”思想统摄生死,彰显了深沉的人文智慧。     

4~7岁儿童依据对繁殖的朴素理解区分植物和非生物的认知发展

以152名4~7岁儿童为被试,采用访谈和判断选择任务探查他们对植物繁殖的认知。结果发现,①4~7岁儿童对植物繁殖的认知可分为不理解、部分理解和确切理解三种水平,儿童在入学后7岁能依据对植物繁殖的朴素理解区分植物与非生物;②通过降低材料难度和任务形式要求的难度,可以有效地发掘年幼儿童的认知潜能,即大部分6岁学前儿童就能够理解植物繁殖;③任务难度的改变对处于部分理解水平的5、6儿童影响更为显著：使他们在选择任务上的认知成绩优于访谈任务,对有明显果实和种子植物的认知优于无明显果实和种子植物的认知     

Information processing as an intrinsic property of biological systems: Origin and dynamics of information

Information processing is a main property which distinguishes life from inorganic matter. Its background is the recognition activity of biomacro‐molecules based on quantum non‐demolition measurements. Reflective arrows in the set of mappings appearing from quantum measurements do form a hypercyclic structure which realizes information transfer and allows a system to self‐reproduce and evolve. These arrows correspond to Goedel numbers created inside a system.     

Patterns of Mother-Infant Contact: The Significance of Lateral Preference

The use of assisted reproductive technology is increasing rapidly. Research, although sparse, has resulted in inconsistent findings as to the developmental prognosis for infants conceived by assisted reproductive techniques such as in vitro fertilization and the use of fertility drugs. In the present study, the authors compared twins who were spontaneously conceived with those who were conceived through assisted reproductive technology. The authors found differences in birth weight and gestational age. Infants conceived by assisted reproductive technology fared worse than did those who were spontaneously conceived. The authors found no differences between the groups in mental development at 24 months of age, but they found evidence of differences in physical development. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

More is still not better: Testing the perturbation model of temporal reference memory across different modalities and tasks

The ability of the perturbation model (Jones & Wearden, 2003) to account for reference memory function in a visual temporal generalization task and auditory and visual reproduction tasks was examined. In all tasks the number of presentations of the standard was manipulated (1, 3, or 5), and its effect on performance was compared. In visual temporal generalization the number of presentations of the standard did not affect the number of times the standard was correctly identified, nor did it affect the overall temporal generalization gradient. In auditory reproduction there was no effect of the number of times the standard was presented on mean reproductions. In visual reproduction mean reproductions were shorter when the standard was only presented once; however, this effect was reduced when a visual cue was provided before the first presentation of the standard. Whilst the results of all experiments are best accounted for by the perturbation model there appears to be some attentional benefit to multiple presentations of the standard in visual reproduction.     

A Structural Equation Analysis of the Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning in a Clinical Sample

A maximum likelihood confirmatory factor analysis was performed by applying LISREL VII to the Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning (WRAML) in a clinical sample (N = 271). Analyses were designed to determine which of 10 hypothesized oblique factor solutions could best explain memory as measured by the WRAML. Competing latent variable models were identified in previous studies and monographs on memory. Findings supported a three-factor model including Verbal Memory, Visual Memory, and Attention/Concentration factors. Our results are consistent with previous studies suggesting that attention is an important component of memory as measured by the WRAML. This study replicates previous research in which the Learning Index was not empirically supported.