A Walk in the Invisible City

This essay discusses the performative interventions of the contemporary Belgian artist Francis Alÿs in Mexico City and how they create a critical focus on urban reality in the Latin American mega-cities, and outline ways of intervention and interaction in the modern disassociation of the city’s economical, social, and cultural levels, taking up the challenge to suggest their unity through imagination and art.     

The Thought Experiment of Maxwell’s Demon and the Origin of Irreversibility

The problem of the irreversibility’s origin in thermodynamic processes occupies a distinguished place among many and lasting attempts by researchers to derive irreversibility from molecular-mechanical principles. However, this problem is still open and no universally accepted solution may be given during any course. In this paper, I shall try to show that the examining of Maxwell’s demon thought experiment may provide insight into the difficulties that emerge, looking for this origin because: (i) it is connected with the notion of irreversibility, and (ii) one of its functions is that of the “reversibility objection.” In order to illustrate this point, I study Boltzmann’s approach to the problem of a molecular-mechanical interpretation of irreversibility and I show that an auxiliary assumption (the selected direction of time) is responsible for producing irreversibility. But this result is accordant with the predictions of Maxwell’s demon thought experiment: the assumptions of this kind are not dictated by molecular-mechanical principles but are separate input in the model-systems used.

Spiritual practices children understand: an analysis of Madeleine L’Engle’s fantasy,A Wind in the Door

The following essay is a close reading of Madeleine L’Engle’s science fantasy novel, A Wind in the Door, in which young Meg Murry travels first to outer space and then into her younger brother’s ailing cells. The novel is a fine example of high fantasy (also known as heroic fantasy) wherein a humble protagonist is called to a quest to fight a cosmic battle between good and evil. The essay analyzes specific expressions of evil in the novel: impersonality, narcissism, despair and blind empiricism. Meg’s quest demonstrates particular spiritual practices that promote spiritual maturation and the ability to overcome evil: ‘kything’, Naming, deepening and holding. L’Engle portrays these practices in a fresh way that can help both children and adults incorporate them into their day‐to‐day lives. Moreover, there are links between kything and holding and the metta and tonglen, two types of Buddhist meditation. L’Engle affirms children’s innate relational consciousness and presents spiritual practices that are relational, non‐sectarian, practical, and eminently hopeful.     

进行中任务变化对轻度认知功能障碍者基于事件前瞻记忆的影响

本实验采用2被试组别(MCI组、正常老年组) × 3进行中任务变化(无变化、顺序变化、随机变化)被试间设计探究进行中任务变化对轻度认知功能障碍者基于事件前瞻记忆的影响。结果表明：(1)轻度认知功能障碍者的前瞻记忆成绩显著低于正常老年人的前瞻记忆成绩; (2)进行中任务变化对两组被试前瞻记忆和进行中任务的反应时影响存在显著差异。进行中任务变化越大, 轻度认知功能障碍者完成前瞻记忆和进行中任务的反应速度越慢; 而正常老年被试则不受影响。研究支持前瞻记忆策略加工的理论观点, 认为执行功能损伤可能是导致轻度认知功能障碍者前瞻记忆失败的主要原因。     

Russell’s Paradox of Predicates

Russell’s letter to Frege of June 16, 1902 contains the famous paradox of the class of all classes which are not members of themselves as well as a second paradox of the predicates that cannot be predicated of themselves. The latter paradox arises out of Russell’s theory of classes and class concepts in Principles of Mathematics.     

时间贴现在神经和行为上的年龄特征

时间贴现的年龄发展具有阶段性。前额皮质, 边缘系统和多巴胺能系统的发展成熟是从儿童期到成人期时间贴现发展变化的神经生物基础。成人期到老年期时间贴现年龄特征的研究结果不一致。概率贴现、未来定向、延迟满足等被用来探讨时间贴现年龄发展特征。可以从大脑不同区域的发展轨迹, 延迟时段的心理意义来进一步深入研究。     

大学生心中父亲形象的结构分析

通过对当代大学生心目中“父亲”的概念表征进行研究,采用字词联想法进行数据收集,以父亲形象为刺激,让231名被试进行自由联想,选出前43个联想频率在4.7%以上的高频词语（概念）作为分析单位,做成卡片。另请100名被试进行分类,然后根据它们之间的关系亲疏程度实施系统聚类分析。结果发现,“父亲”概念在大学生的心目中可以从以下4个方面进行表征: (1)“依靠性”;(2)“情义性”;(3)“自律性”;(4)“阳光性”。     

高功能孤独症儿童的合作行为

合作行为是一种重要的亲社会行为, 对儿童的社会适应具有重要意义, 而孤独症儿童的典型特征是社会功能存在缺陷, 从而导致合作行为的缺乏。以往研究未能就孤独症儿童在不同合作任务类型中的表现做出区分, 本研究采用经典的囚徒困境博弈和合作性工具任务比较了6~12岁的高功能孤独症儿童和正常发展儿童在不同任务中的合作行为。结果显示高功能孤独症儿童和正常儿童在囚徒困境中的合作行为没有显著差异, 然而, 他们在工具性任务中表现出比正常儿童更低水平的合作行为。这说明高功能孤独症儿童在对认知能力有不同要求的合作任务中的表现不同。     

初中生感知教师自主支持对学业倦怠的影响：基本心理需要、自主动机的中介作用

以自我决定理论为基础,使用修订的学习氛围量表、基本心理需要量表、学业调节问卷和学业倦怠问卷对613名初中生进行施测,探讨了初中生感知的教师自主支持、基本心理需要、自我决定动机和学业倦怠之间的关系。研究发现：（1）学生感知的教师自主支持与基本心理需要满足、自主动机呈显著正相关,基本心理需要满足、自主动机与学业倦怠水平呈显著负相关;（2）基本心理需要、自主动机可以单独作为中介变量在学生感知教师自主支持与学业倦怠之间起中介作用,基本心理需要-自主动机也可以形成中介链在学生感知教师自主支持与学业倦怠之间起中介作用。     

双视角下编码与提取相关性词差异的ERP研究

当个体的特征对周围人的利害影响大于本人时（如残忍）,该特征是他相关（other-relevance）的;反之则是主相关（possessor-relevance,如忧郁）的。研究比较了两种视角下（接受者视角：加工他人的特征;持有者视角：加工自我的特征）相关性特征在编码（判断特征词的相关性）与提取（新旧判断）过程中的ERP特点并发现：编码时双视角下都有他相关比主相关的波幅更大;提取时双视角下都有他相关比主相关的N400波形更负,仅在持有者视角时主相关比他相关的P600更正。可见他相关的加工优势体现在双视角下编码的全程与提取的早期,而主相关的优势表现在持有者视角的情景记忆提取过程中。