小学生创造性科学问题提出能力的发展研究

运用实验的方法,对371名小学生创造性科学问题提出能力的发展进行了研究。结果表明:(1)小学生创造性科学问题提出能力整体呈上升趋势;(2)男女生的创造性科学问题提出能力发展趋势基本相同,男生整体上要略高于女生,差异不显著;(3)小学生创造性科学问题提出能力的学校类型差异主要表现在发展趋势上,城市小学二到三年级停滞不前,乡村小学则迅速发展,之后发展趋势相同;(4)三到四年级是小学生创造性科学问题提出能力发展的“关键期”。     

小学生数学应用题解题水平影响因素的研究——视空间能力、认知方式及表征方式的影响

研究采用3(年级)×2(场认知方式)×2(视空间能力水平)×3(问题表征方式)四因素混合实验设计,探讨了这四种因素对小学生数学应用题解题水平的影响。结果表明:年级、认知方式、空间能力以及问题表征方式均是影响小学生应用题解决水平的关键因素;问题表征方式、认知方式、空间能力以及年级四个因素对小学生解题水平存在交互作用,其中图形提示有利于场依存性学生解题水平的提高,低空间-场依存型的学生更适合图形提示;高空间-场依存型的学生随年级升高解题能力发展较快,而低空间-场依存型的学生解题水平提高较慢;随着年级的升高,图式表征对小学生问题解决的促进作用增强。     

项目特征曲线等值的抽样误差

现在,等值越来越受到各考试测验机构及测量学研究人员的重视,特别是项目反应理论等值的优越性更使他们有了信心。然而,很多人却没有注意到被试能力分布形态可能给等值结果带来的影响效果及程度。本研究以项目反应理论两级记分模型的项目参数等值在不同被试能力分布形态下的结果差异作为重点,探讨被试抽样偏差可能给项目特征曲线等值带来的误差问题。研究结果表明,被试能力分布形态会显著地影响项目参数等值的系数,特别地,能力分布的偏态系数与等值方程的截距存在显著的线性相关关系,但能力分布形态的变化对等值方程中斜率的影响并不明显     

情绪对职业决策的影响

职业决策是决策研究领域的重要课题,引起了心理学家和决策研究者的高度关注.本文在以往研究的基础上,引人情绪和职业种类变量探讨了情绪对职业决策的影响,结果显示:(1)无论是四种还是八种职业决策任务,积极情绪的被试同消极情绪的被试相比,信息搜索的时间较长,信息搜索的深度显著增加;(2)在职业选择策略上,积极情绪的被试更加倾向于基于选项的加工,而消极情绪的被试随着从四种职业决策任务到八种决策任务的转变,逐渐倾向于基于属性的加工;(3)情绪影响了决策者职业决策的信息加工能力.     

Much Ado About Nothing? Some Comments on B. F. Skinner's Definition of Verbal Behavior

Some have suggested that the definition of verbal behavior offered by B. F. Skinner (1957) fails to capture the essence of language insofar as it is too broad and not functional. In this paper, I argue that the ambiguities of Skinner's definition are not an indictment of it, and that suggestions to the contrary are problematic because they suffer a critical error of scientific reasoning. Specifically, I argue that (a) no clear definition of verbal behavior is possible because there is no natural distinction between verbal and nonverbal behavior; (b) attempts at an immutable definition are essentialistic; and (c) Skinner's functional taxonomy of language is in no way affected by the particulars of any definition of verbal behavior.     

Religion as schedule-induced behavior

In this article, I argue that a class of religious behaviors exists that is induced, for prepared organisms, by specific stimuli that are experienced according to a response-independent schedule. Like other schedule-induced behaviors, the members of this class serve as minimal units out of which functional behavior may arise. In this way, there exist two classes of religious behavior: nonoperant schedule-induced behaviors and operant behaviors. This dichotomy is consistent with the distinction insisted upon by religious scholars and philosophers between "graceful" and "effortful" religious behaviors. Embracing the distinction allows an explanation of many aspects of religious experience and behavior that have been overlooked or disregarded by other scientific approaches to religion.     

Opposing effects of age and reading ability on pseudoword priming

Repetition priming refers to the facilitation of stimulus processing due to prior processing of the same or similar stimulus, and is one of the most primitive ways in which experience and practice can affect performance. Previous studies have produced contradictory results regarding the stability of repetition priming across development. Drawing on models of word priming that suggest decreased priming with increased reading ability, the present experiment investigated the possibility that null effects of age in priming are due to opposing effects of age and reading ability on priming magnitude. Forty-eight participants between 7 and 22 years old read aloud primed and unprimed pseudowords, after completing a reading ability assessment. In line with predictions, the magnitude of priming for pseudowords increased with increased age when reading ability was controlled, and decreased with increased reading ability when age was controlled. Moreover, neither the age nor ability effect was significant when tested without the other. Results were not influenced by explicit memory for primed pseudowords. Thus, the present experiment provides evidence for developmental increases in word priming, as well as a potential explanation for the lack of developmental effects in previous studies.     

信息呈现方式与学习者的个性特征对多媒体环境下学习效果的影响

采用两个实验:实验一以陈述性知识为学习内容,实验二以程序性知识为学习内容,在这两种情况下,分别用组间设计探讨信息呈现方式对不同认知风格和空间能力的学习者在多媒体环境下学习效果的影响。结果表明:(1)认知风格对陈述性知识在多媒体环境下的学习效果产生影响,而选择的多媒体信息呈现方式和被试的空间能力则对其不产生影响;(2)对于程序性知识的保持,多媒体信息呈现方式和被试认知风格都会对学习效果产生影响,被试空间能力则不会产生影响,而且被试不同的认知风格在不同的多媒体信息呈现方式上会产生不同的影响;(3)对程序性知识的迁移,多媒体信息呈现方式、被试认知风格和空间能力都会对多媒体环境下的学习效果产生影响,而且被试不同的认知风格和空间能力在不同的多媒体信息呈现方式上都会产生不同的影响。     

Overweight and cognition

There is a growing concern among health authorities that an increasing number of people in the Western world become overweight and even obese. It is well known that obesity is related to several diseases (e.g., diabetes, stroke, and high blood pressure) and that such diseases related to obesity lead to early death. It has also been discussed whether overweight and obesity in themselves or in relation to such diseases lead to cognitive decline. On the basis of data from a large, population‐based, prospective study we examined three cognitive domains: episodic memory, semantic memory, and spatial ability. Two body measures were used to define normal weight and overweight, body‐mass index and waist/hip ratio. Although these two body measures reveal quite different prevalence data of overweight, the associations between overweight and cognition are similar. For episodic memory, overweight interacts with age, but when controlling for hypertension, stroke and diabetes, this interaction disappears. For semantic memory, normal weight participants outperform overweight participants even after controlling for these diseases. For spatial ability, the well‐established advantage for men holds for young‐old and old‐old normal‐weight participants. For overweight participants, this advantage holds for middle‐age participants only. We conclude that there is a weight‐cognition relationship even after controlling for obesity‐related diseases. The results are discussed in terms of possible biological mechanisms.