Research Misconduct in the Age of Open Science: The Case of STAP Stem Cells

In early 2014, Dr Haruko Obokata and her co-authors caused a global media storm by publishing two scientific papers in Nature on stem cells. The papers proposed a surprisingly simple new method called stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency (STAP) to generate pluripotent stem cells for research purposes in a fast and inexpensive way. To the dismay of many, both papers were retracted within six months of their release due to data fabrication and falsification. The rise and fall of the STAP research illustrates the impacts of open science practices of quality control and validation on new scientific claims. In the STAP case, collective action generated through two online forums—the Knoepfler Lab Stem Cell Blog and PubPeer—exposed not only data manipulation in the two papers but also the irreproducibility of the purported new cellular reprogramming method. The case brings to the fore the tentative possibilities as well as potential pitfalls of ‘accelerated virtual witnessing’ through crowdsourced post-publication peer reviews that value accessibility and inclusiveness. Indeed, it calls for empirically grounded discussion on the ongoing reconfiguration of the shared system of values and norms or the moral economy of science.     

Virtually overcoming grammar learning with 3D application of Loci mnemonics?

The importance of contextual information for memory organization has been advocated by memory research and ancient mnemonic techniques (e.g., method of loci), yet it remains overlooked in most current study environments. Here, German noun gender was presented to 48 participants without prior knowledge of German, either without or within a provided spatial context consisting of a simulated virtual environment that could be explored freely. The three main findings were: in addition to reduced forgetting rate, memory was significantly enhanced when acquisition had occurred with a spatial context than without, in immediate, and delayed cued recall, as well as in delayed free recall. Second, visualization ability predicted spatial context efficiency as a memory aid for cued recall. Lastly, performance of the method of loci‐based method correlated with its perceived efficiency. This is the first study to experimentally demonstrate the potential effectiveness of computer‐induced spatial context on grammar learning.     

我与另一个我:网络自我与现实自我的关系辨析

与现实自我相对,网络自我是个体在网络世界中的自我。在网络生活日益普及的今天,探讨网络自我与现实自我之间的关系具有重要意义。综合自我身份、外形及人格等方面的研究,可以得知网络自我在一定程度上是现实自我的虚拟投射,但对于一些容易受到社会评价的特征,个体会对网络自我进行适度的理想化。同时,网络平台属性以及用户个人特征都会影响网络自我与现实自我之间的关系。未来研究可以结合不同平台与场景、多种研究方法、在不同文化背景下对网络自我与现实自我之间的关系进行进一步探索。     

三维动静态场景下返回抑制的扩散

使用虚拟现实技术探讨三维动静态空间下返回抑制是否敏感于深度线索及返回抑制效应是否存在空间扩散。采用线索−靶子范式,分别设置三维静态和动态场景。结果发现：三维静态场景,不同深度及不同侧位置均发生返回抑制且产生效应大小有差异;三维动态场景,不同线索条件反应时无显著差异。结果表明,三维静态场景下,返回抑制敏感于深度线索,其效应在空间中存在扩散;客体运动破坏了返回抑制的产生及其效应的空间扩散。     

虚拟团队共享式领导的双刃剑效应研究：基于调适性结构理论的视角

虚拟团队因新兴技术驱动而成为组织管理的潮流, 尤其全球疫情的爆发使得远程办公备受关注。共享式领导是与虚拟团队高度匹配的领导模式, 但现今学界对虚拟团队共享式领导作用机制的研究比较匮乏, 且集中在正面效应和团队层次, 忽略了共享式领导可能存在的负面效应及对个体层次的影响。研究基于调适性结构理论, 提出虚拟团队共享式领导有助于团队及个体内部动机和效能感的提升, 同时也会加剧团队内社会惰化现象和关系冲突水平, 引发员工的工作负荷和工作焦虑感, 进而对团队绩效和个体绩效产生双刃剑效应, 同时, 团队虚拟性、任务复杂性和任务重要性在其中起到调节作用。研究模型系统打开了虚拟团队共享式领导的影响机制黑箱, 为组织如何在虚拟情境下领导团队、提升绩效提供借鉴。     

虚拟环境中临境感及其测量方法

虚拟环境（VE）中的临境感是用户感知身处VE而产生的一种主观体验,是评价VE的重要指标。VE临境感产生的基础在于个体VE某一特征的集中注意,其程度强弱在一定范围内取决于个体分配于VE的注意资源量,受诸如计算机技术设备等系统因素、表现为个体差异的用户因素以及人机对话过程中交互因素的影响。在此基础上本文从生理指标（生理测量法、心率变化和皮肤电阻变化）、行为指标（姿势变化和冲突条件下的刺激定位）、心理物理学（对比法和跨通道匹配法）、主观评价（WS-PQ、SUS-PQ、ITC-SOPI和直接主观评价法）和绩效衡量对VE临境感的测量方法进行总结和简单评价。     

Movement Control Strategies in a Dynamic Balance Task in Children With and Without Developmental Coordination Disorder

Abstract

Our study aimed to analyze movement control strategies using predefined criteria for amplitude and differences in these strategies between children with and without DCD. Children with (n?=?28) and without DCD (n?=?15) were included. A video-observation-tool was used to score the moving body parts during a Wii Fit slalom task over multiple time points. Two-step cluster analysis was used to extract distinct movement strategies. Two different movement strategies were identified that were independently validated by a measure of task performance and a subjective mark of quality of the movement. Initial differences between groups and changes over time toward the more successful strategy were found in both groups, albeit in a different percentage. This study shows that the more efficient movement strategy is seen in the majority of the TD children and only in a small number of children with DCD, even after practice.     

An assessment of age differences in theory of mind using the virtual assessment of mentalizing ability

ABSTRACT

Prior research has shown that older adults perform more poorly than young on tasks that assess theory of mind (ToM). However, these studies have used tasks that are performed “offline” (i.e., requiring a second-person perspective) as opposed to “online” (i.e., requiring a first-person perspective). Therefore, the present study was designed to establish whether age-related ToM difficulties are also evident when an “online” measure of ToM is used. Forty younger and 40 older adults completed the Virtual Assessment of Mentalizing Ability (VAMA) along with two conventional ToM tasks. No age differences were evident on the conventional measures, but older adults had lower accuracy on the VAMA relative to their younger counterparts. The overall pattern of errors did not differ between the groups. These data provide no evidence that age effects are reduced when stimuli are used that are more likely to engage the mentalizing processes elicited in real life social interactions.