The importance of autonomy support and the mediating role of work motivation for well‐being: Testing self‐determination theory in a Chinese work organisation

We examine relations between perceived organisational autonomy support and different types of work motivation and well‐being outcomes in 266 teachers from two government schools in China. We hypothesised that greater autonomy support would be associated with more autonomous forms of employee motivation, and that teacher motivation would in turn mediate the effects of autonomy support on indicators of work well‐being (i.e., job satisfaction, work stress and physical ill symptoms). Results generally supported the hypothesised relations between perceived autonomy support and SDT's five types of motivations. Findings also showed that perceived autonomy support predicted job satisfaction directly and indirectly through the mediating roles of intrinsic motivation, identified regulation, introjected regulation and external regulation. Perceived autonomy support predicted work stress directly and indirectly through the mediating roles of external regulation and amotivation. Autonomy support also predicted illness symptoms via the mediating roles of intrinsic motivation, introjected regulation and amotivation. The current findings highlight how perceived organisational support for autonomy relates to motivational differences in a Chinese work context, and the potential relevance of autonomy support for employee well‐being.     

Socioeconomic and sociocultural determinants of psychological distress and quality of life among patients with psoriasis in a selected multi-ethnic Malaysian population

Patients with psoriasis may have increased risk of psychological comorbidities. This cross-sectional study aimed at determining associations between sociocultural and socioeconomic factors with the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) scores and the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) scores. Adult patients with psoriasis were recruited from a Dermatology outpatient clinic via convenience sampling. Interviews were conducted regarding socio-demographic factors and willing subjects were requested to complete the DASS and DLQI questionnaires. The Pearson χ² test, Fisher’s exact test and multivariate logistic regression were used for statistical analysis to determine independent predictors of depression, anxiety, stress and severe impairment of quality of life. Unadjusted analysis revealed that depression was associated with Indian ethnicity (p = .041) and severe impairment of quality of life was associated with Indian ethnicity (p = .032), higher education (p = .013), higher income (p = .042), and employment status (p = .014). Multivariate analysis revealed that Indian ethnicity was a predictor of depression (p = .024). For stress, tertiary level of education (p = .020) was an independent risk factor while a higher monthly income was a protective factor (p = .042). The ethnic Indians and Malays were significantly more likely than the ethnic Chinese to suffer reduced quality of life (p = .001 and p = .006 respectively) and subjects with tertiary education were more likely to have severe impairment of quality of life (p = .002). Our study was unique in determining sociocultural influences on psychological complications of psoriasis in a South East Asian population. This has provided invaluable insight into factors predictive of adverse effects of psoriasis on psychological distress and quality of life in our patient population. Future studies should devise interventions to specifically target at risk groups in the development of strategies to reduce morbidity associated with psoriasis.     

Platonism and anti‐Platonism: Why worry?

This paper argues that it is scientific realists who should be most concerned about the issue of Platonism and anti‐Platonism in mathematics. If one is merely interested in accounting for the practice of pure mathematics, it is unlikely that a story about the ontology of mathematical theories will be essential to such an account. The question of mathematical ontology comes to the fore, however, once one considers our scientific theories. Given that those theories include amongst their laws assertions that imply the existence of mathematical objects, scientific realism, when construed as a claim about the truth or approximate truth of our scientific theories, implies mathematical Platonism. However, a standard argument for scientific realism, the ‘no miracles’ argument, falls short of establishing mathematical Platonism. As a result, this argument cannot establish scientific realism as it is usually defined, but only some weaker position. Scientific ‘realists’ should therefore either redefine their position as a claim about the existence of unobservable physical objects, or alternatively look for an argument for their position that does establish mathematical Platonism.     

文本阅读中概念提取的研究进展

文章对文本阅读中概念提取的研究进行了系统的介绍,虽然研究者得出了不同的结论,但都力图揭示文本阅读中概念提取的信息加工机制。文章在此基础上对影响文本阅读中概念提取的因素进行初步分析．发现文本类型、文本中心确定方式和抑制是主要因素。其中,文本中心确定方式是最主要的影响因素。     

当代西方语篇阅读信息加工理论模型的演进

在探讨阅读过程的信息加工活动的过程中产生了多种理论与模式．当代西方语篇阅读研究的建构一整合模型、建构主义模型和记忆基础模型沿着Kintsch提出的语篇表征三个层次理沦．从各自不同的角度提出了对语篇阅读信息加工过程的看法,建构整合模型主要考察了语篇表征中课文基础表征建构的信息活动过程．建构主义模型和记忆基础模型主要探讨了语篇表征中情境模型的建构和更新过程。     

Eating behaviour, body image, and self-esteem of adolescent girls in Malaysia

This cross-sectional study was undertaken with 489 secondary school girls, ages 15-17 years, to examine disordered eating behaviours of adolescent girls in Malaysia and to estimate associations with body weight, body-size discrepancy, and self-esteem. Dietary restraint, binge eating, body image, and self-esteem were assessed using the Restrained Eating scale of the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire, the Binge Scale Questionnaire, the Contour Drawing Rating Scale, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, respectively. Pearson correlations estimated associations between variables. There were 3.1% underweight, 9.8% at risk of being overweight, and 8.6% overweight girls. A total of 87.3% were dissatisfied with their own body size. Dietary restraint and binge eating were reported by 36.0% and 35.4%, respectively. Body Mass Index (r = .34, p < .01) and body-size dissatisfaction (r = .24, p < .01) were significantly associated with dietary restraint and binge eating, but self-esteem (r = -.20, p < .001) was significantly associated only with binge eating.     

An Approach to Emerson’s Writing Style from a Daoist Perspective

There is a clear and controlling philosophical concern that governs Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essays: freedom from limitation and self-reliance from external authority. What makes it difficult to understand his essays, however, is his style, which is characterized by disconnection, paradox, and negation. These rhetorical techniques make the meaning of his writings elusive and slippery. Though many scholars have analyzed Emerson’s style, none have approached it through the writings of Laozi, an ancient Chinese philosopher. There are two reasons I compare Emerson and Laozi. First, in spite of their differences, there are important parallel themes and stylistic innovations in their writings. Second, attentiveness to a key figure in the Eastern philosophical tradition can help to explain how Emerson’s thoughts disappoint Western readers, precisely because they employ techniques beyond the method of habitual intellect in the Western frame. This essay tries to approach several features in Emerson’s writing style from a Daoist perspective to show that both philosophers purposefully use linguistic strategies such as disconnection, paradox, and negation to provoke readers into participating in understanding truth, instead of telling them directly what truth is.     

Contextual cueing effects in the remote memory of alcoholic Korsakoff patients and normal subjects

This study examines the effects of contextual cueing on the remote memory of alcoholic Korsakoff patients and normal subjects. Naming of personalities who became famous in each of the five decades beginning 1935 was tested under two conditions: "no-context", in which minimal extraneous cues to identification were provided, and "context", where clear extraneous cues were available. Normal subjects performed better than Korsakoff patients, showed no evidence of a temporal gradient, and exhibited a contextual cueing advantage across all decades. In contrast, Korsakoff patients demonstrated a marked temporal gradient, and the contextual cueing advantage declined systematically as more recent decades were sampled. Further analyses demonstrated that the differential pattern of deficits shown by Korsakoffs and controls was not attributable to absolute differences in performance level. Theoretical implications of these data for explanations of Korsakoff retrograde amnesia are discussed.     

Memory impairment following ruptured aneurysm of the anterior communicating artery

This study reports the case of a 42-year-old man who suffered a ruptured aneurysm of the anterior communicating artery. His memory capabilities were assessed after a considerable recovery period during which many of his memory deficits ameliorated. His scan revealed a left frontal lesion and many of his deficits were characteristic of frontal impairment. He was impaired on temporal discrimination, and he showed marked source forgetting. He also performed badly on the Brown-Peterson task, and we suggest that this is another task that may be characteristic of frontal impairment. In contrast, the patient showed normal or near normal performance on some memory tasks but not on others. It is concluded that the patient's frontal signs are similar to those found in Korsakoff's Syndrome, but that his memory impairment is qualitatively different from that encountered in patients with the amnesic syndrome.