Retroactive interference in single-cue probability learning

Abstract.— When two single-cue probability learning tasks with different amounts of unpredictable variance were learned in succession. a low variance task interfered with the retention of a high variance task, but the opposite was not true. The effects were positive in that they enabled the subjects to reach a higher response consistency and, thus, a higher level of achievement. It was suggested that the subjects made use of the low variance task to reject incorrect hypotheses about the cue-criterion relation and that interference from an interpolated task occurs only when this task provides information which has functional value for the subject.     

The Effects of Commercials on Children’s Perceptions of Gender Appropriate Toy Use

Sixty-two first and second grade students (28 boys, 34 girls) were exposed to one of three commercial videotapes in which either all-boys (traditional condition) or all-girls (nontraditional) were playing with a toy. Participants in the control condition were exposed to nontoy commercials. After exposure to one of the conditions participants performed a toy sort where they were asked if six toys, including the two manipulated toys, were for boys, girls, or both boys and girls. Participants in the nontraditional condition were more likely to report that the manipulated toys were for both boys and girls than were participants in the traditional condition, who were more likely to report that the manipulated toys were for boys. This effect was stronger for boys than for girls.     

多元文化经历对领导者能力及发展的影响

随着全球化发展的深入, 越来越多的企业领导者具有多元文化经历。多元文化经历是指个体具有直接或间接与外国文化元素或人群进行交互的经历。拟从领导者发展(leader development)和领导力发展(leadership development)两个层面, 全面地探讨多元文化经历对企业领导者能力形成及发展的影响：第一, 探讨多元文化经历对领导者能力发展(包括个人层面、关系层面和社会层面能力)的影响及内部机制; 第二, 探讨多元文化经历对领导力发展(包括领导力涌现、领导力选拔和领导力效能)的影响及内部机制。项目成果不仅能够丰富领导者能力形成与发展等组织管理相关理论, 还能为企业的全球化管理及国际化人才培养实践提供建议。     

The impact of parents’ mental health on parent–baby interaction: A prospective study

The aims of the current study were to examine the effect of fathers’ and mothers’ pre and postnatal mental health on mother–infant and father–infant interactions. Mental health was broadly defined to include anxiety, depression and PTSD. A community sample of 44 mothers and 40 fathers from 45 families completed questionnaire measures of mental health in late pregnancy and three months postpartum. Mother–infant and father–infant interactions were observed and videoed three months postpartum and analysed using the CARE-index. Results showed that prenatal mental health, in particular anxiety, was associated with parent–infant interactions to a greater extent than postnatal mental health. Fathers’ prenatal symptoms were associated with higher paternal unresponsiveness and infant passivity whilst fathers’ postnatal symptoms were associated with higher levels of infant difficulty in the father–baby interaction. The results also indicated that mothers and fathers interaction with their babies were similar, both on average and within the couples, with 34% being inept or at risk. These findings highlight the need for early detection and prevention of both mental health and parent–infant relationship problems in fathers as well as mothers. However, further prospective and longitudinal studies are needed to understand the influences of parental mental health on the parent–infant interactions further. Also it should be noted that the mental health scores were low in this sample, which may reflect the sample characteristics. Future studies therefore would benefit from focusing on more vulnerable groups of parents.     

The Challenge of Christian Schooling in a Secular Society

This article evaluates the position of Christian schooling within a liberal democracy and the rights of Christians within a secular state. I challenge the fundamental liberal tenet of individual autonomy as the supreme goal of education and put the case that Christian schools are a vital part of a diverse, tolerant and inclusive society. Although intended as a theoretical resource, current developments in faith-based education in the United Kingdom are used to exemplify important political and philosophical arguments that will be of value to Christian educators in the United States and elsewhere.     

Associations between parental gendered attitudes and behaviours and children’s gender development across middle childhood

The present study used a longitudinal, multi-informant approach to examine which specific elements of parents’ gendered attitudes and behaviours were predictive of multiple dimensions of children’s gender development. One hundred and six families with two children (older sibling M = 7.45 years and younger sibling M = 5.19 years at Time 1) were assessed at two time points four to five years apart. At Time 1, parents reported on division of household labour, their own gender-role attitudes (GRAs), and children’s gendered preferences. At Time 2, children reported on their gendered preferences, GRAs and gendered personality traits. Results from multilevel modelling showed that fathers’ egalitarian GRA and egalitarian division of household tasks were predictive of egalitarian child GRA and outcomes, but child sex did not moderate these relationships. As some gender measures were more strongly correlated than others, these findings highlight the importance of examining multiple dimensions of both children’s and parents’ gendered attitudes and behaviours.     

Clarifying boundaries of binge eating disorder and psychiatric comorbidity: a latent structure analysis

Binge eating disorder (BED) presents with substantial psychiatric comorbidity. This latent structure analysis sought to delineate boundaries of BED given its comorbidity with affective and anxiety disorders. A population-based sample of 151 women with BED, 102 women with affective or anxiety disorders, and 259 women without psychiatric disorders was assessed with clinical interviews and self-report-questionnaires. Taxometric analyses were conducted using DSM-IV criteria of BED and of affective and anxiety disorders. The results showed a taxonic structure of BED and of affective and anxiety disorders. Both taxa co-occurred at an above-chance level, but also presented independently with twice-as-large probabilities. Within the BED taxon, diagnostic co-occurrence indicated greater general psychopathology, lower social adaptation, and greater premorbid exposure to parental mood and substance disorder, but not greater eating disorder psychopathology. Eating disorder psychopathology discriminated individuals in the BED taxon from individuals in the affective and anxiety disorders taxon. Diagnostic criteria of BED were more indicative of the BED taxon than were criteria of affective and anxiety disorders. The results show that at the latent level, BED was co-occurring with, yet distinct from, affective and anxiety disorders and was not characterized by an underlying affective or anxiety disorder.     

中国背景下员工沉默的测量以及信任对其的影响

应用自行编制的员工沉默行为调查问卷,通过对928名被试的调查,对中国背景下员工沉默行为的结构维度进行了探讨。探索性因素分析结果表明,员工沉默由三个因素构成。三因素结构的结果在验证性因素分析中得到了证实。由此得到结论,员工沉默有三维结构：默许沉默、漠视沉默和防御沉默。以员工沉默的三个维度为因变量,以员工对上级和组织的信任为自变量进行回归分析,结果表明,员工对上级信任对员工沉默三个维度都有负面影响,而员工对组织信任对默许沉默和漠视沉默有负向影响,对防御沉默的影响并不显著     

中国古代辟疫思想的当代启示

通过对以未病先防为主导的中国古代主要辟疫思想及方法的回顾与思考,探讨了其对今天传染病预防的参考价值。认识到在当代传染病预防工作中,借鉴中国古代医学的思想与实践之精粹或许可为当代新发传染病的防治另辟新径,以期能对现代传染病的预治有所启示。     

From beliefs to skills: the secularization of literacy and the moral education of citizens

The premise advanced here is that reading is of religious and spiritual significance; consequently, when literacy is secularized, divorced from faith and considered apart from readers’ beliefs and values, there are consequences for learning. It is suggested that current educational policy which legitimates the view that literacy is more concerned with skills (which are often misguidedly regarded as neutral) than beliefs (and interpretation) militates against the fostering of morally aware citizens. Young people need to do more than communicate accurately and in an appropriate form; they need to be sufficiently discriminating readers of the world they inhabit and of people’s beliefs and values. It is suggested that when proper attention is devoted to values in literacy education (as well as skills) children will have the language they need to negotiate wisely in a market place of ideas where an astonishingly diverse array of goods is on offer.