Conservation training in four-year-old children

In Experiment 1 two training procedures were used to teach four-year-olds to conserve. Verbal rule instruction consisted of providing verbal rules and demonstrations of the operations referred to by the rules. Feedback consisted of providing verbal feedback contingent upon the children's responses. One week after training on conservation of number and length the children were given a posttest which included tests of conservation of number, length, and mass. Children who were given verbal rule instruction conserved significantly more on the number and length posttest problems than children who were not. However, this learning did not transfer to the mass problems, possibly because mass is not naturally acquired until some time after conservation of number and length. The feedback training procedure had no effect on conservation performance. In Experiment 2, the verbal rule instruction procedure was used to train four-year-olds on conservation of length and mass. One week after training the children were tested on both conservation of number, which is typically acquired before length and mass, and conservation of weight, which is typically acquired after length and mass, as well as on conservation of length and mass. Children who were given training conserved more on all four types of problems than children in the control group.     

Differential cerebral involvement in perceiving Chinese characters: levels of processing approach

Three experiments were designed to determine the accuracy and latency with which right-handed Chinese university students (12 females and 12 males) recognized Chinese characters in the left and right visual half-fields (VHFs). The experiments varied in the "depth" of processing required. Experiment 1 was a lexical decision task in which the configuration of the stimulus (a real Chinese character or the mirror image of a real character) determined whether the grapheme was an actual character. Experiment 2 required phonological processing; i.e., subjects had to decide whether a character (or a foil) matched the sound of an orally presented Chinese character. Experiment 3 required semantic processing; i.e., subjects had to decide if a character (or a foil) belonged to a particular semantic category. In each experiment, single characters were presented unilaterally for 150 msec. There was a significant right VHF superiority for accuracy scores for Experiments 2 and 3 but not for Experiment 1. None of the experiments yielded significant visual asymmetries in reaction time. The results do not support previous claims of orthography-specific laterality, but instead show that laterality effects for morphemic stimuli vary with the orthographic, phonological, and semantic processing demands of the task.     

《周易·坎卦》考释

从语言文字学资料、考古资料和《周易》成书的历史背景上看,《周易·坎卦》中的“坎”应训为地牢,它是商周时期的监狱为地穴式建筑的反映。《周易》之《坎》卦是以俘虏和监狱为线索而占卜吉凶的专卦,其中既有囚徒的心态、境遇和生活情形的简要描述,也有监狱形状及建筑特征的曲折反映。全卦语义连贯,首尾呼应,可祝为我国历史上最早的一篇狱中杂记,它的史学价值和文学价值都是弥足珍贵的.     

《周易参同契》的丹道易学

魏伯阳的《周易参同契》运用西汉及东汉早期的象数易学 ,通过观象、立卦、“拟诸其形容” ,使无形的不易感触的微观的运动 ,摆脱感观的局限而诉诸于形容 ,将丹道与易道结合 ,以推阐还丹之理 ,使丹术得以升华 ,同时又引导道教完成了由外丹向内丹的转化。正是《参同契》的丹术对《周易》原理的精妙运用 ,使它通过神仙方术和炼丹术的形式 ,接续了中国文化所固有的传统理念 ,承转了中国文化的慧命 ,故而使《周易参同契》在中国道教史、易学史和科技史上享有崇高的地位     

项安世卦变说新探

卦变说是理解项安世易说的关键,其卦变说接续了李挺之的相关识见,分反对卦与不反对八卦。反对卦皆自消息卦来,不反对卦皆自坎离来。以坎离作为主变之卦,既是对汉代易学重视坎离传统的接续,又融合了丹道思想,更是对当时理学家体用思想的认同与接纳,这使得项氏卦变说既具有深厚的传统积淀又有鲜明的时代认同。项氏卦变说的理论动机是从易象本身开显易道之变易,以弥补程颐仅从义理一面揭示易道变易之不足。     

《红楼梦》中的易卦、易象隐寓

《红楼梦》多有用易卦、易象而行的隐寓。林黛玉情节、细节中反复隐出井卦,妙玉法名隐出兑卦,＂槛外人＂、＂铁槛寺＂隐寓坎卦,＂大观园＂则隐出观卦。