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Athletes’ Self-Control: Important Theories and Research Development Li-Wei ZHANG 2013, 36(3): 515-523.  Abstract ( )   PDF   Athletes’ Self-Control: Important Theories and Research Development Li-Wei Zhang (Sport Sciences College, Beijing Sport University, Beijing, 100084) Abstract Traditionally (in the text books and empirical studies) sport psychologists used the inverted U hypothesis (Yerkes & Dodson, 1908), drive theory, zone of individual optimal function (Hanin, 1989), multi-dimensional anxiety theory (Martens, Vealey, & Burton, 1990), catastrophe theory (Hardy & Fazey, 1987) and anxiety direction and frequency theory (Jones & Swain, 1992) to explain the relationship between mental states and athletic performance, focusing on arousal and anxiety. This paper provided a new perspective to investigate this relationship, focusing on self control. Self control refers to abilities of restraining, adjusting and changing impulse, desire and habitual responses, which lies at the center of volition, motivation and emotion. Self control embodies executive function and is a precondition of good social adaptation. Good self control helps people reduce problems of impulse control such as aggressive behaviors, crime, eating disorders, and addictive behaviors. Good self control can also helps people get better academic achievement and work accomplishment, have harmonious interpersonal relationship and increase the level of mental health. With the same logic, athletes’ tough training and peak performance in big competitions also requires good self-control. This paper introduced the key concepts and empirical study evidence of 10 theories that are closely related to self control in athletic training and competition. These 10 theories could be divided into two categories. The first category includes 6 theories about the relationship between athletes’ performance and self-control, including the choking under pressure model (Baumeister, 1984), the processing efficiency theory (Eysenck & Calvo, 1992), the attentional control theory (Eysenck, Derakshan, Santos, & Calvo, 2007), the strength model of self-control (Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven, & Tice, 1998; Baumeister, Vohs, & Tice, 2007), the theory of ironic processes of mental control (Wegner, 1994) and the flow theory (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). The second category includes 4 theories about the mental training program for improving athletes’ self-control, including the model of integrated psychological construction (Liu, 1998, 2001), adversity coping theory (Si, 2006, 2007), the mental skill training model (Vealey, 2007) and the system of Chinese athletes psychological construction (Zhang & Zhang, 2011). The contributions of these 10 theories to self-control study were discussed. Common cores and differences of these 10 theories in two categories were analyzed. It was believed that athletes’ self control in very tough training and competitions and related studies could be used as an important reference to people working under high pressure such as students in classroom examinations, doctors in operation rooms, soldiers in battle fields, and pilots in planes. It was also pointed out that it might be valuable to compare these theories in future empirical research. Key Words self control, mental training, athlete, competition Related Articles | Metrics

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Athletes’ Mental Training: Contribution of Practice Methods of Chinese Culture 2013, 36(3): 524-531.  Abstract ( )   PDF   The purpose of traditional Chinese philosophy is to mold ideal personality and nurture individuals’ spirit. The core of this philosophy is to regulate and control of body and mind. Chinese culture contains not only a system of thoughts but also a system of practice methods. This integration is the quintessence of Chinese culture. It includes both insight of good thoughts and specific behavioral modification methods for ideal. It educates people with useful ways leading to a spiritual world. In recent 15 years, researches on the relationship between Chinese culture and psychology are increasing. However in competitive sports field there are few researches on athletes’ psychological counseling and mental training from the point of view of Chinese traditional thinking and techniques. Both the trend of psychology development on theoretical and empirical studies with a multi-cultural approach and the characteristics of Chinese competitive sports system induce the need for indigenous researches on psychological counseling and mental training. Based on the approach of combining Chinese culture and mental training, this paper made a summary of techniques and methods rooted from thoughts of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism for athletes’ mental training program. These methods include 1) introspection and reading for control of thinking and attitude, 2) meditation, count of breathing and standing Qigong for control of deliria and disturbing thinking, and 3) training of mindfulness and learning of Guqin, Go, calligraphy and Chinese painting for control of emotions. Four difficulties were discussed when introducing thinking and methods of Chinese culture into athletes’ mental training program. First many concepts in Chinese culture are difficult to be measured and effects of behavioral modification are difficult to be tested because Chinese culture carries a mysterious characteristic and lacks of operational possibility. Second, few researchers are interested in this research area. Third, there is lack of systematic researches in this field. And fourth, there are wrong cognitions toward to Chinese traditional culture and therefore mental training techniques embedded in Chinese traditional culture are not well accepted in sport teams. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Superior Perceptual Anticipation in Deceptive Movement of Basketball 2013, 36(3): 532-539.  Abstract ( )   PDF   The ability to anticipate an opponent’s behavior has proved a reliable discriminator of athletes and novice performers in many reactive sports including badminton, soccer, tennis and basketball. But, the majority of questions are equivocal, such as the superior anticipation of the athletes exists in simple percipience task or realistic stimuli anticipation task, the feature of athletes’ underlying process in anticipation, and the Event related potential(ERP) effects of superior action anticipation in athletes. The study here was done to solve the above questions deeply. Experiment 1 was to explore the mechanism of athletes’ underlying process of the anticipating task. The subjects were asked to anticipate the realistic stimuli of different temporal occlusions. And then uniting the accuracy ratings and self-confidence ratings with the distribution of solution probabilities of the perceptual anticipation task were analyzed. The accuracy rate of athletes in deceptive movement was significantly lower than that in no-deceptive(normal) movement; Athletes’ accuracy and confidence ratings of deceptive movement were superior than novices’; The test item solution probabilities were found to be more widely distributed in athletes than novices in deceptive movement task. The multi-task approach was used in experiment 2. The deceptive movement’s RTs and normal movement’s RTs were measured with two types of stimuli. The results showed that both RTs and accuracy rate were significantly different between the athletes and the novices in deceptive movement with the realistic stimuli. In experiment 3, we compared basketball athletes with novices in the brain responses of ERP when they watched sequential clips of basketball games and predicted the direction change of opponent. There were significant differences between the athletes and novices in the aspects of amplitude of N2 component in frontal-central region，P2 latency，and amplitude of parietal-occipital region. Based on the results of the three experiments，we drew our conclusions as follows: (1)The deceptive movement is more sensitive than normal movement; (2) Only under the condition of complex realistic stimuli tasks，did the athletes perform better，and the reason is that the athletes may be familiar with this sport stimuli; (3)Athletes usually use inferential(heuristic-based) judgments in all conditions, however, novices use direct-perceptual(invariant-based) judgments; (4)Athletes input less cognitive resources during the perception period, can make decisions quickly, and show significant advantages in anticipation. Related Articles | Metrics

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Asymmetry of mental fatigue on global and local processing among rifle shooters 2013, 36(3): 540-546.  Abstract ( )   PDF   In this study, we investigated whether working on object tracking tasks which induces mentalfatiguehad a subsequent differential effect on globaland local processing.Twelve rifle shooters under mentalfatigue performed a globaland local processing task. Reaction time, number of errors, and event-related brain potentials were recorded. The following results are concluded. (1) Objecttracking tasks can effectively induce mentalfatigue of twelve rifle shooters. (2)Compared to local processing, fatigued shooters showed faster and more accurate performance on global processing. (3) Fatigued shooters were unable to inhibit automatic shifting ofattention to local stimuli on globalprocessing task, implied by a larger negativity in the frontal-central N2/P3 for local compared to global stimuli. (4) Fatigued shootersshowed compromised local processing and disturbed automatic shifting ofattention to local stimuli on localprocessing task. Thelarger negativity of frontal-central N2/P3 for local stimuli could not be found. These results indicate that mentalfatigue selectively influencesglobaland local processing. Compared to automatic global processing, local processing is more likely to be disturbed by mental fatigue in top-down style. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Emotional/Semantic Dual-priming Effects of Music on Emotional Word Processing 2013, 36(3): 547-552.  Abstract ( )   PDF   Using explicit priming paradigms, researchers have found the N400 effects of music on the language, indicating the music might have an effect on language. However, the mechanics of how music affects an emotional word is not yet clear. Based on the previous researches focused on the influence of music on word processing, the present study adopted an implicit emotional priming paradigm by using the event related potential (ERP) technology to further investigate the mechanism of N400 priming effects of music on the emotional words. A total of twenty undergraduates or graduated students (9 males and 11 females) without any professional music training experience participated in this study. The participants were asked to perform a lexical decision task to examine the priming effects of music excerpts with multi-emotional types on target emotional words. The music excerpts were either congruent or incongruent with the target words in emotional meanings. Both their behavior and electroencephalogram (EEG) data were recorded. During the experiment, the EEG data were recorded in direct current (DC) mode from 32 scalp electrodes located at standard positions of 10-20 system. After the experiment, the ERP data had been extracted with the conventional EEG processing methods, including linear derivation, DC offset correction, ocular artifact reduction, epoch file, baseline correct, artifact rejection, filter and average. Behavior results showed a significant priming effect on the accuracy rate for the lexical decision of real word, thought there was no significant difference between the response time of congruence condition and that of incongruence condition. ERP results showed an N400 effect comparable with previous studies focused on the impact of music on word processing using explicit task, indicating this N400 effect was irrelevant to the strategy of the subjects. Further statistic analysis was focused on the two sub-components of N400, the earlier N400a (250~350ms) and the later N400b (350~550ms). Using repeated measure ANOVA analysis separately, we found a significant difference in the mean amplitude of N400a and a marginal significant difference in the mean amplitude of N400b between congruence and incongruence conditions. No significant interaction between relatedness and location was found in N400a section, indicating the N400a effect was found throughout the head. However, a significant interaction between relatedness and location was found in N400b section. Further paired T test analysis for every ROI and the illustration of topographic maps showed that the N400b effect located in the parietal-occipital area, similar to the traditional N400 effect induced by semantic conflict. These topology differences of N400 between the earlier and the later component might indicate the different conflict processing of the target word influenced by the prime music excerpt. By comparing the results found in our experiment with that in previous studies, we supposed that the earlier N400a component was induced by the emotional conflict of music and word, and the late N400b component was induced by the semantic conflict of the prime and target. In conclusion, the results we found suggest that music affects emotional words processing through both emotional and semantic priming. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Weight Distribution of the Face Part in the Face Similarity Judgment 2013, 36(3): 553-557.  Abstract ( )   PDF   　　The judgment of face similarity is generally considered to be one kind of fuzzy judgment. In contrast with the traditional evaluation method, the multistage evaluation method was more practical, which was frequently adopted to measure the similarity judgment. The present study used such method of multistage evaluation method, to investigate the weight conferred on the different parts of the human face. First of all, we constructed two faces as two experimental prototypes (which we called prototype 1 and prototype 2). Each face was comprised of six parts: nose, eyebrows, ears, face outline, eyes, and mouth. In terms of no interest of the first two face parts as mentioned above (nose and eyebrows) in the present study, the other four parts (including eyes, ears, mouth and the face outline) were considered as four parts prototype on each face, which were extremely different in two experimental prototypes. We took each part of two prototypes as the source face and the target face respectively. By using the Magic Morph (V1.95) image processing software, we deformed eight intermediate faces from the source part to the target part. For example, the ear of prototype 1 was as the source part, the ear of prototype 2 was as the target part. By deforming, 8 consecutive pictures between prototype 1 and 2 were construted. In total, there were 10 exemplars for each part of each prototype. Participants were asked to make a judgment of the membership of each exemplar to the corresponding part prototype. Then, as unit of each participant, three exemplars of each part were selected: the first exemplar was with high membership with prototype 1 but low membership with prototype 2; the second exemplar was with middle membership of both two prototypes; and the third exemplar was with low membership of prototype 1 but high membership with prototype 2. On the basis of this, twelve exemplars occurred for each participant, which consisted of 81 faces being used as the formal experimental stimulus. Participants were instructed to evaluate the similarity between each face and each prototype with multistage evaluation judgment. The membership was calculated as the dependent variable in the present study. The results showed that the weight of four different face parts varied to some extent: the highest was the face outline with .550, which was significant high than the other parts, then the mouth was in the middle (.250), and ears and eyes were at the lowest (.100). These results indicated that, different parts of face played different roles on the face similarity judgment. Compared with ears and eyes, the face outline and mouth were with more importance. Moreover, we argued that the division of the internal feature and external feature might not be suitable on the face similarity judgment. Related Articles | Metrics

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Effects of Object Changing and Information Attribute on Real Scene Recognition 2013, 36(3): 558-569.  Abstract ( )   PDF   Scene was defined as a semantically coherent view. The human visual system could gather an incredible amount of information about scene in a glance. When a rapid sequence of scenes is presented, subject also could detect accurately a target (Potter, 1975).Why did human can distinguish the target from distractor? Friedeman (1979) thought that scene identity could be inferred from the identification of one or more key objects, so some researches pay attention to the characters of key objects. Some evidences supported that scene could be identified from scene semantic information; however others argue that low spatial frequency information could induce scene identification. Torralba & Oliva et al（2006）presented Contextual Guidance Model that were comprised two parallel pathways, one pathway computed local saliency and other computed global features. The saliency was bottom-up factor and processing of the global features affected by top-down knowledge. In the present study included tow experiments, some scene materials about human safety and eye movement paradigm were used. Experiment 1 examined whether scene recognition affected by target objects or not. A 2(safe scene/dangerous scene)×3（substitution/deletion/identical）design was used.12 participants were asked to learn 18 scenes, and after the learning to test the recognition of change scene or identical scene. Experiment 2 was designed to examine the influence of information attribute on eye movement during the scene recognition. Experiment 1 showed the recognition rate of scene and dwell time on interest area of target location were difference significantly under the three object change conditions. The results implied scene recognition depended on the target objects. Experiment 2 found semantics information could attract attention greatly, but the first fixation time more long if semantics information apart from perception information. So we concluded semantic information have attention prioritization, but it was affected by priming of perception information. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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The Influence of Task-Based cues on Easy of Learning Judgment and its Accuracy hong WU Da JunZHANG 2013, 36(3): 566-570.  Abstract ( )   PDF   Two experiments，respectively experimented in the situations of a single cue and a variety of cues， were done to investigate the influence of material factory and number of repetitions on the grade and the accuracy of the EOL judgment. Experiment 1 probed into influence of word frequency or relatedness of materials on EOL by experiment 1.1 and experiment 1.2. Experiment 2 featured two independent variables—relatedness of materials (high and low) and number of repetitions (one or three) — manipulated within participants. Sixty college students took part in this experiment. The grade of EOL judgment was predicted recall. The accuracy of EOL judgment was the difference between predicted recall and actual recall. The results suggested that (1) frequency of words and relatedness of pair words had a significant main effect on the grade of EOL. (2) The accuracy of EOL was significantly lower high frequency pairwords than low frequency pairwords, and low relatedness pairwords than high relatedness pairwords. (3) Word frequency affected predicted but not actual memory. Relatedness pairwords affected both predicted and actual memory. (4) Number of study trials affected actual memory but scarcely affected predicted memory. The accuracy of EOL was significantly lower following three than following one study trials. Conclusion: (1) The influence of material factors on the grade and the accuracy of the EOL judgment were relatively stable. (2) Frequency of words and relatedness of pair words affected the accuracy of EOL judgment by different paths. (3) Number of study trials had no a significant main effect on the grade of the EOL. (4)This result suggested UWP effect occurred in Easy of Learning Judgment. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Topological Approach to Perceptual Organization and the Formation of Space Conception 2013, 36(3): 571-575.  Abstract ( )   PDF   Topological perception theory (TPET) explains perception with geometrical properties，as well as emphasizes the priority of topological perception which is the basis other geometrical perception depends on. Topological perception also occurs first among all of the geometrical perceptions. When target is presented for only 5ms, difference among topological properties could be distinguished. Visual system firstly perceives topological properties, secondly projective properties, thirdly affine properties, and finally Euclidean properties. As for topological primacy theory(TPRT) ，it claims the developmental sequence of children's space conception is topological, projective and Euclidean. Before 4 years old, children’s space conception is topological, and they don’t have shape and size constancy ( shape and size are Euclidean properties ). Although both of the two theories explains psychological phenomena by topological, there are some differences in their objects and methods. We will compare these two theories in research contents, methods and theoretical structures. In research contents, there are three main comparisons. Firstly, in geometrical properties, both of the two theories research topological, projective and Euclidean properties; otherwise, TPET researches affine properties. They define geometrical properties in different ways. Secondly, the psychological phenomena they’ve researched are different——TPRT researches space conception, emphasizes mental representation of space instead of perception, while TPET researches visual phenomena, such as apparent motion, illusory conjunctions and global precedence, Although the two theories are different in objects and methods, their theoretical structures are highly consistent. Last but not least, participates are different——TPRT researches children, while TPET researches adults and animals, which enlightens geometry utilizing on psychology. Comparatively speaking, methods of TPET are more objective and rigorous, and have higher reliability and internal validity, for other researchers have found the same results with TPET when used the same methods; as experimental scenes of TPRT are similar with real life, results of TPRT have higher external validity. However, irrelevant factors are not controlled strictly which leads to lower internal validity. These two theories have similar theoretical structures. The theoretical structures are in line with stability of geometric properties——topological properties are most stable, projective properties are less stable than topological properties and more stable than affine properties, and Euclidean properties are the most unstable. Related Articles | Metrics

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Theoretical Accounts and Expriemnetal Paradigms of Morphological Processing 2013, 36(3): 576-579.  Abstract ( )   PDF   Based on a review of empirical studies in over thirty years, this paper sketches three developmental stages of complex words processing theories. The first stage is characterized by a debate on whether complex words are accessed as a whole or as more than one unit, i.e., whether component morphemes are involved in the processing or not. Major conflict is reflected in the debate between the decomposed account (Prefix-Stripping Model, Taft & Forster, 1976; Morphologically Decomposed Account, Zhang & Peng, 1992) which assumes that complex words are represented as two units in the mental lexicon and thus are accessed as two components, and the Full Listing Account which contends that complex words are represented and thus accessed as unitary units, and that morphemes do not play a role in complex words processing. As more and more studies (Ford et al., 2010; Yen et al., 2008) indicate that morphemes are involved in complex words processing and therefore rule out the Full Listing Account, the second stage switches to the nature of morphological processing during the complex words access—whether morphological processing is based on form or meaning. The debating parties are known as morpho-orthographic decomposition account and morpho-semantic activation account, both focusing on semantic transparency effect of morphological processing yet reaching opposite conclusions. Specifically, the former argues that, morphological processing is based on form because transparent and opaque complex words produce similar priming effect to their root; while the latter contends that, morphological processing is based on semantics because transparent complex words produce significantly larger priming effect to their root than opaque words. However, studies supporting the morpho-orthographic decomposition account tend to favor long prime duration as adopted in the cross-modal priming and the unmasked priming; while those for morpho-semantic activation account usually take short prime duration as adopted in the masked priming. This seems to suggest that at very early stage of complex words processing, morphological processing is mainly orthographic decomposition, while the meanings of component morphemes are not activated until a later stage. Such observations are consistent with a form-then-meaning account to which evidence has been given (Longtin et al., 2003). Major challenge against the form-then-meaning account comes from the observation of the morpheme meaning activation at very early stage of complex words processing (Feldman et al., 2009), which embraces a form-with-meaning account proposed in the Hybrid Model (Diependaele et al., 2005; 2009). The main dispute of the third stage is between form-then-meaning account and form-with-meaning account. Finally the paper discusses limitations in previous studies and directions for future study. It indicates that in order to solve the dispute between form-then-meaning account and form-with-meaning account, future researches must examine whether morpheme meanings are activated during complex words access and if yes, its time course. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Role of Associated Meaning of Category in Inattentional Blindness 2013, 36(3): 580-585.  Abstract ( )   PDF   Inattentional blindness (Mack & Rock, 1998)?describes a strong connection between attention and reports of visual awareness: observers are functionally blind to a fully-visible, unexpected object when their?attention?was engaged in another task, event, or object. This phenomenon, inattentional blindness, is especially robust and forces us to recognize that the content of the perceived visual world is enormously limited (Gu, Stocker, & Badler, 2005). However, few factors have been identified which could reduce inattentional blindness and not all critical stimuli (CS) remained undetected under inattention. These factors are: (1) meaning of critical stimuli related to the task-relevant goal of the observers (Ansorge, Horstmann, & Carbone, 2005); (2) the physical features such as the color or shape of the unexpected object are similar to those of the attended objects (Gu, et al., 2005); (3) Biologically or socially important stimuli, smiling faces or our names (Mack, Pappas, Silverman, & Gay, 2002; Mack & Rock, 1998). The current study was aim to investigate that without attention set, whether the widely associated stimuli is able to promote attention and thus reduce blindness to important information. The experiment examines that whether the task irrelevant object has the ability to enhance our signal value for attention and improve visual awareness when primed with stimuli of the same category without a certain goal. 79 students volunteering in our experiment were primed with 35 pictures belonging to one category the same to the critical stimuli appearing in the critical trial or the other when they do an alphabetical rearrangement task (refer to figure 1 for details). Three experimental trials later, a critical stimulus appeared on the screen without any notice in the forth trial (inattention trial). Immediately after the trial beginning at the time of the rearrangement the CS was presented, subjects were asked whether they saw anything new that had not been presented on previous trials on the screen. If subjects reported that they saw something, they were asked to identify it by choosing it from a list of 9 pictures and indicating the quadrant the critical stimulus stayed. The fifth trial (divided-attention trial) was the same as the forth trial except that (1) at the onset of this trial, subjects were explicitly instructed to both perform the rearrangement task and detect the CS during the task; (2) questions about the CS were asked until they completed the rearrangement task. The sixth trial (full-attention trial) proceeded as the same as inattention trial except that the participants were instructed to ignore the rearrangement task and to pay attention only to the CS. In line with our prediction, the results show that in comparison with priming in irrelevant category condition, subjects in the relevant condition are more likely to detect the critical stimuli in the inattention trial. These indicate that previous relevant experience provides us some preparations to support visual awareness even without attention set under inattention condition. In addition, the results show us widely associated meaning, not only socially derived associations activated in mind is an important factor for facilitating attention and visual awareness.The experiment examines that whether the task irrelevant object has the ability to enhance our signal value for attention and improve visual awareness when primed with the same category stimuli without a special goal. 79 students volunteering in our experiment were primed with 35 pictures belonging to one category same as the critical stimuli (CS) appearing in the critical trial or the other when they were doing an alphabetical rearrangement task (refer to figure 1 for details). Three experimental trials later, in the forth trial (inattention trial) a critical stimulus appeared on the screen without any notice. Immediately after the trial in which the CS was presented, subjects were asked whether they had seen anything new that had not been presented on previous trials on the screen. If subjects reported that they had seen something, they were asked to identify it by choosing it from a list of 9 pictures and indicating the quadrant where the critical stimulus appeared. The fifth trial (divided-attention trial) was the same as the forth trial except that (1) at the onset of this trial, subjects were explicitly instructed to both perform the rearrangement task and detect the CS during the task; (2) questions about the CS were asked until they completed the rearrangement task. The sixth trial (full-attention trial) proceeded as the attention trial which was the same as inattention trial except that the participants were instructed to ignore the rearrangement task and to pay attention only to the CS. In line with our prediction, the results show that in comparison with irrelevant category priming condition, subjects in relevant category condition are more likely to detect the critical stimuli under inattention trial. These indicate that previous relevant experience provides us some preparations to support visual awareness even without attention set under inattention. In addition, the results show us widely associated meaning, not only socially derived associations activated in mind is an important factor for easing attention and visual awareness. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Effect of Background Facial emotion on Perception of Central Facial Emotion: a Cross Cultural Comparison of Sino-US 2013, 36(3): 586-591.  Abstract ( )   PDF   Abstract Research of facial emotion has achieved a great of improvement since 1990s, especially in the cultural differences in the perception of facial emotion. This study aims to study the influence of the background facial emotion on the perception of an individual’s emotion in the Chinese and Western cultural context. 　　The data were collected through the central emotion judgment task and emotion recognition task with a sample of 30 college students in China and 30 college students in USA. 45 emotion pictures from JACFEE were used. 　　In judging people’s facial emotions, Chinese were more susceptible to background facial emotion than American. The reaction time of Chinese participants’ judgment of central facial emotion with the background facial emotions was significant longer than one of central facial emotion without the background facial emotions; When the background facial emotion were consistent with the central facial emotion, Chinese participants judged the intensity of central facial emotion greater; when the background facial emotion were inconsistent with the central facial emotion, Chinese participants judged the intensity of central facial emotion weaker. However, American participants’ judgment of central facial emotion wasn’t influenced by background facial emotion. When the background facial emotion was changed, the recognition accuracy of Chinese participants was significant higher than one of American participants. 　　The background emotional stimulus as perceived would be different for Americans and Chinese, that when Americans infer a person’s emotion, they focus on the person, whereas Chinese attend to the whole social background. Related Articles | Metrics

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Adult Deactive Strategies and Attention Bias：Evidence From A Dot Probe Task Under Exogenous Cue With Pictures of Facial Expression 2013, 36(3): 592-599.  Abstract ( )   PDF   As an essential psychological process to activation and regulation of attachment system , attention and its role in attachment orientation has increasing been emphasized. Clear predictions has also been made on the relation between them. Anxious attached individual adopted hypervigilant attentional style and oriented the signal of attachment figure’ unavailibility and rejection, whereas person who was avoidant neglected and avoided signals with threat in order to prevent and inhibit the activation of attachment system. However, to date, it is unclear wherther different attachment strategies guide attention toward or away from attachment signal and threat signals in line with abovementioned expectations because of the inconsistent findings empirical studies made. Another question is how attachment orientation is associated with attention and whether the abovementioned predictions would be confirmed to be true is still unknown for Chinese participants. Therefore, in order to find answers to aforementioned questions, author replicated and extended Dewitte, et al.’ work in China among 109 undergraduates. The extrogenous cued dot-probe task is consisted of extrogenous cues with three different expression pictures such as happy, angry, and neutral which appeared on the same or opposite position of target appearance at 50% of all trials differently, and an black square(2.5mm×2.5mm) as target which can appear on the left or right of compute screen at 50% of all trials corresponding. Participant task was pointed out the position the target appeared by pressing F key or J key as quickly as possible. The ECR was administered after the dot-probe task.. Based on reaction time and accuracy rate, the cue valid effect , attention engagement effect and attention disengagement effect were separately created as attention bias indices. Cue type and expression type and avoidant group were independent variables. The main results could be summarized as follows: The present study is a good paradigm for investigating the spatial distribute feature of attention, with better cue validity effect proved by a marginal significant cue validity effect for reaction time(F(1,108) =3.465, P=.07), and significant cue validity effect for accuracy rate (F(1,108)= 27.44, P<.001). There was significant negative association between avoidant dimension and each expression cue validity index, and ?=-.33, for angry expression, and ?=-.39, for angry expression, and ?=-.24, for neutral expression, all ps<.05. The greater a person’s attachment avoidance became, the lower the cue validity happened. Cue validity finally completely disappeared on people who were divided into high-score group, with the values of cue validity index changing from positive to negative for corresponding low-score group and high-score group (see table 6). A avoidant group×picture type repeated measures ANOVA also revealed this phenomenon , with avoidant group main effect significant(F（1,27）=11.71, p=.002). There were no correlations between attachment anxiety and all attention bias indices. The abovementioned results indicated attachment avoidance guide attention away not only attachment-related stimulus but also nonattachment-related stimulus. The intensity of this kind of bias heightened increasingly with the attachment valence increase. This stimulus-general and stimulus-specific attention bias underlined the deactivation strategies functioning and provided cross-cultural evidence for attachment theory about avoidant attachment orientation. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Difference Between True and False Memories In Contexts 2013, 36(3): 600-605.  Abstract ( )   PDF   The current study investigated the cognitive and neural electrophysiological processes of true as well as the false memories in story contexts. The results from studies of human memory suggested that recognition memory performance reflected two distinct memory processes: familiarity and recollection. Familiarity was to assess the overall similarity between test items and all study items during 300-500ms.FN400 ERP was related to familiarity. Recollection involved the retrieval of special details of the study items during 400-800ms.LPC was related to recollection. Moreover, an additional old/new ERP (800-1100ms) tended to be most prominent over frontal scalp sites, which was considered to be related to post-retrieval processing, such as evaluation of the products of retrieval for source and specific item features. This study chose four story contexts as the material and adopted the learning and testing experimental paradigm. In the studying phase, participants were asked to remember story context which appeared on the computer screen. Then, the participants were required to do an old/new recognition test. There were three types of target words during the testing stage including old words, critical words and new words. Critical words were new and highly associated with the story contexts, in addition new words were unassociated with the contexts. Event-related potential（ERPs）and RT were measured when 22 healthy right-handed undergraduates did an old/new recognition test. None of them had history of mental illness or brain disease. After the experiment, we gave certain degree of compensation to subjects. Two subjects were rejected because of the lack of the number of artifact-free trials. The instrument for the statistical analysis used in the experiment is SPSS15.0. The results showed that（1）The critical items produced high rate of false memory. Moreover, false recognition demanded more RT than true recognition.（2）The FN400 which reflects familiarity-based process revealed no significant differences between true and false recognition, but there were more negative than Correct-Rejection recognition.（3）During the recollection-based process（400-800ms）,the amplitude of LPC elicited by false recognition and true recognition was not different, while there were more positive than Correct-Rejection recognition. （4）During the post-retrieval process（800-1110ms）,the difference among the ERPs amplitude elicited by recognition about three target words got remarkably significant difference. The amplitude of LSW elicited by false recognition was greater than true recognition and Correct-Rejection recognition. In conclusion, the results demonstrated that true and false memories had showed the same information processing models in story contextual cuing effect during recollection-based process and familiarity-based process. However the information processing models changed during the post-retrieval process: false memory needed much more information process than that of true memory for retrieval and comparing, so it took longer time to recognize. This study provided a new evidence for the Source – Monitoring Framework. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Brand’s Country-of-origin Stereotypes：Dual Impression and Their Changes 2013, 36(3): 606-611.  Abstract ( )   PDF   Brand’s country-of-origin stereotypes have influenced greatly on the consumers’ brand selection and brand purchase willingness, but they were mainly assessed from the aspect of consciousness level in the previous studies. With the development of implicit social cognition research, more and more studies show great concern for two different aspects: consciousness and unconsciousness. This study aims to explore dual brand’s country-of-origin stereotypes and how national sentiment influence brand’s country-of-origin stereotypes. On the basis of stereotype activation theory, it was hypothesized that the explicit and implicit brand’s country-of-origin stereotypes could be changed by the national sentiment which is aroused by either direct or indirect persuasion. A 2 (country of origin: domestic brand and foreign brand) × 3 (persuasion: direct; indirect; none) × 3 (product category: symbolic; utilitarian; hybrid) mixed factorial design was implemented in the study. The data were collected by convenience sampling with 121 university students who represented the consumers. They were assigned randomly to three subgroups to participate in the experiment. Subjects who omitted items in the explicit brand impression questionnaire and those who had an error rate of IAT equal to or higher than 20% were excluded. As a result, a total of 101 participants were remained. The responses of the subjects to the questionnaire and the IAT were analyzed by T-test and ANOVA. The results of the experiments indicated the following: (a) The explicit impression of quality and communication of domestic brand is worse than that of foreign brand, while the explicit impression of the price is better than that of foreign brand; and there was no difference between domestic brand and foreign brand in the explicit impression of service and general impression; (b) Compared with foreign brand, consumers have more positive implicit impression on domestic brand; (c) The national sentiment aroused by direct persuasion couldn’t change the explicit brand’s country-of-origin stereotypes, but the national sentiment aroused by indirect persuasion could make the explicit general impression on domestic brand of hybrid products more positive; (d) Consumer’s implicit brand’s country-of-origin stereotypes couldn’t be changed by either direct or indirect persuasion; (e) The activation of brand’s country-of-origin stereotypes are not fully automated process. Base on the result of this study, if the managers of enterprises want to change the consumers’ country-of-origin stereotypes by using the national sentiment-based marketing strategy, the indirect persuasion would be more effective than the direct persuasion. The product category should be considered when the national sentiment-based marketing strategy is used. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Influence of Attack Motives in Violent Video Games on Aggression Gui-Juan SHI 2013, 36(3): 612-615.  Abstract ( )   PDF   Considerable researches have been conducted to establish the relationship between violent video games and aggression. Studies suggest that exposure to violent video games will increase aggressive cognitive fluency and promote proviolent attitude. However, there are still some disagreements on the violent-content-only hypothesis. In order to establish the relative influence of each component, more and more studies have been designed to separate different components contained in violent video games. Although it was found that some components would lead to an obvious increase in aggression, studies had failed to take into account the role of players in the relationship between violent components and increased violence. As role playing is a common element in both old and new games, the present study controlled players' attack motive while employing role playing as an element in the game. And this is a different attempt from the previous research. Meanwhile, players' experience with violent video games could not be ignored, either. 　　This study adopted the word response task and extrinsic affect simon task paradigm to explore the impact of violent video games on aggressive cognitive fluency and implicit aggressive evaluation to players with different attack motives and violent video game experience. And this study set two independent variables: game types and player's experience with violent video games. Three game types were active attack, reactive attack and non-violence. In terms of player's experience, participants were divided into the experienced and the inexperienced. Their experience with violent video games was measured with the violent video game habits survey adapted from Anderson and Dill(2000). In order to reduce bias, an evaluating scale was added which was completed by 22 evaluators. 66 participants were evaluated as experienced and the other 63 inexperienced according to the survey (the evaluator reliability is .98). 　　The study arrives at several conclusions. Firstly, the influence of violent video games on aggressive cognitive fluency and implicit evaluation is subject to both the participants’ attack motives and experience. Secondly, the defense attack role is more effective in priming the short-term aggressive cognition of the inexperienced participants, while the active attack role is more effective in activating cognitive structures of the experienced. Thirdly, The experienced tend to evaluate attack words negatively in the active attack group while positively in the reactive attack group, and all the participants evaluate defense words negatively. Fourthly, Long-term exposure to violent video games will inhibit aggressive cognitive fluency and improve proviolent attitude. 　　The greatest significance of this research lies in our discovery that violent video games do not enhance aggression definitely. Some factors such as attack motives even can reduce the negative effect of violent video games on aggression. We can take advantage of this to freedom people from worries about its adverse effect. For example, we can control attack motive by implanting different background story rather than put strict forbiddance on violent video games exposure to control the size of negative effects. This paper is the first attempt to take consideration of active attack and reactive attack into the influence of violent video games on aggression. It provides a new insight for research on this field. Related Articles | Metrics

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The perceptual span of good readers and poor readers in fifth grade Guo-Li Yan WU JinGen 2013, 36(3): 622-626.  Abstract ( )   PDF   The Perceptual Span of Good Readers and Poor Readers in Fifth Grade Abstract The perceptual span is the area of effective vision from which useful information can be obtained during a fixation in reading. Previous studies had proved that the perceptual span changed as a function of reading skill (Rayner,1986). Chinese is quite different from Western language. The poor readers in Chinese have poor test scores. It has been predicted that the poor readers in Chinese have a smaller perceptual span. So the present study was conducted to explore if reading skill level modulated the amount of information acquired during a fixation in Chinese reading. 17 poor readers and 17 good readers in fifth grade participated in the experiment. Their eye movements were recorded with a SR Research EyeLink 2000 eyetracker. Participants read 80 sentences with eight experimental conditions. The experiment design was 2 (skill level: good and poor reader in fifth grade) ×8(display conditions: no preview, R1, R2, R3, R4, L1R4, L2R4 and whole line condition) mixed design. The stimuli were presented in black on a white background. Participants were seated 90 cm from the monitor. The size of a character was 30×30 pixels, subtended 0.7°of visual angle. Latin square design was adopted in the experiment. Various display conditions were blocked, and the order of conditions was counterbalanced across participants. The whole experiment lasted about 30 minutes. The results showed that the perceptual span of poor readers in fifth grade was one character to the left of current fixation and two characters to its right.(The results on mean fixation duration and reading speed eye movement measures supported one character space to the right of the fixated character, while forward saccade size measure supported two characters space to its right.) The perceptual span of good readers in fifth grade was one character to the left of current fixation and three characters to its right. (The results on mean fixation duration and reading speed measures supported two characters space to the right of span, while forward saccade size measure supported three characters space to its right.) The tentative conclusion was that the perceptual span of good readers was larger. Key words good readers, poor readers, perceptual span, eye movements Related Articles | Metrics

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Eighth Graders’ Perceived Social Support and Academic Achievement: The Mediating Effect of Academic Self-Concept 2013, 36(3): 627-631.  Abstract ( )   PDF   Social supports are the perceived respect, love and help from others, such as parents, teachers or peers. Currently, the mechanism how the social supports have impact on achievement is still open to question. The aims of the study was to explore the influence of different social supports (specifically, from parents, teachers and peers) on academic achievement and to test the mediating effect of academic self-concept between them. Meanwhile, we also checked if the mediating effect varied between boys and girls. 2519 eighth-grade students from 9 junior middle schools in Hangzhou, China were required to finish social supports and academic self concept scales and standard Chinese and Maths achievement tests. The stepwise regression was used to determine the most important support resources among parents, teachers and peers. The result revealed that peers support could predict academic achievement significantly (β=.36, p<. 001) and the parents’ and teachers’ supports could not enter the equation, which were stable within both girls and boys. Given that the parents’ and teachers’ support could not predict academic achievement when controlling the peers’ support, we only consider peers’ support when building mediating model. We built the regressions of academic self concept on peers’ support and the regression of academic achievement on academic self concept and peers’ support separately. Also, we repeated the mediating effect analysis within boys and girls group separately. The results showed that (1) peers’ support could predict academic achievement significantly (β=.72, p<.001) but it could not predict academic achievement (β=.003, p>.05) when controlling academic self-concept; (2) no matter for boys or for girls, the peers’ support could predict academic achievement significantly (βmale=.71, p<.001; βfemale=.79, p<.001). However, when controlling academic self concept, the peers’ support could not predict academic achievement for boys (β= -.06, p>.05) but could predict academic achievement for girls (β=.10, p<.01). Conclusions: (1) For Eighth Graders, peers’ support was more important than parents’ and teachers’ support. (2) Academic self-concept was the mediator between social support and academic achievement. (3) For boys, the effect of social support on school achievement was fully mediated by academic self-concept; for girls, the effect of social support on school achievement was partially mediated by academic self-concept. Related Articles | Metrics

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Predictive Relation between Peer Victimization and Behavior Problems: A two-year Longitudinal Study 2013, 36(3): 632-637.  Abstract ( )   PDF   Abstract: During the past 2 decades, a body of research has emerged showing that many children in elementary school are victimized by their peers. And numerous studies have also shown that peer victimization is concurrently associated with a range of adjustment difficulties, including internalizing problems, such as loneliness, school-related fear, anxiety or avoidance, depression, low self-esteem, and externalizing problems, such as aggression, truancy, and delinquency. However, few attempts have been made to determine their causal ordering in a longitudinal framework, especially among Chinese children. Several longitudinal studies conducted in the Western countries have examined linkages between peer victimization and behavior problems over time. Some of them found that recurrent peer victimization predicts significant increases in maladjustment over time, whereas others have failed to chronicle such linkages. Moreover, given the importance of social and cultural background for children’s behavior and adjustment, the findings from the research conducted in Western countries cannot be directly generated to Chinese children. The purpose of the present study was to explore the possible causal relations between peer victimization and behavior problems among Chinese children through a two-year longitudinal study. Participants were 733 third grade students in an urban area in China. Data on peer victimization, internalizing problems and externalizing problems were obtained from peer assessments and teacher rating. The data was collected in May 2008 (Time 1) and May 2010 (Time 2). The procedure was the same at the 2 time point. The results indicated that: (1) peer victimization was positively associated with externalizing problem and internalizing problems at the 2 time point. (2) while internalizing problems and externalizing problems showed weak stability, peer victimization maintained high stability across 2years. (3)Results of structural equation modeling reveal that peer victimization on Grade 3 was a significant predictor of externalizing problem on Grade 5, after controlling the effects of gender and the stability of externalizing problem. However, externalizing problem on Grade 3 cannot predict peer victimization on Grade 5. Meanwhile, internalizing problem on Grade 3 was a significant predictor of peer victimization on Grade 5, after controlling the effects of gender and the stability of peer victimization，but peer victimization on Grade 3 cannot predict internalizing problem on Grade 5. Results are discussed in terms of the implication of peer victimization on externalizing problems and internalizing problems in Chinese culture. Several longitudinal studies conducted in the Western countries have examined linkages between peer victimization and behavior problems over time. Some of them found that recurrent peer victimization predicts significant increases in maladjustment over time, whereas others have failed to chronicle such linkages. Moreover, given the importance of social and cultural background for children’s behavior and adjustment, the findings from the research conducted in Western countries cannot be directly generated to Chinese children. The purpose of the present study was to explore the possible causal relations between peer victimization and behavior problems among Chinese children through a two-year longitudinal study. Participants were 733 third grade students in an urban area in China. Data on peer victimization, internalizing problems and externalizing problems were obtained from peer assessments and teacher rating. The data was collected in May 2008 (Time 1) and May 2010 (Time 2). The procedure was the same at the 2 time point. The results indicated that: (1) peer victimization was positively associated with externalizing problem and internalizing problems at the 2 time point. (2) while internalizing problems showed weak stability, peer victimization and externalizing problems maintained moderate to high stability across 2years. (3)Results of cross-lagged analysis reveal that peer victimization on Grade 3 was a significant predictor of externalizing problem on Grade 5, after controlling the effects of gender and the stability of externalizing problem. However, externalizing problem on Grade 3 cannot predict peer victimization on Grade 5. Meanwhile, internalizing problem on Grade 3 was a significant predictor of peer victimization on Grade 5, after controlling the effects of gender and the stability of peer victimization，but peer victimization on Grade 3 cannot predict internalizing problem on Grade 5. Results are discussed in terms of the implication of peer victimization on externalizing problems and internalizing problems in Chinese culture. Related Articles | Metrics

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Adolescent Materialism and Well-being: The Mediating Effect of Gratitude 2013, 36(3): 638-646.  Abstract ( )   PDF   Materialism refers to the extent to which one places importance on material wealth in defining success, self-conception, and happiness. As China’s economy has developed rapidly in recent years, the people’s living standards have improved, and this change provides a breeding ground for the rise of materialism. The values of materialism are becoming more prevalent among the Chinese people, especially among the young people. On the other hand, people began to pay more attention to their own well-being with social development and economic growth. So that nowadays the rise of materialism and the attention to well- being are becoming the concern of Chinese people. A large number of previous studies have found that materialism and well-being are negatively correlated and researchers have begun to explore the internal relations. They have found that many factors play the role of mediator between materialism and well-being. Their works help us to understand the mechanism and the impact of materialism on our well-being, teach us to improve our lives, life satisfaction and understand the characteristics of the human’s mental activities. In China, there are not many studies about materialism, and only a few studies about the relations between materialism and well-being. As for the studies of the internal relations, there are very few. This situation does not match the demand of the studies in China. Based on the researches of foreign and Chinese materialism, with the great differences in culture, lifestyle and individual values between Western countries and China, we can not make sure that the results of Western studies are appropriate for the people in China. So the studies of the relationship between materialism and well-being in Chinese population and Chinese culture are very necessary. In view of the foreign studies, we have found that gratitude may play the role of mediator between materialism and affect well-being. In order to obtain the early information about materialism and well-being in the Chinese population, this study will validate and further expand this research. We also want to investigate the mediating mechanism in the hope of contributing to correcting the national values and improving of national well-being. With a sample of 701 adolescents, this study examined the relationship between adolescents’ materialism and well-being via gratitude, using the Adolescents’ Gratitude Scale, the Material Values Scale, the Subjective Well-being Scale, the Revisited Psychological Well-being Scale, and the Physical Symptoms Questionnaire. The results indicated that: (1) Adolescents’ materialism was significantly positively associated with negative affect, and it was significantly negatively associated with positive affect, life satisfaction, psychological well-being, good health, and gratitude; Gratitude was significantly positively associated with positive affect, life satisfaction, psychological well-being and good health, and it was significantly negatively associated with negative affect. (2) Gratitude partially mediated the relationship between adolescents’ materialism and their negative affect, psychological well-being, life satisfaction, and good health. Gratitude completely mediated the relationship between adolescents’ materialism and their positive affect. Related Articles | Metrics

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A longitudinal study comparing the effectiveness of different positive psychology interventions in university students: The moderating role of person-activity fit and effort 2013, 36(3): 647-652.  Abstract ( )   PDF   Growing evidence shows that positive psychology interventions can increase western people’s well-being. However, it is unclear whether individually-focused happiness interventions improve Chinese people’s well-being. Furthermore, factors that moderate the effect of happiness intervention strategies are yet to be explored. The study hypothesized that: Compared to the control activity, the two experimental activities will improve participants’ well-being and reduce their depression level; the person-activity fit moderates the effect of the happiness-enhancing activities; the effort participants devoted to a given activity moderates the effect of the activities. A longitudinal, placebo-controlled design was used, and 120 university students filled out Oxford Happiness Questionnaires, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, Satisfaction With Life Scale, and Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. They were randomly assigned to express gratitude, cultivate optimism, and list everyday events (control group) and 104 students completed the assigned activities every week and persisted for 5 weeks. Then they completed the same scales as 5 weeks ago. Measures of person-activity fit and effort were also administered. After 5 weeks’ practices, gratitude group showed significant increase in overall well-being indicator (p = .008) and decrease in depression score (p < .001); optimism group showed significant decrease in depression score (p = .014); control group did not show significant change in well-being and depression (both ps > .1). In addition, gratitude group showed the biggest well-being increase relative to the other two groups (p = .029 and p = .011). Furthermore, the person-activity fit predicted post-intervention well-being (β = .170) and depression (β = -.198); the effort participants exerted in the activities predicted post-intervention depression (β = -.249). Finally, pre-intervention well-being negatively predicted well-being change (β = -.456), pre-intervention depression predicted depression change (β = .527), suggested that participants with the lowest well-being or highest depression level benefit most from the activities. In conclusion, relative to list everyday events, express gratitude can improve well-being and reduce depression, and cultivate optimism by imagining the ideal future can reduce depression. The participants who find the assigned activities fit themselves benefit more from the interventions, and they devote more effort to the activities. Participants with poor well-being benefit more from the interventions. The research provides valuable information about how to sustainably increase people’s happiness and the potential moderators. Related Articles | Metrics

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Study on the PASS Cognitive Processing Mechanism of the Chinese Developmental Dyslexia Qing LI 2013, 36(3): 653-658.  Abstract ( )   PDF   Developmental dyslexia is not only an important area in the learning disability research, but also a major topic in the field of language and reading cognitive research. Compared with the long history and remarkable achievement of the developmental dyslexia research in the west world, the Chinese developmental dyslexia research is a relatively new study with few researches focusing on the cognitive processing mechanism. As we all know that investigating the inner processing mechanism, subtypes and etiology of developmental dyslexia will be valuable for clarifying whether dyslexia is language specific or language free, and thus will be helpful in uncovering the factors resulting in dyslexia and providing the follow-up intervention for the dyslexic children. At present, the researchers have carried out many studies of Chinese developmental dyslexia from the point of liguisticits, but few study concerned the inner cognitive processing mechanism. Based on the theory of PASS cognitive processes, the Das and Naglieri Cognitive Assessment System (DN: CAS), the recomposed linguistic cognition tasks, this research aims to make systematic investigations of cognitive processing mechanisms of primary school students with Chinese developmental dyslexia. In this study, the dyslexic group and the normal control group from grade 3 to 5 were compared on the basis of PASS cognitive processing. The results showed that there were significant differences on PASS cognitive processing among grades, i.e. grade 3 children performed poorer than grade 4 and 5 children on all tasks of CAS. And the dyslexic group performed worse than the control group on all of the measures of CAS. What is more, the Chinese developmental dyslexia was heterogeneous, i.e., the Chinese developmental dyslexia was correlated with more than two PASS cognitive deficits. The dyslexic children could have difficulties in one or several aspects of PASS processing. Meanwhile, the Successive processing deficit was the main problem faced by the Chinese dyslexic children. This proportion resembles the one reported for temporal processing deficits in English-speaking dyslexic children. Given the significant number of dyslexic children with a Successive processing deficit, future studies should examine the possible effects of intervention programs that directly target Successive processing. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Inhibition in the Belief-desire Reasoning 2013, 36(3): 659-662.  Abstract ( )   PDF   The current study investigated how inhibition is processed in belief-desire reasoning and tested two models of inhibition proposed by Leslie based on the Theory of Mind Mechanism and Selection Procession. Two experiments were conducted using three location double-inhibitive task and their variant versions, with 216 children aged 4 to 6 year old, to investigate respectively how the mental set and equality of the three locations would influence children’s preference. Results showed that both factors play a role in influencing children’s behaviors. Removing the effects of the two factors, children's behaviors could be explained by Leslie’s Inhibition of Return model, that is, children’s processing of inhibition is serial in double-inhibition task. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Effects of Spaced Learning and Testing on Judgment of Learning Zhen-Xing ZHANG 2013, 36(3): 663-668.  Abstract ( )   PDF   Judgment of learning is an important form of metamemory monitoring judgment, which is a predictability judgment of the recollect in the later recall test done by the individuals after learning. As for JOL, how to improve the accuracy of JOL makes one of the core contents of the JOL study. There are many factors which effect JOL and the accuracy of JOL, including the intrinsic clues, the extrinsic clues, the mnemonics clues. Among these, certain learning conditions, such as spaced learning and test, are extrinsic factors which can be manipulated easily. They can make a critical impact on the memory and metamemory. The study included two experiment designs in order to improve memory effect and metamemory monitoring accuracy. Experiment 1 took the form of two-factor mixed design; investigate the effect of spaced learning made on JOL and the accuracy of JOL, massed learning as a reference. Experiment 2 was a two-factor mixed design. Based on the spaced learning effect in experiment 1, experiment 2 pulled in test effect and explored how spaced learning with test impact the judge of learning and the accuracy of JOL. The results showed that, a) The spaced learning improved recall performance significantly, reduced the over confidence in immediate judgment of learning and improve the accuracy of JOL for hard items. b) Testing before repetitive learning could enhance memory traces and significantly improve the relative accuracy of JOL on the base of spaced learning. c) Different extrinsic clues should be distinguished; spaced learning and pre-test were different extrinsic clues. Related Articles | Metrics

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Attentional Bias for Negative Emotional Stimuli in High and Low Obsessive Compulsive Washing Tendency Individuals 2013, 36(3): 669-674.  Abstract ( )   PDF   【Abstract】Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by obsessions and compulsions, these symptoms may result from the impairment of information processing or attentional bias for threaten stimuli. Many precedent studies on attentional bias in OCD have yielded conflicting results. The present study aimed to explore the mechanism and difference of attentional bias for negative emotional stimuli between high and low obsessive-compulsive washing tendency individuals. Padua Inventory (Chinese version) was used to select 16 high (upper 10%) and 16 low (lower 10%) obsessive-compulsive washing tendency individuals. Inhibition of return paradigm was used, in which disgust, fear and neutral emotion pictures were used as cues. Stimuli were presented on a Pentium Ⅳ, and participants viewed the monitor from a distance of approximately 60cm. There were 8 pictures for each picture type which provoke disgust, fear and neutral emotion respectively, every picture was presented 3 times as valid and 3 times as invalid cues. Additionally, there were 24 catch trials, summing up to a total of 168 trials in the experiment. In each trial, a fixation cross was presented in the center of the display together with two peripheral boxes, one to the left and another to the right of the fixation cross. 500ms later, participant was presented with pictures provoking disgust, fear or neutral emotion at one of two possible locations. After 400ms, the cue picture was removed and followed by a gap of 50ms before the target dot appeared at the center of one of the two boxes. Participants were instructed to make response to the target, which was presented at the cued location or at the uncued location, as quickly and accurately as possible. Correct target trials were used to calculate mean RTs for each participant and condition. Target RTs were then submitted to a three-way repeated-measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) with cue type (pictures provoking disgust, fear and neutral emotion), cue validity (valid and invalid) as within-subject factors and subjects group (high and low obsessive-compulsive washing tendency individuals) as between-subjects factor. The results showed: (1) The interaction between cue type and cue validity was significant, F (2,60)=26.503，p<0.001. When the target appeared in uncued location, subjects showed slower response following cue provoking disgust and fear relative to following cue provoking neutral emotion，suggesting that high and low obsessive-compulsive washing tendency individuals had attentional bias for pictures provoking disgust and fear, and the mechanism is difficulty of attention disengagement; (2) The attentional bias index for pictures provoking disgust was significantly greater compared to that for pictures provoking fear(F = 29.57，p < 0.001), suggesting that the extent of attentional bias for pictures provoking disgust was significantly higher than that for pictures provoking fear; (3)The differences of attentional bias index for disgust and fear between two group were not significant, it showed that the extent of attentional bias for pictures provoking disgust and fear had no group differences, it was considered to be related with many factors such as the selected pictures, severity of clinical symptoms and the quantity of the participants. Related Articles | Metrics

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Correlation between self-esteem and psychosocial stress 2013, 36(3): 675-680.  Abstract ( )   PDF   Introduction Self-esteem has been found to affect the neuroendocrine cortisol response to stress. Research has found that subjects with low self-esteem and low levels of internal locus of control exhibited a significant cortisol response in individualism culture. However, collectivistic trait is an important part of self-esteem in collectivism culture and high self-esteem is more self-promoting for others’ positive comments than low self-esteem. Therefore, we hypothesize that subjects with high self-esteem would exhibit a significant cortisol response than low self-esteem in Chinese culture. Method In the present study, healthy male and female volunteers (N=28) performed Rosenberg self-esteem scale and the standardized TSST protocol, during which scores of self-esteem, subjective measure (visual rating scale) and objective measures (heart rate and salivary cortisol) were assessed. Results The results showed that heart rate of participants were positively correlated with self-esteem when the TSST started. 40 minutes after the TSST, participants’cortisol responses were positively correlated with self-esteem, the higher level of self-esteem, the higher level of cortisol response. Conclusion The finding demonstrated that subjects with high self-esteem exhibited significantly stress response than low self-esteem in Chinese culture. Related Articles | Metrics

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An Experimental Research on the Influence of Emotional Trauma after Break-up on Self/Other Working Models 2013, 36(3): 681-687.  Abstract ( )   PDF   Abstract This research examined the influence of emotional trauma after break-up on self/other working models with the Implicit Association Test in the context of adult attachment. We tried to explore the differences of definite self/other working models on the subjects having and having not experienced emotional trauma after break-up with different attachment styles. We also tried to test and verify Attachment Theory’s hypothesis on self/other working models of different attachment style subjects by means of social cognitive experimental method, such as the Implicit Association Test. The results indicated that:(1) Although the scores of attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance were not significantly different between the experimental group and the control group, the main effects of adult attachment style and grouping existed in IAT effect (indicator of self- positive/other-negative working model) and the interaction was also significant. In addition to avoidant attachment subjects, the IAT effect values of secure attachment subjects and anxious attachment subjects in the experimental group were significantly higher than the IAT effect values of the control group, which indicated that emotional trauma after break-up had prompted the subjects of secure attachment and anxious attachment strengthening the use of ego defense mechanisms, their attitudes and evaluations towards self were all significantly better than their attitudes and opinions towards the ex-lover. However, avoidant attachment subjects showed that they weren’t traumatized by the emotional trauma after break-up, which was consistent with many previous researches. This research also testified that it would exist in a subconscious level. (2) This research identified Attachment Theory’s hypothesis on self/other working models of different attachment style subjects. Specifically, in the control group, the response time of the compatible part and the incompatible part of different attachment style subjects were analyzed with paired-t tests, the results were significant; the IAT effect values of different attachment style subjects were also significant. We found that the response time of the compatible part of anxious attachment subjects was significantly longer than the incompatible part, the response time of the compatible part of avoidant attachment subjects was significantly shorter than the incompatible part, and there was no significant difference between the response time of the compatible part and the incompatible part in secure attachment subjects. The IAT effect values of avoidant attachment subjects were significantly higher than other attachment style subjects. Related Articles | Metrics

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Intergroup Influences on the Transmission of Stereotype with Different Valence in the Serial Reproduction of Narratives 2013, 36(3): 688-695.  Abstract ( )   PDF   Related Articles | Metrics

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The conflict adaptation effect is domain-specific 2013, 36(3): 696-701.  Abstract ( )   PDF   The conflict adaptation effect (CAE) which was the most important empirical evidence for conflict monitoring theory is that the interference effect was smaller after incongruent trials than after congruent trials in the congruency tasks. However, It is not known whether CAE relies on a single central resource of cognitive control, or on a collection of independent control mechanisms that deal with different types of conflict. Task-switching designs and factorial task-crossing designs were usually used to study the domain of the CAE. In the present research, we used two different factorial task-crossing tasks which respectively included flanker task and Simon task, Stroop task and Simon task to explore the scope of the CAE. The experiment 1 experiment 2 are both factorial task-crossing design which contains letter flanker task and Simon task, Stroop and Simon task separately, and the similarities between the two experiments are that their stimulus-response set is 4. When the stimulus-response set was 4 in the flanker task and Simon task and in the Stroop task and Simon task , the result indicated that only within-task CAE was present, and there was no cross-task CAE in two tasks. These results indicated when the stimulus-response set increased to 4 to eliminate the feature integration effect and control the influence of dimension repetition, the CAE acted task-specific, and the conflict monitor system was not only monitor the amount of conflict but also identified the source of the conflict. In addition, it also suggested that the previous experience of conflict resolution was important to the CAE except for conflict monitoring. Related Articles | Metrics

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Ingroup/Outgroup Favoritism among the Members of Low-Status Group By Using Process Dissociation Procedure Yu-Fang ZHAO 2013, 36(3): 702-705.  Abstract ( )   PDF   Categorizing people into groups often leads to intergroup bias. Social identity theorists argue that in-group provides psychological benefits include acceptance, belonging, and social support, as well as a system of roles, rules, norms, values to group members, Because of the needs they fill, groups are as dear to people as life itself, and people fear their destruction almost as much as they fear their own. As a result, people tend to favor their own group and exhibit hostility toward other groups, which also called “in-group favoritism” and “out-group derogation,” respectively. But there is also an increasing body of evidence indicating people, typically low-status group members sometimes display out-group favoritism, which refers to the tendency to express an evaluative preference for members of a group to which one does not belong. Whereas the issue whether low-status groups had internalized the out-group favoritism was argued. Jost and Burgess proposed that out-group favoritism among groups low in social standing was due to complied with authority and self-protection, rather than internalized it. Mellott and Greenwald employed Implicit Association Test (IAT) and found low-status members displayed implicit out-group favoritism in facet of the cognition, emotion and behavior. Chinese researcher used the same method also found the similar finding. It illustrated that members in low-status groups indeed internalized the favoritism of high-status groups. But we noted that the used method typically was IAT, Jacoby suggested this implicit way may not be “process pure” and is likely to involve both conscious and unconscious processes. That is, the results may be a mixture but not pure implicit cognition. In order to gain further understanding regarding low-status members’ “real” implicit cognition about the high-status out-groups, it is important to dissociate these two cognitive processes and identify their respective contribution. To explore this issue, the current study adopted the process dissociation procedure. Besides, it is interesting to explore when low-status members has implicit out-group favoritism, how they evaluate their own group? Thus, process dissociation procedure was adopted to compute the separate contribution of conscious and unconscious processes when fifty rural undergraduates recognized trait words about urban group and rural group, and got the rural participants’ implicit cognition of these two groups. The results showed: when rural undergraduates recognized the trait words about urban group, the contribution of unconscious processes for positive words was significantly greater than for negative words. Whereas the differences in contribution of unconscious processes between the rural group’s positive words and negative words were not significant. It indicated that low status group members only have implicit out-group favoritism, but don’t have in-group favoritism. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Emotion, Attitude and Behavior: From Perspective of APE Model 2013, 36(3): 706-710.  Abstract ( )   PDF   Factors impacting on whether and how attitude predicts behavioral outcomes are crucial for attitude research. Previous theoretical and empirical attitude researches focused mainly on explicit attitude. According to implicit social cognition, individuals can hold simultaneously explicit and implicit evaluation toward the same object. Moreover, for some attitude object, explicit attitude assessed by traditional self-report measure is unrelated qualitatively to implicit attitude, which mostly based on the response-time or indirect measures such as IAT, GNAT or EAST. Associative-propositional evaluation model(APE, Gawronski & Bodenhausen, 2006, 2007), one of the most influential dual-process model in the implicit social cognition, provides the integrative theoretical framework for understanding the relationships between explicit attitude, implicit attitude and behavior(Hofmann, Gschwendner, Friese, Wiers, & Schmitt, 2008; Hofmann, Rauch, & Gawronski, 2007). Much less attention has been placed on the role of emotion in the relationship of explicit-implicit correspondence and implicit attitude-behavior. Some studies have revealed that emotional states influence the relationship between explicit attitude and implicit attitude. Compared with individuals with negatively feelings, individuals who experience a lot of positive emotions showed higher explicit-implicit attitude consistency(Huntsinger & Smith, 2009; Huntsinger, Sinclair, & Clore, 2009). An important but often ignored research topic, the role of emotional states in the relationship among explicit attitude, implicit attitude and behavior remains to be answered. Based on APE model, this study aimed to explore the role of emotion played in the transforming implicit attitude into explicit attitude, and the relationships between emotion, attitude and behavior accordingly. Subjects aged 19 through 22 years old were recruited on a university campus and paid 5 RMB for participating. The study consisted of two sessions. In the first session, 123 subjects completed a self-report questionnaire for assessing their explicit attitude toward eight kinds of food (including fruit and potato chips). A week later, 64 subjects agreed to participate a supposedly unrelated study and completed the Implicit Association Test (IAT) to assess their implicit attitude toward potato chips and PANAS. After that, an experimenter requested subjects to view randomly one of movie clips (comedy clips for positive emotion induction or tragedy clips for negative emotion induction) for the purpose of having a rest, and give them fruit and potato chips to eat 5 minutes before the end of movie clips. The weight of potato chips eaten in 5 minutes was measured and recorded as a dependent variable. As before, this study has verified the predictive effect of explicit attitude on the individuals’ behavior. The more positive attitude toward potato chips individuals hold, the more they eat during the viewing the movie. But this effect seemly cannot be applied to implicit attitude. Whether implicit attitude influences behavior relies on individuals’ emotional states, with implicit attitude influencing behavior among individuals in the state of positive emotional feeling, but not individuals with negative emotion. These results consist with the central hypothesis of Dual-Process Models of Social Information (Fazio, 1990; Strack & Deutsch, 2004; Hofmanna, Friese & Wiers, 2008) and Associative-Propositional Evaluation Model (Gawronski & Bodenhausen, 2006, 2007), and demonstrate the critical role emotion plays in implicit attitude-behavior relation. Besides, theoretical significance and limitation of this study and future directions were also discussed. Keywords: associative-propositional evaluation model; explicit attitude; implicit attitude; emotion Related Articles | Metrics

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the Effect of Phase-Shifting Event on Fairness Stability 2013, 36(3): 711-715.  Abstract ( )   PDF   Abstract： Previous studies have focused on the relationship between organizational fairness and organizational outcome variables, and most of which indicated that organizational justice has large effects on many important employee attitudes and behaviors, but less study has to explore the stability of fairness. According to fairness heuristic theory, fairness judgment can divide into two phases: judgmental phase and use phase. In judgmental phase, people collect the fair or unfair information of leader quickly so that arrive at general justice judgment, and in use phase, use this judgment to guide their decision and behaviors. However, in reality, people often re-examine their fairness judgment is reasonable or not, then return to the judgment stage once again. Lind think that there are two candidates: signs on the relationship in question are changing, or fairness –relevant events or information that fall far outside what would be expected from the existing general fairness judgment, would push the perceiver from use mode back into judgmental mode. According to fairness heuristic theory, the experience inconsistent with fair information will lead to a new heuristic, which would affect perceiver’s perception and judgment. Thus, the shift from fair treatment to unfair treatment should cause negative reaction, and vice versa. This study use trust in the experimenter, intentions of engaging in organizational citizenship behavior as the dependent variable to examine the effect of the changes of fair mode on perceptual judgments of people. In the initial fairness condition, participants are treated fairly in the first trials and unfairly in the second trials. In the initial unfairness condition, participants are treated unfairly in the first trials and fairly in the second trials. Finally, participants in the fair control condition are treated fairly throughout the study, while participants in the unfair control condition are treated unfairly in all trials. The results showed that 1) fair treatment improve the positive reaction, unfair treatment lead to the negative reaction; 2) The shift from fair procedure to unfair procedure leads to significant decrease of trust in the experimenter and intentions of engaging in OCB in the initial fair condition, but the shift from unfair procedure to fair procedure does not lead to significant increase of trust in the experimenter and OCB in the initial unfair condition. So we can conclude that fairness judgment can be changed under some conditions. The findings are beneficial to understand the importance of early fairness, and have important practice meaning to manager. Related Articles | Metrics

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The influence of sample size on causal-strength judgments YanLing LIU 2013, 36(3): 716-721.  Abstract ( )   PDF   Abstract: The paper conducted a experiment to investigate weather causal judgment ovaries with sample size, and compare the predictions of five models, ΔP、Power-PC、SS、Support and χ2. Contingency were presented with table format, results show that:（a）The Sample size factor have different effect on different contingency : High sample lead to the low estimate in ΔP = 0 , have no effect in 0< |ΔP | = Power-PC , while lead to high estimate in |ΔP| References | Related Articles | Metrics

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A Comparison of Analysis of Simple Mediating Effect of Parametric and Nonparametric Bootstrap Method Fang Jie 2013, 36(3): 722-727.  Abstract ( )   PDF   It is well known that there are two Bootstrap methods called Nonparametric Bootstrap and parametric Bootstrap. Nonparametric Bootstrap method has been widely applied in simple mediation analysis, but parametric Bootstrap method has not yet used in simple mediation analysis. In this paper, parametric Bootstrap method was introduced in simple mediation firstly, after introduced each of Bootstrap methods in detail, the performances of two Bootstrap methods in simple mediation was compared. A simulation study was conducted to the comparison by R software. Two factors were considered in the simulation design: (a) sample size (N=25, 50, 100, 200, 1000); (b) parameter combinations (a=b=0, a=0.39 b=0, a=0 b=0.59, a=b=0.14, a=b=0.39, a=b=0.59); Totally, 30 treatment conditions were generated in terms of the above 2-factor simulation design (i.e., ). One thousand replications were run for each condition. For each replication in each condition, four Bootstrap methods (bias-corrected and un-corrected parametric percentile residual Bootstrap method, bias-corrected and un-corrected nonparametric percentile Bootstrap method) were used to test for simple mediation. For the Bootstrap methods, 1,000 bootstrap samples were drawn in each replication. Those methods were compared in term of (a) TypeⅠerror, (b) Power, (c) the coverage of their confidence interval, (d) confidence interval bias. The simulation study found the following results: 1) the behaviors of the bias-corrected Bootstrap method was better than un-corrected Bootstrap method in TypeⅠerror, Power and confidence interval bias under the condition of nonzero mediation. However, the bias-corrected Bootstrap method have slightly inflated confidence interval bias under the condition of zero mediation because this method overestimate TypeⅠerror in some conditions. 2) Compared with the nonparametric Bootstrap method, the performances of parametric Bootstrap method was preferred, in particular, bias-corrected parametric percentile residual Bootstrap method was superior to bias-corrected nonparametric percentile Bootstrap method in confidence interval bias and TypeⅠerror. There are three reasons why bias-corrected parametric percentile residual Bootstrap is recommended for testing simple mediating effect. Firstly, the simulation result shows that the overall performance of bias-corrected parametric percentile residual Bootstrap method was best in the different Bootstrap methods. Secondly, parametric Bootstrap method can apply in all types of mediations, parametric Bootstrap method has a wider applicability than nonparametric percentile Bootstrap method. Thirdly, parametric Bootstrap method generate new bootstrap sample using Monte Carlo method, which further reduce the dependence on the original samples. Related Articles | Metrics

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Estimating Reliability of Unidimensional Test in Two-Level Studies Zhong-Lin WEN 2013, 36(3): 728-733.  Abstract ( )   PDF   In the studies of psychology, education and management, we often face data with a two-level structure. For example, students are nested within schools, and employees are nested within enterprises. In such two-level studies, subjects (e. g., students, employees) do not perform independently. Subjects within the same group are usually correlated each other. The independence assumption on individuals in such two-level studies is usually not true. Estimating test reliability is an important step in data analysis. If test reliability is overestimated, the statistical results based on the test are misleading. Reliability is not an intrinsic property of a test, rather, it varies depending on the population in which it is used. Previous research showed that test reliability would be overestimated if the nested relationship was not considered. Hence, test reliability estimation methods that were proposed under the frame of single-level designs are not appropriate for the two-level designs. Raykov and du Toit (2005) deduced a formula for estimating reliability of unidimensional test in the two-level designs based on a two-level confirmatory factor analysis model in which factor loadings of the beween-group part were constrained to be equal to their counterparts of the within-group part. Their formula is only suitable for a rather special situation when the above constraints are correct for the model. Morerover, their method is difficult to be understood, and their program is complicated to be imitated. Till now, most empirical researchers still estimate test reliability as in a single-level design even if the study is a two-level design. So it is necessary to study how to estimate reliability in two-level design and propose a simpler program for computation. We deduced a new formula to estimate the test reliability of the unidimensional test in two-level designs based on two-level confirmatory factor analysis. Whether factor loadings of the beween-group part are fixed or not, the formula is appropriate to estimate the test reliability. An example was illustrated how to estimate test reliability in two-level designs by using our proposed formula with a simple Mplus program. For the purpose of comparison, we also estimated test reliability by using Raykov and du Toit’s (2005) method and simply calculate the composite reliability by treating the data set as if it came from a single-level design. Both of the latter results overestimated the test reliability. Therefore, our new method was recommended. Before we use the new method to compute the reliability of unidimensional test in two-level design, we should analyze a two-level confirmatory factor analysis model and test the goodness of fit. The estimated test reliability is meaningful only when the model is accepted. References | Related Articles | Metrics

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Improvement of MCMC Algorithm and Its Application in Parameter Estimation under the IRT Model 2013, 36(3): 734-738.  Abstract ( )   PDF   The core issue in IRT is how to estimate the item and person parameters. The common methods used often were N—R algorithm、E—M algorithm and so on. Because of their special characteristics in themselves, there were always certain shortcomings to hinder their development. With more and more complex models appearing, it is also difficult to estimate the parameters using those methods. Then the method called Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) was appearing. The emergence of MCMC algorithm provides the new solution. MCMC algorithm has been used in statistical physics for more than 50 years. In recent 20 years, it was also widely used in Bayesian estimation, test of significance and maximum likelihood estimation. Albert,J.H.（1992）is the first statistician to apply the algorithm in IRT parameter estimations. Many experts including Albert,J.H.（1992）、Patz &Junker（1999a,1999b）、Kim,Jee.Seon.& Daniel,M.Bolt.（2007）provide the information about MCMC algorithm and how to use it in detail. The character of MCMC algorithm is that it gives full play to the advantages of computer simulation technology, collects a sufficiently large sample of state by simulating, uses the elementary method to estimate the model parameters, in this way it bypasses the complex calculation of the EM algorithm to improve the success rate of estimation. There is not any algorithm that is perfect. Although the traditional MCMC algorithm has been widely used, the shortcomings of it , for example, the serious dependence on the prior distribution of the parameters and the extremely long time spent in performing the procedure, are still always existed. It is the main purpose of this paper to solve the problems. In the paper, the idea of the MCMC algorithm is firstly and briefly introduced. Following is two important suggestions to improve the algorithm and resolve the problems existed. The first suggestion is about the stationary distribution, which of the traditional MCMC algorithm is largely dependent on the prior distribution of the model parameters, however, in practice ,it is often that the researcher do not know the prior distribution, so this influences the accuracy of the estimation results. In this paper, the author provide another method to avoid the above situation. The second suggestion is about the acceptance probability. In this paper, the view the authors is following. In order to reduce the run time of the procedure, only when the stationary distribution value of the new iteration value is greater than that of the original iteration value, does the new iteration value replace the old one to be the value of the iterative chain. Then, the traditional and improved versions of MCMC algorithm are used to simulate and analyze data. Through the comparison of the results from the two methods, it shows that the new method performs better. Finally, the advantage the new algorithm has is pointed out and the future research direction is suggested. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Spatial Character of Temporal Order Information Kun-Liang Ruan 2013, 36(3): 739-742.  Abstract ( )   PDF   How do people represent things they can never see or touch? Metaphoric mapping theory assumes that abstract concepts such as time are represented in terms of concrete, readily available dimensions. “Time is Space” is the prototype of metaphorical form of time. It is well known that cognitive representation of numerals has spatial characteristics. People are faster to respond to small numbers with left hand than right hand, and to large numbers with right hand than left hand. Which was called the spatial-numerical association of response codes (SNRAC) effect. Similar SNARC effect, the congruity between spatial and temporal information along the ‘mental time line ’ (past-left and future-right mapping ) may facilitate manual responses, which yield spatial-temporal association of response codes (STEARC) effect. STEARC effect has been shown for several ordinal sequences, such as conventional temporal order (months of the year, days of the week, letters of the alphabet), meaningful event sequences (silent movie clips, photograph series), newly learned ordered sequences (newly learned the list of words through visual or auditory presentations, Greek letters under different learning levels). The STEARC effect has been demonstrated in various tasks, such as different modalities, time-points in a 3-dimensional space, eye movement responses. Several studies suggested that temporal concept is mentally aligned not only horizontally with a left-to-right directionality but also vertically with a top-to-bottom directionality. But spatial direction of temporal order representation is flexible: in cultures with left-to-right orthography time appears to flow rightward, but in cultures with right-to-left orthography time flows leftward. However, new conceptual metaphors can be acquired by quick learning. Boroditsky trained English participants to think about time using a new conceptual mapping through only 90 training trials. The temporal reference of words can orient spatial attention. Some studies used a cuing paradigm to discriminate between spatial attention orienting and manual response codes activation when using future and past words as cues. Centrally presented words referring to the past and to the future are able to orient visual attention and prime motor responses in correspondence with the past-left and future-right mapping. Finally, several future research directions were suggested. The first one is neural mechanisms of spatial and temporal concept. Neuropsychological studies have revealed that processing of temporal and spatial are related to right parietal cortex, lateral intraparietal area, left parietal cortex. Second, the human cognition of time can be divided into different ranges according to length of time. The association between time and space may differ with various time ranges. Third, spatial representation of time is different around world. The concept of time is special in Chinese. Chinese concept of time is circular, Western concept of time is linear. Chinese believe reincarnation, afterlife. Fourth, individual difference may affect temporal representation, especially temporal self. Related Articles | Metrics

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Review of Hierarchical Temporal Processing huazhan yinyin 2013, 36(3): 743-747.  Abstract ( )   PDF   To examine the temporal processing at different levels in the range of seconds, researchers conducted a series of studies from two points of view: temporal processing and timing characteristic of information processing, respectively. Münsterberg (1889), Michon(1985), Lewis &Miall(2003) and Vierodt(1868) followed the first perspective and proposed that the critical times (1/3s, 1/2s, 1s,3s ) may be the dividing points of duration processing mechanism. For example, Hugo Mǔnsterberg (1889)put forward the idea of two distinct timing mechanisms underlying prospective temporal information processing in humans: a sensory mechanism for processing of durations less than one third of a second and another mechanism, based on muscular sensations experienced during a given interval, for processing of longer durations. Similarly, Michon (1985) argued that temporal processing of intervals longer than approximately 500 ms is cognitively mediated while temporal processing of shorter intervals is supposedly ’’of a highly perceptual nature, fast, parallel and not accessible to cognitive control (Michon, 1985).Lewis,et.al.propose that two distinct systems exist for measuring time in the types of behavioural tasks examined here. One hypothesised system, which we will designate the ‘automatic’ timing system, is primarily involved in the continuous measurement of predictable sub-second intervals de?ned by movement. Automatic timing is likely to recruit circuits within the motor system that can measure time without attentional modulation. Central pattern generators would provide an ideal mechanism for this system, as they are characterised by continuous rhythmic output. The other hypothesised system, which we will designate the ‘cognitively controlled’ timing system, is more involved in the measurement of supra-second intervals not de?ned by movement and occurring as discrete epochs. Cognitively controlled timing is likely to draw upon multi-purpose cognitive circuits within the prefrontal and parietal cortices ; in particular, activity is expected in areas associated with attention and working memory . P?ppel started from the second perspective and proposed two temporal windows that limited information processing. One mechanism operates with oscillations in the range of 20 to 60 ms, which is the primary integrating system. Interestingly, the concept of elementary integration units has also become fruitful for physical theories on time , stressing the interdisciplinary nature of research. An important example supporting the conceptual notion of a temporal window in this time domain comes from observations with patients who have to undergo a general anesthesia (Madler and P?ppel, 1987; Schwender et al., 1994). During wakefulness, one observes an oscillatory activity with periods of 30 to 40 ms in the auditory evoked potential . During anesthesia this oscillatory activity within the neuronal assemblies disappears which under normal circumstances presumably reflects such internal system states. The other refers to pre-semantic integration in the range of approximately 2 to 3 s, which is the high-level integrating system. The former can construct primordial events that are the basic building blocks of the mental machinery of humans. While the latter can link the primordial events identified on a level of higher temporal resolution sequentially together. According to previous studies, intervals under 40 ms cannot be perceived as an interval; when the interval increases from 40 ms to 3 s, the automatic processing decreases and the controlled processing increases. Over 3 s, the main part of temporal processing would be controlled processing and involve memory mechanisms. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Foundation of Emotional Intelligence: Advance and Prospect of Emotional Awareness Researches Hai-Bin WANG 2013, 36(3): 748-752.  Abstract ( )   PDF   Emotional Awareness has been regarded as the most fundamental skill to emotional intelligence. It refers to the ability of recognizing and describing one’s own and others’ emotions. This kind of ability is important to the individual mental health and interpersonal interaction. In order to understand the previous studies systematically, we combine the qualitative and quantitative view to review the previous researches. That is, we adopt the approaches of bibliometrics to qualitatively study it, thus having knowledge of the situation about the previous research objectively. Based on this, we sort out the studies from five aspects including concept definition, measurement tools, neural substrate, correlative factors and intervention research. Finally, we predicted the researching trends of Emotional Awareness, which will provide reference for intensive study. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Status Quo, Characteristics and Trends of Emotional Intelligence Research in the Past 22 Years 2013, 36(3): 753-760.  Abstract ( )   PDF   The purpose of the present study was to systematically analyze 2712 published articles, including 1582 articles from international articles and 1130 domestic articles. All of them were associated with emotional intelligence theory, since the theory was put forward 22 years ago. The literatures were chosen from two international psychology literature databases, which were PsycARTICLES, and PsycINFO, as well as three Chinese academic literature databases, including Chinese Journal Full-text Database(CJFD), Chinese doctoral dissertations full-text database, and Chinese selected master dissertations full-text database. Three questions were answered by documentary research method. Firstly, the present study carried out comparisons in terms of the regional distribution, the temporal distribution, as well as the field distribution. And the comparisons were conducted on the basis of the international and domestic emotional intelligence research literatures, respectively. As for the regional distribution, American researchers published the most literatures (except for Chinese researchers), while European researchers published the second most, then came Asian researchers, Australian researchers, and African researchers. The temporal distribution of emotional intelligence showed a three-stage feature: starting stage, flourishing stage, and deepening stage. Emotional intelligence research almost covered all areas in the field of psychology. There were apparently more literatures in the field of application research than in the fundamental research. Most literatures were focused on the fields of management, education as well as clinic. Secondly, this study demonstrated the developmental characteristics of emotional intelligence research in theoretical, empirical, and application fields. Obvious disagreement in theoretical perspectives, abuse of theoretical concept and scientific study of theoretical research were three features of emotional intelligence research in theoretical field. For the feature of the development of measurement, it seems that there were many instruments developed by different researchers, and lots of controversies were put forward towards these tools as well. The experimental research methods of emotional intelligence were just starting and needed to be deepened. The developmental characteristics of emotional intelligence research in application field contained two aspects, including fast spread with wide sensationalization in early days, and then discarding the false and retaining the truth with scientific application. Finally, the present study analyzed the trends of emotional intelligence research, pointing out that theoretical connotation researches and theoretical confirmation researches would be the top priority in the theoretical development of emotional intelligence theory. With regard to the empirical research, neuroscience, as well as the brain and cognitive sciences would possess obvious scientific value and sustainable development prospects. Related Articles | Metrics

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Scientific Psychology: The Idea and Its Categorical Meanings Shen-Chun GAO 2013, 36(3): 761-767.  Abstract ( )   PDF   The idea of psychology as a science emerged during the middle of the nineteenth century as an intellectual result of the social influence of the historical achievements of natural sciences, and has ever been growing thereafter. In a sense, the modern history of psychology evolved mainly by the motive to promote psychology to the state of a science. However, at the time when the idea emerged, it was not clear as to both what science is and what psychology is. Thus, it was neither clear as to the theoretical contents and the categorical meaning of the idea of a scientific psychology. It was the actual historical pursuits of psychology as a science that provided us the theoretical contents to the idea of a scientific psychology, and the theoretical contents, in turn, cultivated the categorical meanings of the idea. Now, with the advantage of historical perspectives, we find that our understanding of the idea of a scientific psychology is closely related to, and reciprocally determined by, our understanding of the idea of science. The idea of science has its historical prototype in the natural sciences. Historically, there formed two different modes of understanding concerning the relationship between the idea of science and natural sciences as its historical prototype, thus determined two different ways of conceiving and realizing the idea of a scientific psychology, resulting in two different categorical meanings of the idea. With the actual history of modern psychology as a framework of reference, we might call the two different ways phenomenological and scientistic approaches to scientific psychology, respectively. The nature of the difference of the above mentioned two modes of understanding or ways of conceiving is not, however, of the kind in which the two modes or ways might be accepted indifferently as equally effective. Rather, they suggested and determined two historically opposite and logically antagonistic orientations for practicing and realizing the idea of psychology as a science. In the phenomenological approach, science means the logically necessary steps of the mental operations of consciousness, and the category of natural sciences becomes a special case of the mental operations in consciousness. This sense of science is not only logically necessary but also in harmony with the idea of psychology. So, only in the phenomenological sense of science can the idea of a scientific psychology realize itself. On the other hand, in the scientistic approach, science is identified with natural science. Historical analysis reveals that this sense of (natural) science can only be effective in the background of early-modern dualistic mode of thinking. In the dualistic mode of thinking, however, (natural) science established itself exclusively for the material world, while psychology established itself exclusively for the spiritual world. Thus psychology and (natural) science formed two contrasting, if not antagonistic, kingdom of human knowledge. So, in the sense of (natural) science, the realization of the idea of a scientific psychology can only be a self-alienation for psychology proper. References | Related Articles | Metrics