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ISSN 0439-755X
CN 11-1911/B
主办:中国心理学会
   中国科学院心理研究所
出版:科学出版社

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    30 May 2006, Volume 38 Issue 03 Previous Issue    Next Issue

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    Item Order of Propositional Representation in Understanding Chinese Initiative and Passive Sentences
    Zhang-Jinqiao,Molei
    2006, 38 (03):  317-323. 
    Abstract ( 1909 )   PDF (653KB) ( 1642 )  
    Adopting a sentence-picture verification task technique, this paper describes one experiment designed to examine the item order of proposition representations in Chinese readers’ understanding of Chinese initiative and passive sentence among 34 Chinese college students (14 males and 20 females).
    The study employed a 2x2x2 factorial within-subjects design. The three factors are meaning level (non-reversible sentences with higher level of meaning vs. reversible sentences with lower level of meaning), sentence type (initiative sentences vs. passive sentences), and sentence-picture relationship (congruent vs. incongruent). The dependent variables were the picture verification time and the correct ratio.
    The experiment was conducted on PIV computers. First, participants were asked to press the space bar when they were ready to begin, and a sentence appeared in the center of the computer screen. Then they were instructed to read the sentence at a normal speed until they had completely understood it. When they finished reading, they were asked to press the space bar again. As the sentence disappeared, a picture appeared. The first part of the display was a single picture centered on the screen (e.g., a picture of a hawk or a chicken). One second later a second picture appeared (e.g., a picture of a hawk snatching or not snatching a chicken). Participants were required to decide whether the state of affairs in the pictures was a true or false representation based on the sentences previously shown.
    The results were that: (1) For Chinese non-reversible initiative sentences, the reaction time for the congruent sentence-picture relationship was shorter than the incongruent one (1001ms vs. 1123ms). (2) For Chinese non-reversible passive sentences, the reaction time for the congruent sentence-picture relationship was longer than the incongruent one (1142ms vs. 1020ms). (3) For the Chinese reversible initiative sentences, the reaction time for congruent sentence-picture relationship was shorter than the incongruent one (1603ms vs. 1757ms). (4) For Chinese reversible passive sentences, the reaction time of congruent sentence-picture relationship was longer than the incongruent one (1775ms vs. 1598ms). No statistical difference was found with regard to the correct ratio. According to the logic of the present study, all the experimental results suggest that Chinese readers easily form the constant propositions representation of “agent→object” in reading Chinese initiative sentence and passive sentence; they are reversible.
    From the results of the present study, it appears that Chinese students can form the same deep structure (the item order of “agent→object”) according to a different surface structure (“agent→object” in Chinese initiative sentences and “object→agent” in Chinese passive sentence) in reading Chinese initiative and passive sentences, and they probably go through a series of cognitive processing according to the inherent directionality of “agent→object”.)
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    Effects of Categorical Variables on Fale Recognition
    Zhang-Jijia,Kong Changfeng
    2006, 38 (03):  324-332. 
    Abstract ( 1072 )   PDF (878KB) ( 1609 )  
    Using Chinese words as experimental matrials,the study investigated the influence of category items repetition,familiarity and typicality of items,and category size on false recognition. Experiment 1 showed that false recognition responses to nonstudied category members increased with the number of items from the same category that were presented at encoding. In Experiment 2,the participants made more false recognition responses to category members of high familiarity degree. In Experiment 3,the participants produced more false recognition responses to category members of high typicality degree.In Experiment 4,participants did more false recognition responses to category members of small categories
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    A Relevance Similarity Model of Feature Inductions
    Wang-Moyun,Mo Lei
    2006, 38 (03):  333-341. 
    Abstract ( 1676 )   PDF (883KB) ( 1305 )  
    There are two kinds of accounts for category-based feature inductions: the similarity accounts and the knowledge accounts. The similarity account claims that feature inductions are based on overall similarities between premise categories and conclusion categories, and inductive strengths increase with overall similarities. The knowledge account emphasizes the role of knowledge of feature relevance in feature inductions regardless of the role of similarities. The similarity account adapts to inductive reasoning in knowledge-poor domains, whereas the knowledge account adapts to inductive reasoning in knowledge-rich domains. The two accounts are separate from each other, and have no relation with each other.
    However, in many cases, people conduct inductive reasoning based on between-categories similarities on relevances of induction features. This reasoning simultaneously involves similarity and knowledge. In the present study, we proposed a relevance similarity model of feature induction to describe human inductive reasoning based on relevance similarities. The model integrates similarity with knowledge of feature relevance, claims that size orders of inductive strengths are determined by products of relevance similarities times relevance strengths between induction features and relevance features of induction features, and size orders of inductive confidences (subjective confidences for judgment of inductive strengths) are mainly determined by relevance strengths. Thus, the model dissociates inductive confidences and inductive strengths. According to the model, feature inductions based on relevance similarities include the two kinds of strong and weak relevance inductions, which are respectively based on strong and weak relevances between induction features and relevance features. In strong relevance inductions, induction features have a few definite relevant features, thus feature inductions are based on similarities on relevant features, and have strong relevance strengths and strong inductive confidences. When there are no features which are especially relevant to an induction feature, the whole of a premise category’s all features will become the weak relevance of the induction feature, and feature inductions will be based on the overall similarity across categories. This is the weak relevance induction which has weak relevance strength and weak inductive confidence. Therefore, feature induction based on overall similarities is a special case of the relevance similarity model.
    The model makes the following predictions. (1) When relevance strengths remain constant, inductive strengths will increase with relevance similarities, whereas inductive confidences will remain constant. (2) When relevance similarities remain constant, inductive strengths and confidences both will increase with relevance strengths. (3) When relevance strengths and relevance similarities vary simultaneously, and vary in the opposite directions, size orders of inductive strengths will be determined by products of relevance strengths and relevance similarities. Size orders of inductive confidences will be mainly determined by relevance strengths. (4) Regardless of relevance similarities, strong relevance inductions have higher inductive confidences than weak relevance inductions do. (5) There will be dissociation between inductive confidences and inductive strengths, because inductive strengths are determined by products of relevance strengths times relevance similarities, whereas inductive confidences are mainly determined by relevance strengths. The results of two experiments with college students supported the above main predictions. However, in weak relevance inductions, the results showed that inductive confidences were also affected by overall similarities, and increased with overall similarities. This finding shows that overall similarities form a base of weak relevance inductions, and inductive strengths and inductive confidences all increase with overall similarities. But on the whole, strong relevance inductions have higher inductive confidences than weak relevance inductions do, regardless of relevance similarities.
    In summary, the relevance similarity model can describe and explain main inductive reasoning based on relevance similarities, and has a greater explanatory power and scope than the previous relevant theories do.
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    Characteristics of On-Line Metacognitive Regulating Ability under Cognitive Context
    Li Jian,Zhang Houcai
    2006, 38 (03):  342-348. 
    Abstract ( 1702 )   PDF (705KB) ( 2071 )  
    This article presented a study of on-line metacognitive regulation in cognitive tasks, in which the characteristics of on-line cognitive regulating ability and its domain-generality were discussed. Two cognitive tasks of Letter Recall and Key Strike were used for inducing the regulating process. By increasing the “task cues” gradually, some changes were observed in the performance in Letter Recall task and performance enhancement in Key Strike task. Using them as the index of on-line metacognitive regulating ability, analysis of the result indicated that cognitive performance was enhanced through on-line metacognitive regulation as task cues increased. It was also showed that the on-line metacognitive regulating ability assessed by cognitive tasks was consistent with that came from retrospective report. The on-line metacognitive regulation was both domain-general across different tasks and domain-specific in discovering the rules. These results implied that metacognitive assessment under cognitive context could appropriately assess the on-line metacognitive regulation
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    The Perspective Bias in Children’s Mental-State Reasoning
    Fu Li,Su Yanjie
    2006, 38 (03):  349-355. 
    Abstract ( 2482 )   PDF (686KB) ( 2099 )  
    Introduction Children younger than 4 years old often have difficulties in understanding others’ mental states (e.g., beliefs). One explanation for these difficulties is what is referred to as “the curse of knowledge” or a tendency to be biased by one’s own knowledge when appreciating an ignorant perspective. It is different from egocentric bias in that the curse of knowledge is asymmetric. The present study aimed to investigate the characteristics of the curse of knowledge in different tasks (knowledge-attribution and desire-attribution) and, particularly, to identify whether there is also an asymmetric bias in children’s desire for understanding.
    Method
    Two experiments were conducted based on 108 participating children ages 3 to 5 years old. In Experiment 1, a knowledge-attribution task was administered to these children. The children were asked to judge whether a puppet would know what was in a container (a box or an envelope), with which the children were either familiar or unfamiliar. Two conditions for children’s knowledge were designed. One was that children were knowledgeable of what was inside the container. The other condition was that children were unknowledgeable. In Experiment 2, a desire-attribution task was administered. The children were told of presents a puppet liked or disliked and were asked to choose a present for the puppet according to its likes and dislikes.
    Results
    The results showed that children demonstrated an egocentric bias in the knowledge-attribution task. When the children themselves were knowledgeable of the contents inside the container, they tended to overestimate the puppet’s knowledge of it. However, when the children were ignorant of the contents, they tended to underestimate the puppet’s knowledge. In contrast, children demonstrated an asymmetric bias in the desire-attribution task. Younger children at the age of 3 tended to assume their own favorite as that of the puppet’s even though the reality was otherwise. However, all participating children made much more successful inferences when their own preferences did not interfere.
    Discussion and conclusion
    The inconsistent findings in the two tasks might result from the differences of the task requirements and the contradiction between children and the character in the tasks. In the knowledge-attribution task, the conflict between children and the character was the only knowledge state about the reality. However, in the desire-attribution task, the conflict involved the desire. Because knowledge state was a kind of neutral state, whereas desire involved emotion, the degree of conflict differed between the two tasks. Furthermore, desire - attribution might require much more cognitive control to inhibit one’s own preference, which might be related to the asymmetric bias. Thus, in contexts requiring less cognitive control, children tended to be able to take others’ perspective much more easily than in a more conflicting context. In conclusion, the results suggest that perspective bias in younger children’ s mental state reasoning is context specific
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    The Development of Executive Function in Deaf Children: Comparing with Normal Children
    Li-Yiyuan,Wu-Ruiming,Hu-Xingwang,Li-Hong,P-D-Zelazo
    2006, 38 (03):  356-364. 
    Abstract ( 1071 )   PDF (872KB) ( 2116 )  
    Jackson had compared executive function (EF) of deaf children and that of normal children, and found that there was no difference between the two groups. However, it is known that language relates to the development of theory of mind and executive function. In the present study, we argued that Jackson’s study had three problems: 1) there were 4 kinds of deaf children in that study, that is, these samples had no homogeneity; 2) compared to the 4~7-year-old normal children, the age distance (4 years 10 months to 12 years 11 months) of the deaf children was so large that his study could not reveal the developmental feature of the executive function of deaf children; 3) Jackson used the A-not-B task and its 3 modifications. The tasks were too simple to measure the development of executive function accurately.
    Our study improved on Jackson’s by employing the standard Dimensional Change Cards Sorting (DCCS) task to test 76 3~8 year-old deaf children (whose intelligence was normal) of hearing parents and 78 3~5.5 year-old normal children to compare the development of executive function between these two groups. Thus, we were able to explore the characteristics of development of the executive function and the level of development of the deaf children.
    The results indicated that there was no significant difference between 3-year-old deaf children and 3-year-old normal children. Normal children developed rapidly during 4~4.5 years, whereas development accelerated after 6 years for the deaf children; the performance of 7-year-old deaf children was equivalent to that of 5-year-old hearing children. That is, deaf children were late by about 2 years in EF development in comparison to normal children. The developmental delay could be explained by three aspects: 1) there is a difference between the language symbol system and the special symbol system of the deaf; 2) deaf children could have a deficit in planning and flexibility; 3) deaf children could have difficulty in naming and labeling strategies, and have a deficit in the attention mechanism. Compared with previous research reports that found that the theory of mind in deaf children tended to develop 7 years later than normal children, the development of executive functioning is not consistent with development of theory of mind
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    Development of Elementary School Students on Allocation of Study Time under Different Time Limit
    Liu-Xiping,Fang Ge
    2006, 38 (03):  365-374. 
    Abstract ( 2067 )   PDF (890KB) ( 2224 )  
    Adopted 3×3 mixed design, used computer to show all the stimuli and to record Ss’ reaction, with different related pair-words, by cue-recall means, this study investigated the development of elementary school students on allocation of study time under three different time limits. The results as follow: (1) All children allocated different time for different item under three different time limits. (2) The time difference among different items is getting larger with age. (3) For the easy item, the time children allocated on the short time limit is longest, and the time is getting shorter with age; for the harder item, the relative time children allocated on three time limits are almost same, and there is no change with age; for the most hard item, the relative time children allocated on the mid-time limit and without time limit is much longer than short time limit, and the tendency is getting larger with age. It implicates that children chose different standards for different tasks, and had different time allocations. The result supports the theory “norm-affects-allocation”. (4) The accuracy of children’s retrieving is getting better and better with the age, and time limit (time longer , accuracy is better)
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    The Relationship Between Adolescents’ Neuroticism, Internet Service Preference, and Internet Addiction
    Lei Li,Yang Yang,Liu Mingxin
    2006, 38 (03):  375-381. 
    Abstract ( 2330 )   PDF (543KB) ( 5024 )  

    The present study uses unconstrainted structural equation model to explore the interactive effects of adolescents’ Neuroticism and internet service preference on internet addiction, by surveying a sample of 339 adolescents through questionnaires. Results from this study indicate that the interactive effects of adolescents’ Neuroticism and internet social, recreational and information service preference, except business service preference, are significant: (1) On average effect, adolescents’ Neuroticism, internet social, recreational, and business service preference have a positive effect on internet addiction, and internet information service preference has no significant effect on internet addiction; (2) Neuroticism moderates the relationships between internet social, recreational, business service preference and internet addiction. Especially, these relationships are stronger for adolescents high in Neuroticism; (3) Further slope tests indicate that, for high Neuroticism adolescents, internet information service preference still has no effect on internet addiction; for low Neuroticism adolescents, internet social and recreational service preference have no significant effect on internet addiction

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    Self-supporting Personality of Adolescent Students

    Xia-Lingxiang,Huang-Xiting

    2006, 38 (03):  382-391. 
    Abstract ( 3294 )   PDF (679KB) ( 3240 )  
    Four self-rating scales of personality trait adjectives were developed by 5 steps. College students questionnaire,senior high school students questionnaire,junior high school students questionnaire,and adolescent students questionnaire were administered on college students,senior high school students,and junior high school students. The results of exploring factor analysis show that:(1)Initiative,opening,interpersonal responsibility,active,and independence were the 5 dimensions that were gotten by the survey results of college students questionnaire.(2)interpersonal openness and responsibility,flexibility and independence,initiative,and behavior responsibility were the 4 dimensions that were gotten by the survey results of senior high school students questionnaire,(3)Initiative and behavior responsibility,openness,interpersonal responsibility,active,flexibility and independence were the 5 dimensions that were gotten by the survey results of junior high school students questionnaire.(4)Flexibility and independence,responsibility,initiative,and interpersonal openness were the 4 dimensions that were gotten by the survey results of adolescent students questionnaire. At last,it discussed:(1)the rationality of the personality construal of self-supporting;(2)characters of the openness and responsibility dimensions of self-supporting personality;(3)the sameness level of structure of self-supporting personality for college students,senior high school students,and junior high school students;(4)the advantages and disadvantages for the method of this study to explore structure of self-supporting personality
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    Metaworry and Test Anxiety of Students
    Zheng Xifu,Xujinmin,Xiao xing
    2006, 38 (03):  392-398. 
    Abstract ( 3617 )   PDF (496KB) ( 3432 )  
    Questionnaire was used to examine 1152 middle school students about their metaworry and the relationship between their metaworry and test anxiety. The result showed that there are 5 metaworry styles in middle school students: social assessment, test process, family conflict, future destiny and parents status. 18 metaworries affect test anxiety notably and are related to all the 5 styles, among which family and test process are the main source. There are 8 common metaworries between boy students and girl students. However, test process may affect boy students more notably while social assessment may affect girl students more notably. There are 9 common metaworries which are also related to the 5 styles in students from junior high school and senior high school. Family conflict and test process are still the main source of them. However, junior high school students are inclined to put up the metaworry about the result while senior high school students are inclined to put up the metaworry about the future work
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    Measuring Adult Attachment: Chinese Adaptation of the ECR Scale
    Li-Tonggui,Kato-Kazuo
    2006, 38 (03):  399-406. 
    Abstract ( 12191 )   PDF (695KB) ( 11899 )  
    To promote research on adult attachment in China, the “Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory (ECR)”, a scale widely used and considered as the "standard" one in USA, was adapted into Chinese. 371 college students in China were asked to respond to the scale along with Rosenberg’s self-esteem and Other-view scales for testing construct validities, and 59 of them to retake the scales 4 weeks later for testing temporal reliability. Of them, 231 who reported had/have had romantic experiences were selected to final analyses. As a result, this scale was demonstrated to have adequate reliabilities (internal and temporal consistency) and validities (construct and criterion-related)
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    A Structural Equation Modeling of Motives, Behaviors of Internet Use and Related Social-Psychological Health
    Zhang-Feng,Shen-Mowei,Xu-Mei,Zhu-Haiyan,Zhou-Ning
    2006, 38 (03):  407-413. 
    Abstract ( 1972 )   PDF (684KB) ( 3880 )  
    The relation between Internet use behavior and Internet-related social-psychological health has been a major research focus in the field of Cyber-Psychology. However, previous studies show inconsistent results. Kraut et al. (1998) believed that the Internet use might replace some of the social activities the real life, resulting in reduced social involvement and negative mental health and social-psychological detriment. LaRose et al. (2001), on the other hand, found that frequent Internet use and accumulation of online experience could improve users’ self-efficacy, reduce their stress level from Internet use as well as their general stress level, and reduce depression levels by means of reinforcing a social support system. Shaw and Gant’s study (2002) obtained results similar to LaRose et al. (2001), and concluded that the Internet had positive effects on its users. In a factor analysis, Weiser (2001) identified two motives of Internet use, which are Goods-and-Information Acquisition and Socio-Affective Regulation. Weiser (2001) suggested that the Internet use based on Goods-and-Information may advance users’ mental health by improving their social integration, whereas the Internet use based on Socio-Affective Regulation may reduce users’ mental health by creating negative effects on their social integration. It can be seen that different Internet-related social-psychological effects may depend on different motives of Internet use.
    Based on the previous work conducted by others and by us (Shen, Li, et al., 2004; Xu, Zhang, et al., 2004; Zhu, Zhang, et al., 2005), we claimed that different motives of Internet use would cause different Internet use behaviors, leading to different social-psychological effects. We proposed a mediating model in which the relation between motive of Internet use and various social-psychological effects was mediated by Internet use behavior. We tested the model using structural equation modeling on a sample of 581 undergraduate students. In the model, the motives of Internet use consisted of two facets which were labeled as Social-Affective motive and Information-Acquisition motive. Pathological Internet use behavior consisted of three primary behaviors which were referred to as online impulsiveness, distraction/avoidance and online social superiority. The social- psychological health related to Internet use had five dimensions which were loneliness, social involvement, general depression, life happiness and life satisfaction. These five factors were further extracted into the two higher-order factors of social health and psychological health.
    Structural equation modeling results showed that the Information -Acquisition motive improved Internet user’s social health, whereas the Social-Affective motive led to pathological Internet use behavioral patterns and, through the mediating effect of pathological Internet use behavior, the Social-Affective motive also played an indirect role in negatively affecting users’ social health and psychological health. Overall, the Information Acquisition motive had a positive effect and the Interpersonal- Affective motive had a negative effect on psychological health. The positive effect of Internet use seemed to have surpassed its negative effect with this sample of undergraduate students
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    An Analysis of the Contents of Chinese and Western Extroversion Dimension
    Cui-Hong,Wang Dengfeng
    2006, 38 (03):  414-421. 
    Abstract ( 4353 )   PDF (609KB) ( 4044 )  
    This research was aimed at comparing the contents of the Extroversion dimension of personality structure between Chinese and Westerners. More than 1500 subjects filled out both the QZPS (Chinese Personality Scale) and the Extroversion scale of the revised version of the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R). Factor analysis on items of NEO PI-R Extroversion yielded six factors. Item composition of the six factors differed from that of its original six facets and only three of the six were correlated significantly with the Chinese Extroversion dimension defined by QZPS. The other three factors were significantly correlated with kindness, Behavior Style, Talents, and Ways of Life dimension of QZPS, respectively. Cultural implications for differences in extroversion between Chinese and Westerners were discussed in this paper
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    Self-transcendence Meaning of Life Moderates in the Relation between College Stress and Psychological Well-being
    Li Hong
    2006, 38 (03):  422-427. 
    Abstract ( 3234 )   PDF (516KB) ( 5178 )  
    The purpose of this study was to examine the moderating effect of self-transcendence meaning of life on psychological well-being with college students. The theoretical background of self-transcendence meaning of life originates from the philosophies of Buddhism and Taoism. The conceptual framework of the study focused on self-transcendence meaning of life as a moderator in regulating the relation between college stress and psychological well-being of college students. College stress consists of academic hassle, personal hassle and negative life event. Psychological well-being is conceptualized as mental health status and self-esteem. Self-transcendence meaning of life is a uni-dimensional concept.
    The main study was conducted after a preliminary study, in-depth interviews and a validation study. Findings of the preliminary study indicated that the major sources of college stress were academic hassle, personal hassle and negative life event, while the in-depth interviews suggested potential influence of self-transcendence meaning of life. The validation study developed and validated two scales: The College Stress Scale and the Self-transcendence Meaning of Life Scale. Psychometric properties of these scales and measures of psychological well-being and self-esteem measures were satisfactory. In the main study, these scales and measures were administered to 788 undergraduate students from three universities in Beijing. The data were analyzed using bivariate and multivariate analyses.
    Findings of the study partially confirmed the moderating effect of self-transcendence meaning of life on the relation between college stress and psychological well-being. Specifically, self-transcendence meaning of life moderated in the relation of college stress to depression, mental health problem, and self-esteem. A similar moderating effect was not found on the relation between college stress and anxiety and self-adequacy.
    These findings carry important implications for mental health theory and especially self-esteem theory. It seems that self-esteem is not necessarily oriented toward the self among Chinese students. The confirmation of the moderating effects of self-transcendence meaning of life on psychological well-being may also have implications for assessment and intervention
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    The Effects of Job Incumbents’ Task Performance on Their Job Analysis Ratings: Evidence From Power Plant Designers and Editors
    Li Wendong,Shi Kan,Wu Hongyan,Jia Juan,Yang Min
    2006, 38 (03):  428-435. 
    Abstract ( 1728 )   PDF (694KB) ( 1629 )  
    Two surveys were conducted to explore the effects of incumbents’ task performance on their job analysis ratings, using four job analysis scales (importance and level rating scales of generalized work activities and skills) from Occupational Information Network (O*NET). We examined these while controlling for such demographic variables as gender, age, tenure and education. In the first study, skill importance, level ratings, and self-rated performance were obtained from 38 power plant designers in one organization. The results of hierarchical regression analyses showed that, after controlling for the individual demographic variables, task performance still had significant impacts on the level ratings of technical skills. However, the partial correlation coefficient between task performance and technical skill importance ratings became marginally significant after controlling for the demographic variables. The second study involved 88 book editors from one publishing company, with task performance ratings collected from their direct supervisors. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that, after controlling for the demographic variables, editor’s task performance had significant effects on both importance and level ratings of information processing activities.

    These two studies extended existing research on job analysis ratings of identical jobs in several ways. First, we examined the effect of job performance on job analysis ratings with individual demographic variables controlled for. The resulting partial correlations from the first study were different or moderately different from the zero-order correlations without partialling out the demographic variations. Second, following the suggestion by Lindel et al. (1998) and Van Iddekinge et al. (2005) that organizational level variables may affect job analysis ratings of the same job in different organizations, we explored the influence of task performance on job analysis ratings of one job in one organization. Therefore, in each study, the potential effects of possible organization-level variables on job analysis ratings were controlled for. In many ways, our analyses ensured a relatively stringent evaluation of the effects of job performance on job analysis ratings. Third, the findings indicated that task performance influenced job analysis ratings of many scales, including level ratings and importance ratings. Fourth, consistent with Borman et al (1992), the present results suggest that differences in job analysis ratings may reflect real differences, either among tasks assigned to different job incumbents under identical job titles or differences in ways by which job incumbents complete the same task. One practical implication is that, when conducting job analysis in organizations, practitioners need to consider the potential influence of task performance on incumbents’ job analysis ratings as well as individual demographic variables.

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    The Synaptic Mechanisms of Nimodipine in Ameliorating the CaCI2-Induced Memory Dysfunction in Brain
    Zhang-Zigui,Xu-Xiaohong
    2006, 38 (03):  436-441. 
    Abstract ( 1948 )   PDF (877KB) ( 1186 )  
    Overloading of intracellular Ca2+ in the brain might be responsible for the occurrence of some brain dysfunctions. Nimodipine, a dihydropyridine calcium channel antagonist, has a potent vasodilatory effect on expanding cerebral vessels and increasing cerebral blood flow. It is also able to block the voltage-dependent L-type channels. Its antiepileptic properties have been shown in various animal models, including Ca2+-induced seizures in adult mice and rats. As a result, there has been a great deal of interest in potential beneficial effects of nimodipine on CNS function. Several lines of investigation have shown that nimodipine administration is beneficial in brain dysfunction associated with trauma or aging. The purpose of the present study was to further investigate the synaptic mechanisms of nimodipine in ameliorating CaCI2-induced memory dysfunction in brain. Male Kun Ming mice were divided into 3 groups: control (n = 10), CaCI2 group (n = 12), and CaCI2+nimodipine group (n = 11). These groups were injected with physiological saline (intrahippocampally), CaCI2 (2.9ug per mouse, treated intrahippocampally), CaCI2 (2.9ug per mouse, treated intrahippocampally) and nimodipine (2ug per mouse, ip), respectively. Memory retention was assessed using a one-trial passive avoidance response task. After the experiment, the animals were killed and the hippocampus of each was prepared for transmission electron microscopy. The structural parameters of the Gray I synaptic interface in the hippocampal CA3 areas of mice were observed and analyzed quantitatively by a transmission electron microscope and XY-biological image analysis system. The main results were as follows:
    (1) Compared to that of the control group, the STL of the CaCI2 group was greatly shortened in one trial passive avoidance response (p<0.01). The thickness of postsynaptic density (PSD) of this group was thinned significantly (p<0.001). The width of the synaptic cleft showed a robust increase (p<0.01). The number of the flat synapses was significantly increased (p<0.05), while the numbers of the negative curve synapses and perforated synapses were also reduced (p<0.05).
    (2) Compared to that of the CaCI2 group, the STL of CaCI2+nimodipine group was long in one trial passive avoidance response (p<0.01), indicating that nimodipine was able to ameliorate chemical memory dysfunction. Accordingly, there were the reverse changes of the structural parameters of the Gray I synaptic interface in the CaCI2+nimodipine group compared with the above-mentioned pathological changes in the CaCI2 group. The treatment of nimodipine was able to antagonize the pathological morphology changes caused by CaCI2.
    These results suggest that the reverse of the structural parameters of the Gray I synaptic interface in the hippocampal CA3 areas might be the morphological foundation of the amelioration of calcium antagonist-nomodipine on memory deficit caused by the injection of CaCI2. However, further experimental studies are needed to investigate the mechanisms of nimodipine in ameliorating CaCI2-induced memory dysfunction in the brain
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    C-fos Expression in the Parabrachial Nucleus Following Differential Conditioning Taste Aversion in Rats
    Geng-Dandan,Bai-Wenzhong,Ma-Jun,Wu-wei,Dong-Wengui
    2006, 38 (03):  442-447. 
    Abstract ( 2130 )   PDF (550KB) ( 1153 )  
    In this experiment, conditioned taste aversion (CTA) was established by intraoral infusion of either 0.1% saccharin (Sac) or 0.2 mol/L sucrose (Suc) paired with intraperitoneal injection of 0.15 mol/L LiCl, the rats showed similar aversion for both Sac and Suc. Then the rats were trained to discriminate Sac and Suc with differential conditioning paradigm that one taste stimulus combined with LiCl (Sac+ or Suc+) but the other not (Sac- or Suc-), the rats showed aversion for Sac+ or Suc+, and preference for Sac- or Suc-. The distribution of Fos-like immunoreactive (FLI) neurons induced by intraoral infusion of either Sac or Suc in subdivisions of PBN was observed. It showed that different stimuli had no influence in dorsal lateral subnucleus (dls) and ventral lateral subnucleus (vls) on c-fos expression; And FLI neurons induced by Suc were more than that induced by Sac in internal lateral subnucleus (ils) and external medial subnucleus (ems), but in external lateral subnucleus (els), the number of FLI neurons induced by Sac were more than that induced by Suc; Furthermore, hedonic stimulus (Sac- and Suc-) induced higher c-fos expression in ils, cms and central lateral subnucleus (cls), and aversive stimulus (Sac+ and Suc+) induced higher c-fos expression in ems. The effects of quality and hedonics of taste stimuli were separate in ils and cms, and they were interactional in els and ems. These results suggested that there were regions where related to taste discrimination and reward value in PBN, the two regions were partly overlapped, and ems and els might have an important role in integrating the information of taste quality and reward value
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    Mediated Moderator and Moderated Mediator

    Wen-Zhonglin,Zhang Lei,Hou Jietai
    2006, 38 (03):  448-452. 
    Abstract ( 5583 )   PDF (509KB) ( 12246 )  
    We presented two causal models that include either a mediated moderator or a moderated mediator. The “mediated moderator” model focuses on the moderating effect and the “moderated mediator” model focuses on the mediating effect. Both models can be analyzed using procedures similar to those for testing mediating effects. Each procedure, however, also consists of an extra step to test moderating effects. These procedures are summarized below:
    The moderating effect of U on the relation between Y and X is mediated by W:
    (1) Regress Y on , and . A significant coefficient associated with UX implies that U is the moderator of the relation between Y and X.
    (2) Regress W on , and UX and look for a significant coefficient associated with UX.
    (3) Regress on , , and W. A significant coefficient associated with W suggests the mediating effect of W on the moderated (by U) relation between X and Y. Moreover, the moderated effect of U on the relation between Y and X is completely mediated by W if the coefficient associated with is not significant.
    The mediating effect of W on the relation between Y and X is moderated by U:
    (1) Regress Y on , and look for a significant coefficient associated with X;
    (2) Regress W on , and look for a significant coefficient associated with X;
    (3) Regress on , and W, and look for a significant coefficient associated with W;
    Steps 1-3 are used to test the mediating effect of W on the relation between Y and X .
    (4) Regress on , , W and UW. A significant coefficients associated with UW suggests that the mediating effect of W on the relation between X and Y is moderated by U.
    In addition to these two models, we also presented a mixed model including both a mediated moderator and a moderated mediator. Using an example to illustrate the mixed model, we showed that Teacher Liking as a mediator on the relation between students’ Antisocial Behavior and Peer Acceptance was moderated by Perceived Authoritative Teachering, and that Perceived Authoritative Teachering as a moderator on the relation between Antisocial Behavior and Peer Acceptance was mediated by Teacher Liking. The relative size of the mediating effect in the mixed model was also computed. It was further demonstrated that the moderator of the mediated relation represented a quadratic effect, whereas other relations examined in the mixed model were linear effects
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    Minimum Chi-square/EM Estimation Under IRT
    Zhu Wei,Ding-Shuliang,Chen Xiaopan
    2006, 38 (03):  453-460. 
    Abstract ( 2455 )   PDF (552KB) ( 1331 )  
    A new parameter-estimation method, the minimum c2/EM algorithm for unknown parameters of the 2PLM, was proposed. The new estimation paradigm was based on careful considerations of the differences between item response theory (IRT) and classical test theory (CTT). Specifically, it is derived from a modified version of the minimum c2 algorithm originally proposed by Berkson (1955).
    The starting point of the minimum c2 algorithm is the Pearson c2. Given ability score level, examinees can be classified into categories; the congruence of the sample and the expected distribution can be measured by c2 statistic. The subsequent estimation procedure is to seek appropriate item parameters to minimize c2. Because true ability scores are unobservable, most of the time, examinees are classified according to observed scores. We believe this practice is based on the point of view of CTT, which assumes that the examinees with the same observed scores have the same ability scores.
    As we all know, the posterior distribution of ability parameter is affected by item parameters. Thus, the new method takes the posterior distribution of ability parameter into account and introduces artificial data in the EM algorithm for estimating the unknown parameters in IRT models. The new method redefines , (the observed proportion of correct responses and incorrect responses) of Berkson’s minimum c2 algorithm, and replaces it with artificial datum and respectively. The statistical reasoning and operations behind this method can be intuitively explained as the following:
    In the minimum c2 algorithm, the observed proportion of responses is fixed and the theoretical distribution is changed with the new estimated value of the unknown parameters. In other words, the algorithm draws the theoretical distribution closer to the observed distribution and, as a consequence, the estimating speed slows down. In order to accelerate estimation, the new method connects artificial data to the item parameters through the EM algorithm so that the theoretical and the observed distribution represented by the artificial data can change simultaneously. Because item parameters are the so called “structural” parameters, whereas ability parameters of examinees are “incidental” parameters. In order to remove the effect of item parameters’ estimation to ability parameters, the new method also factored out ability parameters during estimation.
    With the new estimation procedure, examinees can be classified just according to the posterior distribution of the ability parameter. After arriving at the final item parameters, examinee ability scores can be estimated using Bayesian EAP method. Through these procedures, the new method overcomes the restriction that the ability parameters must be known before estimation and expands the application range.
    The results of a Monte Carlo simulation test demonstrated that the new method was not restricted by either the number of items or the number of examinees. It is also more effective and more robust than BILOG in terms of ability parameters recovery. When the number of examinees exceeded 2000, the new method was also much more effective than BILOG for item parameter recovery. The best advantage of the new method is that the ABS (the absolute value of the difference between the true and the estimated parameters) of item parameters were smaller than 0.08 when the number of examinee was 2000; the value decreased further with an increase in the number of examinees
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    Item Selection Strategies of Computerized Adaptive Testing based on Graded Response Model
    Chen-Ping,Ding-Shuliang,Lin-,Zhou-Jie
    2006, 38 (03):  461-467. 
    Abstract ( 1728 )   PDF (593KB) ( 1528 )  
    Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT) is one of the most important testing innovations as the result of the advancement of Item Response Theory (IRT). Consequently, many large-scale tests such the GRE and TOFEL have been transformed from their original paper-and-pencil versions to the current CAT versions. However, one limitation of these CAT tests is their reliance on dichotomous IRT models that require each item be scored as either correct or incorrect. Many measurement applications produce polytomous item response data. In addition, the information provided by a polytomous item is considerably more than that provided by a dichotomously scored item. Therefore, for the purpose of improving test quality, it is important to design CATs based on polytomous IRT models. This research is based on the Graded Response Model (GRM).
    Item selection strategy (ISS) is an important component of CAT. Its performance directly affects the security, efficiency and precision of the test. Thus, ISS becomes one of the central issues in CATs based on the GRM. It is well known that the goal of IIS is to administer the next unused item remaining in the item bank that best fits the examinee’s current ability estimate. In dichotomous IRT models, every item has only one difficulty parameter and the item whose difficulty matches the examinee’s current ability estimate is considered to be the best fitting item. However, in GRM, each item has more than two ordered categories and has no single value to represent the item difficulty. Consequently, some researchers have used to employ the average or the median difficulty value across categories as the difficulty estimate for the item. Using the median value in effect introduced two corresponding ISSs.
    In this study, we used computer simulation compare four ISSs based on GRM. We also discussed the effect of “shadow pool” on the uniformity of pool usage as well as the influence of different item parameter distributions and different ability estimation methods on the evaluation criteria of CAT. In the simulation process, Monte Carlo method was adopted to simulate the entire CAT process; 1000 examinees drawn from standard normal distribution and four 1000-sized item pools of different item parameter distributions were also simulated. The assumption of the simulation is that a polytomous item is comprised of six ordered categories. In addition, ability estimates were derived using two methods. They were expected a posteriori Bayesian (EAP) and maximum likelihood estimation (MLE). In MLE, the Newton-Raphson iteration method and the Fisher–Score iteration method were employed, respectively, to solve the likelihood equation. Moreover, the CAT process was simulated with each examinee 30 times to eliminate random error. The IISs were evaluated by four indices usually used in CAT from four aspects——the accuracy of ability estimation, the stability of IIS, the usage of item pool, and the test efficiency. Simulation results showed adequate evaluation of the ISS that matched the estimate of an examinee’s current trait level with the difficulty values across categories. Setting “shadow pool” in ISS was able to improve the uniformity of pool utilization. Finally, different distributions of the item parameter and different ability estimation methods affected the evaluation indices of CAT
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    A Review on Cross-Cultural Studies in Contemporary Sport Psychology
    Si-Gangyan,Li Qingzhu,Liu Hao
    2006, 38 (03):  468-474. 
    Abstract ( 1273 )   PDF (677KB) ( 2013 )  
    A literature review of cross-cultural studies in sport psychology 1988~2004 suggests that research in this area has still some methodological problems despite the increase in the number of papers published. The authors propose a 3-step theoretical framework and a 4-stage conceptual framework to help researchers become aware of the extent of the methodological issues and to guide them along the way in their efforts to do quality cross-cultural research in sport. Apart from trying to do quality research, findings of cross-cultural studies in sport so far have important implications of practice for athletes, coaches, psychologists, technical support staff, and sport administrators. Thus, research and practice are meaningfully linked together
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