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INHIBITORY MECHANISM IN SELF-PACED SENTENCE PROCESSING Yang Lixia, Chen Yongming (Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101) 2002, 34 (06):  1-8.  Abstract ( 1162 )   Two experiments were conducted in this study, the main purpose was to examinethe inhibitory mechanism of high-skilled and low-skilled comprehenders in processing Chinese two-clause sentences. Twenty-four participants were selected from first-year students in Beijing Science and Technology University for each experiment. They were screened based on the scores on the Multi-Media Language Comprehension Test (MMLCT), with half of them in each group of high-skilled and low-skilled Chinese comprehenders respectively. The experimental paradigm combined self-paced Moving Window procedure and selective recognition task. In each trial, the subjects were instructed to view a target sentence presented word by word in light yellow against black computer screen in a self-paced Moving Window procedure. Three double-character word or non-word distractors, displayed in light blue, were externally inserted in the fixed places of each sentence. The subjects were required to focus on processing target sentences and at the same time to ignore or inhibit the inserted distractors. Each sentence was followed by a probe in white color, to which the subjects should respond by pressing the corresponding keys to indicate whether the probe is one component word in the target sentence. The inhibitory mechanism was examined at two different levels in the meaningfulness continuum in the two experiments respectively. The first experiment examined the inhibitory efficiency to distractors at the lower level of meaningfulness. The distractors were manipulated in two levels, meaningful words and meaningless non-words, so as to examine the effect of the meaningfulness of distractors on inhibitory mechanism. In the second experiment, the effect of topic relatedness of distractors to target sentences on the inhibitory mechanism was concerned. Topic related and unrelated meaningful words were used as the distractors. This was at a higher level of meaningfulness continuum. Thus, higher distractibility was evinced the second than in the first experiment. The results showed: Inhibitory mechanism in self-paced sentence processing was affected by the meaningfulness and topic relatedness of distractors. The more meaningful and topic-related the distractors were, the more difficult they were inhibited. The difference in inhibitory efficiency between high-skilled and low-skilled comprehenders manifested only in the higher distractibility condition of the second experiment. Low-skilled comprehenders had a less-efficient inhibitory mechanism. It could be concluded that at Chinese sentence processing level, the inhibitory mechanism to external distracting information was related to the distractors' meaningfulness and readers' comprehension skills, as well as the distractibility of distractors in some interdependent and interactive ways. Related Articles | Metrics

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THE EFFECT OF REPETITION OF CUEING AND TARGET ORIENTATION ON IOR Chen Sufen, Wang Su, Zhou Jianzhong (Department of Psychology, Peking University, Beijing 100871) 2002, 34 (06):  9-14.  Abstract ( 1064 )   Two experiments were conducted using cue-target method and location-based choice task. College students were tested. The repetition times of cueing and target orientation were manipulated to explore the effect of attention on Inhibition of Return(IOR). Experiment 1 employed consecutive cueing, the results showed that the effect of repetition of cueing on IOR was only manifested with volitional orientation targets: the value of IOR in the condition of cueing three times was more than those in the condition of cueing once and twice, but not with reflexive orientation targets. Experiment 2 employed cross cueing and found that the effect of repetition of cueing on IOR was reversed . Two experiments both showed that not only attention during cueing phase but also attention during target processing phase had significant effect on IOR , and their effect depended on each other. The results suggested that attention plays an important role in the origin of IOR. Related Articles | Metrics

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EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH ON THE ROLE OF PROSODIC FEATURE IN DISAMBIGUATING DEMONSTRATIVE AMBIGUOUS SENTENCES Zheng Bo,Wang Bei,Yang Yufang (Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing100101) 2002, 34 (06):  15-20.  Abstract ( 975 )   In this research, the role and the mechanism of prosodic features in disambiguating demonstrative ambiguous sentences were studied. Thirteen subjects determined the first and second meaning of the ambiguous sentences. One of 8 speakers was selected to read the experiment sentences by professional acoustician and ordinary people. There were 12 subjects in the experiment of stress perception and experiment of meaning decision separately. In experiment 1, the subjects were asked to determine the more stressed word between the demonstrative noun and the non-demonstrative noun. In experiment 2, different kinds of word grouping were inserted into the first meaning sentence frame and the second meaning frame. The subjects were asked to determine whether the combined sentence conveys the first meaning or the second meaning. In experiment 3, we did acoustic measurement and analysis on the nouns in the ambiguous sentences. Results showed that: the way to disambiguate demonstrative ambiguous sentences is to stress the corresponding word by lengthening its duration. Related Articles | Metrics

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CENTRAL EXECUTIVE, FLUID INTELLIGENCE, AND AGING: IS CENTRAL EXECUTIVE UNIQUE AND UNITARY? Chen Tianyong,Han Buxin (Institute of Psychology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101) Wang Jinfeng (Beijing October First Middle School, Beijing 100039) 2002, 34 (06):  21-27.  Abstract ( 1152 )   To explore the unique and unitary of CEF, three CEFs(random generation, selective attention, and memory updating) wereconsidered. Subjects were 31 young adults and 31 old adults. Each subject attended 6 tasks of 2 difficult levels of 3 CEFsand RAVENS test. The results showed that 1) age effect was significant on random generation and memory updating(MU). However, there was no age effect on selectiveattention. 2) The age effect was significant on MUeven if age deficits in FI were controlled. 3) Although different levels had similar ageeffect(a strong all-or-none effect) within each CEF, different CEFsdid not. 4) After FI was statisticallycontrolled,the correlation between different CEF tasks was not significant, but thecorrelation between different levels within each CEF was still significant.These results suggested that the deficit in CEFshould be unique, and at least partially independent of age differences in general FI(referring to result 2, 4); moreover, CEF shouldnotbea unitary system but include separable functions(referring to result 1, 3). Related Articles | Metrics

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ON THE FACTORS AFFECTING THE CONSTRUCTION OF SITUATION MODELS OF INFORMATIONOF OWNERSHIP RELATIONS Mo Lei,Han Yingchun (South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631) 2002, 34 (06):  28-36.  Abstract ( 1244 )   This research revised the design of Radvansky’s study(1997)and used the fan-effect paradigmto investigatethe factors affectingthe construction of situation models. Four experiments were administered. Sswere 180 university students. The experiment materials included two types of sentence patterns of ownership relation. Each had three fan levels. Sswere asked to recognize and react with push-button as quickly as possible the sentences which were presented with the computer one by one. The reaction time that Ssreacted the different types of sentences at different fan levels was analyzed with multivariate analysis of variance(MANOVA).In Experiment 1, the experiment made by Radvanskyin 1997 was repeated by using the Chinese materials. In Experiment 2, it was studied whether under the circumstance with the clear and equal spatial-frame the integration of the sentences of“multiple personsbuy a single object" condition would show the fan effect. And Experiment 3 looked into whether the integration of sentences of "multiple personsbuy a single object" condition would show the fan effect when the information unfolded in forward direction. At last, Experiment 4 studied whether under the circumstance with the equal spatial-temporal frame the information of both condition, the "multiple persons have asingle object" condition and "a single personhas multiple objects" condition, would show the fan effect. The results indicated: 1.When the clear spatial information was given or the information was unfolded in forward direction, the integration of sentences of "multiple personsbuy a single object" condition didn't show any fan effect. 2.When equal spatial-temporal information was given, the integration of sentences of"multiple personshave a single object" condition didn't show any fan effect either. These results differed from those of Radvansky. This research indicated that the construction of situation model of abstract ownership relations were affected by the character of the verb, spatial-temporal frame and the direction of the unfolding of information. Related Articles | Metrics

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THE ROLE OF TEMPORAL INFORMATION IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SITUATION MODELS He Xianyou,Zeng Xiangyan (Department of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631) 2002, 34 (06):  37-43.  Abstract ( 921 )   The study was to examine the role of temporal information in the construction of situation models, and to explore whether the participants could integrate the related facts into the situation models in a time-based fashion. Sswere 112 university students (Exp 1,2 and 3) in South China Normal University, China. It was probed in Experiment 1 and Experimental 2 that whether the participants could integrate definite and indefinite temporal information into situation models while there were clear spatial information, and whether they could integrate definite temporal information into situation models without clear spatial information in Experiment 3. The retrieval interference methodology was used to assess whether they integrated the related facts into situation models or not. The presence of interference indicated a lack of integration. In contrast, an absence or marked reduction in interference indicated integration. The results of three experiments all showed that the evidence of time-based integration was observed when the related events occurred at the same time. The results also implied that the temporal information alone in the reading materials would be sufficient for the participants to construct time-based situation models in the circumstances of no clear spatial information. Related Articles | Metrics

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THE DEVELOPMENTAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN YOUNG CHILDRENS SCRIPT KNOWLEDGE AND THEIR ″THEORY-OF-MIND″ Deng Ciping,Sang Biao,Miao Xiaochun (Department of Psychology, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062) 2002, 34 (06):  44-51.  Abstract ( 1215 )   In this study, the possible relations between young children’s script knowledge and their understanding of pretense and other mental states were probed. Fifty-six 3- to 5-year-old children's script knowledge, receptive vocabulary, understanding of pretense, appearance-reality, false belief, and representational change, were gathered in three sessions. Results revealed significant relations between young children's script knowledge, their understanding of pretense and their understanding of other mental states, even with the effects of age statistically controlled. However, inconsistent with some other studies, the correlation between young children's verbal intelligence and their understanding of mental states in this study was not significant when the age was partialedout. The results were further discussed in relation to the possible influence of experiential knowledge on children's understanding of pretense and the development of theory of mind. Related Articles | Metrics

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TEMPORAL REASONING ON DAILY EVENTS IN PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS Fang Ge ( Institute of Psychology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101) Tian Xuehong (College of Educational Science and Technology,Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004) 2002, 34 (06):  52-58.  Abstract ( 964 )   The purpose of this study is to explore the process of children's reasoning based on temporal relations with premises contained "before" and "while" and the factors that affected children's performances. Total 54 pupils aged from 7 to 11 from primary schools participated voluntarily in the experiments. The subjects were divided into three age groups equally. The tests were carried out individually. Four types of problems were constructed in the following way: One-model problem based on four premises with transitive relation; One-model problem based on four premises with irrelevant first premise; One-model problem based on two premises; Multiple-model problem based on four premises. The results showed that: (1) The performances of temporal reasoning on daily events made much progress from the 7 years olds to the 9 years olds; (2) There were no significant differences between one-model problem and multiple-model problem, the number of models seemed not to be a crucial factor affecting children's temporal reasoning; (3) Children made reasoning actively with 5 strategies in which the strategy of transmission with reversal relations was more efficient. Related Articles | Metrics

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DEVELOPMENT OF THE ONE-DIMENSIONAL SPATIAL TRANSITIVE REASONING ABILITY OF PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN Bi Hongyan 1,2,3, Fang Ge1 (1Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101) (2School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875) (3Central Institute for Correctional Police,Baoding 071000) 2002, 34 (06):  59-63.  Abstract ( 912 )   Investigated the development of elementary schoolersin one-dimensional spatial transitive inference and analyze the strategies children used during reasoning. At the same time, the mental model theory was examined. The participants were 72 children randomly selected from one middle-level primary school including three groups aged 7, 9 and 11 with half boys and half girls in each group. The experimental tasks included 4 types: single model with three premises, single model with four premises, two models with three premises, two models with four premises. The tests were carried out individually. Children reasoned in the condition of premises existing. The results showed that: (1) Children's ability of the one-dimensional spatial transitive reasoning increased significantly. The 7-year-olds developed this kind of reasoning ability, and the 9- and 11-year-olds had preliminarily possessed the ability; (2) The number of Children using the model constructing strategy to resolve problems became more and more with age. Nearly all 11-year-olds were able to use it. Even if children had used the model constructing strategy, the difference among task difficulty caused by the number of models isnot reflected by their reasoning performance. Related Articles | Metrics

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CONSUMING BEHAVIORS AND VALUES IN MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS IN BEIJING Shi Shaohua, Zheng Gang, Gao Jing, Tang Hong, Chen Yiwen, YuJisheng, Zhang Meiling (Institute of Psychology, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101) 2002, 34 (06):  64-73.  Abstract ( 1707 )   A questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate consuming behaviors and values of adolescents in Beijing. Sswere 4193 students (1086 males and 2387 females) from middle schools and vocational schools, at the ages from 13 to 18. The written Questionnaire of Consuming Behaviors (For Middle School Students) was answered by Ssin group. Three factors were generated from the factor analysis, namely, keeping frugality, pursuing modern trend and consuming stress. Most of the Sstended to keep traditional values of frugality. The rich-poor gap and consuming capability were not stressors for the adolescents. According to the analytical results, Ss' consuming behaviors could be categorizedinto four basic types, i.e., carefully planning, fashion-seeking, practical consuming, and keeping up with peers and seeking uniqueness. The first type formed the largest group among the four. Special relational patterns could be detected between consuming behaviors and values. Ssalso answered Questionnaire of Parent-AdolescentRelationship and Individualism-Collectivism Scale. Based on the theory of consumer socialization, the factors underlining consuming values and behaviors were discussed. The authors argued specially for the influences of family economic status and parent-child relationship on consuming patterns of adolescents. Related Articles | Metrics

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A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SHAME AND GUILT AMONG CHINESE COLLEGE STUDENTS Qian Mingyi 1,2, Qi Jianli2 (1Psychology and Behavior Research Center, Tianjin 300074) (2Department of Psychology, Peking University, 100871) 2002, 34 (06):  74-81.  Abstract ( 1699 )   The purpose of this research is to examine the factors that may cause shame or guilt and to differentiate these two kindsof emotions. A group of 48 college students, aged 19.96±1.13, participated in this research. A set of written negative situationswhich can cause one feel both shame and guiltwere presented to the Ss. The Sswere asked to image themselves in the described situation, and then responded to a questionnaire regarding their emotional degree and reasons of shame and guilt. There are two parts in the research. Part one examined simultaneouslythe hypotheses of the impacts of "public vs. private" and "personal inadequacy vs. moral norm violation" on shame and guilt. Part two studied the hypothesis of the impact of "hurt oneself vs. hurt others" on both emotions, which was newly advanced by Xie Boin her phenomenology research. The results of this research indicated that: (1) "Public vs. private" had significant differences between shame and guilt(p<0.05). The presence of an audience (“public”) more likely led to feel shame. However, feeling guilt didn’t need any audiences (“private”) in general. (2) “Violation of moral norms” didn’t have significant difference on causing shame or guilt, while“personal inadequacy” evoked more shame(p<0.01). (3) The interaction between“public vs. private” and“personal inadequacy vs. violation of moral norms” was not significant. (4) “Hurt oneself” caused significantly more shame(p<0.05), while“hurt others” evoked more guilt(p<0.01). Related Articles | Metrics

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SOME NEUROIMAGING STUDIESONHUMAN WORKING MEMORY Liu Chang (Institute of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210097) 2002, 34 (06):  82-90.  Abstract ( 1034 )   Working memory refers to a brain system that maintain a limited amount of information in an active state for a brief of time and manipulate that information necessary for such complex cognitive tasks as language comprehension, learning, and reasoning. Neuroimagingstudies on neural basis of human working memory indicated that: (1) there are different working memory systems with distinct neural implementation for verbal (localized more in the left hemisphere), spatial (localized more in the right hemisphere), visual or object information, and integrated information (localized in the right frontal lobe) ; (2) each system has three different functional components: (i) a pure storage component (localized more in the back of the brain), whose contents decay rapidly; (ii) a rehearsal component (localized more in the front of the brain), that can reactivate the rapidly decaying contents of the storage component; and (iii) an executive component (localized in the prefrontal cortex) that regulates the processing of the contents of working memory; (3) Prefrontal cortex plays an important role in both executive processes, such as attention and inhibition, task management, and integration of verbal and spatial information in working memory. Related Articles | Metrics

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POSITIVE RESULTS,PROBLEMS AND THEIR SOLUTIONS IN COPING RESEARCH Liang Baoyong (Center for Psychology and Behavior Studies of Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin 300074) 2002, 34 (06):  91-98.  Abstract ( 1010 )   Coping with stress, due to its relation to psychological adaptation and health, has been the most widely studied topic in all fields of contemporary psychology abroad. However, there are more remarkable problems in coping research. In this article, the author reviews and analyses studies on coping over the past 20 years in China, and the following five problems in coping research are discussed: (1) the assessment and roles of defense mechanisms; (2) the assessment of ways of coping; (3) the evaluation of coping outcomes; (4) the designs of coping research; (5) the relationships between coping research and clinical practice. The author analyses and puts forward possible solutions to these problems. Related Articles | Metrics

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THE DEVELOPMENT OF EUROPEAN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Fang Wen (Department of Sociology, Peking University, Beijing 100871) 2002, 34 (06):  99-103.  Abstract ( 1078 )   The development of European Social Psychology (ESP) consists of two interrelated parts, which are its institutionalisation and its promotion of intellectual innovations. This essay aims at studying the development of ESP in these both sides. At first, the essay investigates the institutionalisation of ESP from Americanization to Europeanization, outlining in detail the activities and the publication systems sponsored by European Association of Experimental Social Psychology (EAESP). Based on the analysis, the essay then generalizes and presents the distinct characteristics of "Social Concern"of ESP, and the process of the hegemony deconstructing towards American Social Psychology. The essay concludes that the development of ESP in late 40 years, has successfully deconstructed the symbolic hegemony of American Social Psychology, and forged a new European- American alliance of symbolic hegemony in international social psychology. The essay also shows some lessons from the developmentof ESP for the Renaissance of Chinese Social Psychology in the future. Related Articles | Metrics