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Age of Acquisition Effects in Deaf College Students ZHANG Ji-Jia;CHEN Sui-Qing;ZHANG Guang-Yan;DAI Dong-Hong 2012, 44 (11):  1421-1433.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2012.01421 Abstract ( 997 )   Age of Acquisition (AoA) refers to the age at which a word is first learnt, which is an important variable that has recently drawn considerable attention as a determinant of lexical processing. A large number of studies have found that words acquired earlier in life are processed more efficiently than words acquired late in life. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the origin of the AoA effects. One of these hypotheses is the Semantic Hypothesis, which assumes that at least parts of the AoA effect originate from the semantic system. According to this hypothesis, the order of acquisition has a lasting effect on the time needed to activate the meanings of words. It was supported in some semantic tasks (Van Loon-Vervoorn, 1985, 1989). Another hypothesis is the Phonological Completeness Hypothesis, which assumes that AoA effects arise at the level of phonological representation. The phonology of early-acquired words is stored wholly and completely, but as a child’s vocabulary increases, the phonology is assumed to be represented in a more fragmented form. Although it could explain some AoA effects in word naming (Brown & Watson, 1987), it failed to do so in a phonological segment experiment (Monaghan & Ellis, 2002). In present study, three experiments were conducted to examine the locus of the age of acquisition effects in the processing of Chinese words and Sign words of deaf college students, with the focus on testing the Semantic Hypothesis of AoA effects. In Experiment 1, the deaf students were required to use sign language to name characters and pictures. The stimuli were 44 single characters and 44 pictures obtained from the Snodgrass and Vanderwart (1980). The 44 characters were 22 early-acquired and 22 late-acquired characters respectively. The aim was to compare the AoA effects between deaf students’ performance in picture and character naming tasks. To reduce the influence of the phonological output on the deaf in the picture naming task of Experiment 1, semantic classification task was used in Experiment 2 and Experiment 3, in which deaf students had to judge whether one of 11 early-acquired and 11 late-acquired characters or pictures belongs to living things or non-living things. Reaction times for correct responses and error rates were analyzed by subject. In Experiment 1, there was an interaction between AoA and task, with substantial AoA effect in picture naming task, but no AoA effects in character naming task. In Experiment 2, the semantic classification task of character showed significant AoA effects. In Experiment 3, the significant AoA effects were also found in the task of picture classification of non-living things. However, error rates showed opposite trends in Experiment 2 and Experiment 3. It shows that deaf students had weaker awareness of semantic category. The results of the three experiments suggested that the AoA effects could be partially produced within semantic processing system effect because it can eliminates phonological factors in deaf to some extent. Related Articles | Metrics

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Cross-Language Competition in Language Production of Chinese-as-A-Second-Language Learners LI Li;GUO Hong-Ting;HUA Le-Meng;FANG Yin-Ping;WANG Rui-Ming 2012, 44 (11):  1434-1442.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2012.01434 Abstract ( 920 )   Several studies reported that there are parallel activations of both languages even when bilinguals intend to speak in only one of their two languages. So does the nontarget language compete for the selection of lexical alternatives? Two types of selection mechanisms have been contrasted. According to the language-specific selection model, bilinguals can intentionally select the right alternative, thereby avoiding potential competition of both languages. In contrast, the non-specific language model allows competition for selection such that candidates across languages actively compete with alternatives in the unintended language, which will eventually inhibit them and allow accurate production to proceed. Recently there are two alternatives for the selection-by-competition model. One is the weak link hypothesis and the other is the L1-repeat-benefit hypothesis. One of the claims for cross-language competition in bilingual word production comes from findings using the picture-word interference (PWI) paradigm. The second approach involves switching the languages of production to examine the consequence of having to prepare alternatives in both languages. Whether there is cross-language competition in the language production of Chinese-as-a-second-language learners? To examine the issue above, this paper completed two experiments using the new paradigm of competitor priming paradigm, which is based on implicit memory. There are 18 Chinese-as-a-second-language learners who are Russian natives in Experiment 1 and 18 learners who are Japanese natives in Experiment 2. Participants were constructed to complete overt picture naming task during the study phase and during the test phase. Naming latencies and accuracy were recorded. 60 black-and-white line drawings were sampled from Zhang and Yang (2003). Both experiments were carried out on computers using E-Prime software. Participants were seated in front of a computer monitor, a button box, a microphone, and a digital recorder. SPSS 16 software was used to analyze the results data. The crucial result of this study is that there is significant facilitation only in the congruent condition. Response time was faster for the old pictures presented in the same language than those for the new pictures. Furthermore, there is no significant difference between response time for the old pictures presented in the different language and those for the new pictures. These results reveal that there is cross-language competition during word production of Chinese-as-a-second-language learners. In conclusion, the present experiment provides evidence for cross-language competition using competitor priming paradigm whether bilinguals’ two languages differ in script or not. Related Articles | Metrics

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Brain Activations of the Inference Processing in Familiar Topics Expository Text Comprehension WANG Yu-Han;LI Hong;MO Lei;JIN Hua;CHEN Lin;QIAO Jia-Jia 2012, 44 (11):  1443-1453.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2012.01443 Abstract ( 760 )   Inference was a tool to establish coherence of the text and provided necessary insurance for correct comprehension. The study of inference in discourse comprehension using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was a rather recent, but exciting development research area. The existing fMRI researches of inference in discourse comprehension nearly all based on narrative, studies which based on expository hadn’t been reported yet. Now, researchers had a clear consensus that inference was coded automatically on-line during narrative reading. Expository is another important literary form, inference in expository comprehension has been extensively investigated in behavioral paradigms, but it was somewhat surprising that there still great debated about if local coherence could be coded automatically during expository reading or not. And till now, the definitely and consistently explanation has not been coincided yet. Meanwhile, it was less known about the neural substrates of inference process in expository comprehension. In this study, brain activations of inference processing in familiar topics expository text comprehension were measured using fMRI, which aimed to investigate whether readers could drawn inference automatically during expository reading and pointed out the core brain area of inference processing in expository reading. Meanwhile, Mo had pointed out that when there existed reading focus in text, readers will make inference around the focus on their own initiative. So another aim of this test was to make sure whether focus-based reading will influence the inference process of expository reading. Participants were asked to read 80 passages which include five or six sentences that differed whether or not an inference needed to be drawn to understand them. Each sentence was present for 3 seconds. Half of the passages were focus-based, and half were not. The questions were about the text but not concerned with the inference. There whole test was divided into 5 runs and there were 16 trials in each run. Participants had to finish a probe task after reading each passage. There were two pre-experiments which were used to choose test materials and decide reading time for each sentence. The MRI signals were obtained when participants read the expository texts. The target sentence was the last sentence of the passage but not the question sentence. The scanner was a 3.0 T Siemens Magnetom Vision MRI scanner. The stimuli were presented with black characters on a gray background through the projector on the mirror. The functional MRI data from 22 participants were analyzed with SPM8. The general inference related activation appeared in frontal cortex (which included inferior frontal gyrus, superior frontal gyrus and middle frontal gyrus), inferior parietal gyrus and precuneus bilaterally in expository text reading. These areas were main areas which related to the inference process in expository comprehension. In the condition of focus-based reading, the cortical related activation appeared more concentrate on frontal gyrus bilaterally, especially the IFG. The present findings indicated that the basic brain areas about inference in expository reading were generally consistent with which researchers had found in narrative before. The focus-based reading helped readers to pay attention on inference processes, other processes which were not concerned with inference were restrained. This result supported the bi-processing theory of text comprehension. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Interaction between Perceptual Load and the Target-Distractor Distance in Regulating Stimulus-Driven Attentional Capture WEI Ping;KANG Guan-Lan 2012, 44 (11):  1454-1462.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2012.01454 Abstract ( 904 )   The current study investigated the interaction between the perceptual load in searching for a target and the distance between the target and a task-irrelevant singleton in regulating stimulus-driven attentional capture. Participants were asked to search for a target letter among nontarget letters and were instructed to ignore a differently colored task-irrelevant singleton letter, which was compatible, neutral or incompatible with the response to the target letter. The perceptual load of the search display was low (with set size of 4), medium (with set size of 8) or high (with set size of 12). The target and the task-irrelevant singleton were close to or distant from each other. Results showed that the flanker interference effect, in terms of the reaction times (RTs) in neutral condition subtracted from that in incompatible condition, was significant for the low perceptual load condition, but was reduced for the medium and the high load conditions. Moreover, for the medium and the high load conditions, the flanker effect was significantly larger when the target and the task-irrelevant singleton were distant from each other than when they were close to each other. The flanker effect thus was affected by both the perceptual load of the search display and the distance between the target and the task-irrelevant singleton. These results indicate that whether the task-irrelevant singleton captures attention and causes interference with the current target processing is not only affected by whether there are overall spare attentional resources left from processing the current task, but is also affected by whether there are spare attentional resources at the subregion where the singleton is located. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Effects of Emotion of the Autobiographical Memory on the Implicit Retrieval of the Related Information ZHENG Xi-Fu;CHEN Xue-Jun;HUANG Yue-Sheng;DANG Xiao-Jiao;HUANG Shan-Shan 2012, 44 (11):  1463-1471.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2012.01463 Abstract ( 1145 )   Current researches are largely concentrated on the characteristics of the activation of neural networks related to the autobiographical memory’s retrieval process with the technologies of fMRI and ERP; very few studies investigated the effects of emotion on the retrieval of autobiographical memory. Since the autobiographical memory has a distinct emotional characteristic, Will the retrieval processing of autobiographical memory be impacted by the emotion of the memory itself? An ERP study with the lexical decision task (LDT) was conducted to explore the effects of emotion on the implicit retrieval of the information from the autobiographical memory. The present study included two parts: the memory induced phase and the lexical decision task. Fifteen right-handed participants took part in this study; all were recruited from the university. In the memory induced phase, participants were asked to retrieve the positive、negative and neutral autobiographical memories according to the paired words (an emotional adjective - a neutral noun), these words were firstly assessed prior to the formal experiment. The nouns were evaluated again for their emotionality, importance and clarity on a 7-points scale after the retrievals. A relationship between the given nouns and the autobiographical memory was established, this relation would be used in the lexical decision task. The lexical decision task was conducted after the memory induced phase, in which participants needed to decide whether the item was a word or a pseudo-word by pressing the allocated keys. Each item was presented for 500ms and 2000ms was given to respond. The EEG was recorded while the items appeared. The results showed that participants successfully extracted three types of autobiographical memory with same degree of clarity, the positive and negative memories being more important than the neutral ones. The results of the lexical decision task revealed that the negative information of autobiographical memory triggered more positive ERP than the positive and neutral ones during 450~900ms. Although no difference was found between the positive and neutral information, significant difference existed between the negative information and the positive information, as well as between the negative information and the neutral information. This indicates that more cognitive resources are demanded for the retrieval of negative autobiographical memory. In short, we can conclude that the emotion does affect the implicit retrieval of the information from the autobiographical memory. It requires more cognitive resources in the retrieval of negative autobiographical memory than the positive and neutral autobiographical memories. Related Articles | Metrics

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Preschoolers’ Perception of Vocal Emotion WANG Yi-Fang;SU Yan-Jie;HE Qu-Zhi 2012, 44 (11):  1472-1478.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2012.01472 Abstract ( 1334 )   Perception of a speaker’s emotional state is based upon auditory as well as visual cues. Researchers mainly focused on studying emotions that conveyed by visual cues, such as facial expressions recognition research; however, the developmental trend of preschoolers’ emotion understanding based on auditory cues was not very clear. Emotions of a speaker are carried in two vocal channels: prosody and semantic. To explore preschoolers’ perceptive characteristics of vocal emotions, two experiments were conducted in view of prosody and semantic. In Experiment 1, 124 participants aged from 3 to 5 years old (61 boys and 63 girls) were asked to judge five emotions (happiness, fear, anger, sadness and neutral) of a man and a woman from cues that conveyed by expressing neutrally semantic sentences in different prosody. Results indicated that the ability of identifying vocal emotions of anger, fear, and neutrality developed with age in preschool period. Happiness was the easiest emotion to be identified, while fear was the most difficult one. All participants scored higher in perceiving a woman’s vocal cues than those of a man’s. Experiment 2 was aimed at further examining which cue children would rely on to identify the emotion of the speaker if the prosody and semantic cues were contradictory (e.g. a happy event was expressed with sad prosody cue). Participants consisted of 129 children aged from 3 to 5 years old (66 boys and 63 girls). Results showed that all the participants were more inclined to focus on the prosody. It is important to understand the developmental trajectory of understanding vocal emotions in preschoolers. Finding out more about typical patterns of children’s early emotion understanding abilities is beneficial for child education, especially for designing early interventions for atypical children, such as children with cochlear implants or hearing aids and with autism. Related Articles | Metrics

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Peer Relationship Adversities and Children’s Aggression During Late Childhood: The Mediating Roles of Self-conception and Peer Beliefs JI Lin-Qin;WEI Xing;CHEN Liang;ZHANG Wen-Xin 2012, 44 (11):  1479-1489.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2012.01479 Abstract ( 1685 )   The development and control of childhood aggression have been among topics that received the most attentions from researchers for more than half a century, and in research on aggression, exploration of the correlated risk factors and mechanisms of aggression is one of the most important tasks. Research indicated that peer rejection and peer victimization, forms of peer relationship adversities, were predictive of children’s aggression. There are correlations between peer rejection and victimization, so in investigating associations between peer relationship adversities and children’s aggression, it is important to include both the two forms of peer relationship adversities in the statistical models so that the unique associations may be tested. There are physical and relational forms in both aggression and peer victimization, and recent theoretical perspectives recognize the specificity of associations between certain types of peer experience and children’s adjustment. Accordingly, research on the associations between peer victimization and aggression should take both of the two forms of victimization and aggression into consideration, so as to examine whether there are type specificity in associations between victimization and aggression. As there are associations between peer relationship adversities and children’s aggression, then, we would like to ask which factors and mechanisms are involved in these associations. According to the social information processing (SIP) model, not only deficits in SIP steps but also social knowledge play a role in the development of children’s aggression. The existing studies have examined the mediating roles of SIP steps in the association between peer rejection or victimization and children’s aggression, but little is known about the possibly mediating role of children’s social knowledge such as the self – peer representation in the association between peer relationship adversity and aggression. The current study was to explore the association between both types of peer relationship adversity (pee rejection and victimization) and the development of children’s aggression, the mediating roles of children’s self – peer representation in the association, and the gender differences in the associations mentioned above. 1806 children of grade 5 (mean age 11.27+0.36 years old) from 40 classes of 14 primary schools in Jinan, a city in mid-east China, were investigated. The participants finished a self-reported questionnaire on experience of peer victimization, the physical self-conception and social acceptance subscales of the Perceived Competence Scale for Children, and a peer belief inventory. Peer rejection was obtained through peer nomination, and physical aggression and relational aggression were assessed through peer rating. All of the measures showed good reliability. Significant correlations existed between the two forms of peer relationship adversity, children’s aggression, and self-conception and peer belief except for that between peer rejection and children’s physical self-conception. Latent structure equation modeling revealed significant prediction of peer rejection and relational victimization on children’s physical aggression and relational aggression, and significant prediction of physical victimization on physical aggression. Children’s physical self-conception, social self-conception and peer belief mediated the associations between peer rejection, peer victimization and aggression. These results indicated that, there was mainly a direct effect from peer rejection to both types of aggression, and specificity of associations between certain types of victimization and aggression. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Effect of Central Executive Load on Adult’s Strategy Using in Computational Estimation SI Ji-Wei;YANG Jia;JIA Guo-Jing;ZHOU Chao 2012, 44 (11):  1490-1500.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2012.01490 Abstract ( 967 )   Many models on strategy choosing in arithmetic cognition have been proposed, however, the role of central executive load in strategy utilization is still far from clear. A previous research with the Choice Reaction Time task (CRT) found that working memory load didn’t affect children's strategy utilization (Imbo & Vandierendonck, 2007). In another study, Logie, Gilhooly and Wynn (1994) reported that different sub-tasks affected mental arithmetic. More recent studies also revealed that the inhibition and shifting capacities mediated age-related differences in strategy selection (Lemaire & Lecacheur, 2011; Hodzik & Lemaire, 2011). Dual-task paradigm is commonly utilized in exploring working memory load in arithmetic performance, and the choice/no-choice is a standard method to obtain unbiased data about strategy utilization. In this study, we employed the dual-task paradigm and choice/no-choice method to investigate the influence of central executive load upon individual strategy utilization during arithmetic processing. 128 college students were tested by the dual-task paradigm and choice/no-choice method. They were asked to finish a two-digit addition computational estimate and a secondary task at the same time. The experimental design was as following: 5 (consistent –high load, consistent –low load, inconsistent –high load, inconsistent –low load, no load) × 4 (free-choice condition, best-strategy choice condition, no-choice/rounding-up condition, no-choice/rounding-down condition). The main task was to finish 30 two-digit addition questions, and the secondary task was Han and Kim’s (2004) design with some modifications. Results showed that: 1) Central executive load did not affect adult’s strategy distribution. But comparing with free-choice condition, adults used less rounding-down strategy under the best -strategy choice condition (F(4,123) = 0.58, p> 0.05); 2) Central executive load affected how participants selected (F(4,123) = 11.10, p < 0.05) and executed (F(4,123) = 23.36, p <0.05) arithmetic strategies. Under consistent situation, the impact of central executive load on reaction time of strategy execution increased with the strength of central executive load, while central executive load on the correct rate of strategy execution had little effect; Under inconsistent situation, low-central executive load almost did not affect the reaction time and correct rate of strategy execution; Central executive load strength played an important role on reaction time of strategy choice, interference became significant only when central executive load of the secondary task was high; 3) Adult's adaptivity of strategy choice was affected by the strength of central executive load, F(4,123) = 2.46, p < 0.05. They showed a better adaptivity of strategy choice under no central executive load condition. The results of strategy utilization in this study confirm the SCADS model. Adults can select strategies according to external requirements, but their adaptivity was still vulnerable. Secondary task type significantly affected strategy utilization of adult. The larger similarity between the sub-task and the main task leaded to larger interference to main task. Related Articles | Metrics

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A Study of the Integrated Cognitive Model of Depression for Adolescents and Its Gender Difference CUI Li-Xia;SHI Guang-Yuan;ZHANG Yu-Jing;YU Yuan 2012, 44 (11):  1501-1514.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2012.01501 Abstract ( 2303 )   Over the past 40 years Beck’s cognitive theory of depression has emerged as one of the major cognitive theories to explain depressive phenomena (Oei & Dingle, 2008). It has been proposed that two levels of cognitions, that is, dysfunctional attitudes and automatic thoughts, contribute to the development and maintenance of depression. However, little empirical research has been carried out to specify and examine the differential roles of dysfunctional attitudes and automatic thoughts in the development of depression. In a comprehensive review Oei and Kwon (2007) creatively proposed the Integrated Cognitive model of depression (ICM) to test the differential roles of dysfunctional attitudes and automatic thoughts. Whereas ICM has been studied in western adult populations, the research examining this model in adolescents or non-western population lagged far behind. Longitudinal cross-cultural evidence are needed to evaluate the validity of the ICM in Chinese adolescents. With the two-wave panel data we hypothesized that in the relationship between adolescents’ negative life events experienced between Time1 and Time2 (ASLEC2) and changes in the severity of depressive symptoms (CES-D2–CES-D1) dysfunctional attitudes measured at Time1(DAS1) served as a cognitive moderator and the frequency of automatic thoughts between Time1 and Time2 (ATQ2–ATQ1) as a cognitive mediator. That was dysfunctional attitudes was a mediated moderator. Additionally the model did not exclude the possibility that either negative life events or dysfunctional attitudes might have some direct influences on automatic thoughts and depressive symptoms and was called Integrated Cognitive Model of Depression for Adolescents (ICM-A). As a contrast we also tested the integrated cognitive model (ICM) and the symptom model (SM). Participants were 613 Chinese junior high school students. All participants completed the Adolescent Life Events Questionnaire (ASLEC), Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale (DAS), Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ) and Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) twice -about 4 months apart. The results of the path analysis indicated : (1) The correlations among the measures were significant and repeated measures t-tests revealed that all the measures increased significantly from Time1 to Time2; (2) The modified ICM-A best model fitted the Chinese adolescent data and there was a gender difference in the path estimate from the interaction between dysfunctional attitudes and negative life events to automatic thoughts. We concluded that at the increasing phase of adolescents’ depressive symptoms dysfunctional attitudes could be a common cognitive moderator of depression, whereas automatic thoughts could be specific cognitive mediators of depression and there was a gender difference in the model. The findings support the moderating role of dysfunctional attitudes and the mediating role of automatic thoughts in the relationships between negative life events and depressive symptoms at the increasing phase of adolescents’ depressive symptoms. This indicates the main cognitive constructs of Chinese adolescents, such as the roles of dysfunctional attitudes and automatic thoughts, may share similarities when compared to Western populations. This provides initial support that Western-based theories and treatments for depression may be suitable for use in some non-Western populations. Cognitive intervention will be effective in Chinese adolescents’ depression prevention. And the current investigation provides preliminary evidence of the gender difference in the moderating role of dysfunctional attitudes. Related Articles | Metrics

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Pain Representations in the Self and Others: A Behavioral Study of the Congruency Effect MENG Jing;SHEN Lin;LV Zhen-Yong;YANG Zhou;CHEN Hong;Todd JACKSON 2012, 44 (11):  1515-1522.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2012.01515 Abstract ( 1161 )   Overlapping neural circuits labeled as the "pain matrix" have been implicated in brain responses to both subjective pain perception and response to others' pain. However, evidence suggests brain structures with a spatial con?guration similar to that of the "pain matrix" are also activated by non-nociceptive stimuli, thus questioning the specificity of pain matrix activation to noxious stimulation. This research assessed the extent to behavioral responses to subjective pain perception and the detection of pain in others were congruent with each other compared to non-noxious alternatives. In Experiment 1, pain and heat stimuli previously primed with painful or non-painful pictures were applied to an undergraduate sample. Participants (15 men and 15 women) were instructed to respond to the pain or heat stimuli, judging as quickly and accurately as possible whether stimuli were painful or not painful, and rating pain intensities and unpleasantness of stimuli. Shorter reaction times as well as higher pain intensity and unpleasantness ratings were found in response to pain stimulation following painful priming pictures than non-painful pictures. However, responses to heat stimuli were not influenced by painful and non-painful primes. In Experiment 2, the same participants completed an identical task with the exception that either painful or heat stimulation was used to prime responses to painful and non-painful depictions. Once again, shorter reaction times were found in response to painful pictures following pain stimuli than heat stimuli yet responses to non-painful pictures were not influenced by pain and heat stimuli. Together, findings suggested that the processing of pain representations leads to congruent behavioral responses to subjectively experienced pain and pain in others. Related Articles | Metrics

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Internet Addicts’ Behavior Impulsivity: Evidence from the Iowa Gambling Task XU Si-Hua 2012, 44 (11):  1523-1534.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2012.01523 Abstract ( 2496 )   Internet addiction, defined as a maladaptive use of the Internet, is estimated to occur in 8–13% of college students (Chou, Condron, & Belland, 2005). It has become a serious mental health issue worldwide because addicts are impaired in various behavioral aspects including social interactions and academic performance (Morahan-Martin & Schumacher, 2000; Scherer, 1997; Young, 1998). Some researchers consider Internet addiction as a kind of behavioral addiction. However, there are few experimental studies on the cognitive functions of Internet addicts and limited data are available to compare Internet addicts with other addictive behaviors, such as drug abuse and pathological gambling. In the present study, we examined internet addicts’ function of decision making. Two groups of participants, 42 Internet addicts (18~22 years old, 32 male, M = 19.79, SD = 1.14) and 42 controls (18~22 years old, 26 male, M = 19.71, SD = 1.13), were compared on the cognitive function and impulsivity by using a Chinese computerized versions of the IGT and Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS). In the IGT, subjects had to choose between four decks of cards. Unknown to the subjects, two piles offered larger short-term gains that are offset by greater risks of heavy losses, and hence were disadvantageous in the long run. The other two piles offered smaller short-term gains and a lower risk of loss that result in long-term maximization of the monetary payoff. The results of the present study showed that (1) compared with controls, sensation seeking of internet addicts was higher significantly, and internet addicts showed significantly higher scores on subscales of thrill and adventure seeking, disinhibition and boredom susceptibility, and they selected significantly less net decks in the Iowa Gambling Task. Furthermore, Internet addicts made no progress in selecting strategy along with the time course of the decision making. (2) reaction patterns for pure win-cards were consistent between Internet addicts and controls, however, the former still preferred to choose high win-cards in spite of potential high punishment whereas the latter tended to transform the direction of card selection after getting corresponding feedback to avoid potentially high risks. (3) Net scores of the IGT were not correlated with SSS. These results showed some similarities between Internet addiction and other addictive behaviors such as drug abuse and pathological gambling. The findings from the Iowa Gambling Task indicated that Internet addicts have deficits in decision making function, which are characterized by an immediate win-priority selection pattern and tolerance to high risk. Related Articles | Metrics

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Evaluating the Consistency of Test Items Relative to the Cognitive Model for Educational Cognitive Diagnosis DING Shu-Liang;MAO Meng-Meng;WANG Wen-Yi;LUO Fen;CUI Ying 2012, 44 (11):  1535-1546.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2012.01535 Abstract ( 869 )   Attributes and their hierarchy may present a cognitive model. Building a cognitive model is one of key steps for cognitive diagnosis as it is directly related to the validity and usefulness of test results. It is very important to detect whether the test specification coincides with the cognitive model before administering the test. In this paper, an explicit index is given to measure the extent to which the cognitive model is represented by the test items of the diagnostic test. We call this index as the theoretical construct validity (TCV). In terms of TCV, the test reported by Tatsuoka and her colleagues (1988) is reanalyzed, and the TCV of the test is only 9/24. That is, 24 knowledge states are obtained from the theoretic cognitive model but the test specification could distinguish only 9 knowledge states. Cui and her colleagues established a person fit index named hierarchy consistency index (HCI) to detect the fitness of an examinee’s observed response pattern (ORP) to an expected response pattern (ERP). HCI is not defined well when an examinee mastered one attribute only and there is only one item measuring the same attribute in the test, and the examinee responses correctly to the item. The original HCI could not compute for the number of comparisons being zero, hence the denominator being zero. In addition, the HCI includes the slipping only. Combining the slipping and guessing in the response to an item, we proposed a new index called modified HCI (MHCI). MHCI could detect the consistency of the response data and the cognitive model that is obtained by experts. Related Articles | Metrics

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A New Multiple-Strategies Cognitive Diagnosis Model: the MSCD Method TU Dong-Bo;CAI Yan;DAI Hai-Qi;DING Shu-Liang 2012, 44 (11):  1547-1553.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2012.01547 Abstract ( 738 )   Almost all of the current cognitive diagnosis models allow for single-strategy of problem solving, and assume all examinees use the same processing strategy. Based on the extant studies, the current study developed a new multiple-strategies cognitive diagnosis model, called MSCD method. Monte Carlo method was employed here to explore the feasibility of the MSCD method and to examine the estimation precision as well as the properties of the MSCD method. The findings were presented: (1) Under the single-strategy tests or data, the average attribute match ration (AAMR), pattern match ration (PMR) and strategy match ration (SMR) of the MSCD method were as high as those of single-strategy cognitive diagnosis model (single-strategy model). (2) Under multiple-strategy tests or data, the MSCD method also had high AAMR, PMR and SMR, but single-strategy model did not. (3) When the number of strategy reaching 5, the MSCD method also had very high AAMR, PMR and SMR. All in all, the new developing model, the MSCD method, was reasonable and could be accepted. Related Articles | Metrics

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Siegen K. Chou's Military Psychological Practices and Thoughts During the War of Resistance Against Japan YAN Shu-Chang;CHEN Jing;ZHANG Hong-Mei 2012, 44 (11):  1554-1562.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2012.01554 Abstract ( 890 )   Siegen K. Chou (a.k.a. Zhou XianGeng), a modern Chinese psychologist, has made a lot of important contributions to the development of Chinese character psychology, educational psychology, industrial psychology etc. in China. However, Chou's contributions to the development of Chinese military psychology has never been recognized in the world of psychology in China. At the end of 1943, Chou was invited by Qiu Qingquan, a famous Kuomintang (KMT) general, to help set up an institute to do psychological testing to army officers. Since he accepted Qiu's invitation, Chou designed a draft plan for the institute, including planning procedure, nature and objectives, methodology, organization and propaganda, etc.. The series of work initiated the modern military psychology in China. For various reasons, although the institute had been prepared for a little more than 15 months, it didn't do any practical psychological testing. In March, 1945, Henry A. Murray came to China to take charge of recruiting pilot candidates for Chinese army. He invited Chou to join his assessment group. Chou learned Murray's testing methods systematically during their collaboration, and they had established profound friendship since then. At the beginning of August, 1945, Murray's assessment group conducted demonstration assessing on army officers for Qiu Qingquan. When Murray returned home, Chou carried out several batches of psychological testing for army officers. At the end of August, 1945, The Institute of Psychological Testing for Army Officers was formally established. Chou carried out practical activities of military psychology, meanwhile, Chou did a lot of practical works on military psychology, and he tried to call for the development of an Chinese-emic military psychology on the basis of a rational analysis of “China situation”. Chou's practices and thoughts of military psychology was a landmark of modern Chinese military psychology. Chou devoted himself to the application of psychological knowledge to military field under the background of the War of Resistance Against Japan, it is a reflection of his groundbreaking practical character and Chinese-emic spirits. Related Articles | Metrics