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25 March 1988, Volume 20 Issue 01 Previous Issue    Next Issue

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COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT:TOWARDS A COMBINED THEORY OF CONTINUITY AND STAGES Fang Fu-xi,Fang Ge,Liu Fan Institute of Psychology, Academia Sinica 1988, 20 (01):  3-9.  Abstract ( 570 )   This paper summarizes some results of investigation on the developmentof children's cognition of velocity, time, classification, space and so on,The results clarify the view of combining continuity theory with stagetheory. Four points are emphasized in this paper: (1) It is true, as Piaget has claimed, that the developmental process canbe divided into different stages in terms of quality, but the features cha-racterizing higher stages stem from the lower ones. Such features as fragi-lity and immaturity become evident after simplifying or reducing thedemands of the task or eliminating the interference of irrelevant variablesin performance. (2) Often there is a transitional period between a higher and a lowerstage, characterized by conflict between old cognitive factors and newones. Children benefit much from training during this period. (3) The pace of children's progress is not even within a cognitive do-main; the developmental curves remain flat or rise steeply at differenttimes. This offers clues for training at crucial ages. (4) The cognitive developmental processes in various domains are not-synchronous. It is a challenge to developmental psychologists to define cog-nitive developmental stages in correspondence with a wide variety of cog-nitive domains. Related Articles | Metrics

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A PRELIMINARY STUDY ON THE DEVELOPMENT 0F SCHOOL-CHILDREN'S COGNITI0N OF THE STRUCTURE 0F APPLIED ARITHMETICAL PR0BLEM (1) He Ji-quan (Institute of Psychology, Academia Sinica) 1988, 20 (01):  10-16.  Abstract ( 457 )   The structure of applied arithmetical problem is the main factor thataffects its solving. The author tried to find out the thinking process ofschoolchildren in solving problems of different structures. Eleven testswere made on the subjects' ability to differentiate problem structures;distinguish between necessary and unnecessary components; generalize andclassify problem structures; supplement one or more missing links; correct,reorganize, expand or compress problem conditions and etc. Analysis ofthe developmental process of the children's cognition of the structureframe, the structure of quantitative relation and the plot structure of theproblem showed that experimental teaching, which converged with the pro-cess, promoted the development of children's cognition. Related Articles | Metrics

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RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LENGTH OF QUESTIONNAIRE AND RESPONSE STYLES Zhao Zhi-yu,Kang Ying-yi (Psychology Department, Hong Kong University) (Psychology Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong) 1988, 20 (01):  17-21.  Abstract ( 596 )   From the psychometric point of view, response styles are serious threatsto the reliability and validity of close-end psychological tests and question-naires. In this paper, we introduce some of the common response styles,and the statistical methods to control them. However, we argue that thesemethods are all inadequate because they are based on the strong assumptionthat response styles are stable. A study was conducted to investigatethe effect of the length of questionnaire on response styles. The resultsshowed that as the length of questionnaire increased, the subjects' respon-ses became less extreme, and more stereotyped. The implication of responseset instability in the conventional statistical control of response setswas discussed. We suggest that investigators avoid using lengthy question-naires in their research. Related Articles | Metrics

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RECEPTIVE FIELDS AND DISCRIMINATION OF TOPOLOGICAL FIGURE PAIR Yu De-shan,Wang Yun-jiu Department of Biophysics, Clinical Research Institute, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing Institute of Biophysics, Academia Sinica, Beijing 1988, 20 (01):  22-24.  Abstract ( 657 )   This paper considers receptive fields of the visual system a linear sys-tem for the processing of images. The kernal function of this system isExtended Gabor Funcion (EGF). For testing this system, several pairs ofinput patterns different or same in topology were used. The results ob-tained from this model were consistent with those of psychophysical experi-ments qualitatively. These simulated results showed that receptive fieldsin the visual system are the neural mechanism of pattern dicrimination inpsychology. Related Articles | Metrics

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COGNITION IN AN ELEMENTARY MOTION SYSTEM Wang An-sheng,Qiu Zi-lei,Qian Xiu-ying Hangzhou University 1988, 20 (01):  25-32.  Abstract ( 665 )   A simulated primary movement system was designed in this experiment. 14children aged from 5 to 10 were asked to compare the bus speed in thesystem. Analysis of the protocol of the subjects' performance showed: (1)there were two kinds of errors in their problem solving error in knowle-dge and errors in strategy; (2) In their problem solving, it was found thatthey used four different strategies, which reflected to a certain extentchildren's cognitive development level. On the basis of these results, theauthors discussed the role of knowledge and strategy in problem solvingand the relationship between them. Related Articles | Metrics

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ON THE NATURE OF LEXICAL EFFECTS ON PHONEME PERCEPTION Yang Yu-fang Institute of Psychology, Academia Sinica 1988, 20 (01):  33-39.  Abstract ( 508 )   Using the reaction time (RT) determined by Fox (1984) as a paradigm,this experiment investigated the nature of lexical effects on phoneme per-ception, and examined two models suggested by Ganong (1980) for explai-ning lexical effects. The results showed that lexical effects did notchange across the two RT ranges after the lexical access, and that the resp-onse distribution across RT ranges and stimuli predicted an increase oflexical effects in the larger RT ranges. Thus lexical effects were reducedas the reaction time was increased. The paper discussed the implicationsof this conclusion on the two models suggested by Ganong and on thetheories of speech perception. Related Articles | Metrics

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THE EFFECT OF SENTENCE-TYPE IN IMMEDIATE AND LONG-TERM MEM0RY Yu Bolin Institute of Psychology, Academia Sinica 1988, 20 (01):  40-46.  Abstract ( 669 )   The present research is to explore whether there is sentence-type ef-fect in immediate and long-term memory. Three types of sentences werechosen: declarative, interogative and passive, each sentence consisted ofseven Chinese characters. Three experiments were conducted: two on STMtasks. One on LTM tasks. The STM experiments showed that the threesentence-types were stored and retrieved in STM, they possess approxi-mately equal amounts of short-term acquisition and occupied approxima-tely equal space within STM capacity. It can be seen that informationof short-term storage is not affected by sentence-type. However, differ-ent sentence-types have quite different effect in the amount of long-termretention and forgetting rate. The declarative sentences were betterstored in LTM than passive and interrogative sentences. Besides, therewas a strong tendency of replacing non-kernel (intrrogative and passive)sentences by kernel (declarative or active) sentences in LTM. These res-ults showed that once sentence information is transfered into LTM, thesentence-type information seems to be lost, the encoded and retentedinformation is the meanings of sentences. Proposition is the unit of the mean-ing. The propositions take tendentiously the simplest and clearest form,that is, declarative or active sentence-types. A counter-transformation orreduction hypothesis is proposed to explain the advantage of declarative(or active) sentence. Related Articles | Metrics

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EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES ON INDEXES OF RECOGNITION Meng Qing-mao Department of Psychology, Beijing Normal University 1988, 20 (01):  47-53.  Abstract ( 671 )   This article presents findings of an experiment which was designed toexplore the characteristics and limitations of conventional indexes andsensitivity indexes (d') in signal detectability theory. It also discusses theadvantages of using fuzzy statistics to compute recognition, level functionsand the interrelationships of several measuring indexes. Related Articles | Metrics

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THE ROLE OF THE HIPPOCAMPLE AREA CA_3 IN RETENTION OF LONG-TERM MEMORY Ou Ying-qi,Xu Shi-tong,Luo Si-zhi,Yu Chao-yang,Yang Biao,Li Hong-feng,Yang Ming,Cao Yan-hong Neurophysiology Research Laboratory, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 1988, 20 (01):  54-59.  Abstract ( 988 )   Scopolamine (M-cholinergic receptor antagonist), GABA and Picrotoxin(GABA receptor antagonist) were injected into the hippocampal area CA_3 ofrabbits with chronically embedded cannula. Rabbits were trained to performthe consolidatory operant conditioning. The influences of such injectionon the conditioned response were investigated. Injection of Scopolamine (45 ug/ul) caused a temporary depressionin the conditioned response with a time course of 5.4±0.5 min. (M±SE,n=10), while the animals' general motor activities and food intakewere not significantly affected. Application of GABA (3 mg/ul) alsocaused suppression for 58.2±5.6 min. (n=9). However, after a prior inje-ction of Picrotoxin (0.2 ug or 0.5 ug/ul) the depression of the conditionedresponse by application of GABA was relevantly reduced, in which casethe time course of depression was 38.7±4.6 min. (n=5, P 0.001) or 13.7±3.8 min. (n=6, P 0.001). As a control, when aline was injected into thesame loci no detectable effect on the conditioned response was observed. It seems that M-cholinergic receptor and GABA receptor in hipp-ocampal areaCA_3 are involved in the retention of long-term memory. Related Articles | Metrics

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ANALYTIC METHODS OF THE BI0ELECTRICAL ACTIVITIES OF THE BRAIN AND ITS MICROCOMPUTER PROCESSING SYSTEM IN PHYSIOPSYCHOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION Fan Si-lu Institute of Psychology, Academia Sinica 1988, 20 (01):  60-66.  Abstract ( 505 )   This paper discusses some important methodological problems in thephysiopsychological investigation of the bioelectrical activities of the brain.A practical microcomputer processing system of the bioelectrical signalsof the brain (PSBSB) was established and used to analyse EEG andEPs (including ERPs) in aphysiopsychological or neurophysiological labora-tory. It can also be turned into a routine detecting system. It not onlyincludes most of the current methods used in this field but also haspowerful processing ability and a great capacity for handling data. Its proce-ssing speed meets all ordinary requirements. In some aspects, its functionsare close to or even surpass those of some ordinary minicomputers and spe-cial purpose computers, especially in secondary processing ability, functio-nal flexibility, expansibility of software and hardware, and populariza-tion. it is more suitable for physiopsychological investigation. Related Articles | Metrics

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CONDITIONED REFLEX EXPERIMENT SYSTEM CONTROLLED BY MICRO-C0MPUTER Chen Ju-yu,Yao Li,Guan Min,Guan Lin-chu Department of Radio Electronics, Beijing Normal University Iustitute of Psychology, Academia Sinica 1988, 20 (01):  67-71.  Abstract ( 977 )   This paper introduces the operational conditioned reflex experimentsystem controlled by Apple-II micro-computer. The system includes hard-ware and software, and controls five experiment boxes simultaneously.After presenting the experimental condition, stimulative signals will be gi-ven and experiment results will be recorded under the control of the com-puter. Finally, all data will be printed out by the printer. Related Articles | Metrics

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NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RESEARCH OF THE HISTORY OF CHINESE PSYCHOLOGY Yang Xin-hui Jiangxi Normal University 1988, 20 (01):  72-78.  Abstract ( 937 )   The history of Chinese psychology, a recent new branch discipline thatfills a gap in the world history of psychology will draw the attention ofpsychological circles at home and abroad. It is taking on new dimen-sions in depth and breadth; the object of study and the guiding ideologyare getting clearer and more definite, having drawn up some basic delin-eations; the study of the basic categories and terminologies are gettingmore thorough, having sorted out a series of categorization systems ofancient Chinese psychological thoughts; a comparative study of China andthe Western world has more convincingly established the historical positionof ancient Chinese psychological thoughts; there is continued progress inthe development of international academic exchanges in this area and theextension of the influences of Chinese psychology. Related Articles | Metrics

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ON THE PSYCHOLOGICAL THOUGHTS OF CONFUCIUS'S TEACHING PROCESS Xu Hong Neijiang College of Education, Sichuan 1988, 20 (01):  79-86.  Abstract ( 548 )   Based on general psychology and educational psychology, this paperdeals with the psychological analysis and systematization of Confucius'steaching process, and his four ideas, namely, the ideas of cognitivepsychology, feeling psychology, volition psychology and individual psycho-logy. The paper makes a systematic inquiry into the psychological legacycontained in Confucius's teaching process. Related Articles | Metrics

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EVOLUTIONARY DEVEL0PMENT OF THE DISCIPLINARY NATURE OF CHINESE EDUCATI0NAL PSYCH0LOGY FROM THE END OF THE QING DYNASTY TO THE TIME BEFORE LIBERATI0N Sun Chang-ling Central Educational Institute, Beijing 1988, 20 (01):  87-93.  Abstract ( 858 )   The evolutionary development of the disciplinary nature of Chineseeducational psychology in the 38 years before China's liberation in 1949can be divided into two stages. Stage one began from the end of the QingDynasty (1911) to the early twenties. At this stage, there was only gener-al psychology and no educational psychology. Stage two began from theearly twenties to the year of liberation. During this period, educationalpsychology emerged simply as an applied science to explain educationalproblems. Related Articles | Metrics

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SPATIAL CHARATERISTICS OF ICONIC MEMORY Zhou Qing Zhejiaug University 1988, 20 (01):  94-101.  Abstract ( 515 )   Iconic memory or short-term visual storage (STVS), has been widelystudied in temporal aspects. Here, using the partial report (PR) paradigmsdeveloped by G. Sperling, experiments on two groups are carried outto study some of the spatial characteristics of STVS, which have beenneglected so far, yet they are important. In Exp.1, the effects of information content on PR performance arestudied. It seems that the range of visual information in space produceslittle effect on PR performance while the density of information affectsPR performance a lot. Two explanations are offered, one is connectedwith the time consumed in information extraction and the other with thenatural limitation of the visual system in providing visual information. Exp.2 is devised to study the referential frame that has long beenregarded as an important factor in visual perception. Of the two kinds offrames, that is, the retinal frame and the spatial frame, the retinal oneappears to be elementary for STVS in the present study while the mecha-nism of the spatial one is activated only in special cases although it ismore efficient in PR performance. An explanation is given from the evo-lutionary angle. Related Articles | Metrics