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15 September 2013, Volume 21 Issue 9 Previous Issue    Next Issue
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Editor-In-Chief Invited

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FN400 Effect: Conceptual Processing in Explicit Memory Test GUO Chunyan;GAO Chuanji;LI Bingbing 2013, 21 (9):  1521-1530.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2013.01521 Abstract ( 686 )   Conceptual priming and familiarity are hot spots of researches on neuro-mechanisms of implicit and explicit memory. Supporters of dual-process theories put forward that brain potentials at pre-frontal areas between 300 and 500ms (FN400) are associated with familiarity. However, supporters of single- process theories think that studies supporting FN400 as index of familiarity did not take into account the contamination of conceptual priming on explicit memory. Through a series of studies, Paller and his colleagues proved that FN400 is associated with conceptual priming but not familiarity and that familiarity is indexed by brain potentials at parietal areas between 500 and 800ms (LPC). So far, there are still debates on the nero-mechanism of familiarity and conceptual priming. Further researches should explore new methods to dissociate familiarity and conceptual priming. The neuro-mechanism of effects of fluency on familiarity should also be investigated. Related Articles | Metrics

Conceptual Framework

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Dynamic Effect of Multilevel Leadership on Employee Responses to Organizational Change: Moderating Role of Chinese Traditional Culture DU Jing 2013, 21 (9):  1531-1541.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2013.01531 Abstract ( 550 )   Organizational change has been becoming the part of organizational life for Chinese enterprises, by which Chinese enterprises enhance their competence and survive during the period of transition. Employee response to organizational change is critical for the implementation of organizational change. Researches have found the leadership plays a vital role for employee response. However, prior studies focused on single-level leadership using cross-section data. They failed to explore dynamic effect of multilevel leadership on the dynamic employee response during the process of organizational change, as well as to explore the moderating effect of Chinese traditional culture. To fill these gaps, this research conducts following three studies: (1) exploring the dynamic effect of two-level leadership (executives and middle manager) on dynamic employee response; (2) investigating the moderating effects of Chinese traditional culture (power distance, Zhongyong, and Guanxi) on the relationship of leadership with employee response; (3) using Schema Theory to test the mediating process from leadership to employee response. These studies will be empirical examined using longitudinal data set collected in Chinese enterprises and their findings will provide insightful theoretical and empirical contribution. Related Articles | Metrics

Meta-Analysis

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Machiavellians’ Job Performance and Career Success in Workplaces: A Meta-Analysis QIN Feng;XU Fang 2013, 21 (9):  1542-1553.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2013.01542 Abstract ( 730 )   To determine the relationship between Machiavellianism and job performance or career success, and explore the moderating effect of profession type as moderator variable to the relationship between Machiavellianism and job performance, this paper reviewed the related literatures systematically and quantitatively and carried out a meta-analysis on 45 literatures which meeting the accepted standards. The results indicated: (1)Machiavellianism is uncorrelated with job performance (r=0.008); When types of profession as the moderator variables, Machiavellianism is in low positive correlation with job performance for marketing professions (r=0.104) and in uncorrelation with job performance for general administrative professions (r= -0.030). (2)There is a low negative correlation between Machiavellianism and income (r=-0.063); (3)Machiavellianism is uncorrelated with position (r=0.007); (4)Machiavellianism is in negative correlation with job satisfaction (r=-0.130). As periodic summaries of study on Machiavellianism applied in workplaces, this paper provided the reference for the follow-up studies. Related Articles | Metrics

Research Methods

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Can Automatic Emotion Regulation Be Manipulated? A Review of the Measurements ZHANG Jing;LIU Ke;ZHAO Xin 2013, 21 (9):  1554-1559.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2013.01554 Abstract ( 755 )   Automatic emotion regulation is a goal-driven change in any aspect of one’s emotion without making a conscious decision, paying attention to the process of regulating emotion, or engaging in deliberate control. How to effectively manipulate automatic emotion regulation is a problem for researchers. Two kinds of methods have been applied in the literature: one is aiming at seeking the individual differences in automatic emotion regulation by emotion regulation-Implicit Association Test, resting prefrontal asymmetric activation measurement or emotion regulation questionnaire; the other method attempts to activate different regulation tendency by taking advantage of priming technique. Both of these two methods provide evidences for the existence and the availability of automatic emotion regulation. Priming technique can afford a stronger manipulation comparatively. When it comes to future researches, the interaction of individual differences and priming tendency in automatic emotion regulation should be paid enough attention on. Moreover, it’s also important to explore the processing of automatic emotion regulation. Related Articles | Metrics

Regular Articles

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The Contrast of Neural Mechanisms for Comprehension and Production between Sign Language and Spoken Language LI Junhong;DING Guosheng 2013, 21 (9):  1560-1569.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2013.01560 Abstract ( 582 )   Sign language is the daily used language of deaf people, while spoken language is that for hearing people. Here we reviewed the studies on neural mechanisms for both comprehension and production of sign language and spoken language. Particularly, we compared the neural mechanisms of both languages from different processing level, including word, sentence and context. We found that the two languages activated a similar set of brain regions. Language production mainly activates the anterior part whilst language comprehension activates the posterior part of the brain. The more complex processing is associated with more-involved brain regions, especially the right- hemisphere regions. The differences between two languages are: 1) Right hemisphere is more engaged in sign language comprehension. 2) The left supramarginal gyrus, inferior parietal lobule are more engaged in sign language comprehension. These findings shed deep insights on some important issues including the origins of language, plasticity of brain and education of deaf children. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Cognitive and Neural Mechanisms of Morphological Processing During Word Recognition ZOU Lijuan;SHU Hua 2013, 21 (9):  1570-1577.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2013.01570 Abstract ( 457 )   Whether morphology functions as an independent linguistic aspect during word recognition remains hotly debated. A large number of behavioral studies have revealed that the decomposition and combination of morphologically complex words underlies the cognitive mechanism of morphological processing. Brain imaging provides a critical tool for investigating the role of morphological processing and its neural basis: the left inferior frontal gyrus is an important correlate of morphological processing, and morphologically related words are associated with reduced amplitude of the N400 ERP component. However, Chinese morphology is distinct from alphabetic languages as morphemes are only differentiable based on the whole word context. Given the large number of homophones in Chinese it is, therefore, critical to investigate Chinese morphological processing of spoken words. Related Articles | Metrics

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Mechanisms Underlying the Attentional Guidance form Working Memory Representations ZHANG Bao;HUANG Sai 2013, 21 (9):  1578-1584.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2013.01578 Abstract ( 605 )   People had to select specific information from complex visual scene every time to avoid overloading the limited information processing system. When extracting relevant information from a complex visual environment, working memory (WM) representation would bias attention to stimuli that were the same or the similar to the search target, as to optimize target selection while ignoring the distractors. The present study systematically reviewed the emerging evidences on the attentional guidance from WM representations. After discussing the following three controversial issues: Could WM guide attention automatically? Could verbal WM guide attention? And did WM always guide attention? We concluded that the WM could top-down guide attention, but it was subjected to some constrains. Related Articles | Metrics

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Implicit Learning of Nonlocal Dependencies and the Limitations LI Feifei;QIAO Fuqiang;GUO Xiuyan 2013, 21 (9):  1585-1595.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2013.01585 Abstract ( 541 )   People are capable of acquiring unconscious knowledge of structural regularities from the environment. This form of learning is known as implicit learning. In the implicit learning literature, there remains controversy over what contents can be implicitly learned, i.e., chunks or abstract rules. Implicit learning of nonlocal dependencies provides a new perspective for the controversy. From the domains of artificial language learning, music learning and perceptual motor sequences learning, this paper reviews the recent literature on implicit learning of nonlocal dependencies, discusses the limitations of implicit learning, and puts forward some new issues and approaches in terms of the transfer effects, limitations, functional magnetic resonance imaging and artificial neural networks simulations for future studies. Related Articles | Metrics

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What Is Emotional Contagion? The Concept and Mechanism of Emotional Contagion ZHANG Qiyong;LU Jiamei 2013, 21 (9):  1596-1604.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2013.01596 Abstract ( 1078 )   After studying the literature available about emotional contagion, we found that there existed two different perspectives in the concept of emotional contagion: One is primitive emotional contagion, which considers the emotional contagion as an automatic and unconscious process, and the other is conscious emotional contagion, which sees the emotional contagion as a consciousness-involved process. The reasons of the differences suggested researchers could not distinguish between types of emotional information, i.e. low-level emotional information and high-level emotional information, and between differences in emotional transference mechanism for the both. As a result, the meanings of emotional contagion expanded more and more, and could not indicate what the exact concept was. Disagreements on the concept of emotional contagion brought about a distinction between views of its mechanism. In this article we traced the origin of “contagion” in order to deduce what the emotional contagion is, and made clear what kind of emotional information could be transmitted by emotional contagion. We suggested that only low-level emotional information could be transferred by emotional contagion, and emotional contagion was an automatic, nonconscious process. At the end of the paper, the mechanism of emotional contagion was discussed on the base of above-defined concept and the literature available. The mechanism of emotional contagion: Perception→(Mimicry→Feedback (eliciting mirror neurons))→Emotion. Related Articles | Metrics

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Gender Differences in the Genetic Underpinning of Depression CAO Yanmiao;WANG Meiping;CAO Cong;CHEN Guanghui;ZHANG Wenxin 2013, 21 (9):  1605-1616.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2013.01605 Abstract ( 599 )   Human depression has complex genetic underpinnings which vary across genders. These gender differences exist both in forms of direct effects of genes and gene-environment interactions on depression. The present paper systematically reviewed the extant literature of both twin studies and molecular genetic studies in the realm and discussed the possible causes of gender differences in the association between genetic variants and depression. Possible explanations provided included gender differences in sex hormones, sensitivity to environment and intermediate phenotype. Previous studies have highligted the value in taking a developmental perspective in investigating genetic effects on depression, future research should employ longitudinal design to reveal the developmental changes of the effect of genetic variants and their interactions with enviroment on depression. Besides, gender differences in genetic susceptibility to depression remain an important direction for future research. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Heritability of Self-esteem: Evidences from Twin Studies LUO Yu;SHI Yuanyuan;YUE Xitong;FENG Yi;CAI Huajian 2013, 21 (9):  1617-1628.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2013.01617 Abstract ( 829 )   As an important aspect of individual difference, self-esteem has attracted increasing attentions from behavioral genetic scientists. In this paper, we reviewed twin studies on self-esteem and found that: 1) self-esteem is moderately heritable, though non-shared environmental factors also make a difference; 2) the stability of self-esteem is largely genetically determined; 3) the associations between self-esteem and cognition as well as affect are mainly genetically caused. Together, genetic influences on self-esteem are essential. Future twin study may pay more attention to the heritability of self-esteem fluctuation and implicit self-esteem on one hand, and the specificity of people from extreme sub-groups and those from different cultures on the other hand. Related Articles | Metrics

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Neural Mechanism of Deception and Its Application to Lie Detection: Evidences from fMRI Studies CUI Qian;JIANG Jun;YANG Wenjing;ZHANG Qinglin 2013, 21 (9):  1629-1642.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2013.01629 Abstract ( 728 )   It is a hot research spot that investigating the neural mechanism of deception using functional magnetic resonance imaging and detectting lie based on its findings. Various experimental paradigms are adopted for revealing the cognitive and neural mechanism of feigned memory impairment, intentional error, and interpersonal deception. Furthermore, traditional GKT and CQT paradigms are used for detecting lies. Previous studies have emphasized the core roles of the prefrontal and parietal cortices implicating in cognitive control process in deception, however, lie detection based on the activities in these regions poses insufficient accuracy rates. Aside from highlighting executive control process, future research should focus on other cognitive components of deception and seek new indications of lie detection from memory traces and deception outcome, and reveal the neural basis of deception trait. Related Articles | Metrics

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Poignancy: Conception, Measurement and Related Studies Review AO Lingmin;LV Houchao;PANG Xue 2013, 21 (9):  1643-1650.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2013.01643 Abstract ( 643 )   Poignancy is defined as a mixed emotional experience that arises when one is faced with meaningful endings, which means people can feel happy and sad at the same time or co-occurrence of positive and negative emotions. The concept of poignancy is based on the existence of mixed emotions. However, unlike other instances of mixed emotions, poignancy seems to be particular to the experience of meaningful endings, of no longer having something that one once had. Previous researches have operationalized the poignancy as the minimum between the happiness of positive emotion and the sadness of negative emotion. Socioemotional selectivity theory maintains, when people are aware of the finitude of time or aging, they are increasingly feeling more poignancy which will cause the positivity effect in attention. Prior studies reported that the experience of poignancy is generalizable across cultures and cultural specificity sometimes. In further studies, we should pay attention to the advancement of the gender differences and the cultural differences on poignancy to promote the application on the emotion management and psychological health education. Related Articles | Metrics

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Shyness and Internet Use LUO Qing;ZHOU Zongkui;WEI Hua;TIAN Yuan;KONG Fanchang 2013, 21 (9):  1651-1659.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2013.01651 Abstract ( 973 )   Shyness is a temperamental trait that refers to tension and discomfort when facing a new social environment and/or consciousness of situations in which social evaluation is taking place. Shyness prevents people from normal interpersonal communication. However, with the emergence of the Internet, naturally shy people have found a way to reduce the level of nervousness and discomfort they normally feel during face-to-face communication. Internet use can have both a positive and negative impact on shyness. The positive impact is that it can reduce the level of shyness; but the negative impact is that for shy individuals, the internet can become an addiction. In future studies, there is a need to investigate the mediating and moderating variables between shyness and internet use, exploring in depth the relationship between shyness and internet use. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Challenge of Traditional Value Orientation to Protection of Children's Rights in Counseling and Psychotherapy ZHANG Tian;FU Hong 2013, 21 (9):  1660-1666.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2013.01660 Abstract ( 546 )   In the field of counseling and psychotherapy for children, every child has the right to receive and consent to treatment, and the right to privacy and reputation. However, as a particular group, these rights of children are ignored frequently, though the protection of clients' rights is generally accepted in the field of counseling and psychotherapy. From the aspect of Chinese culture, Chinese traditional value orientation may be one of the reasons. In China, the Chinese daily life is in favor of social orientation, which has four connotations, which are familism, relationlism, authoritarianism and otherlism. Since the modern counseling and psychotherapy is based on the western psychological theory, when propagated to China, it must be challenged by Chinese traditional value orientation. The Chinese traditional value orientation influences Chinese parents' or people's views, and thus hinders the protection of children's rights in counseling and psychotherapy. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma LIN Yao;WU Heming;SHI Qijia 2013, 21 (9):  1667-1676.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2013.01667 Abstract ( 1257 )   The consequences of traumatic events are not limited to the persons immediately exposed to the event, and they often affect her or his offspring. The previous studies discussed the influence of the intergenerational transmission of trauma from the parents, children and the environment and found that the transmission of trauma was mainly manifested by symptom, task and identity. It also explained the mechanisms of the intergenerational transmission of trauma with psychological dynamics, socio-cultural, family systems, physiology and meaning of existence. The further studies should be paid more attention to the differences in the manifestations, diagnosis, and treatment among the different generations in the process of the transmission of trauma, and then concerned with the positive significance of intergenerational trauma, valued the intergenerational transmission of domestic collective trauma, such as the culture revolution and wars. Related Articles | Metrics

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Risk Perception Based on Climate Change ZHANG Hui;XU Fuming;LI Bin;LUO Hanbing;ZHENG Qiuqiang 2013, 21 (9):  1677-1685.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2013.01677 Abstract ( 562 )   Risk perception based on climate change refers to an objective understanding and subjective feelings of climate change in life, which has been a hot topic in researches of risk perception. The purposes of present paper are to review previous research findings, and then provide directions for future researches in this field. Specifically, psychological mechanisms handling risk perception based on climate change include the psychometric paradigm and two system theory. Evidences show risk perception based on climate change could be mediated by gender, age, knowledge, experience, emotion, world view and so on. Further researches are expected to focus on deepening our understanding of its psychological theories and determinants, as well as expanding its application values to group. Related Articles | Metrics

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Compatibility Effect of Approaching the Positive and Avoiding the Negative: Definition, Theories, and Research Paradigm ZHENG Jian;LIU Li;SHI Jiaxin;ZHAO Xian;HUANG Zhenwei 2013, 21 (9):  1686-1695.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2013.01686 Abstract ( 574 )   Compatibility exists between positive/negative stimuli and approach/avoidance behaviors. Existing studies disagree on the definition of approach-avoidance behaviors, sometimes confusing them with other types of behaviors. Using “representational distance change” as a critical criterion can help settle the controversy. Motivation orientation theory is by far the best theoretical framework in explaining the compatibility effect of approaching the positive and avoiding the negative, whereas event coding theory and specific muscle activation account are not as suitable. A new paradigm, exploring compatibility effect with mouse trajectory, may combine the merits of different previous paradigms, and thus has its unique advantages. Related Articles | Metrics

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The Theory of Challenge and Threat States in Athletes and Self-Control in Competition LI Yang;ZHANG Liwei;ZHANG Liancheng 2013, 21 (9):  1696-1710.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2013.01696 Abstract ( 848 )   The Theory of Challenge and Threat States in Athletes (TCTSA) believes that athletes in challenge state would show higher self-efficacy and sense of control, set more approach achievement goals, experience more positive emotions, occasionally feel negative ones but in an effective way, competitive performances are improved with more positive emotions and biological reactions. However, athletes in threat state would show lower self-efficacy and sense of control, set more avoidance achievement goals, competitive performances are damaged with more negative emotions and biological reactions. Sufficient evidences support that self-control can be influenced by self-efficacy and motivation, therefore, athletes’ self-control ability might be enhanced in challenge state, but impaired by threat state. Research in the future needs to examine the influence of challenge and threat states on self-control and explore how to effectively activate challenge state before a competition, in order to enhance athletes’ self-control ability and performances. Related Articles | Metrics