Table of Content

15 January 2011, Volume 27 Issue 1

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Representation of Analog Magnitude:Discrete Quantity or Continuous Quantity

WANG Jing, CHEN Ying-he, CAO Shi-ying

Psychological Development and Education. 2011, 27(1):  1-8. 

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The Stroop paradigm was adopted to investigate the cue of analog magnitude representation.Participants were 30 adults.In one task,the participants were asked to choose the set which has larger number of elements.In anther task,the participants were asked to choose the set which has larger continuous amount.It was shown that the Stroop effect only occurred in continuous amount task,but not in elements number task.From the further analysis we found that the congruent degree between discrete quantity and continuous quantity influence both tasks. These results suggest that both continuous and discrete quantity may be extracted automatically from a scene and represented internally,and it was much more difficult to restrain discrete quantity than continuous quantity which leads to Stroop interference.

The Effect of Geometrical Cues’Directness and Salience on Children’s Reorientation for Rhombic Plane

ZHOU Chan, HU Qing-fen

Psychological Development and Education. 2011, 27(1):  9-16. 

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To study the effects of geometrical cue directness and geometrical cue salience on 5 year old childrensreorientation for rhombic plane,25 children aged 5 years were tested in a 2×3 two-factor in-subjects design research using rhombic planes with colored border or corner.The results we found are following:(1)Diagonal errors were prominently more than concolorous errors in the trials of corner position,but prominently less in the trails of border position.(2)Children searched the geometrically appropriate places prominently more in the trials of corner position than in those of border position.(3)In the trails of corner position,the times of geometry appropriate searches decreased with the increase of the acute angle.(4)The effects of geometrical cue directness and geometrical cue salience were not significant on the times of color appropriate searches.The results suggest that the directness and salience of geometrical cues really affect on children's reorientation,at least in small,rhombic planes.

The Influence of Color,Size,Shape Similarity and Difference on Children’s Inductive Reasoning

CHEN Qing-fei, LEI Yi, LI Hong

Psychological Development and Education. 2011, 27(1):  17-24. 

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On the basis of previous researches,this paper examined the influence of color,size and shape information on children's inductive reasoning.In two tasks,a total of 68 children were presented with two premise pictures with three kinds of features(color,size and shape),followed by test picture similar to or different from the premise pictures.When test picture was similar to one of the premise pictures in size,the other in color or shape,children generalized the containing property of premise picture in size similarity to test picture firstly;What's more,when test picture was similar to one of premise pictures in color,the other in shape,children generalized the containing property of premise picture in shape similarity to test picture(Task 1).When one of premise pictures varied in size,the other in shape,children firstly generalized the containing property of premise picture in size variety to test picture;However,when one of premise pictures varied in color,the other in shape or size,no significant difference was found.In addition,no matter there were two features(eg.,one in size and color,the other in shape and color)or one feature(one in size and the other in shape)varied in the premise pictures,children's choice made no difference.It's suggested that it was feasible to vary color,size and shape information independently.

The Influence of Induction in 3-year-olds

Lu Xiao-ying, Long Chang-quan, Sun Feng, Xing Dong-liang, Li Hong

Psychological Development and Education. 2011, 27(1):  25-34. 

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Gelman and Markman(1986)found 4-years old children could make knowledge-based induction in a triad oddity method.Long et al.(2006)found that 3-year-olds could not mainly make knowledge-based induction in similar triad oddity method.Using similar method in Long et al's study,the data showed that it had no significant differences between similarity-based induction and knowledge-based induction in 3-year-old(Experiment 1).When a distraction was added in each test,3-year-olds could ignore the distraction,suggesting that 3-year-olds were not in guess(Experiment 2).In experiment 3,3-year-olds-knowledge of conceptual categorization on the items used in experiment 1 was tested.The data showed 3-year-olds could make knowledge-based categorization,indicating that the lack of knowledge could not explain why 3-year-olds could not mainly make knowledge-based induction in experiment 1.In experiment 4,when conceptual comparison items were looked like target,3-year-olds could not also mainly make knowledge-based induction.In experiment 5,when target and conceptual comparison items belong to the same basic-level category,3-year-olds could infer that target and conceptual comparison item would share the same properties.In experiment 6,two targets were provided.The results showed that 3-year-olds could mainly make knowledge-based induction,although target and comparison items belong to different basic-level categories.These results showed 3-year-olds could make knowledge-based induction in some conditions,which challenged the view that young children could not make conceptual-based induction in early age.

A Study on the Problem Behavior Graphs of University Students in the Problem Finding Process

CHEN Li-jun, ZHENG Xue

Psychological Development and Education. 2011, 27(1):  35-43. 

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The cognitive process of problem finding was compared between the conflict situation and the potential situation by means of thinking aloud.20 university students were selected to undertake the problem finding tasks. Half of them were good at finding problems,and the rest were weak at it.The research found out,in the potential situation the students used inside information,vertical thinking and the crossed problem behavior graphs more frequently than in the conflict situation.In the conflict situation,the students used contextual information,lateral thinking and the problem behavior graphs of horizontal parallel and lateral induction more frequently than in the potential situation.There was no significant difference between two group students in the use frequency of the state of knowledge,thinking operations and the problem behavior graphs.This result may be attributed to a fact,the use of problem behavior graphs was concerned with the basic cognitive process and general rules.

The Characteristics of Adolescents’Social Problem Solving Ability and Its Relationship with Social Adaption

YANG Ying, ZOU Hong, YU Yi-bing, XU Zhi-xing

Psychological Development and Education. 2011, 27(1):  44-51. 

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A sample of 2,157 students participated in current study.Questionnaires were used to investigate the characteristics of adolescents-social problem solving ability and its relationship with social adaption.The results indicated that:(1)adolescents-social problem solving ability decreased from junior middle school to high school. Boys-scores were significantly higher than girls-in plan making,but lower in interpersonal communications and support seeking.Moreover,the social problem solving ability of student leaders was significantly better than the other students.(2)adolescents-social problem solving ability can be categorized into three groups:constructive group,ordinary group,and weak group,whose proportion were 22.9%,42.8%,and 34.4%,respectively.And the constructive group-s scores were significantly higher than the others.(3)the social problem solving ability positively predicted active social adaption,and negatively predicted negative social adaption.Problem approaching and problem avoidance were two key predictors among the dimensions of social problem solving ability.

Self-Supporting Personality and Practical Problem Solving

XIA Ling-xiang, HUANG Xi-ting, Wan Li, Yang Hong-sheng

Psychological Development and Education. 2011, 27(1):  52-58. 

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In order to explore the effect of self-supporting personality on the quality of practical problem solving, practical problem solving interviewing was administered on 30 college students who were grouped as personal selfsupporting/interpersonal self-supporting high group and low group.The results showed that significant differences between personal self-supporting/interpersonal self-supporting high group and low group were found in the qualities of practical problem solving.Then the Self-Supporting Personality Scale of Adolescent Students(SSPS-AS)and Everyday Problem Solving Questionnaire were administered on 101 validity subjects.The results showed that there were significant correlations between most dimensions of self-supporting personality and abilities of practical problem solving.Some dimensions of self-supporting personality were predictive variables for abilities of practical problem solving.It could be concluded that the level of self-supporting personality could affect the quality of practical problem solving and the self-supporting personality refer to ability factors of practical problem solving.In addition,the characteristics and mechanism of this effect should be studied in future.

The Effects of Academic Self-concepts on School Engagement of Technical School Students:The Mediating Role of Ingroup Identification

JIANG Jin-wei, YAO Mei-lin

Psychological Development and Education. 2011, 27(1):  59-64. 

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To examine the effects of academic self-concepts(manipulative,literacy,and math self-concept)on school engagement and the mediating role of ingroup identification,a total of 270 technical school students(1st, 2nd and 3rd grade)were selected to fill in questionnaires of academic self-concepts,ingroup identification and school engagement.Results indicated(1)there were 29.62 percent of technical school students with low school engagement;(2)all three academic self-concepts were significant predictors of school engagement,but manipulative self-concept was the strongest one.The ingroup identification was a mediator of the relationship between manipulative self-concept and school engagement as well as literacy self-concept and school engagement.

The Development of Self-conscious Emotion Understanding of Primary School Children and Its Relationship with Prosocial Behavior and Peer Acceptance

WANG Yu-wen, WANG Zhen-hong, LIU Jian-jun

Psychological Development and Education. 2011, 27(1):  65-70. 

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Self-conscious emotions understanding will affect the children's social behavior and social adaptation. Vignettes of self-conscious emotions understanding,questionnaire of pro-social behavior,and peer nominating were administered to 314 primary school children from one grade to six grade to explore the development of self-conscious emotions understanding in primary school children,and its relationship with pro-social behavior and peer acceptance.The results indicated that(1)primary school children's self-conscious emotions understanding increased with grade,self-conscious emotions understanding of children's in 1-3 grades increased rapidly and it slowed down after 3 grade.(2)Children-s self-conscious emotions understanding had a significant positive correlation with their pro-social behavior and peer acceptance,and pride understanding and pro-social behavior showed significant prediction on peer acceptance;shame understanding also can be a significant predictor of pro-social behavior.

Children’s Selective Trust Based on Judgments of Information:Its Relationship with Prosocial Behavior and Decision Making

ZHANG Lan-ping, ZHOU Hui

Psychological Development and Education. 2011, 27(1):  71-75. 

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Selective trust refers to that people could distinguish reliable/unreliable informants on the basis of the accuracy of their objects naming.The current two studies examined the relation between selective trust and childrens prosocial behavior and decision-making.In the first study,75 young children aged 3 to 4 took part in both selective trust and prosocial tasks.Results illustrated that children were likely to share candies with the reliable informant.The second study investigated the relation between selective trust and children's decision making.Since there were candies with 5 different colors,72 3-to 4-year-olds children in the study were likely to choose candies introduced by the reliable informant.

Types of Self-regulated Learning of Junior Middle School Students and Their Influence on Learning

GAO Bing-cheng, LIU Ru-de, WANG Dan, HE Mei-jun, YUAN Zhen

Psychological Development and Education. 2011, 27(1):  76-82. 

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Self-regulated learning refers to the learning process in which learners initiatively inspire themselves to study and actively use appropriate learning strategies.316 junior middle school students have been investigated for their self-regulated learning with latent profile analysis and discriminate analysis to explore types of self-regulated learning and their differences of learning motivation,anxiety and academic performance.It was found as follows: (1)Junior middle school students-self-regulated learning can be divided into three types,including comprehensive development type,balanced regulation type and weak strategies type.(2)Students of comprehensive development type had the highest level of self-regulated learning,students of weak strategies type had the lowest level of learning strategies;while students of balanced regulation type had the intermediate self-regulated learning.(3)Junior middle school students with different types of self-regulated learning had significant differences in their learning motivation,anxiety,and academic performance.

Experimental Study on Effects of Approach of Teaching Based on Experience Cooperation on Teachers’Teaching in Class

TIAN Li-li, HUANG Si-yuan, JIN Sheng-hua, HAN Chun-wei, SUN Li

Psychological Development and Education. 2011, 27(1):  83-89. 

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On the basis of the theory of approach of teaching based on experience cooperation,this study,by means of educational experiment,explored the effects of the approach on teachers-teaching in class(including teachersefficiency,lesson emotional state and teaching effect).The experiment adopted pre and post test design and divided participants into experimental group and controlled group.In the experiment there were totally 33 teachers (teaching Chinese or Mathematics in junior high school),and 8 months-intervention of approach of teaching based on experience cooperation was carried out to the teachers in the unit of grade and subject.The results showed that(1)Approach of teaching based on experience cooperation significantly increased teachers-efficiency:both personal teaching efficiency and general education efficiency,and personal teaching efficiency was higher;(2)Approach of teaching based on experience cooperation significantly improved teachers-lesson emotional state:more positive lesson emotional state of relaxed,pleasant and satisfied and less negative state of disappointed;(3)Approach of teaching based on experience cooperation significantly improved teachers-teaching effect:teachers in experimental group got higher score from students-assessment in two dimensions:teaching strategies and interaction in class,as well as overall allocation and feedback on teaching information.

Adolescent drinking behavior:A mediated moderation analysis of the roles of alcohol expectancy and drinking refusal efficacy

SU Shao-bing, HUANG Zhen-wei, ZHANG Jin-tao, LIN Dan-hua

Psychological Development and Education. 2011, 27(1):  90-96. 

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A sample of 544 7^th,8^th,10^th,and 11^th graders was recruited in the study to explore the mediated moderation pathways among positive alcohol expectancy,negative alcohol expectancy,drinking refusal efficacy and adolescent drinking behavior after controlling for several demographic variables.Results showed(1)of all the participants,about 28.31% reported ever drinking,13.60% binge drinking and 8.27% drunk at least once in the past 30 days;(2)positive alcohol expectancy could significantly predict adolescent drinking behavior,and negative alcohol expectancy was the moderator of the relationship between positive alcohol expectancy and adolescent drinking behavior;(3)drinking refusal efficacy completely mediated the effect of positive alcohol expectancy on adolescent drinking behavior,as well as the moderated effect of negative alcohol expectancy on association of positive alcohol expectancy with adolescent drinking behavior;(4)mediated moderating effect analysis indicated that negative drinking expectancy buffered the risk of positive drinking expectancy on adolescent drinking behavior.The implication of the results for designing prevention and intervention programs was further discussed.

The Study on Sources of Occupational Stress of Primary and Secondary School Teachers

LI Qiong, ZHANG Guo-li, ZHOU Jun

Psychological Development and Education. 2011, 27(1):  97-104. 

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This study investigated the feature of primary and secondary school teachers-sources of occupational stress,using the questionnaire of 5525 teachers in Beijing.The results indicated that(1)there were five sources causing teachers-stress,namely,the workload,students achievement,social and school evaluation,teachers-professional development and student misbehaviors,which could satisfactorily explain the variance of the sources of teachers-occupational stress,and(2)the trajectory of occupational stress of teachers with different teaching experience was characterized by a inverse U curve,teachers with 11-15years of teaching getting the highest stress level.(3)The major stress source of primary teachers was students-misbehaviors;while students-achievement,especially the examination stress was the main source that secondary teachers had.

Development of a Psychological Empowerment Questionnaire for Teachers at Elementary and Secondary Schools in China

WANG Jin-liang, ZHANG Da-jun

Psychological Development and Education. 2011, 27(1):  105-111. 

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This study aimed to develop a psychological empowerment questionnaire for elementary and secondary school teachers.Valid data from 1272 teachers were analyzed using subscale development technique,the results of which had shown that teachers-psychological empowerment was composed of three subscales,including psychological empowerment feeling,empowerment skill and empowerment behavior.Specifically,psychological empowerment feeling included factors of self-efficacy,impact,status and self-determination;empowerment skill included factors of skill for decision-making involvement and skill for communication;empowerment behavior included factors of behaviors to influence instruction and decision-making involvement behavior.The questionnaire developed in this study had been shown to meet the psychometrics requirement and could be used to measure teachers-psychological empowerment.