Jun Wang

The kappa effect is a well-reported phenomenon in which spatial distance between discrete stimuli affects the perception of temporal distance demarcated by the corresponding stimuli. Here, we report a new phenomenon that we propose to designate as thelexical kappa effectin which word distance, a non-magnitude relationship of discrete stimuli that exists in the lexical space of the mental lexicon, affects the perception of temporal distance. A temporal bisection task was used to assess the subjective perception of the time interval demarcated by two successively presented words. Word distance was manipulated by varying the semantic (Experiment 1) or phonological (Experiment 2) similarity between the two words. Results showed that the temporal distance between the two words was perceived to be shorter when the corresponding two words were lexically closer. We explain this effect within the internal clock framework by assuming faster detection of the word that terminated timing when it is preceded by a semantically or phonologically similar word.

As one indispensable part of signs, blank-sign, also called zero sign or the void of sign, has not been given enough or due attention in semiotics. What is worse is that researchers have not reached agreement on some basic issues in blank-signs, such as the nature of the absence of the signifier, the criteria for identifying blank-signs, the scope of the blank-sign research, etc. These questions are of vital importance for more comprehensive exploration of the blank-sign issue. After analyzing three types of blank-signs, the paper concludes that: (1) In blank-signs, both signifier and signified must be present. The so-called “absent signifier” actually means the absence of the representation of the signifier, and the “absent signified” suggests some unspecified meanings; (2) Being a blank-sign is a matter of degree, with the typical blank-signs having a closed borderline, and the atypical ones a partial borderline; (3) Neighboring substantial context and general context (intentions of the sign-maker) are crucial for determining the status of a blank-sign.

Background: Individuals’ information processing includes automatic and effortful processes and the latter require sustained concentration or attention and larger amounts of cognitive “capacity.” Event-related potentials reflect all neural activities that are related to a certain stimulus. Investigating ERP characteristics of effortful cognitive processing in people with schizophrenia would be helpful in further understanding the neural mechanism of schizophrenia.Methods: Both schizophrenia patients and health controls completed ERP measurements during the performance of the basic facial emotion identification test and the face-vignette task. Data of ERP components, BFEIT and FVT performances were analyzed.Results: Schizophrenia patients’ accuracies of face emotion detection in the BFEIT and vignette emotion detection in the FVT were both significantly worse than the performance of the HC group. Repeated-measures ANOVAs performed on mean amplitudes and latencies revealed that the interaction effect for group × experiment × site was significant for N250 amplitude. In FVT experiment, N250 amplitudes at prefrontal and frontal sites in schizophrenia group were larger than those of HC group; the maximum N250 amplitude was present at the prefrontal site in both the groups. For N250 latency, the interaction effect for group × experiment was significant; N250 latencies in the schizophrenia group were longer than those of the HC group.Conclusion: Schizophrenia patients present effortful cognitive processing dysfunctions which reflect in abnormal ERP components, especially N250 at prefrontal cortex and frontal cortex sites. These findings have important implications for further clarifying the neural mechanism of effortful cognitive processing deficits in schizophrenia.

Cooperative spreading dynamics on complex networks is a hot topic in the field of network science. In this paper, we propose a strategy to immunize some nodes based on their degrees. The immunized nodes disable the synergistic effect of cooperative spreading dynamics. We also develop a generalized percolation theory to study the final state of the spreading dynamics. By using the Monte Carlo method, numerical simulations reveal that immunizing nodes with a large degree cannot always be beneficial for containing cooperative spreading. For small values of transmission probability, immunizing hubs can suppress the spreading, while the opposite situation happens for large values of transmission probability. Furthermore, numerical simulations show that immunizing hubs increase the cost of the system. Finally, all numerical simulations can be well predicted by the generalized percolation theory.

Previous research has indicated that frontal midline theta reflects a domain-general cognitive control mechanism of the prefrontal cortex. Brain imaging studies have shown that the inhibition of implicit stereotypes was dependent on this domain-general cognitive control mechanism. Based on this knowledge, the present study investigated the neural oscillatory correlates of implicit gender stereotype control in an extrinsic affective Simon task using electrophysiological methods. Participants in this task conducted verification to white gender names and colored gender traits, and their behavioral response and electroencephalogram were recorded during their performances. As predicted, stereotype-inconsistent trials resulted in reduced response accuracies and slower response times than stereotype-consistent trials. For the event-related potential results, the enhanced performance of stereotype-inconsistent trials was accompanied by an enhanced N400 amplitude but an attenuated late positive potential amplitude. In contrast, early attentional components such as P2 and N2 as well as their amplitudes were impacted by the experimental manipulations and individual differences in gender factors. In addition, based on time–frequency analysis, we found that the enhanced performance of stereotype-inconsistent trials was also accompanied by an event-related synchronization on the frontal theta oscillation. This frontal theta appeared at a late processing stage and persisted across a time window from N400 to late positive potential. Additionally, this enhanced frontal theta effect was not modulated by the experimental manipulations and individual differences in gender factors. Based on these findings, the feature of frontal theta oscillation in the implicit gender stereotype control process was discussed.

Late Heidegger’s thinking of language is on the way to pure language, for Heidegger tries to overcome the impurity and equipment-treating of language. The pure language shows itself as poetic language. Poetic language overcomes the impurity of everyday language and theoretic language before it reveals itself as Saying and Silence, the conversation between poetry and thought, and the possible poetic dwelling. However, Heidegger’s poetic language has its limitation, which calls for our rethinking of his thinking of poetic language and language itself and makes us bring forth the contemporary nature of poetic language. In this sense, poetic language is to become the purest language or language of the very beginning. Also three sorts of languages are differentiated: language of desire, language of equipment, and language of truth, of which poetic language is simultaneously the game of language of desire, language of equipment, and language of truth. Poetic language in the contemporary times helps us to think about our fate in our times and urges us to build our own dwelling home.

In recent years, the construct of character has received substantial attention among developmental scientists, but no consensus exists about the content and structure of character, especially among children and early adolescents. In a study of positive development among racially diverse Cub Scouts in the greater Philadelphia area, we assessed the construct and concurrent validity of a new measure of character, the Assessment of Character in Children and Early Adolescents, among 906 Scouts and 775 non-Scout boys and girls. We identified an eight-correlated-factor model as providing the best fit with our data. We further established measurement invariance and explored latent mean differences for ACCEA scores across two Scout groups, non-Scout boys and non-Scout girls. Girls were generally superior than boys on all character attributes. We further examined concurrent validity of ACCEA by correlating the character attributes with youth sense of school competence, intentional self-regulation and parental perception of youth school performance. We discuss implications for future character research and point to the value of the ACCEA measure being used by practitioners in character development programs.

In Heinrich Rombach’s structural thought the phenomenological tradition has been extended to an intercultural dimension. In Rombach’s opinion the idea of structure has been developed in the East much earlier and much further than in the West. In the following paper I will show from an Eastern perspective that the philosophy of Confucius in terms of “Ren” or “concrete humanity” has an affinity with the Structural Phenomenology, which strives toward the living situations as the original aim. The Structural phenomenology concepts here the “human person” (menschlicher Mensch): people should live with the return back to the life-world, in the origin of the construction of interpersonal relationships, “I” melts in the concrete life history, and the special relationship between people will be placed before the entity or personal “I”. This idea highly matches the concept “Ren” in the Confucian philosophy. Through the understanding of structural thought, we can get a new dimension of comprehension for the Confucian concept “Ren”. By this comparison, we can see the phenomenology and its latest development trends are included in the potential of linking eastern and western cultures. This potential does not come from the single texts, but from the fundamentalrecognition and understanding in the inter-cultural interaction.

As a new development of the phenomenological tradition Heinrich Rombach’s structural phenomenology has the diverse historical and cultural meanings. First, “structure” is the third phase which stands after “substance” and “system” in the whole history of thought. Second, it is regarded as the future phase of the phenomenology, which is beyond Husserl’s phenomenology of consciousness and Heidegger’s phenomenology of existence. Third, there is a close relationship between “structure” and the Eastern thought, namely the experience of the Tao. This connection allows actually the intercultural dimension of philosophy.Als Fortsetzung der phänomenologischen Tradition hat Heinrich Rombachs Strukturphänomenologie die vielfältigen historischen und kulturellen Bedeutungen. Erstens ist “Struktur” die dritte Phase der ganzen Geistgeschichte angesehen, die nach “Substanz”, “System” steht. Zweitens gilt sie als die zukünftige Phase der Phänomenologie, die jenseits Husserls Bewußtseinsphänomenologie und Heideggers Existenzphänomenologie steht. Drittens verbindet “Struktur” sich mit dem östlichen Denken, nämlich der Erfahrung des Tao. Diese Verbindung ermöglicht eigentlich die interkulturelle Dimension des Philosophierens.Kao novi razvoj fenomenologijske tradicije, strukturna fenomenologija Heinricha Rombacha ima raznolika povijesna i kulturna značenja. Prvo, “struktura” je treća faza koja se nalazi nakon “supstancije” i “sustava” u cjelokupnoj povijesti mišljenja. Drugo, ona se shvaća kao buduća faza fenomenologije, koja se nalazi s onu stranu Husserlove fenomenologije svijesti i Heideggerove fenomenologije tubitka. Treće, postoji bliska povezanost između “strukture” i istočnjačke misli, naime iskustvo Taoa. Ta veza zapravo omogućuje interkulturnu dimenziju filozofije

Die Dimension der Kulturphilosophie wird in der Phänomenologie Husserls in drei Stufen unterteilt: Die erste Stufe besteht aus der Phänomenologie der “Lebenswelt” sowie der kritischen Reflexion der naturwissenschaftlichen Kultur in Europa, die unser Leben bis in die Gegenwart hinein beherrscht. Die Phänomenologie der Lebenswelt, die Husserl auch “philosophische Kultur” nennt, wird vornehmlich als Therapie gegen die Krise der europäischen Wissenschaften entwickelt, welche die Form einer technisch-wissenschaftlich geprägten Zivilisation verabsolutiert und zur V ergessenheit des lebensweltlichen und sinnlichen Ursprungs geführt haben. Die sich entfaltende Kultur ist zweitens für Husserl jene Gestaltung menschlicher Wirklichkeit, in welcher die Philosophie und deren V orformen in den Religionen aller nationalen Kulturtraditionen als tatsächliche Kulturleistungen wirksam werden. In seinen Kaizo-Aufsätzen hat er phänomenologisch die religiöse von der wissenschaftlichen Kultur unterschieden und ihre jeweilige Herkunftsgeschichte dargestellt. Die letzte Stufe aller Kulturwirklichkeit sieht Husserl in jener Dimension, die er vornehmlich als Korrelat von Heimwelt und Fremdwelt zu bezeichnen sucht. Das interkulturelle Verständnis und die Kommunikationen der Kulturwelten orientiert sich vor allem an diesem intersubjektiven V erständnismodell von Heimwelt und Fremdwelt, das tief in der “Erde” der “Lebenswelt” wurzelt

Ecological crisis to the current model of economic development has brought great challenges, but also makes economic development model to reflect the underlying economic theory become necessary. American process theologian Cobb's basic premise of economic theory and assumptions were critical, pointing out its flaws and there is a mistake, and the economics of development proposed is quite insightful. Ecological crisis poses a great challenge to the paradigm for the development of modem economics and in turn necessitates a reflection on the economic theory underlying the paradigm. John B. Cobb, Jr, the celebrated American theologian, has come up with a critique of the premises and the presuppositions of economic theory, pointing out its errors and shortcomings while offering his distinctive insight into the development of economics

Western Christian theological reflection on the ecological crisis, began in response to external criticism from Christian theology, the critique is aimed at supporting the development of modern science and technology behind the Christian concept. Accordingly, the Christian theology on the one hand based on the teachings of the Bible and Christian tradition to defend, the other to John Cobb, represented by theologians also seek, in the new relationship between man and nature in the context of changes in traditional Christian theology, thinking theological development of the future direction and how to respond to today's increasingly serious ecological problems. The Christian theology begins to think about the ecological crisis while it faces the critics outside, because the Christianity was considered as the impetus of modern technology. On the one hand, Christian thinkers use the Bible and doctrine to defend the Christianity; on the other hand , some theologians including John B. Cobb want to change the Christianity, think about the development of it and solve the important ecological problems when the relation between man and nature has changed