Contributions of Demographics, Language Learning Experience, and Cognitive Control to Chinese Reading Comprehension

The study investigates whether learners’ demographics (e.g., age, education, and intelligence-IQ), language learning experience, and cognitive control predict Chinese (L2) reading comprehension in young adults. Thirty-four international students who studied mandarin Chinese in mainland China (10 females, 24 males) from Bangladesh, Burundi, Congo, Madagascar, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Zimbabwe were tested on a series of measures including demographic questionnaires, IQ test, two cognitive control tasks [Flanker Task measuring inhibition and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) measuring mental set shifting], and a Chinese reading comprehension test (HSK level 4). The results of correlation analyses showed that education, L2 learning history, L2 proficiency, and previous category errors of the WCST were significantly correlated with Chinese reading comprehension. Further multiple regression analyses indicated that Chinese learning history, IQ, and previous category errors of the WCST significantly predicted Chinese reading comprehension. These findings reveal that aside from IQ and the time spent on L2 learning, the component mental set shifting of cognitive control also predicts reading outcomes, which suggests that cognitive control has a place in reading comprehension models over and above traditional predictors of language learning experience.

Efficacy of Garbhasanskara for Good Progeny in Present Scenario

During intrauterine life, the fetus is completely dependent on the mother. As a result, the health of the fetus directly depends on the health of the mother.Not only maternal nutrition, but maternal psychology, during pregnancy, has a significant effect on the health of the offspring and mother,too.Whatever emotional perceptions a woman has during her pregnancy are transmitted to the fetus. Ayurveda is an ancient science where all the measures are described under the title of Garbhasanskara to geta healthy and well- cultured child. The word Garbhasanskarais composed of two words ‘Garbha‘and Saskara’.Garbha means the fetus and Sanskara means Parivartana in Guna i.e., change in character. Thus, GarbhaSanskara is basically aimed at providing fundamental care for good physical as well as mental set up of a child. It includes three stages viz pre-conceptional care to get healthy Beeja i.e. sperm and ovum, care during pregnancy for development of the fetus and postnatal care i.e.Balasanskara. The present paper, expresses the concept of Garbhasanskara and its relevance in the present modern era.

Influence of the study abroad bilingual experience on cognitive control among young adults

Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: This study investigated whether the studying abroad bilingual experience among unevenly balanced Chinese–English bilinguals exerted influence on cognitive control. Design/methodology/approach: We compared cognitive control differences between a group of Chinese–English bilinguals (n = 30) studying abroad in the USA and a control bilingual group (n = 30) studying at home in mainland China by administering the Flanker task and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). The two groups were matched on demographic variables including age, socioeconomic status (SES), intelligence, etc. Data and analysis: A mixed ANOVA was applied to the Flanker task data, with the task condition as the within-subject variable and the participant group as the between-subject variable. Independent t-test analyses were used to compare performance differences between groups on the WCST. Findings/conclusions: The two groups performed similarly on the Flanker task, whereas the group studying abroad fared better on the WCST, indicating better mental set shifting. Originality: This is the first study to show that the experience of studying abroad brings about cognitive control advantage in mental set shifting. Significance/implications: The current research provides the first evidence that the experience of studying abroad is related to the enhancement of cognitive control, which has implications for both cognitive development and international education.

Escape from Kantian Eurocentric bias in cross-cultural psychology

Taking Kant’s misjudgment on Confucian silver rule as the point for first cut, this article is designated to illustrate the fallacy of imposed Orientalism prevailing in mainstream cross-cultural psychology which tends to understand non-Western cultures by a mental set of dualism with a tendency of Westcentrism, particularly the popular research on individualism-collectivism. This type of Euro-centric or Westcentric misjudgments are very common in Western social sciences, for instance, Confucian ethics are frequently described as particularistic in consideration of the distinction between universalism and particularism made by Parsons . In order to help the international academic community to escape from the trap of Eurocentric bias, this article will argue for and illustrate its characteristic of contextualized universalism step by step on the basis of Hwang’s previous research. Finally, the meaning of constructing scientific microworld of Confucian ethics will be discussed to explain how Chinese people are facing the impact of Western cultured during the globalization age of multiculturalism.

Using shared knowledge to determine ironic intent; a conversational response paradigm

Mentalising has long been suggested to play an important role in irony interpretation. We hypothesised that another important cognitive underpinning of irony interpretation is likely to be children's capacity for mental set switching – the ability to switch flexibly between different approaches to the same task. We experimentally manipulated mentalising and set switching to investigate their effects on the ability of 7-year-olds to determine if an utterance is intended ironically or literally. The component of mentalising examined was whether the speaker and listener shared requisite knowledge.We developed a paradigm in which children had to select how a listener might reply, depending on whether the listener shared knowledge needed to interpret the utterance as ironic. Our manipulation of requisite set switching found null results. However, we are the first to show experimentally that children as young as seven years use mentalising to determine whether an utterance is intended ironically or literally.

Frontal Midline Theta Reveals Temporal Dynamics of Target Amplification and Distracter Inhibition During Mental Set-Shifting

When humans shift between tasks, they initially show slower responses in the new task than in the previous one. Persisting attentional settings are increasingly recognized as a source for these shifting costs. However, the extent to which specific mechanisms underlying information selection and interference control contribute to this phenomenon remains less clear. Here, we use time-frequency analyses of human electroencephalogram (EEG) data to explore the aftereffects of two such mechanisms: target amplification and distracter inhibition. Participants completed a set-shifting task in which interference during switch trials could either result from the persisting amplification of previous target colors or the persisting inhibition of previous distracter colors. In a first set of analyses, we focused on frontal midline theta (FMT) as a time-continuous marker of overall interference. Compared to a control condition, we found transient peaks of FMT in both experimental conditions that matched the effects of persisting target amplification and distracter inhibition predicted by a computational model of the task. In a second set of analyses we used steady-state visually evoked potentials (SSVEPs) as a direct measure of the attentional resources allocated to target and distracter colors. However, SSVEP amplitudes did not differ reliably between stimulation frequencies during switch trials, preventing us from drawing further conclusions on the origins of the interference processes reflected in FMT dynamics. Implications for theories of selective attention and potential limitations of frequency tagging in the context of mental set-shifting research are discussed.