When Passion Leads to Problematic Outcomes: A Look at Gambling

Vallerand et al. (2003) have proposed that individuals can have two distinct types of passion toward an activity. Harmonious passion, an internal force leading one to choose to engage in the activity, is proposed to be associated with positive consequences. Obsessive passion, an internal pressure forcing one to engage in an activity, is posited to be associated with negative consequences. The present study sought to determine the role of the two types of passion in various cognitive and affective states associated with dependence and problems with gambling. Participants (n = 412) were recruited at the Montréal Casino and given a questionnaire measuring passion toward gambling, as well as consequences associated with dependence and problem gambling. Results showed that obsessive passion for gambling predicted poorer vitality and concentration in daily tasks, as well as increased rumination, anxiety, negative mood, guilt, and problem gambling. These relations were not found for harmonious passion for gambling. Results are discussed in light of the motivational approach to passion (Vallerand et al., 2003).     

Private Action for Public Good?: The Public Role of Voluntary Sector Organizations

Voluntary sector organizations claim to be private institutions acting for the public good. However, if the concept of public is disengaged from the state and connected instead to citizenship, VSOs can be shown to have both private and public origins, as well as private and public impacts. As citizens, VSOs are public organizations serving the public good through their purported representation of the people and civic leadership. The legitimacy of their assumption of these public roles remains a continuing challenge.     

刍议信息技术课程的"说课"

针对信息技术课程教学的特点,从学科教学改革的角度,提出了信息技术课程教学中的"说课"新模式,认为"说课"是教学研究活动的重要形式之一,对提高教师素质和促进教学水平和课堂教学质量提高具有重要的作用,并就"说课"的完整过程,分别从说教材、说教法、学法、说课堂设计、说作业和说小结等进行了具体的阐释.     

Multivariate forests with missing mixed outcomes

In this article, we propose a multivariate random forest method for multiple responses of mixed types with missing responses. Imputation is performed for each bootstrap sample used to build the individual trees that form the forest. The individual trees are built using a weighted splitting rule allowing downweighting of imputed observations. A simulation study shows the benefits of this approach over complete case analysis when missing responses are missing completely at random and missing at random (MAR). In particular, the gain in prediction accuracy of the proposed method is larger in the MAR case and also increases as the proportion of missing increases.     

Adolescent Electronic Media Use: Instead of Doing What?

Adolescents like to watch TV and listen to the radio, even on school days, but their day contains, like for all other people, only 24 hours. What do those who use electronic media frequently neglect? Data from 14- and 16-year-old adolescents from 12 European countries and from the USA (EURONET sample) were analyzed (N = 3,250). The correlations between time spent using electronic media (EM) and 15 other daily activities were all negative, which is not surprising given the fact that the sum of all activities is bound to be 24 hours. We, therefore, calculated correlations between electronic media use and the proportions of each other activity within the remaining time. A clear pattern emerged. The method allowed us to identify “mandatory” activities that always have high priority, such as sleeping and attending school, and “optional” activities that enter into competition with electronic media use, including engaging in sports, playing music, leisure reading, and being with friends without media use. As to the mandatory activities, the correlations between media-using time and the proportions of remaining time were positive; relative to the optional activities, the correlations between media-using time and the proportions of remaining time were negative. While one might expect school homework to be regarded as mandatory, the correlation patterns identified it as optional. As to the average electronic media-using times, there were marked differences not only between the individual participants, but also between the countries. While Bulgarian adolescents spent an average of 2.37 hours of a regular school day using electronic media, French adolescents averaged only 1.72 hours.     

高校本科毕业设计（论文）质量的几点思考

在探讨毕业设计（论文）对本科实践教学所具有的重要性的基础之上,分析了近年来影响毕业设计（论文）质量的一些基本因素,针对这些因素,结合本校相关措施,就创新人才培养模式下如何提高毕业设计（论文）的质量进行了探讨。     

Behavioral evidence for framing effects in the resolution of the doctrinal paradox

The aggregation of individual sets of judgments over interconnected propositions can yield inconsistent collective sets of judgments, even when the individual sets of judgments are themselves consistent. A doctrinal paradox occurs when majority voting on a compound proposition (such as a conjunction or disjunction) yields a different result than majority voting on each of the elements of the proposition. For example, when most individuals accept proposition X; most individuals accept proposition Y ; but only a minority of individuals accept the compound proposition ‘X and Y’. Conducting two elemental votes would lead to accept X and Y , but conducting one compound vote would lead to reject X and Y . In such a situation, do people manifest a stable preference as to which voting procedure should be applied? This research reports the results of two behavioral experiments using a within-participant design, which show that procedural preferences can be upturned by framing either positively or negatively the set of judgments to be aggregated. This shift in procedural preference leads to large swings in the final collective judgment endorsed by participants.     

天下第一绝句《静夜思》——兼谈"床前明月光"何以后来居上

李白的《静夜思》是当代中国知名度最高、普及度最广的小诗,堪称天下第一绝句。诗中物象的亲切性、音韵的和美性、思维的单线性、空间的可变性、时间的永恒性、身心的依存性,组成了一个独一无二的魅力系统。但是,《静夜思》在整个唐代并未受到评论家和诗选家们的青睐。而且"床前明月光"和"举头望明月"两句,也是明代人从李白原句"床前看月光"和"举头望山月"改动而成的。"明月……明月……故乡",不仅大大增强了宇宙间的空明感,强劲延续了望月思乡的诗歌传统,而且大大凸显了明代文人群体的"大明"意识。尤其是明末清初的民族情绪,更使得这两个"明"字别具意味。因为在古典诗文中,"故乡"与"故国"同义。从明清两代开始,中国读者用集体的智慧,小小修改了李白的《静夜思》,大大强化了"作品的绝对独特性",又用集体的热情,一代代人亿万次地持续诵读。时至今日,终于在千淘万汰之后,将"床前明月光……"托上了民族记忆的珠穆朗玛峰。透视一首默默无闻的唐诗演变为天下第一绝句的特殊历程,后人可以在文学创作、作品改编、接受研究等方面获得多向度的启迪。     

Grandchild Care Transfers by Ageing Immigrants in France: Intra-household Allocation and Labour Market Implications

Using a unique sample on ageing first generation immigrants in France, we explore the distribution of grandchild care across offspring and the impact of this transfer on the labour supply of the mother. Our results indicate that grandchild care is spread unequally across siblings, and this inequality is driven more strongly by better labour market potential than by weaker financial status of the recipient. There is further evidence that even after accounting for potential endogeneity and unobserved heterogeneity, grandchild care has a positive impact on the labour supply of the mother. The pattern of intergenerational time transfers differs across people with different national and religions backgrounds.