Flexible and unique representations of two-digit decimals.

We examined the representation of two-digit decimals through studying distance and compatibility effects in magnitude comparison tasks in four experiments. Using number pairs with different leftmost digits, we found both the second digit distance effect and compatibility effect with two-digit integers but only the second digit distance effect with two-digit pure decimals. This suggests that both integers and pure decimals are processed in a compositional manner. In contrast, neither the second digit distance effect nor the compatibility effect was observed in two-digit mixed decimals, thereby showing no evidence for compositional processing of two-digit mixed decimals. However, when the relevance of the rightmost digit processing was increased by adding some decimals pairs with the same leftmost digits, both pure and mixed decimals produced the compatibility effect. Overall, results suggest that the processing of decimals is flexible and depends on the relevance of unique digit positions. This processing mode is different from integer analysis in that two-digit mixed decimals demonstrate parallel compositional processing only when the rightmost digit is relevant. Findings suggest that people probably do not represent decimals by simply ignoring the decimal point and converting them to natural numbers.This study was supported by the Open Research Fund of the State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning (CNLYB1208)

The effects of within- and between-group competition on trust and trustworthiness among acquaintances.

Several studies have indicated that between-group competition is a key stimulator of trust and trustworthiness. Another important but neglected type of competition may also affect trust and trustworthiness: within-group competition, especially competition among acquaintances. The present study investigated the effects of both within- and between-group competition on trust and trustworthiness, which were measured using an investment game played by acquaintances. We found that, compared to the participants' performance in the non-competition condition, when individuals were motivated to compete with their in-group members or the other groups for financial rewards, they demonstrated more trust. When individuals were motivated to compete with their in-group members, they exhibited lower trustworthiness than in non-competition and between-group competition. In addition, within-group competition decreased the trustor's payoff while both within- and between- group competition increased the trustee's payoff. Finally, we found that males trusted their group members more than females

The longitudinal associations between PTSD symptoms, depressive symptoms, and academic burnout in adolescence and early adulthood in the postdisaster context

The current study examined the longitudinal associations among posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, depressive symptoms, and academic burnout in a sample of survivors aged 12 to 20 years following the Wenchuan earthquake. The present study had a longitudinal design. A total of 788 participants (Mage = 15.03 years, SD = 1.64; 54.8 % female) completed measures of PTSD symptoms, depressive symptoms, and academic burnout at 12, 18, and 24 months after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China. The results showed that the only cross-lagged effects from PTSD to depressive symptoms, from academic burnout to depressive symptoms or from PTSD symptoms to academic burnout at the first interval and the second interval were significant. Furthermore, the longitudinal associations among PTSD symptoms, depressive symptoms, and academic burnout remained consistent between the different age groups but varied across genders. That is, in male adolescents, only the cross-lagged effects from PTSD symptoms to depressive symptoms and from PTSD symptoms to academic burnout at the first and second intervals were significant. In female adolescents, only the cross-lagged effects from academic burnout to depressive symptoms and from academic burnout to PTSD symptoms at the first and second intervals were significant. Finally, these findings highlight that academic burnout is a useful target for psychological service providers to alleviate PTSD and depressive symptoms in adolescents in a post-disaster context. In addition, PTSD symptoms may also negatively affect adolescents' performance at school

Traumatic severity and trait resilience as predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder and depressive symptoms among adolescent survivors of the Wenchuan earthquake.

PURPOSE: To examine the associations between trauma severity, trait resilience, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms among adolescent survivors of the Wenchuan earthquake, China. METHODS: 788 participants were randomly selected from secondary schools in the counties of Wenchuan and Maoxian, the two areas most severely affected by the earthquake. Participants completed four main questionnaires including the Child PTSD Symptom Scale, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale for Children, the Connor and Davidson's Resilience Scale, and the Severity of Exposure to Earthquake Scale. RESULTS: After adjusting for the effect of age and gender, four aspects of trauma severity (i.e., direct exposure, indirect exposure, worry about others, and house damage) were positively associated with the severity of PTSD and depressive symptoms, whereas trait resilience was negatively associated with PTSD and depressive symptoms and moderated the relationship between subjective experience (i.e., worry about others) and PTSD and depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Several aspects (i.e., direct exposure, indirect exposure, worry about others, and house damage) of earthquake experiences may be important risk factors for the development and maintenance of PTSD and depression. Additionally, trait resilience exhibits the beneficial impact on PTSD and depressive symptoms and buffers the effect of subjective experience (i.e., worry about others) on PTSD and depressive symptoms

Longitudinal Relationships between Social Support and Posttraumatic Growth among Adolescent Survivors of the Wenchuan Earthquake

This study aimed to explore the longitudinal relationships between social support and posttraumatic growth (PTG) among adolescent survivors of the Wenchuan earthquake. Follow-up assessments were conducted with 452 participants at 12, 18, and 24 months after the earthquake. The results showed that the level of social support at 12 and 18 months following the earthquake predicted subsequent PTG, but not vice versa. In addition, multi-group analyses of gender showed no gender differences between social support and PTG in the cross-lagged model. Thus, psychological interventions and care for survivors should focus on improving adolescent perceptions of social support when responding to stressful experiences