Family socioeconomic status and Chinese high school students' test anxiety: Serial mediating role of parental psychological control, learning resources, and student academic self-efficacy.

It is widely documented that students with lower family socioeconomic status (SES) tend to have higher test anxiety than their peers from higher SES families. However, few studies have empirically examined the underlying mechanism whereby family SES shapes students' test anxiety. To bridge this gap, the present study proposed and tested a serial mediation model in which family SES is associated with students' test anxiety through the indirect effect of parental psychological control, access to learning resources, and academic self-efficacy. The sample comprised 354 Chinese high school students (134 boys; mean age = 16.15 years old). The results were as follows: (1) higher family SES was associated with increased access to learning resources, higher academic self-efficacy, lower parental psychological control, and lower test anxiety. In contrast, test anxiety was associated with decreased access to learning resources, lower academic self-efficacy, and higher parental psychological control; and (2) the mediation model indicated parental psychological control, learning resources, and academic self-efficacy functioned as serial mediators in the relationship between family SES and students' test anxiety (i.e., family SES → psychological control and learning resources → academic self-efficacy → test anxiety). The findings are discussed in the framework of the family stress/investment models and social cognitive theory. Concrete suggestions for how low SES parents can help decrease their children's test anxiety are provided.

Reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles: Diversity of life experience mediates the relationship between family SES and creativity.

This study examined the relationship between family SES and children's creativity, and tested the mediating role of diversity of life experience in this relationship. A total of 204 undergraduates (54 males and 150 females), aged between 17 and 23 years, completed a family SES questionnaire, diversity of life experience questionnaire, biographical inventory of creative behaviors, and alternative uses tasks (AUT). The results showed positive associations between family SES, diversity of life experience, and different indices of creativity. Additionally, mediation analyses indicated that diversity of life experience fully mediated the effect of family SES on creative behavior and AUT originality. In accordance with the family investment model, these results confirmed the positive association between family SES and creativity, and identified diversity of life experience as a mediating variable through which family SES influences creativity performance. Implications and future directions are discussed in detail.

Developing an integrated framework of problem-based learning and coaching psychology for medical education: a participatory research.

BACKGROUND: Medical schools have been making efforts to develop their own problem-based learning (PBL) approaches based on their educational conditions, human resources and existing curriculum structures. This study aimed to explore a new framework by integrating the essential features of PBL and coaching psychology applicable to the undergraduate medical education context. METHODS: A participatory research design was employed. Four educational psychology researchers, eight undergraduate medical school students and two accredited PBL tutors participated in a four-month research programme. Data were collected through participatory observation, focus groups, semi-structured interviews, workshop documents and feedback surveys and then subjected to thematic content analysis. The triangulation of sources and member checking were used to ensure the credibility and trustworthiness of the research process. RESULTS: Five themes emerged from the analysis: current experience of PBL curriculum; the roles of and relationships between tutors and students; student group dynamics; development of self-directed learning; and coaching in PBL facilitation. On the basis of this empirical data, a systematic model of PBL and coaching psychology was developed. CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlighted that coaching psychology could be incorporated into the facilitation system in PBL. The integrated framework of PBL and coaching psychology in undergraduate medical education has the potential to promote the development of the learning goals of cultivating clinical reasoning ability, lifelong learning capacities and medical humanity. Challenges, benefits and future directions for implementing the framework are discussed in this paper.

Independence Threat or Interdependence Threat? The Focusing Effect on Social or Physical Threat Modulates Brain Activity.

OBJECTIVE: The neural basis of threat perception has mostly been examined separately for social or physical threats. However, most of the threats encountered in everyday life are complex. The features of interactions between social and physiological threats under different attentional conditions are unclear. METHOD: The present study explores this issue using an attention-guided paradigm based on ERP techniques. The screen displays social threats (face threats) and physical threats (action threats), instructing participants to concentrate on only one type of threat, thereby exploring brain activation characteristics. RESULTS: It was found that action threats did not affect the processing of face threats in the face-attention condition, and electrophysiological evidence from the brain suggests a comparable situation to that when processing face threats alone, with higher amplitudes of the N170 and EPN (Early Posterior Negativity) components of anger than neutral emotions. However, when focusing on the action-attention condition, the brain was affected by face threats, as evidenced by a greater N190 elicited by stimuli containing threatening emotions, regardless of whether the action was threatening or not. This trend was also reflected in EPN. CONCLUSIONS: The current study reveals important similarities and differences between physical and social threats, suggesting that the brain has a greater processing advantage for social threats.

The Moderation Effect of Approach Motivation Between Schizotypy and Creative Ideational Behavior.

Introduction: The schizotypy-creativity link has been studied from different perspectives over the past few decades, yet the results of this relationship are inconsistent in the literature. Previous studies have suggested that two basic motivational systems-Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS, avoidance motivation) and Behavioral Activation System (BAS, approach motivation)-underlie the relationship between schizotypy and creativity. Few empirical studies, however, have examined how the relationship interacts with other variables. This study fills these gaps and explores the role of the approach and avoidance motivation assessed by trait behavioral activation and inhibition in the link between schizotypy as a dimensional personality trait and creative ideational behavior as a measure of creativity. Method: Undergraduate students (N = 388) completed questionnaires including the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) measuring 3 dimensions of schizotypy, Runco Ideational Behavior Scale (RIBS) measuring creative ideational behavior, and BIS/BAS Scales measuring trait behavioral motivation. Bivariate Pearson correlation was computed, and hierarchical linear regression was performed to explore the effects of schizotypy, BIS/BAS, and their interaction on creative ideational behavior. The conditional effect of schizotypy based on different levels of the moderator was further tested. Results: The total score, positive dimension and disorganized dimension of SPQ were all positively correlated with RIBS, BAS, and BIS. Negative dimension of SPQ was not significantly correlated with the RIBS score but was positively correlated with BIS. Additionally, after controlling gender and age, BAS significantly moderated the relationship between the positive and disorganized dimensions of schizotypy and creative ideational behavior measured by RIBS. However, BIS was not a significant moderator. Discussion: The findings of this study regarding the relationships between different dimensions of schizotypy, two motivational systems, and creative ideational behavior were mostly consistent with previous findings. The significant moderated effect of BAS on the relationship between two dimensions of schizotypy and creative ideational behavior made significant contributions to the understanding of the relationship between schizotypy and creativity.

Mastery Approach Goals Mediate the Relationship Between Authenticity and Academic Cheating: Evidence from Cross-Sectional and Two-Wave Longitudinal Studies.

Purpose: Prior studies revealed several beneficial aspects of being authentic, such as higher subjective well-being, more harmonious interpersonal relationships, and better workplace performance. However, how authenticity relates to unethical cheating behaviors in the academic context remains to be seen. Based on the literature review, the present study hypothesized that authenticity may be negatively linked to academic cheating through the mediating path of mastery approach goals. Methods: In Study 1, 250 college students self-reported their demographics and academic performance, and completed the scales of authenticity, academic cheating, mastery approach goals, and social desirability. In Study 2, 111 college students completed the same measures as in Study 1 at two different time points (5 months in between). Results: In Study 1, the results indicated that authenticity was positively associated with mastery approach goals, and both were negatively associated with academic cheating. After controlling for the confounding effect of gender, age, academic performance, and social desirability, mastery approach goals were identified as a mediator in the authenticity-academic cheating relationship. In Study 2, the correlation result confirmed the association patterns found in Study 1. Moreover, cross-lagged analysis supported the directionality proposed in the mediation model. Conclusion: The findings identified the mediating role of mastery approach goals in the link between authenticity and academic cheating, supporting the motivated cognition perspective of personality, the motivational model of academic cheating, and the self-determination theory. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research were provided.

A comparison of the differences in the way parents and grandparents interact with children and their effects on children's creative performance.

As grandparents' involvement in parenting becomes more common, it is valuable to understand the differences between grandparenting and parenting and how these differences affect children. To elucidate the differences between grandparenting and parenting and their effects on children's creativity performance, children's performance on creativity tasks after grandparent-child interactions and parent-child interactions were compared, and the behavioral differences between grandparents and parents when interacting with children were discussed. In this study, grandparents and parents were asked to interact with children separately, and creativity performance was measured before and after adult-child interactions. The results showed that children's creative performance improved significantly after parent-child interactions, while there was little change after grandparent-child interactions. In addition, according to parental investment theory, parents provided children with more cognitive and interpersonal resources during the interaction compared to grandparents.

The Effects of the Creator's Situation on Creativity Evaluation: The Rater's Cognitive Empathy and Affective Empathy Matter in Rating Creative Works.

Successful intelligence theory suggests that creativity is necessary for personal achievement outside of intelligence. Unlike intelligence, creativity can develop in a supportive environment. People should consider the situation of disadvantaged groups, which are characterized by low personal achievement and a bad growth environment in creativity evaluation from a caring perspective. This study focuses on the effect of the creator's situation on creative evaluation and the role of the rater's empathy (i.e., cognitive empathy and affective empathy) and sympathy in creative evaluation. Four pairs of creator's situations (by age, physical state, family situation, and economic state) were designed to represent people with disadvantages or advantages. A between-subject design was used with 590 undergraduate students randomly assigned to eight sub-conditions. The participants were asked to assess three products in eight situations. The rater's empathy and sympathy in creativity evaluation were explored in the overall disadvantage (N = 300) and advantage (N = 290) conditions. The results showed that the participants only provided significantly higher ratings to the creative product made by a child. Cognitive empathy only predicted a creative rating under disadvantaged conditions, and affective empathy negatively moderated this effect. Affective empathy only predicted a creative rating under advantage conditions, and cognitive empathy positively moderated this effect. Affective empathy only predicted a creative rating under advantage conditions, and cognitive empathy positively moderated this effect. The possible mechanisms of the effect and implications for the establishment of a supportive environment for creativity and creativity teaching practice were discussed.

Hope and Creative Self-Efficacy as Sequential Mediators in the Relationship Between Family Socioeconomic Status and Creativity.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate how socioeconomic status (SES) predicts individual creativity through the mediating roles of hope and creative self-efficacy (CSE). Participants were recruited from ten universities in Mainland China. Students' SES, hope, CSE, and creativity were assessed via the socioeconomic status scale, the adult hope scale, the creative self-efficacy scale, and the Runco Ideational Behavior Scale. Correlational analyses indicate that SES, creative ideation, hope, and CSE were significantly and positively associated with each other. Path analyses revealed that hope and CSE played sequential mediating roles in the link between SES and creative ideation. These findings suggest that hope and CSE underlie the effect of SES on individuals' creative ideation.

A systematic investigation of conceptual color associations.

Associations with colors are a rich source of meaning, and there has been considerable interest in understanding the capacity of color to shape our functioning and behavior as a result of color associations. However, abstract conceptual color associations have not been comprehensively investigated, and many of the effects of color on psychological functioning reported in the literature are therefore reliant on ad hoc rationalizations of conceptual associations with color (e.g., blue = openness) to explain effects. In the present work we conduct a systematic, cross-cultural, mapping of conceptual color associations using the full set of hues from the World Color Survey (WCS). In Experiments 1a and 1b we explored the conceptual associations that English monolingual, Chinese bilingual, and Chinese monolingual speaking adults have with each of the 11 Basic English Color Terms (black, white, red, yellow, green, blue, brown, purple, pink, orange, gray). In Experiment 2 we determined which specific physical WCS colors are associated with which concepts in these three language groups. The findings reveal conceptual color associations that appear to be universal across all cultures (e.g., white - purity; blue - water/skyrelated; green - health; purple - regal; pink - "female" traits) as well as culture specific (e.g., red and orange - enthusiastic in Chinese; red - attraction in English). Importantly, the findings provide a crucial constraint on, and resource for, future work that seeks to understand the effect of color on cognition and behavior, enabling stronger a priori predictions about universal as well as culturally relative effects of conceptual color associations on cognition and behavior to be systematically tested. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

High Schizotypal Individuals Are More Creative? The Mediation Roles of Overinclusive Thinking and Cognitive Inhibition.

Although a theoretical link between positive schizotypy and heightened creativity has been established in the literature, little empirical research has been conducted to examine the underlying cognitive processes that contribute to this association. In addition, previous studies found a negative relationship between positive schizotypy and cognitive inhibition; however, they often used the paradigm of latent inhibition. This study used the paradigm of prepotent response inhibition indicated by Stroop interference effect and examined the mediation effects of overinclusive thinking (OT) and cognitive inhibition on the creativity of schizotypal individuals. Two groups of low and high schizotypal individuals (N = 78) participated in the study. Each participant completed one OT task, one color-word Stroop task, three other executive functioning (EF) control tasks, and two creativity tasks. The results indicated that the high schizotypal group outperformed the low schizotypal group in the creativity tasks. They also exhibited higher OT as indicated by faster reaction time and higher cognitive inhibition as indicated by lower Stroop interference effect. Further, participant's levels of OT and cognitive inhibition partially mediated the relationship between schizotypy and creativity. The results were discussed under the context of schizotypy and creativity research and implications for rehabitation were further provided.

Awareness and Awakening: A Narrative-Oriented Inquiry of Undergraduate Students' Development of Mindful Agency in China.

The article explores undergraduate students' experiences of developing mindful agency as a positive learning disposition, their perceived change as a learner, and the possible impact of mindful agency coaching on students' learning and personal growth, using a narrative research method. Seventy Chinese undergraduate students generated personal reflective journals and eight participants' journals were selected to enter into the narrative-oriented inquiry. Our analysis revealed a number of primary themes based on which we produced a meta-story. The supplements of the story were exacted for further critical cross-case discussion. The finding indicated that the multifaceted development of mindful agency involved learning methods, emotional regulation, strategic thinking, and awareness of planning, openness to experience, self-acceptance and self-esteem, and learning engagement, with enhanced sense of personal awareness and awakening. The coaching was supportive for students to foster positive self-identities and become more reflective, mindful, and self-determined.

From PBL tutoring to PBL coaching in undergraduate medical education: an interpretative phenomenological analysis study.

BACKGROUND: Coaching psychology is of increasing interest to medical educators for its potential benefits as a facilitative method in problem-based learning (PBL). However, the field lacks empirical studies that explore the lived experiences of students and tutors in the PBL coaching process. This study aimed to elicit knowledge regarding medical students' and tutors' experiences and perceptions of PBL coaching in the context of Chinese undergraduate medical education. METHODS: The qualitative methodology of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was employed. Participants comprised third year medical students (n=20) and PBL tutors (n=5) who have adopted a coaching approach in PBL for a semester. Semi-structured interviews were utilized to obtain a comprehensive understanding of their experiences of PBL coaching. Data analysis followed an iterative four-stage scheme of Biggerstaff and Thompson. RESULTS: Six main themes emerged from diverse experiences and interpretations: 1) mindsets of coaching and learning, 2) the development of learning dispositions and capacities, 3) student group collaboration, 4) tutor-student relationships, 5) personal and professional development, and 6) challenges and difficulties in implementation. CONCLUSIONS: It could be concluded that PBL coaching is a dynamic, facilitative process that makes a particular contribution to the learning process from psychological, emotional, and social perspectives, whilst it demonstrates significant overlaps with PBL tutoring in terms of supporting students' cognitive activities in PBL. Further research is needed to identify the barriers and challenges for medical educators to implement coaching in the PBL process.