To study the different mechanisms of understanding figurative language in a speaker’s native language and their second language, this study investigated how scientific metaphors in Chinese and English are electrophysiologically processed via event-related potential experimentation. Compared with the metaphors from daily life or in literary works, scientific metaphors tend to involve both a more complicated context structure and a distinct knowledge-inferencing process. During the N400 time window, English scientific metaphors elicited more negative N400s than Chinese ones at the parietal region. (...) In the late positive component time window, English scientific metaphors elicited less positive LPCs than Chinese ones at the parietal region, and larger late negativities encompassing smaller areas of the brain. The findings might indicate that for late unbalanced bilingual speakers, L2 scientific metaphor comprehension requires more effort in information retrieval or access to the non-literal route. Altogether, the possible findings are that non-native and non-dominant language processing involves decreased automaticity of cognitive mechanisms, and decreased sensitivity to the levels of conventionality of metaphoric meanings. (shrink)

Using data of 26 cities in China from 2004 to 2017, the green total factor productivity is investigated by the SMM-GML method. The corresponding empirical analysis is conducted with the DID model. This paper investigates the relation between low-carbon pilot policy and green total factor productivity and discusses the mediating effect of industrial structure and the number of R&D staff. First, we find that LCC has a significant effect on pilot cities’ GTFP. And, it also promotes GTFP via industrial structure. (...) Second, LCC can improve industrial structure optimization and realization, and industrial structure realization affects GTFP significantly, while optimization cannot. Third, LCC cannot attract more RDS, and RDS harms local GDFP because of talent misallocation. At last, the rate of GTFP presented different upward trends in the order of non-eastern cities and eastern cities. The effect of LCC on GTFP is significant in non-eastern cities, but not eastern ones, which clearly demonstrates the imbalanced development of the green economy. Therefore, the governments of eastern and non-eastern regions should adopt different measures based on local conditions in industrial structure transformation and recruitment and strengthen environmental regulations to make the effect of the low-carbon policy lasting and promote GTFP growth balance in all regions. (shrink)

The role of the two hemispheres in processing metaphoric language is controversial. In order to complement current debates, the current divided visual field study introduced scientific metaphors as novel metaphors, presenting orientation mapping from the specific and familiar domains to the abstract and unfamiliar domains, to examine hemispheric asymmetry in metaphoric processing. Twenty-four Chinese native speakers from science disciplines took part in the experiment. The participants were presented with four types of Chinese word pairs: scientific metaphors, conventional metaphors, literal word (...) pairs, and unrelated word pairs. The first word in each pair was presented centrally, and the second was presented to the left visual field or the right visual field. Event-related potentials were recorded when participants read the target words and judged whether words in each pair were related. The data demonstrated that both hemispheres were involved at the initial stage of metaphor processing, but the right hemisphere took a more privileged role. The significant activation of the left hemisphere for scientific metaphoric processing supports the fine-coarse coding hypothesis. During right-visual-field presentation, the left hemisphere, responsible for the processing of closely related domains, has to integrate the loosely associated domains of scientific metaphor, which greatly increased cognitive taxes. Moreover, the data of late positive components revealed different hemispheric activation between scientific metaphors and conventional metaphors. Compared with literal pairs, conventional metaphors elicited significantly higher LPCs during right visual field presentation, while the scientific metaphor elicited significantly lower LPCs during left visual field presentation. These results suggest different processing mechanisms between novel metaphors and conventional metaphors and the special role of the right hemisphere in novel metaphoric processing at the later mapping stage. (shrink)

Supply chain financing guaranteed by third-party logistics firms is an effective way to solve the financing difficulties of small and medium-sized enterprises. Studies have explored factors that affect the willingness of supply chain financial credit providers under guarantee of 3PL firms. However, whether the scale of 3PL firms will affect the bank’s credit decision has not been studied, as well as the neural processing of credit decisions. To clarify these issues, this study extracted behavioral and event-related potentials data when participants (...) performed a selection task of judging whether to grant credit to guaranteed financing-seeking enterprises according to the large or small scale of the 3PL guaranteeing firms. The behavioral results showed that under the condition of a large-scale 3PL guaranteeing firm, the willingness to provide credit to SMEs was higher than that under the condition of a small-scale 3PL guaranteeing firm. This finding indicates there was credit scale discrimination against 3PL guaranteeing firms in supply chain finance. The ERP results showed that compared with the condition of a large-scale 3PL guaranteeing firm, a greater N2 amplitude was induced under the condition of a small-scale 3PL guaranteeing firm, which indicated that credit decision makers experienced greater perceived risk and more decision-making conflict. In contrast, a larger LPP amplitude was detected under the condition of a large-scale 3PL guaranteeing firm, which indicated that large-scale 3PL guaranteeing firms received more positive comments and more positive emotions from credit decision makers than small-scale 3PL guaranteeing firms. Based on these results, this study reveals the cognition process of credit decision makers regarding the impact of the 3PL guaranteeing firm scale on the willingness to provide credit in supply chain finance and explains the theory of credit scale discrimination from the perspective of decision neuroscience. (shrink)

Reinforcement learning relies on the reward prediction error (RPE) signals conveyed by the midbrain dopamine system. Previous studies showed that dopamine plays an important role in both positive and negative reinforcement. However, whether various reinforcement processes will induce distinct learning signals is still unclear. In a probabilistic learning task, we examined RPE signals in different reinforcement types using an electrophysiology index, namely, the feedback-related negativity (FRN). Ninety-four participants were randomly assigned into four groups: base (no money incentive), positive reinforcement (presentation (...) of money rewards), negative reinforcement (removal of money losses), and combined reinforcement (money rewards and removal of money losses) groups. In addition, in order to evaluate the engagement of emotional activity in the different reinforcement processes, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-Expanded Form (PANAS-X) scales were applied before and after the experiment to detect the emotional changes. The results showed that there was no difference between groups in the dopamine-related learning bias. However, compared to the other three groups, negative reinforcement elicited smaller FRN (the difference-wave measure) during the learning, stronger positive affect and joviality, and less fatigue after the learning, in which the difference between the negative and positive reinforcement groups was smaller. The results indicated that pure avoidance motivation may induce distinct emotional fluctuations, which influence the feedback processing. (shrink)

This study aimed to explore the association between the functioning of family environment and academic burnout of Chinese college students as well as the mediating effects of the interpersonal resource and intrapersonal resource [i.e., positive psychological capital ] in this relationship. A total of 1971 Chinese undergraduates were involved in an online questionnaire survey and data analysis. It was found that family cohesion and adaptability was negatively related to academic burnout. Mediation analyses demonstrated that family cohesion and adaptability did not (...) directly affect academic burnout, but indirectly through increasing PsyCap, and through enhancing peer support and then increasing PsyCap in serial. Meanwhile, the relationship between family cohesion and adaptability and academic burnout was not mediated by peer support alone. These findings highlight the family environment’s crucial role in youth mental health and positive development in the college context. (shrink)