Fourteen-month-olds know what others experience only in joint engagement

We investigated how 14‐month‐old infants know what others know. In two studies, an infant played with each of two objects in turn while an experimenter was present. Then the experimenter left the room, and the infant played with a third object with an assistant. The experimenter returned, faced all three objects, and said excitedly ‘Look! Can you give it to me?’ In Study 1, the experimenter experienced each of the first two toys in episodes of joint visual engagement (without manipulation) with the infant. In response to her excited request infants gave the experimenter the object she did not know, thus demonstrating that they knew which ones she knew. In Study 2, infants witnessed the experimenter jointly engage around each of the experienced toys with the assistant, from a third‐person perspective. In response to her request, infants did not give the experimenter the object she had not experienced. In combination with other studies, these results suggest that to know what others have experienced 14‐month‐old infants must do more than just perceive others perceiving something; they must engage with them actively in joint engagement.     

Increased hedonic differences despite increases in hedonic range

Viewing hedonically negative paintings increased the hedonic ratings of subsequently viewed test paintings (positive hedonic contrast; Experiment 1) and also increased the degree of preference between the test paintings (Experiments 2 and 3). This result differs from the reduction in hedonic preference (hedonic condensation) that accompanies negative hedonic contrast. It also differs from the reduction in perceived differences that usually accompanies expansion of stimulus range and that is predicted by numerous theories.     

Subjective experience and the attentional lapse: task engagement and disengagement during sustained attention

Three experiments investigated the relationship between subjective experience and attentional lapses during sustained attention. These experiments employed two measures of subjective experience (thought probes and questionnaires) to examine how differences in awareness correspond to variations in both task performance (reaction time and errors) and psycho-physiological measures (heart rate and galvanic skin response). This series of experiments examine these phenomena during the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART, Robertson, Manly, Adrade, Baddeley, & Yiend, 1997). The results suggest we can dissociate between two components of subjective experience during sustained attention: (A) task unrelated thought which corresponds to an absent minded disengagement from the task and (B) a pre-occupation with one's task performance that seems to be best conceptualised as a strategic attempt to deploy attentional resources in response to a perception of environmental demands which exceed ones ability to perform the task. The implications of these findings for our understanding of how awareness is maintained on task relevant material during periods of sustained attention are discussed.     

The categorization effect in hedonic contrast: Experts differ from novices

Test stimuli are rated as less “good” when they follow very good context stimuli than when they are presented alone. This diminution in rating is called hedonic contrast. Contrast is attenuated if the context and the test stimuli are perceived as being in different categories. Because experts use as their basic-level categories what are the subordinate levels for novices, they will categorize when novices do not. Therefore, in the following studies, both experts and novices showed hedonic contrast when attractive context orchids preceded more neutral test orchids. However, only the novices showed hedonic contrast when attractive context irises preceded the test orchids. Novices viewed the irises and the orchids as “flowers” and therefore members of the same category, resulting in contrast. Experts, however, viewed the irises and the orchids as being in different categories; therefore, hedonic contrast did not occur.     

Individual differences in hedonic capacity

Hedonic capacity--an individuals ability to experience pleasurable affect--is important, not Only in accounting for the development of psychopathology but in understanding normal personality as well. In this article, the development and validation of three scales of hedonic capacity are described. One scale consists of MMPI items, a second consists of CPI items, and the third combines items from both inventories. These scales demonstrated acceptable internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Initial support for the construct validity of the scales was also obtained. Because they have been constructed from the MMPI and CPI, the scales described in this article can be used to address important questions in research on schizophrenia, depression, and normal personality with a wide variety of data that has already been collected.     

Novelty,complexity, and hedonic value

Two experiments, in which Ss were exposed to sequences of colored shapes, investigated effects on ratings of “pleasingness” and “interestingness” of variables that had previously been shown to affect ratings of “novelty.” The results indicate, on the whole, that both pleasingness and interestingness increase with novelty. These findings run counter to those of experiments indicating an inverse relation between novelty and verbally expressed preference. Two further experiments examined effects of some variables that might account for this apparent discrepancy. Homogeneous sequences declined in judged “pleasantness” more than sequences in which several stimuli were interspersed, and simple stimuli became less pleasant as they became less novel, while complex stimuli declined less or became more pleasant. The findings are related to hypotheses regarding mechanisms of hedonic value. Two crucial predictions were confirmed in a fifth experiment.     

Value congruence and teachers’ work engagement: The mediating role of autonomous and controlled motivation

This study aimed to examine the importance of value congruence in work engagement and to extend the previous literature by investigating the potential mediating effects of autonomous and controlled motivation in this relationship. The Perceived Value Congruence, Autonomous and Controlled Motivation and Work Engagement scales were administered to 767 teachers in Mainland China. Correlation analysis revealed that value congruence, autonomous and controlled motivation and work engagement were significantly correlated with each other. Furthermore, structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis showed that value congruence exerted its indirect effect on teacher’s work engagement through the mediating effect of autonomous and controlled motivation. These findings provide a new perspective to explain the complex association between value congruence and work engagement. The possible explanations and the research limitations are discussed.     

Career engagement: bridging career counseling and employee engagement

A model of career engagement is presented to help bridge the gap between career counselors' focus on supporting individuals to find meaningful work and employers' desire for an engaged, productive, and committed workforce.     

Matching-based hedonic scaling in the pigeon

Four slightly hungry pigeons chose between pairs of grains in a Findley concurrent choice procedure. For Condition I, choice involved hemp versus buckwheat; for Condition II, wheat versus buckwheat; and for Condition III, hemp versus wheat. In all conditions, frequency of reinforcement was arranged according to concurrent variable-interval variable-interval schedules. On the assumption that subjects matched their behavior and time distributions to those of reinforcer value, the choice functions obtained in Conditions I and II were transformed to yield estimates of values of hemp and wheat relative to buckwheat. These, in turn, provided predictions about behavior and time allocation in Condition III. In general, the predicted outcomes were close to those actually obtained. The results evidence the effectiveness of matching-based hedonic scales in the prediction of choice between qualitatively different reinforcers.     

Religiousness,spirituality, and eudaimonic and hedonic well-being

This study tested a conceptual model of religiousness/spirituality (R/S) and hedonic well-being (HWB; measured by life satisfaction and positive affect) by including eudaimonic well-being (EWB; measured by meaning in life) as a mediator. Given the multidimensionality of R/S, we examined whether and how the magnitudes of direct and indirect relationships varied for various aspects of R/S: organizational religious practices, private religious practices, daily religious/spiritual experiences, and subjective spirituality. Web survey data of 450 US American adults were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results showed that EWB partially mediated the relation of daily religious/spiritual experiences and HWB; however, the other three aspects of R/S had no indirect relationships with HWB. Additionally, private religious practices and subjective spirituality indicated negative direct relationships with HWB. Approximately 68% of the variance in HWB was accounted for by the variables included in this model. Implications for research and clinical practice are discussed.     

How achievement motive enactment shapes daily flow experience and work engagement: The interplay of personality systems

Motivation and Emotion - In the present study, we examined how different forms of achievement motive interact to predict daily flow experience and work engagement. In particular, we conducted two...     

享乐适应理论的发展及应用

随着全民关注幸福的时代到来, 享乐适应理论作为研究幸福的钥匙, 引起了多学科的广泛关注。文章首先从享乐适应的内涵、与幸福感的关系、发生机制、减缓方式出发进行文献梳理与评述, 接着重点探讨享乐适应理论在消费行为学、经济学、组织行为学等领域的应用研究, 以期为个体提升幸福感及企业通过提升消费者与员工的幸福感来强化他们对企业的正面认知提供帮助。未来应不断扩展享乐适应理论的应用范围, 重点关注各领域中变动的主体及形式对享乐适应的影响。     

Toddlers’ joint engagement experience facilitates preschoolers’ acquisition of theory of mind

Forty‐two children participated in a longitudinal study that investigated the relationship between their joint engagement experience when toddlers and their development of theory of mind when preschoolers. Controlling for language comprehension at 30 months, higher preschool false belief scores were associated with more time in coordinated joint engagement earlier (18–21 mo, β= .34) and in symbol‐infused joint engagement later (27–30 mo, β= .35) in toddlerhood. Findings suggest that the early foundation of theory of mind development is laid as toddlers attend to both social‐emotional and symbolic aspects of shared events.     

Mind and material engagement

Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences - Material Engagement Theory (MET), which forms the focus of this special issue, is a relatively new development within cognitive archaeology and...     

Distinctions between hedonic and eudaimonic well-being: Results from a day reconstruction study among Norwegian jobholders

The study suggests that hedonic and eudaimonic well-being can be studied by theoretical and empirical analysis of subjective feelings. In this approach, pleasure is the hallmark of hedonism, and engagement serves as the core feeling of eudaimonia. The Day Reconstruction Method was used to investigate the assumption that overall life satisfaction predicts hedonic feelings but not eudaimonic feelings during a workday. Perceived job control was hypothesized to predict eudaimonic feelings but not hedonic feelings. Questionnaire data from 120 Norwegian jobholders were analyzed, providing support for the hypothesis. Moreover, pleasure was found to be relatively unrelated to engagement, and perceived control was basically unrelated to life satisfaction. The results are discussed against the background that hedonism and eudaimonia are two independent parts of a multidimensional concept of well-being.     

Evaluation as a function of correspondence and hedonic relevance

An experiment was conducted to test and refine some of the implications of Jones and Davis' (1965) model of the attribution process in person perception. Subjects read anecdotes about actors who performed either in-role (low correspondence) or out-of-role (high correspondence) behaviors which were positive, negative, or neutral in the subject's estimation (hedonic relevance). Respect and admiration for the actor were influenced by both hedonic relevance and correspondence (did the action reflect an inner attribute?), but liking and friendship were affected by hedonic relevance only. The implications for the evaluation process in person perception were discussed.