S+ versus S− Fading in prompting procedures with autistic children

The purpose of this investigation was to assess the relative effectiveness of two prompt-fading procedures for teaching difficult visual discriminations to autistic children. Both prompt procedures involved within-stimulus fading where manipulation occurred on the relevant component of the discrimination. One procedure involved fading first along the S+ stimulus, while holding the S? stimulus constant. The other procedure involved fading first along the S? stimulus, while holding the S+ stimulus constant. Eight autistic children were each taught two discriminations, one by each of the prompt procedures. Results indicated that for all but one child, the discriminations were acquired significantly faster, with fewer errors, when the S+ stimulus was faded first. These findings are related to the literature on the effects of stimulus novelty on selection and learning.     

Teaching autistic children to respond to simultaneous multiple cues

A number of studies have shown that autistic children tend to learn new discriminations by responding to only a restricted number of available cues and that this may be responsible for some of their abnormal behavior. Therefore, this investigation assessed the feasibility of teaching autistic children to respond to multiple cues. The results showed that four autistic children could learn a conditional discrimination requiring them to discriminate a multiple-cue complex from each of its two component cues. However, the autistic children did not learn this discrimination in the same manner as normal children. In the early trials, the autistics responded at a higher level to one of the two component cues. Only after many trials did the autistics respond equally on the basis of both component cues. The results of an initial attempt to teach a general set to respond to multiple cues showed that, when an autistic child was taught a series of successive conditional discriminations, the child eventually learned a set to approach new discriminations by responding equally on the basis of both component cues. The results are discussed in terms of understanding and treating autistic children's abnormal development.     

Developmental differences in the role of detail in picture recognition memory

Two experiments assess the effect of the amount of physical detail in pictures on picture recognition memory. Children and adults were presented simple and complex line drawings. A “same-different” recognition test followed in which the distractor items were original pictures from the presentation phase with the amount of physical detail altered. For second- and fourth-grade subjects, recognition sensitivity, measured in terms of d′, was similar for pictures in the simple and complex presentation conditions. For adults, however, recognition sensitivity was greater for pictures in the simple than complex presentation condition. This finding with adults was replicated in Experiment 2. Interpretations of this age difference in picture memory processing are discussed, as well as the constraints imposed by various dependent measures used in picture memory studies.     

Developmental changes in conditional reasoning: Linguistic or logical?

This study investigated reasoning with abstract conditional sentences as a function of age. Subjects from third-grade to eleventh-grade were required to evaluate the conclusion of several conditional arguments. The results confirmed the previously established finding that performance improves with age, particularly between 11 and 15 years. This finding could be interpreted to indicate that individuals become more logical as they get older. However, another possible interpretation is that the meaning of a conditional sentence like pthenq for naive Ss may not always be given by the truth function pq true, $\text{p}\text{q}$ false, $\text{p}\text{q}$ true, and $\text{p}\text{q}$ true. Further analysis suggested that at 9 years individuals treat the connective in the sentence, ifpthenq, as if it were either a conjunctive or a biconditional, that the conjunctive meaning disappears with increasing age and after 13 years is gradually superceded by the conditional.     

Teaching autistic children to use extra-stimulus prompts

Autistic children often do not transfer from extra-stimulus prompts, and thus do not utilize a frequent learning aid. It has been hypothesized that this is due to stimulus overselectivity; a failure to respond to simultaneous multiple cues. This study was designed to determine if autistic children who initially respond only to single cues can be taught a set to respond to two cues and subsequently utilize an extra-stimulus (pointing) prompt. Four autistic children were pretested to determine if they could learn a complex visual discrimination by either trial and error or an extra-stimulus prompt fading procedure. Since they did not, the children were then taught to respond to two cues through a multiple-cue training procedure and subsequently tested to determine if they could now utilize a pointing prompt. Results indicated that while all four children initially did not transfer from an extra-stimulus (pointing) prompt, they did so subsequent to multiple-cue training. The results are discussed in terms of implications for treatment (remediating overselectivity) and in relation to normal child development.     

Interpreting social-sexual behavior in a work setting

The influx of women into the work force, especially into nontraditional jobs, has facilitated interest in the topic of sexual harassment and, more generally, sexuality at work. Survey research data show disagreement about the interpretation of interactions between the sexes at work. This study was designed to learn more about the way people interpret ambiguous, but potentially sexual, interactions between the sexes in a work setting. Respondents were asked to evaluate a vignette depicting such an interaction. The vignettes were composed so that three dimensions were manipulated: the sex of the initiator of the behavior, the status of the initiator relative to the target, and the type of behavior. These manipulated dimensions, along with the sex of the respondent, were used as variables to examine the respondent's interpretation of the vignettes. Four-way ANOVAs showed that the independent variables were related to the evaluation of the relationship between the initiator and the target, the evaluation of the behavior, the appropriateness of the behavior, and the likelihood of the behavior. Men interpreted the vignettes more positively than did women. Incidents initiated by women were viewed more positively. Those initiated by persons with higher status than the target were seen less positively. Respondents, especially women, considered incidents that included touching to be negative. This was especially so when the touching was combined with a comment on work, and this effect was exacerbated when the behavior was initiated by a male and/or higher status person.     

An empirical test of the covariation analysis in causal attribution

The present investigation was designed to reveal the cognitive inference processes associated with both detection and utilization of covariation information in causal attribution. Male undergraduates were (a) informed that a test was easy or difficult and shown a videotape in which (b) the test-taker's performance was high or low, and (c) covariation between the test-taker's effort expenditure and trial-by-trial outcome was present or absent. High performance was attributed to the test-taker's effort and ability, whereas low performance was attributed to the difficulty of the test. However, recognition of the covariance relationship decreased the attribution of high performance to ability and of low performance to test difficulty and increased the attribution of low performance to effort. Effort attribution in the high performance condition was independent of covariation information. The results are discussed in terms of the relationship between covariation information and typical beliefs about the causes of achievement outcomes.     

The influence of component participation and role models on goal acceptance, goal satisfaction, and performance

The present investigation examined the effects of different types of participation (choice) and role models in goal setting on goal acceptance, goal satisfaction, and performance. It was hypothesized that choice in setting a goal and a strategy to achieve the goal would positively benefit goal acceptance, performance, and goal satisfaction. In addition, it was predicted that a role model would differentially influence an individual's goal acceptance, goal satisfaction, and performance. One hundred twenty male college students working on a class scheduling task were exposed to either a high- or low-performing role model and given various amounts of choice in the goal-setting process. The results of two-way analyses of variance demonstrated that goal acceptance, goal satisfaction, and performance were highest for individuals given choice over their goal and their strategy to achieve the goal. In addition, the results demonstrated that an individual exposed to a high-performing role model outperformed and had higher goal acceptance and satisfaction than an individual exposed to a low-performing model. The results are discussed as a means for clarifying the effects of different types of choice in the goal-setting process and the importance of role-provided information in influencing an individual's performance.     

Effects of personal causation and perceived control on responses to an aversive environment: The more control,the better

A laboratory experiment was conducted to investigate the effects on reactions to aversive noise of three types of personal control: control over the initiation of noise, control over its termination, and combined control over both initiation and termination. On an attention-to-detail measure which occurred concurrently with noise stimulation, subjects' error rates decreased linearly as degree of control increased. Likewise, on a post-noise measure of task persistence, subjects' performance rates increased linearly across the three conditions as degree of control increased. Results were discussed in terms of Seligman's theory of learned helplessness and deCharms' theory of personal causation, and the motivational effects of personal control were emphasized.     

Morning and evening people: Examination of an identifying scale and of social- and self-perceptions of personality differences

An experiment was conducted aimed first at establishing the reliability and validity of a measure of individual differences in sleeping schedules. Two samples of subjects completed a questionnaire concerning their sleeping behavior which was scored according to the diurnal or nocturnal pattern of their responses. The scores were then used to classify subjects as morning people or evening people. Both the internal reliability and cross-time reliability of the scale were assessed and found to be high. In addition, three indices of construct validity, obtained 4 months after the administration of the scale, supported its validity. In a second part of the experiment, subjects classified as either morning or evening people rated themselves on a set of behavioral and personality dimensions. Another sample of subjects indicated their perceptions of morning people and evening people in general, along the same dimensions. It was found that subjects did have strong beliefs about personality and behavioral differences between morning people and evening people. However, the self-perceptions of the actual morning and evening people did not differ, thereby casting doubt on the validity of popular stereotypic perceptions about the two groups.     

Learning techniques for alcohol abuse

Eighteen month follow-up data are presented for two projects evaluating the effectiveness of learning techniques for treating alcohol abuse and achieving moderation using three groups of subjects-inpatient alcoholics, outpatient alcoholics and problem drinkers. Subjects received various combinations of the following procedures: videotape self-confrontation of drunken comportment, blood alcohol concentration discriminating training, aversion training for overconsumption, avoidance practice, behavior counseling and alternatives training, and alcohol education. While the loss of subjects was considerable between 12 and 18 months follow-up, the data were very similar. Subjects in all groups improved in terms of reductions in alcohol intake and on drinking-related variables. Significant between-groups differences in favor of subjects whose training included actual experience in drinking moderately were found only for the inpatient alcoholics. In this research, the best candidate for moderation was the less chronic. younger drinker with a relatively lower alcohol intake, a more stable vocational record and no history of hospitalization for alcohol abuse or physical deterioration from drinking. We believe that the techniques with the greatest potential for the prevention and treatment of alcohol abuse are videotape self-confrontation, blood alcohol discrimination training, and alcohol education/alternatives training.     

动态系统累积变量判断中的关联启发式

关联启发式是指在累积变量判断中, 将存量与流量建立正相关关系, 认为存量变化特征与流量变化特征具有相似性而导致判断偏差的思维模式。在多特征交互及简单动态系统任务判断中, 关联启发式偏差以不同形式的S-F错误表现出来。作为一种内生性的、顽固的思维模式, 对于关联启发式的心理机制提出了客体偏差、特征替代、不充分调整等多种观点解释。影响关联启发式的个体因素和情境因素的研究结果不尽一致。由于关联启发式偏差直接影响人对复杂系统的可持续性决策和行动, 减少偏差策略的研究也已实现起步。本文系统总结和分析了关联启发式研究的发展脉络, 针对澄清关联启发式的发生机制、系统考察关联启发式的影响因素及其相互作用、丰富和深化关联启发式的研究范式、开发减少关联启发式的有效途径等方面, 提出了深化研究的方向和思路。     

活力：一个历久弥新的研究课题

活力是指个体能够运用身体和心理的能量, 展现富有生机的精神面貌而且行动有力。当个体有活力时, 会体验到源自自体的一种激情、生机和能量。活力的典型成分是能量、警醒和生机。当前, 活力对个体的影响研究主要体现在身心健康、工作和学习领域以及人生幸福等方面。对活力的影响因素研究主要集中在体育锻炼、冥想、外在物理环境以及人际环境等方面。在今后的研究中, 要加强对活力的理论建构、深入开展实证研究、应用研究以及本土化研究。     

一种齐当别思想下的量子决策模型：对囚徒困境中的分离效应的解释

量子决策模型是近10年来提出的一种新型决策模型, 用以解释那些违背经典决策模型的现象。虽然当前的量子决策模型能够解释囚徒困境中的分离效应, 但其中却存在一些困难, 即会产生反常的概率关系以及无法精确拟合分离效应量较大的实验结果。本研究在分析当前量子决策模型困难的基础上, 结合齐当别思想对模型进行改进和优化。结果表明, 研究所构建的量子决策模型克服了当前模型中的困难, 并且能够预测囚徒困境博弈中由他人收益差距改变而引起的分离效应变化趋势。本研究还是一次启发式决策模型与计算式决策模型相结合的探索。     

Bible Beliefs,Conservative Religious Identity,and Same‐Sex Marriage Support: Examining Main and Moderating Effects

Research finds that Americans who espouse theologically conservative beliefs about the Bible generally oppose same‐sex marriage. Studies exploring this link, however, have been limited in that their operationalization of fundamentalist belief has been problematically conceptualized and they have potentially confounded the effect of conservative religious identity. The current study asks: (1) How do distinct beliefs about the nature and authority of the Bible influence same‐sex marriage support? (2) Do these beliefs influence same‐sex marriage support independently of conservative religious identity? (3) To what extent do Bible beliefs and conservative religious identity moderate one another's effects? And (4) to what extent are these factors moderated by religious tradition and frequency of Bible reading? Analyses of 2006 Portraits of American Life Study data reveal that while identifying as religiously conservative is the strongest predictor of opposition to same‐sex marriage, believing in inerrancy and creationism remain strong predictors in full models. I also find moderating effects between belief in creationism, inerrancy, inspiration; religious‐conservative identity; and religious tradition. Findings clarify how theological beliefs and religious identity shape support for same‐sex marriage across religious traditions.     

中国人的内隐辩证自我：基于内隐联想测验(IAT)的测量

作为一种文化构念, 朴素辩证从文化与认知的角度诠释了中国人基于民众理论的思维方式。本研究首次采用内隐联想测验（IAT）的方法测量内隐层面朴素辩证概念与自我以及自我相近概念在东方被试认知中的联结, 探讨东方人内隐层面的辩证自我。文章通过2个IAT实验发现, 中国人将“我”和辩证思维词汇归为一类, 将“非我”和线性思维归为一类时反应速度更快; 且他们将“朋友”和辩证思维词汇归为一类, 将“敌人”和线性思维词汇归为一类时反应速度更快。这表明在内隐层面上, 东方人确实将辩证概念与自我以及自我相近概念联系得更为紧密。     

工作场所中他人感知的员工工作-家庭冲突：刻板印象视角

以往研究发现工作场所中他人感知的员工工作-家庭冲突对员工工作结果具有重要影响, 但相关研究处于起步阶段。在文献回顾的基础上, 从刻板印象理论出发, 提出可能影响他人感知员工工作-家庭冲突的工作、家庭相关因素; 采用能力-热情维度框架探讨他人感知员工工作-家庭冲突的作用机制及其结果。今后研究可在整合工作-家庭冲突研究和刻板印象理论的基础上, 对他人感知员工工作-家庭冲突的形成及人际效用机制等方面进行拓展。