Symbolic distance and congruity effects for paired-comparisons judgments of degree of self-reference

Two experiments are reported which speak to the properties of the process of self-reference. The first demonstrated a “symbolic distance effect” for self-reference. An inverse linear relation was found between item difference on a self-referent continuum and the time required to judge which of a pair of adjectives best described the respondent. The second experiment failed to demonstrate a “congruity effect” in a situation where subjects decided which of a pair of adjectives BEST or LEAST described them. This failure was interpreted as support for the proposition that the self functions as an immovable, rigid, and fixed reference point during the processing of personal information. Discussion focused upon how this fixed reference point property helps understand some other research findings.     

On the relationship between the psychological environment and the development of individual differences in abilities

Some previous attempts at dimensionalizing human psychological environments are briefly considered. The problem is reformulated within the context of the development of dimensions of individual differences in abilities. The human psychological environment is viewed within the context of general systems theory. The latter permits an integrated view with respect to dimensions of the psychological environment and dimensions of individual differences within a developmental context. Critical in this formulation is the idea that, within the framework of the development of individual differences, it is of value to postulate the dimensions of the psychological environment as isomorphic to dimensions of individual differences.     

An analysis of two central stages underlying responding to personality items: The self-referent decision and response selection

A technique for isolating substages in a processing sequence (Sternberg, 1969) was used to examine two central stages in a postulated model of responding to personality items. The Self-Referent Decision (SRD) stage, where item content is compared to stored memory elements, and the Response Selection Stage, where the output of the SRD is mapped into available response alternatives, were analyzed to determine if they could be seen as separate stages. Results indicated that a modular model that viewed these two stages as being separate was supported. These results were also discussed in relation to existing models of item responding processes and the dichotomous/Likert response format issue.     

Children's perceptions of major positive and negative events and factors in single-parent families

A study was designed to tap children's perceptions of the divorce situation as opposed to adults' perceptions of the child's response to the parental divorce. Subjects were 75 boys and 75 girls from mother- and father-headed families. Using an individual structured interview procedure children were encouraged to reconstruct both positive and negative dimensions of their interactions with the custodial parent. Through factor analyses of the contents of interviews four negative and two positive factors involving 20 specific items were identified in the children's perceptual data. Subsequently, chi-square analyses were done to compare differences in girls' and boys' perceptions between and across father- and mother-headed families. Results are discussed in terms of their relationship with the existing literature and their clinical and educational relevance to children, single parents and professionals.     

Paternal correlates of adolescents' running away behaviors: Implications for adolescent development and considerations for intervention and treatment of adolescent runaways

In recent years, research concerned with deviance in adolescent behaviors has become increasingly focused on the extent to which fathers influence their children's development. The present study, using an interdependent and mediational model of parent-child correlates, examined the interrelationships between father personality attributes and adolescents' running away behaviors. Two hundred adolescents (96 males; 104 females) from lower middle class homes and their fathers cooperated in the study. Findings showed that there are specific father attributes and socialization characteristics and adolescent personality attributes which interact significantly to influence adolescents' running away behaviors. Specific predictors of male and female adolescents' running away were examined and identified by means of discriminant function analyses. The results were interpreted within the framework of a mediational model. Implications of the findings were discussed for adolescent development and intervention programs for adolescents and their fathers.     

Students' perceptions of female professors

This paper examines student attitudes towards academic women. The literature on females in male-dominated professions suggests that clients resent their authority, deny their competence, and accord them less prestige than men. One hundred and eighty one university students evaluated professors in terms of 21 semantic differential scales and an occupational prestige ranking instrument. Contrary to expectation, female professors were perceived as more competent than male instructors in both task and socio-emotional competence. Further, the males were not assigned a significantly higher prestige score. Despite Goldberg's (1968) conclusion that females are prejudiced against their own sex, the attitudes of the female students were the more favorable.     

The relationship of vocational decidedness and satisfaction with dogmatism and self-esteem

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of levels of vocational decidedness and the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of one's level of vocational decidedness with dogmatism and self-esteem. The results indicated that vocationally decided and undecided subjects represent uniquely different populations on measures of dogmatism and self-esteem.     

Conditions necessary for sand digging in laboratory rats

Continuous availability of a sand blocked tube elicited intense and persistent digging by laboratory rats. Neither training nor prior exposure to the apparatus were necessary for response initiation. Continuous presence of an open pile of sand would not elicit digging. No theoretical explanation is offered.     

The relationship between father absence and children's social problem solving competencies

Predictions of deficits in children's social problem-solving competencies due to early and continuing father absence were investigated. To test these predictions, equal numbers of father-present and father-absent third graders matched on a number of variables were assessed on measures of social problem-solving performance. In Phase 2 of the study, half of the children from the father-absent category received a 15 week intervention programme which was conducted by adult male trainers to provide structured practice in social problem solving. Results demonstrated that father-absent treatment subjects, compared to father-absent control subjects, improved their social problem-solving skills significantly. Despite improvement due to intervention, social problem-solving scores for father-absent treatment subjects were still below those for father-present control subjects. Educational and developmental implications of the findings were discussed.     

Resolution time and the coding of arithmetic relations on supraliminally different visual extents

Comparison time for pairs of vertical-line stimuli, sufficiently different that they can be errorlessly discriminated with respect to visual extent, was examined as a function of arithmetic relations (physical ratio and difference) on members of the pair. Arithmetic relations are coded very precisely by judgment time: Responses slow as stimulus ratios approach one with difference fixed, and as stimulus differences approach zero with ratio fixed. Most models which assume a simple (Difference or Ratio) resolution rule operating on independent sensations require judgment time to depend on either ratios or on differences but not on both. Further tests showed both an index based on median judgment times and a confusion index based on pairs of observed judgment times, satisfied the requirements for a Positive Difference Structure. One representation of these data, which remains acceptable through all analyses, is a Difference resolution rule operating on sensations determined by a power psychophysical function with β < 1. Specifically, L(x, y) = F{ψ(x) ? ψ(y)} + R, where L(x, y) is the judgment time with the stimulus pair x and y, ψ(x) = Ax^β + C, R is a positive constant, and F is a continuous monotone decreasing function.     

Domain specificity versus expertise: factors influencing distinct processing of faces

To explore face specificity in visual processing, we compared the role of task-associated strategies and expertise on the N170 event-related potential (ERP) component elicited by human faces with the ERPs elicited by cars, birds, items of furniture, and ape faces. In Experiment 1, participants performed a car monitoring task and an animacy decision task. In Experiment 2, participants monitored human faces while faces of apes were the distracters. Faces elicited an equally conspicuous N170, significantly larger than the ERPs elicited by non-face categories regardless of whether they were ignored or had an equal status with other categories (Experiment 1), or were the targets (in Experiment 2). In contrast, the negative component elicited by cars during the same time range was larger if they were targets than if they were not. Furthermore, unlike the posterior-temporal distribution of the N170, the negative component elicited by cars and its modulation by task were more conspicuous at occipital sites. Faces of apes elicited an N170 that was similar in amplitude to that elicited by the human face targets, albeit peaking 10 ms later. As our participants were not ape experts, this pattern indicates that the N170 is face-specific, but not specie-specific, i.e. it is elicited by particular face features regardless of expertise. Overall, these results demonstrate the domain specificity of the visual mechanism implicated in processing faces, a mechanism which is not influenced by either task or expertise. The processing of other objects is probably accomplished by a more general visual processor, which is sensitive to strategic manipulations and attention.     

Fundamental Beliefs,Origin Explanations and Perceived Effectiveness of Protection Measures: Exploring Laypersons' Chains of Reasoning About Influenza

Laypersons' chains of reasoning in explaining recent influenza outbreaks are investigated. Drawing on social representations theory, fundamental worldviews, that is, the belief in a dangerous world (BDW), are postulated to anchor explanations of disease origins, which in turn affect perceived effectiveness of protection measures. Our study, based on a longitudinal survey among the general public in Switzerland, showed that the lower people's BDW scores, the more they appeal to natural origins to explain outbreaks and the more they perceive official protection measures as effective. The higher people's BDW scores, the more they explain outbreaks via hygienic origins, which are linked with out‐group discrimination measures, and conspiracy origins, which are linked with lower perceived effectiveness of aid intervention measures. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

试论甲型H1N1流感防控中个体的道德责任

甲型H1N1的防控不仅是国家、政府、专门机构及专业人员的责任,同时也是每个社会成员应该承担的责任。个体责任缺失是甲型H1N1在我国流行的主要原因之一。导致个体道德责任缺失的原因主要包括：社会中主体的原子化对个体道德责任的排斥、非理性社会心理对个体道德责任的冲击和公共卫生防疫体制中薄弱环节对个体道德责任的影响。基于道德责任产生的基础不同,不同的个体应该承担不同的道德责任。     

Sign-tracking in aversive conditioning

Two experiments were conducted to determine if rats tend to avoid contact with a stimulus that signals the occurrence of shock and contact a stimulus that signals the nonoccurrence of shock. The conditioned stimulus was a 60-sec platform presentation, and the unconditioned stimulus was a 2-sec inescapable shock. In each experiment, the emphasis was on two types of Pavlovian pairings: forward pairing in which each platform presentation was followed by shock, and backward pairing in which each platform presentation was preceded by shock and followed by a lengthy shock-free interval. Experiment 1 showed that in comparison with Random and CS-only procedures, the backward procedure produced a significant increase in approach and contact with the platform, but the forward procedure failed to produce a significant decrease in contact with the platform. Experiment 2, in which all groups were roughly equated for baseline levels of platform preference, demonstrated strong effects of both forward and backward conditioning. The experiments provide evidence for an aversive sign-tracking system in which animals' tendencies to withdraw from or approach and contact a platform CS are determined by the Pavlovian contingencies which render it a reliable signal for the occurrence or nonoccurrence of shock.     

Sign-tracking behavior in aversive conditioning: Its acquisition via a Pavlovian mechanism and its suppression by operant contingencies

When rats are presented with Pavlovian backward pairings in which shock is the unconditioned stimulus (US) and an elevated platform the conditioned stimulus (CS), they show a strong tendency to approach the platform. Attempts were made at evaluating the nature of the associative mechanisms responsible for the acwuisition and maintenance of the approach behavior. In Experiment 1, following a baseline period when platform presentations were given in the absence of shocks, first (training I), approach to the platform was prevented and subjects were exposed to either backward, forward, or random presentations of shock and platform: this procedure attempted to minimize the effects of response learning on the acquisition of approach behavior. Then (training II), all subjects received backward shock-platform pairings and had access to the platform. Approach to the platform was stronger in animals previously exposed to backward pairings than in the animals of the other two groups. Also, animals preexposed to forward platform-shock pairings showed suppression of approach behavior on the first trial of training II relative to their performance on the last trial of baseline. These data suggest that a stimulus-reinforcer learning mechanism alone is sufficent for the acquisition of approach. Experiments 2a and 2b evaluated the effects of “punishing” operant contingencies on Pavlovian-produced approach behavior. The results showed that approach can be eliminated, but only after repeated exposure to an operant contingency which consisted of the immediate closure of the platform upon approach responding. These data suggest that approach behavior produced by Pavlovian contingencies can be modified by operant contingencies. Taken together, these data provide additional support for a sign-tracking notion in aversive conditioning.     

视觉工作记忆中基于客体的存储机制：来自ERPs的证据

该研究以简单形状和颜色构成的客体为材料,采用延迟匹配范式,通过记录事件相关电位,以反映工作记忆表征与知觉输入间冲突的N270为指标,就视觉工作记忆中的客体存储机制进行了探讨。结果发现,无关维度特征变化与目标维度特征变化均可诱发N270。该结果表明,视觉工作记忆对客体目标特征进行存储时,无关特征亦自动得到选择加工,支持基于客体的存储说。     

Personality and the effects of stress on recognition memory

The experiment examined the contribution of anxiety, extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism to recognition memory for pictures and words using a signal detection method. Independent groups of subjects performed a recognition memory task under one of four conditions (control, noise, threat, and reward) that was intended to capitalize on dispositions which characterize the personality dimensions. In an ego threat condition involving personal evaluation, introverts displayed a performance decrement relative to noise and reward conditions. Psychoticism was inversely related to performance in the noise and threat conditions and directly related in a reward condition. In general, J. A. Gray's (1981) model of anxiety and impulsiveness accommodates much of the data, but the mechanisms which mediate the influence of personality on memory performance are not clear.     

The Class of Extensions of Nelson's Paraconsistent Logic

The article is devoted to the systematic study of the lattice εN4_⊥ consisting of logics extending N4_⊥. The logic N4_⊥ is obtained from paraconsistent Nelson logic N4 by adding the new constant ⊥ and axioms ⊥ → p, p → ∼ ⊥. We study interrelations between εN4_⊥ and the lattice of superintuitionistic logics. Distinguish in εN4_⊥ basic subclasses of explosive logics, normal logics, logics of general form and study how they are relate. The author acknowledges support by the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung and by Counsil for Grants under RF President, project NSh - 2112.2003.1.     

音乐意义传递的神经证据——基于启动范式的发现与思考

使用语义启动(semantic priming)、概念启动(conceptual priming)、情感启动(affective priming)以及和声启动(harmonic priming)四种启动范式及其变式,认知神经科学的研究证实:音乐能够传递不同的意义,其主要的神经证据是两大脑电指标:对应于外在音乐意义(extra-musical meaning)的N400与对应于内在音乐意义(intra-musical meaning)的N5。对4种启动范式的分析发现:1)音乐以"语义"与"非语义"两种形式为媒介传递意义;2)启动范式的核心特征即是对基于"音乐知觉与图式"的"期望匹配与不匹配效应"的操作。与此同时,近期的研究表明N400与N5间的关系并非完全的"彼此独立",而是倾向于共存与共变,甚至是一个成分的两种表达。未来研究在进一步厘清音乐内、外在意义深层关联的同时,有必要将音乐意义传递的神经科学研究纳入到更为宏阔的时代、地域与社会性背景之中。