Facing up to the issues: Reply to Hellige (1983)

In a recent article in this journal, Hellige (Brain and Cognition, 2, 199-203, 1983) presented a critique of the chimeric-face technique that was used by us to validate a hand preference questionnaire. Data were presented by Hellige to show that the left visual field (LVF) bias that occurs on this task is due primarily to differences in detail in the features of the two faces and not because of right hemisphere dominance for face perception. In our rebuttal, we acknowledge that the two faces are not mirror-image duplicates of each other, but contend that this fact does not explain why differences between left-handers and right-handers have been observed on this task. Further data on the role of handedness as well as other variables impacting on this task are presented. A possible explanation is also offered for the rather small extent of LVF bias that Hellige obtained when he used corrected (i.e., true mirror-image) versions of Jaynes' chimeric faces.     

Methods for Influencing Social Policy: The Role of Social Experiments

Research methods in community psychology have grown more diverse since the Swampscott conference, but rigorous social experiments maintain a place among the multiplicity of methods that can promote community psychology values. They are particularly influential in policy circles. Two examples of social experiments to end homelessness for different populations illustrate their role. Both studies show that offering extremely poor and disenfranchised people autonomy and the resources they seek works better than “helping” them to overcome deficits in ways designed by well‐meaning service providers. Experiments are neither the first nor the last method community psychologists should employ, but are a critical part of the field's armamentarium for systems change.     

摆在现代外科医师面前的若干矛盾现象

随着自然和社会科学的进步,现代外科在得到了空前发展的同时,许多矛盾现象也摆在外科医师的面前,例如:手术和非手术、手术扩大与缩小、手工操作和器械使用、手术实施和手术风险、经验主义和循证、临床治愈和健康之间的矛盾,如何正视和解决这些矛盾问题,关系到到现代外科学长远发展.     

摆在现代外科医师面前的若干矛盾现象

随着自然和社会科学的进步,现代外科在得到了空前发展的同时,许多矛盾现象也摆在外科医师的面前,例如手术和非手术、手术扩大与缩小、手工操作和器械使用、手术实施和手术风险、经验主义和循证、临床治愈和健康之间的矛盾,如何正视和解决这些矛盾问题,关系到到现代外科学长远发展。     

Social Constructionism and Ethics: Implications for Counseling

Social constructionism is set forth as an epistemological framework from which to establish an ethical base for the field of counseling. The development of the social constructionist movement in counseling is described. Implications of a social constructionist position are considered in relation to ethics. A case example is provided to illustrate implications of a social constructionist position.     

Feminist Facing up to the Logical Foundation of Dualist Philosophy: A Sequentialist Approach

Axiomathes - There is a robust tendency within the contemporary feminist mainstream to argue against and ultimately reject the so-called ‘dualising or dualist philosophy’ (associated...     

Counselling in the Post Office: Facing up to the legal and ethical dilemmas

The legal and ethical dilemmas faced by counsellors working in organisations are outlined, together with the need for the counselling profession to set clear competency and supervision standards for practitioners.     

Representations of Complexity: How Nature Appears in Our Theories

In science we study processes in the material world. The way these processes operate can be discovered by conducting experiments that activate them, and findings from such experiments can lead to functional complexity theories of how the material processes work. The results of a good functional theory will agree with experimental measurements, but the theory may not incorporate in its algorithmic workings a representation of the material processes themselves. Nevertheless, the algorithmic operation of a good functional theory may be said to make contact with material reality by incorporating the emergent computations the material processes carry out. These points are illustrated in the experimental analysis of behavior by considering an evolutionary theory of behavior dynamics, the algorithmic operation of which does not correspond to material features of the physical world, but the functional output of which agrees quantitatively and qualitatively with findings from a large body of research with live organisms.     

Improving Our Understanding of Impaired Social Problem-Solving in Children and Adolescents with Conduct Problems: Implications for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review - In cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) children and adolescents with conduct problems learn social problem-solving skills that enable them to behave in...     

Social Neuroscience: Progress and Implications for Mental Health

ABSTRACT— Social neuroscience is a new, interdisciplinary field devoted to understanding how biological systems implement social processes and behavior. Social neuroscience capitalizes on biological concepts and methods to inform and refine theories of social behavior, and it uses social and behavioral constructs and data to inform and refine theories of neural organization and function. We focus here on the progress and potential of social neuroscience in the area of mental health. Research in social neuroscience has grown dramatically in recent years. Among the most active areas of research we found are brain-imaging studies in normal children and adults; animal models of social behavior; studies of stroke patients; imaging studies of psychiatric patients; and research on social determinants of peripheral neural, neuroendocrine, and immunological processes. We also found that these areas of research are proceeding along largely independent trajectories. Our goals in this article are to review the development of this field, examine some currently promising approaches, identify obstacles and opportunities for future advances and integration, and consider how this research can inform work on the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders.     

社会身份复杂性的研究：理论、方法与进展

近十年来, “社会身份复杂性”这个概念逐渐引起社会心理学研究者的关注。社会身份复杂性是指个体对多重内群体身份之间的关系进行主观表征的方式, 反映了个体对自己的多重内群体身份之间感知到的重叠程度。当个体感知到的重叠程度较高时, 他们的社会身份复杂性就较低; 反之, 当个体感知到的重叠程度较低时, 他们的社会身份复杂性就较高。本文首先简要介绍了多重内群体身份表征模型, 然后从社会身份复杂性的理论内容、测量方法、作用以及影响因素等方面对以往的相关研究进行了回顾。最后, 指出未来的研究应侧重对社会身份复杂性理论和研究设计的进一步完善、问卷量表的效度验证, 并加强研究结果的具体应用。     

Complexity effects in visuo-spatial working memory: Implications for the role of long-term memory

Several studies have shown that the capacity of visuo-spatial working memory is limited by complexity. Using a variant of the Corsi blocks task, this paper investigates the effect of complexity of the to-beremembered path on visuo-spatial memory span. Redundancy was determined by three Gestalt principles: symmetry, repetition, and continuation. Experiment 1 revealed an effect of path complexity. The subsequent experiments explored whether the superiority for recall of structured over complex paths can be attributed solely to the operation of visuo-spatial working memory, or whether it also reflects the use of long-term knowledge. Experiment 2 demonstrated that the effect of complexity remained, even when the mechanisms for visuo-spatial coding were removed by a secondary visuo-spatial task. In Experiments 3 and 4 subjects were trained in the recall of complex paths. This led to the creation of long-term memory representations for these paths, as shown by an improvement in their span, and a concomitant lack of transfer to new paths. Finally, Experiment 5 showed that one prior repetition of a complex path was sufficient to produce specific and long-term learning effects. These results point to the involvement of long-term memory processes in the temporary retention of visuo-spatial material for which representations exist in long-term memory. They also suggest that the effect of complexity may provide a tractable technique for investigating the mechanisms underlying the limits of visuo-spatial short-term storage.     

Understanding the Determinants of Political Ideology: Implications of Structural Complexity

There has been a substantial increase in research on the determinants and consequences of political ideology among political scientists and social psychologists. In psychology, researchers have examined the effects of personality and motivational factors on ideological orientations as well as differences in moral reasoning and brain functioning between liberals and conservatives. In political science, studies have investigated possible genetic influences on ideology as well as the role of personality factors. Virtually all of this research begins with the assumption that it is possible to understand the determinants and consequences of ideology via a unidimensional conceptualization. We argue that a unidimensional model of ideology provides an incomplete basis for the study of political ideology. We show that two dimensions—economic and social ideology—are the minimum needed to account for domestic policy preferences. More importantly, we demonstrate that the determinants of these two ideological dimensions are vastly different across a wide range of variables. Focusing on a single ideological dimension obscures these differences and, in some cases, makes it difficult to observe important determinants of ideology. We also show that this multidimensionality leads to a significant amount of heterogeneity in the structure of ideology that must be modeled to fully understand the structure and determinants of political attitudes.     

Social Change and Marital Problems: Implications for Marriage Counselling

There are many reasons why people experience marital dissatisfaction. This paper is concerned with those who experience dissatisfaction not as a result of individual personality problems but as a result of the impact of social change on contemporary marriage. On the whole, these people are emotionally mature even if they present, initially, with 'clinical' symptoms. The paper identifies the effect of social change on such couples and suggests an approach to marriage counselling designed specifically to meet their needs. Background material is provided by a study of 40 couples seen for marriage counselling in a psychiatric clinic.     

Dynamical Social Psychology: Complexity and Coherence in Human Experience

Human experience reflects the interplay of multiple influences operating on various time scales to promote constantly evolving patterns of thought, emotion, and action. Although the complexity and dynamism of personal and social phenomena have long been recognized, they are difficult to investigate using traditional research methods. This article provides an overview of dynamical social psychology, an approach adapted from dynamical systems theory that is designed to capture the complementary tendencies of stability and dynamism at different levels of social reality, from private thoughts to intergroup relations. Utilizing time-series analyses and computer simulations, this perspective documents the emergence of global properties from the interaction of basic elements in mental and social systems and investigates the time-dependent relation between external influences and a system’s internally generated dynamics. The dynamical approach enables social psychology to advance as a precise science while preserving the basic insights that launched the field over a century ago.