Minding gaps on the skin: Opposite bisection biases on forehead and back of one’s head

Humans perceive the world from an egocentric perspective, while being able to mentally take a third person’s perspective. Graphesthesia tasks revealed that letters written on the back of one’s own head are consistently perceived from an embodied perspective, while the perspective on one’s front is less consistent and often disembodied. We developed a cutaneous gap bisection task as a more discrete measure of the perspective on the body. In analogy to a visual pseudoneglect, we expected bisections to deviate toward the left ear when perceived from an embodied perspective. While this hypothesis was confirmed for gap bisections on the back, the results on the front suggest overall a disembodied perspective. Contrary to our expectation, this pattern was not predicted by the spontaneous perspective participants took in a graphesthesia task, indicating different cognitive mechanisms. We discuss these findings in the frame of the current literature on spatial attention and perspective taking.     

Experimental manipulations of perspective taking and perspective switching in expressive writing

Previous studies suggest that those who naturally vary their pronoun use over the course of expressive writing subsequently report the greatest improvements in physical and mental health. To explore possible perspective taking or perspective switching effects, two studies manipulated writing perspectives about emotional events from either a first-person, second-person, or third-person perspective. In Study 1, 55 students were randomly assigned to one of the three writing perspectives and were asked to write from the same perspective for three 5-minute writing sessions. In Study 2, 129 students wrote for three 5-minute sessions, one from each perspective in a counterbalanced order. The results showed that writing from a first-person perspective conferred more perceived benefits and was associated with using more cognitive mechanism words, whether engaged in perspective taking or perspective switching.     

Experimental manipulations of perspective taking and perspective switching in expressive writing

Previous studies suggest that those who naturally vary their pronoun use over the course of expressive writing subsequently report the greatest improvements in physical and mental health. To explore possible perspective taking or perspective switching effects, two studies manipulated writing perspectives about emotional events from either a first-person, second-person, or third-person perspective. In Study 1, 55 students were randomly assigned to one of the three writing perspectives and were asked to write from the same perspective for three 5-minute writing sessions. In Study 2, 129 students wrote for three 5-minute sessions, one from each perspective in a counterbalanced order. The results showed that writing from a first-person perspective conferred more perceived benefits and was associated with using more cognitive mechanism words, whether engaged in perspective taking or perspective switching.     

The observer perspective: effects on social anxiety and performance

The cognitive model of social phobia by Clark and Wells (Social phobia : Diagnosis, Assessment and treatment (1995)) proposes that individuals with social phobia generate a negative impression of how they appear to others, constructed from their own thoughts, feelings and internal sensations. This impression can occur in the form of a visual image from an external, or "observer", perspective. Although social phobics use this perspective more than controls, the impact of the observer perspective has not been tested experimentally. This study investigated the effects of taking the observer perspective on thinking, anxiety, behaviour and social performance in high and low socially anxious participants. Forty-four participants (N=22 in each group) gave two speeches, one in the observer and one in the field perspective. Use of the observer perspective produced more frequent negative thoughts, more safety behaviours, and worse self-evaluation of performance in both groups. There were also clear trends demonstrating increases in anxiety and in thought belief ratings in the observer perspective compared to the field perspective. Results are consistent with the Clark and Wells model of social phobia. This study also suggests that in low socially anxious individuals, the observer perspective may contain positive information.     

关于功利、理性或关怀--不同理论在评价人类基因组研究中的差异

从功利主义的角度审视治疗性克隆,治疗性克隆研究能够为人类造福,是可以得到辩护的.义务论认为,胚胎不能作为试验的客体,反对治疗性克隆研究.而关怀理论学家则不支持治疗性克隆研究.     

Does Generalized (Dis)Trust Travel? Examining the Impact of Cultural Heritage and Destination‐Country Environment on Trust of Immigrants

At least two contrasting perspectives on the roots of generalized trust exist: The cultural perspective emphasizing how trust is a stable trait passed on from one generation to the next through parental socialization, and the experiential perspective, which stresses that trust is subject to change with what we experience in the environment in which we live. Analyzing trust of immigrants is an effective way to contrast the two perspectives, as the cultural perspective predicts that immigrants' level of trust will continue to reflect the level of trust of their home country, whereas the experiential perspective predicts that trust of immigrants will change according to the environment of the destination country. This article examines how first‐generation immigrants from three low‐trust countries of origin (Turkey, Poland, and Italy) are affected by migrating to high‐trust countries in Northern Europe, which hold qualities conducive to trust. In contrast to earlier studies examining trust of immigrants, I build on one data set containing data on both migrants and nonmigrants from the same country of origin as well as on a wide range of relevant covariates of trust. Using the method of matching, the results of the analysis lend most support to the experiential perspective on trust as the destination‐country context has a massive impact on trust of immigrants, who display significantly higher levels of trust than comparable respondents in their country of origin. The results are robust to limiting the destination‐country context to only one country (Germany) and comparing migrants and nonmigrants responding in the same language.     

Switching points of view in spatial mental models

In six experiments, subjects read narratives describing varying spatial scenes with more than one point of view. They were probed with questions about objects located in six directions from each character's point of view. Subjects' response times were consistent with a one place-one perspective rule. They seemed to form separate mental models for separate places and to take a character's perspective when there was only one relevant character in a scene, but they seemed to take a neutral perspective when there was more than one probed point of view, rather than switch perspectives.     

Familiar size and linear perspective as distance cues in stereoscopic depth constancy

Both the image size of a familiar object and linear perspective operate as distance cues in stereoscopic depth constancy. This was shown by separating their effects from the effect of the oculomotor cues by creating cue conflicts between either the familiar size cue or linear perspective, on the one hand, and accommodation and convergence, on the other. In the case of familiarsize, this cue was used deceptively. In the case of linear perspective, spectacles caused nonveridical oculomotor adjustments.     

Goal-specific influences on the representation of spatial perspective

In two experiments, subjects learned an unfamiliar campus environment, either by studying a map or by navigating. During acquisition, the subjects had one of two spatial goals: to learn the layout of the building (survey goal) or to learn the fastest routes between locations (route goal). Spatial memory was tested with several tasks, some assessing survey perspective processing and some assessing route perspective processing. Results indicate multiple influences on the representation of spatial perspective. Learning condition influenced performance. Individuals studying maps gave more accurate responses to some survey perspective tasks, whereas individuals navigating gave more accurate responses to some route perspective tasks. Spatial goals also influenced performance. Having a route goal enhanced performance on route perspective tasks; having a survey goal enhanced performance on survey perspective tasks. These findings are discussed in the context of research indicating flexibility when processing spatial perspective. Individuals can use spatial information from different perspectives, often doing so in a goal-directed manner.     

A Dialectical Approach to the Treatment of Sexual Disgust: Reply to Commentaries by Blechner,Nathans, and Willock

The reply to the commentaries discusses the challenges of treating sexual disgust from the perspective of comparative-integrative psychoanalysis. My paper tried to weave in the oedipal, the adaptationist perspective of research on disgust by evolutionary developmental psychologists, and the psychoeducational into more standard psychoanalytic ways of thinking about and working with sexual disgust that tend to neglect those viewpoints. How does one bring in a fresh perspective without throwing out the baby with the bathwater?     

Effect of visual perspective on memory and interpretation in dysphoria

When engaging in self-reflection, the visual perspective one adopts has important effects on emotional reactivity. Specifically, adopting a distanced stance, or viewing oneself from a third-person perspective, has been found to reduce emotional reactivity to negative autobiographical memories. The effect of adopting this perspective is moderated by depression such that reactivity is not reduced for individuals with particularly low levels of depressive symptoms. In the current study, we examine the effects of visual perspective on two forms of mental imagery in dysphoric and nondysphoric individuals. We attempt to replicate previous findings for recall of sad autobiographical memories and extend this research to interpretation of ambiguous situations. The results suggest that the effects of adopting a distanced stance are not moderated by depressive symptoms and do not extend from memories to interpretations of ambiguous situations.     

The Perspectival Nature of Probability and Inference

It is argued that two observers with the same information may rightlydisagree about the probability of an event that they are both observing. This is a correct way of describing the view of a lottery outcome from the perspective of a winner and from the perspective of an observer not connected with the winner - the outcome is improbable for the winner and not improbable for the unconnected observer. This claim is both argued for and extended by developing a case in which a probabilistic inference is supported for one observer and not for another, though they relevantly differ only in perspective, not in any information that they have. It is pointed out, finally, that all probabilities are in this way dependent on perspective.     

Videotaped interrogations and confessions: a simple change in camera perspective alters verdicts in simulated trials

Prior research has indicated that altering the perspective from which a videotaped confession is recorded influences assessments of the confession's voluntariness. The authors examined whether this camera perspective bias persists in more ecologically valid contexts. In Study 1, neither a realistic videotaped trial simulation nor potentially corrective judicial instruction was sufficient to mitigate the prejudicial effect of camera perspective on mock jurors' assessments of voluntariness or on their all-important final verdicts. Study 2 suggests that perhaps the best camera perspective to use is one that focuses trial fact finders' attention on the interrogator, as this particular vantage point may facilitate decision makers' capacity to detect coercive influences, which in turn could, in some cases, improve assessments of the confession's reliability.     

Why the Capacity to Pretend Matters for Empathy

A phenomenological insight in the debate on empathy is that it is possible to directly perceive other people’s emotions in their expressive bodily behaviour. Contrary to what is suggested by many phenomenologists, namely that this perceptual skill is immediately available if one has vision, this paper argues that the perceptual skill for empathy is acquired. Such a skill requires that we have undergone certain emotional experiences ourselves and that we have had the experience of seeing the world differently, which is a form of pretence. By investigating how we retain knowledge of what is real while pretending, that is, how we anchor the experience of pretence in something that is not pretended, the paper argues that we split our experiential perspective into a double perspective, which differs from the cognitive act of understanding what a perspective is. With this notion in hand, we can return to the debate on empathy. It is argued that in order to have the capacity for direct empathic perception, one must have undergone experiences involving a double perspective.     

Juggling Parent Care and Employment Responsibilities: The Dilemmas of Adult Daughter Caregivers in the Workforce

We review findings from our programmatic research on adult daughters who are simultaneously involved in the roles of employee and care provider to an impaired parent. Two opposing theoretical perspectives on the health effects of occupying these two roles are described, and empirical findings that bear on each perspective are presented. Our review reveals that, consistent with the competing demands perspective, parent care and employment often conflict with one another. Consistent with the energy expansion perspective, however, there is evidence that holding these two roles can be beneficial for the health of adult daughters.     

系统合理化何以形成——三种不同的解释视角

系统合理化理论认为, 人们会自然地将其所在的社会系统感知为公平合理的, 这一倾向即系统合理化。而系统合理化形成之原因, 一直是该领域理论和研究关注的重点。为此, 研究者先后提出了三种解释思路。认知失调视角认为, 系统合理化之所以产生是因为个体想要缓解因系统无法满足他们的需求而产生的焦虑。补偿性控制视角认为, 系统合理化源于个体自身控制感的缺乏。社会认知视角则认为人们固有的认知倾向特别是对于社会经济差异的内归因倾向是造成系统合理化的根源。未来可以考虑在同一个研究中包含来自于不同理论视角的解释变量, 借鉴相近领域的发现探索其他可能存在的系统合理化的形成机制, 探究中国文化特有的系统合理化的来源, 同时对积极的合理化与消极的合理化作出区分, 并在此基础上针对社会现实问题加强应用研究的开展。     

Empathy,Vulnerability and Anxiety

ABSTRACT

A concept of empathy as openness to the emotional perspective of another is developed in opposition to a concept of sympathy as agreement with the emotional perspective of another. Empathy involves knowledge of how things are emotionally for the other person, which is not the same thing as knowledge of the other person’s emotions. Being open to another perspective requires the capacity to hold two perspectives in mind simultaneously – one that is one’s own perspective and at the same time the adopted perspective. This is why empathy can be so challenging for someone suffering from some kinds of anxiety.     

Influence of Message Sidedness,Pictures, and Need for Cognition on Beliefs and Behavior: The Terri Schiavo Case1

The Terri Schiavo case received intense national and international media coverage. The current investigation examined students' beliefs on whether or not Terri's feeding tube should have been removed, as well as attitudes and behavior. Students either received a persuasive message that came from the husband's perspective or the parents' perspective, crossed with a picture that either suggested Terri was interactive vs. one that suggested she was not. The results indicate that beliefs were altered by the perspective that students received, even after intense media coverage had presumably “hardened” attitudes. Students with low or high need for cognition were also influenced by pictures that either matched or mismatched the perspective they received.     

I can see it both ways: First- and third-person visual perspectives at retrieval

The number of studies examining visual perspective during retrieval has recently grown. However, the way in which perspective has been conceptualized differs across studies. Some studies have suggested perspective is experienced as either a first-person or a third-person perspective, whereas others have suggested both perspectives can be experienced during a single retrieval attempt. This aspect of perspective was examined across three studies, which used different measurement techniques commonly used in studies of perspective. Results suggest that individuals can experience more than one perspective when recalling events. Furthermore, the experience of the two perspectives correlated differentially with ratings of vividness, suggesting that the two perspectives should not be considered in opposition of one another. We also found evidence of a gender effect in the experience of perspective, with females experiencing third-person perspectives more often than males. Future studies should allow for the experience of more than one perspective during retrieval.