Applied Experimental Psychology

La psychologie expérimentale appliquée est une expérimentation psychologique explicitement orientée vers des préeoccupations pratiques. Ces recherches suscitent actuellement un grand intérêt. On recense dans cet article les domaines qui ont été abordés récemment par les recherches expérimentales appliquées: certains d'entre eux sont explorés depuis longtemps. Quelques observations sont faites à propos des impulsions technologiques et démographiques en faveur des travaux d'application.
Applied experimental psychology is defined as psychological experimentation explicitly addressed to practical concerns. Interest in such research appears to be high at present. Problem areas that have been addressed recently by applied experimental research, some of which have been areas of interest for a long time, are noted. Some observations are made regarding technological and demographic stimuli for applied work.     

Toward Unity in Psychology: The Experimental Synthesis of Behaviour

The current state of fragmentation of psychology is discussed in the context of Kuhn's paradigms. Schools of psychology are considered analogous to paradigms, although Kuhn would not think of psychology as a paradigmatic science. Schools gave origin to systems of psychology (neo-behaviourism, neo-psychoanalysis, dialectic-materialistic psychology, and humanistic psychology). A unifying paradigm, the experimental synthesis of behaviour, is presented as a programme. It is derived from the experimental analysis of behaviour. It is not an eclectic approach, but a new paradigm with the aim of unifying psychology as a science. Its main characteristics and advantages are discussed.     

The birth of the Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology

This paper describes the inception of a scientific movement (the Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology); the individuals who begot it; the two journals and numerous scientific articles which resulted; its effects in stimulating new areas of teaching and of theoretical development; and its international reception as well as its successes and failures in stimulating the creation of satellite societies on the same pattern.     

The Clinical Plus the Experimental Emphasis in Elementary Work in Psychology

Forty-two Ss were run in one experimental and in two control conditions. The Ss recalled a short story immediately after reading it and again 24 hours later. All Ss were monitored on two physiological variables during reading. The experimental group was subjected to a 0.2-second delayed auditory feedback in the middle section of the story. One control group received no special treatment; the other received shock at the point in the story at which the experimental group received delayed auditory feedback. Both the experimental group and the control group that received shock showed marked changes in GSR measurements during the reading of the middle section of the story. The immediate memory of the story was significantly poorer for the experimental group as contrasted with that for each of the control groups. For accuracy of delayed memory, there were no significant differences among the three groups.     

顾客参与内容创造的个体心理和群体创造机制

顾客参与内容创造是顾客创造媒体(consumer-generated media, CGM)发展的基石, 对互联网企业和传统企业的发展影响巨大而深远。CGM研究刚刚起步, 顾客参与创造的研究有限, 而为数不多的群体创造多针对组织、团队, 针对顾客群体的甚少。针对蓬勃发展的CGM中顾客参与内容创造的个体研究和群体研究都很缺乏。研究试图在相关研究基础上, 从顾客视角, 使用动机理论、情绪理论、个体创造力和群体创造理论, 科学采用实验、社会网络分析和调查等多种方法, 并尝试采用心理学仪器(如近红外等)采集客观数据, 对CGM中顾客参与内容创造的个体心理反应、群体创造过程、群体创造方式和环境机制进行深入探索。预期成果将有助于互联网企业建立科学的用户参与网络机制以提高竞争力, 有助于传统企业更有效的利用顾客参与进行营销推广、促进销售并建立持久的顾客关系。     

An Analysis of Child Maltreatment Content in Introductory Psychology Textbooks

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which introductory psychology textbooks cover child maltreatment and to evaluate how appropriately the information was presented. We randomly selected 15 introductory psychology textbooks from Koenig et al.’s (2004) Compendium of Introductory Psychology Texts. Three analyses included a subject index review, a content review, and a content analysis review. Although all of the textbooks covered the topic of child maltreatment in some fashion, they varied considerably in the specific forms of child maltreatment that they addressed. Furthermore, content that addressed child maltreatment consistently lacked appropriate emphasis and clear definitions. The results are discussed to enhance understanding regarding the most appropriate information on child maltreatment to include in introductory psychology textbooks.     

The Experimental Psychology Society Prize Lecture: Associative Priming in Pavlovian Conditioning

Any occasion on which an animal is placed in an experimental setting or context and receives pairings of one event with another provides the opportunity for a variety of associative structures to be acquired. These structures range from simple associations, which allow the presentation of one event to activate or prime a memory of the other, to hierarchical associations, which allow a simple association to be primed by some other event (e.g. the context in which the simple association was acquired). Experiments with rats that reveal priming effects consistent with both of these putative associative structures are reviewed.     

The Emergence and Development of Bekhterev's Psychoreflexology in Relation to Wundt's Experimental Psychology

After its foundation, the Laboratory for Experimental Psychology at Leipzig University became an international center for psychological research, attracting students from all over the world. The Russian physiologist and psychiatrist Vladimir Bekhterev (1857–1927) was one of Wilhelm Wundt's students in 1885, and after returning to Russia he continued enthusiastically his experimental research on mental phenomena. However, he gradually distanced himself from Wundt's psychological project and developed a new concept of psychology: the so‐called Objective Psychology or Psychoreflexology. The goal of this paper is to analyze Bekhterev's position in relation to Wundt's experimental psychology, by showing how the former came to reject the latter's conception of psychology. The results indicate that Bekhterev's development of a philosophical program, including his growing interest in establishing a new Weltanschauung is the main reason behind his divergence with Wundt, which is reflected in his conception of scientific psychology. Despite this, Wundt remained alive in Bekhterev's mind as an ideal counterpoint.     

Introducing Science to the Psychology of the Soul: Experimental Existential Psychology

ABSTRACT— Humans live out their lives knowing that their own death is inevitable; that their most cherished beliefs and values, and even their own identities, are uncertain; that they face a bewildering array of choices; and that their private subjective experiences can never be shared with another human being. This knowledge creates five major existential concerns: death, isolation, identity, freedom, and meaning. The role of these concerns in human affairs has traditionally been the purview of philosophy. However, recent methodological and conceptual advances have led to the emergence of an experimental existential psychology directed toward empirically investigating the roles that these concerns play in psychological functioning. This new domain of psychological science has revealed the pervasive influence of deep existential concerns on diverse aspects of human thought and behavior.     

The Psychology of Referencing in Psychology Journal Articles

ABSTRACT— Citation statistics can affect major professional decisions, but little is known about how important a particular reference is to the citing document. We asked 49 psychologists to rate the importance of every reference in their own empirical paper and to indicate the primary citation reason. References cited for conceptual ideas or to justify methods and data analyses were regarded as more important than references cited for general background, limitations, or future research. The location, frequency, and length of a citation predicted its importance, but such relationships were weaker for self-citations. We make suggestions about referencing for authors, editors, and bibliographic database designers.