Biopsychology research in China

The early studies on biopsychology in China were classified under the name of physiological psychology and comparative psychology. In 1979 the Division of Physiological Psychology of the Chinese Psychological Society was founded. Fifteen years later, the Brain‐Behavior Research Center was founded at the Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The objective of the Center was to establish a multidisciplinary scientific environment for conducting experimental research on the relationship between brain and behaviour as well as the interactions of the mind and body. A wide range of studies in biopsychology has been conducted in China. The most major research areas are: (1) Behavioural and physiological studies of stress: Research work includes the effect of early environment on stressful responses, interactions of behavioural and endocrine responses under stress, effects of emotional stress on immune function, stress and hypertension and the related role of interleukin‐1. (2) Conditioning and immunity: Studies focus on the effects of conditioning in the modulation of bidirectional immune function. Data from different experiments demonstrate that psychological processes are capable of influencing immune function. The neural substrates are also explored. (3) Memory and learning: Studies mostly concentrate on types of memory formation and training stimulus, effect of light exposure and corticosterone on learning and memory, and the role of the hippocampus in learning and memory. (4) Drug addiction: Work mainly focuses on long‐term aspects of addiction, including memory, novelty seeking, motivation‐related models, and the brain mechanisms underlying morphine psychological dependence.     

Issues in psychoneuroimmunology research

Careful design of studies is crucial for meaningful progress in this area of inquiry. Along with systematic evaluation of immunologic factors, clear understanding of antecedent factors is also important. Age, sex, and other sociodemographic factors might play a major role in how an individual reacts to a given situation when compared with another individual. Assessment of the impact of these factors on the immune system might be further complicated by immunosuppressive viruses like HIV or by the use of many common medications such as beta-blockers for hypertension (Kiecolt-Glaser & Glaser, 1988). Longitudinal studies are needed to understand the process of change and the dynamic patterning of psychosocial and immunologic relationships over time. Additionally, use of multimodal measures to assess psychological events such as stress is imperative (Baum, Grunberg, & Singer, 1982). It will not serve our understanding of psychological influences on the immune system to jump to the conclusion that an event is "stressful" because it seems as if it should be. Finally, establishing a "core" battery of widely accepted immune tests will be important in establishing comparability across studies. The standardization and acceptance of specific biochemical measures will facilitate the infusion of talented clinical and basic scientists into the area of psychoneuroimmunology.     

Anxiety research in Japan

Abstract

This article focused on traumatic stress and adjustment in the Middle East. Conservation of Resources (COR) stress theory was proposed as a template to explain the relationship between traumatic circumstances and subsequent adjustment. According to COR theory, moderate and major life events produce negative psychological, functional, and health sequelae to the extent that resource loss is experienced. Resource loss that is developmentally overwhelming, or chronic, or a threat to survival was proposed to produce extreme or prolonged adjustment difficulties. Conversely, the replenishment of resources was seen as alleviating psychological suffering. COR theory was applied broadly to children, adults, civilians, and military personnel.     

Meta-analyses in sales research

Meta-analytic inquiries enable researchers to synthesize empirical findings obtained over the evolution of a topic area and identify boundary conditions affecting the associations of key variables. Sales researchers can employ meta-analytic techniques to amalgamate empirical work conducted in a given topic area, and several sales researchers have effectively used meta-analyses to advance our understanding of the field. This article provides an exposition of this research design by analyzing its application in sales research. The authors review the meta-analytic studies in sales research and advance key considerations in topical foci, article selection, data coding and evaluation, and analytic approaches. An empirical example is provided to illustrate the power of meta-analysis in substantiating or refuting findings that diverge from accumulated insight in sales research. Results provide support for a positive effort–job satisfaction association in contrast to findings evidencing a negative association between these variables. A second empirical example is used to evaluate the nomological and discriminant validity of two related constructs: job involvement and organizational commitment. Results suggest that these two constructs may be empirically redundant. The authors also provide guidance for the future in regard to new substantive research areas, construct assessment, and additional types of meta-analytic approaches.     

Exploitation in biomedical research

This essay analyzesexploitation in biomedical research in terms ofthree basic elements: harm, disrespect, orinjustice. There are also degrees ofexploitation, ranging from highly exploitationto minimally exploitation. Althoughexploitation is prima facie wrongful,some exploitative research studies are morallyjustified, all things considered. The reasonan exploitative study can still be ethical isthat other moral considerations, such as theautonomy of the research subject or the socialbenefits of research, may sometimes justifystudies that are minimally exploitative. Calling a research project exploitative doesnot end the debate about the merits of thestudy but invites one to ask additionalquestions about how the study is exploitative,and whether the study is justifiablenevertheless.     

Responsible conduct in research

Science is not taken for granted any longer. Society, politics and the media pose critical questions tending to censorship or at least control of science. How does science respond? It cannot exist and develop without freedom, but this does not mean freedom to amass knowledge and apply technological applications at any price and without restrictions. Science should be autonomous, but is not value-free. A distintion is made between external and internal social/ethical problems. The former refer to questions of the social/ethical context and consequences of scientific research, and the latter to the rules of ‘good practice’ and scientific integrity. The role of academies of science, and of associations of such academies (e.g. All European Academies (ALLEA)) in developing codes of good scientific practice and fostering a proper sense of scientific values and standards is further discussed.     

Advances in dyslexia research

Dyslexia: Advances in theory and practice, Dyslexia Research Foundation and Center for Reading Research, 20-23 November 1997, Stavanger, Norway.     

Empirical research on research ethics

Ethics is normative; ethics indicates, in broad terms, what researchers should do. For example, researchers should respect human participants. Empirical study tells us what actually happens. Empirical research is often needed to fine-tune the best ways to achieve normative objectives, for example, to discover how best to achieve the dual aims of gaining important knowledge and respecting participants. Ethical decision making by scientists and institutional review boards should not be based on hunches and anecdotes (e.g., about such matters as what information potential research participants would want to know and what they understand, or what they consider to be acceptable risks). These questions should be answered through empirical research. Some of the preceding articles in this special issue illustrate uses of empirical research on research ethics. This article places empirical research on research ethics into broader perspective and challenges investigators to use the tools of their disciplines to proactively solve ethical problems for which there currently exist no empirically proven solutions.     

Cultural unconscious in research: integrating multicultural and depth paradigms in qualitative research

Culturally focused research has gained momentum in many disciplines, including psychology. However, much of this research fails to pay attention to the unconscious dynamics that underlie the study of culture and culturally influenced human beings. Such dynamics may be especially significant when issues of marginalization and oppression are present. Therefore, this paper seeks to contribute a framework for understanding cultural dynamics, especially unconscious cultural dynamics, within depth psychological qualitative research influenced by Jungian and post‐Jungian scholarship. Inquiry that is approached with a commitment to making the unconscious conscious seeks to empower and liberate not only the subject/object studied but also the researchers themselves. Following a brief review of multiculturalism in the context of analytically informed psychology, this paper offers several case examples that focus on researchers' integration of awareness of the cultural unconscious in their study of cultural beings and topics.     

Using microcomputers to control student-designed research in a research methods course

Microcomputers may be used to simulate traditional equipment in the psychology laboratory, such as tachistoscopes, memory drums, and reaction timers. With the diminishing price of microcomputers, such simulation is especially attractive, since it is considerably less expensive than the original special-purpose equipment, and also allows greater versatility. The undergraduate laboratory described here requires only inexpensive microcomputers, simple experimental control programs, and little or no additional peripheral equipment.     

A review of research methods in IO/OB work-family research

A methodological review was conducted of work-family (WF) research published in industrial-organizational psychology and organizational behavior journals over a period of 24 years (1980-2003). Content analysis was conducted on 225 individual studies published in 210 articles to categorize methodological features, including the research design, sources of data used, data analysis techniques, reliability and validity of measures used, and sociodemographic characteristics of the samples. Results support many of the criticisms of WF research and suggest that scholars publishing WF research in industrial-organizational psychology and organizational behavior journals could make greater use of longitudinal and experimental research designs, gather more multisource data, and move beyond the individual level of analysis. Adopting more diverse conceptualizations of family, including a greater proportion of racial and ethnic minorities, and studying workers in occupations other than managerial or professional positions also appear warranted. Finally, methodological trends varied across specific WF content areas, which suggests that distinct methodologies might be useful to advance knowledge of specific WF topics.     

Protecting people in research: a comparison between biomedical and traffic research

Traffic research shares a fundamental dilemma with other areas of empirical research in which humans are potentially put at risk. Research is justified because it can improve safety in the long run. Nevertheless, people can be harmed in the research situation. Hence, we need to balance short-term risks against long-term safety improvements, much as in other areas of research with human subjects. In this paper we focus on ethical issues that arise when human beings are directly affected in the performance of research by examining how the ethical requirements in biomedical research can inform traffic research. After introducing the basic ethical requirements on biomedical research, each of the major requirements is discussed in relation to traffic research. We identify the main areas where biomedical research and traffic research differ, and where the ethical requirements from the former cannot easily be transferred to the latter. Finally, we argue that there is a need for systematic studies of the ethics of traffic research and point to some of the issues that need to be addressed.