On how to be unpredictable: evidence from the voluntary task-switching paradigm

The voluntary task-switching paradigm requires subjects to select randomly between tasks and promises to provide a window into executive task selection independent of exogenous influences present in standard task-switching situations. We show here that the degree to which subjects perseverate on tasks across trials captures unique individual differences variance, but also that the switch rate is under strong stimulus-driven control: "Voluntary" switches are much more frequent when the stimulus changes than when it repeats. Most important, we show that individuals whose no-switch trials are selectively slowed exhibit less perseveration and stimulus-driven effects (and thus more voluntary selection) than individuals whose no-switch trials do not show this slowing. We suggest that selective slowing indicates a strategy of treating trials as discrete events--possibly through inhibition of the preceding task set. These results not only demonstrate massive nonvoluntary influences on voluntary selection that are largely untapped by standard task-switching measures, but also show how such influences can be counteracted through strategic adaptations.     

Relationships among team ability composition, team mental models, and team performance

This study examined the relationship between the similarity and accuracy of team mental models and compared the extent to which each predicted team performance. The relationship between team ability composition and team mental models was also investigated. Eighty-three dyadic teams worked on a complex skill task in a 2-week training protocol. Results indicated that although similarity and accuracy of team mental models were significantly related, accuracy was a stronger predictor of team performance. In addition, team ability was more strongly related to the accuracy than to the similarity of team mental models and accuracy partially mediated the relationship between team ability and team performance, but similarity did not.     

Stability in cognition across early childhood. A developmental cascade

Children confront the formidable task of assimilating information in the environment and accommodating their cognitive structures to that information. Developmental science is concerned equally with two distinctive features of these processes: children's group mean level of performance through time and the standing of individual children through time. Prevailing opinion since the inception of the mental-measurement movement has been that individual development is unstable-that individual children change unpredictably in their abilities. We report results of a large-scale controlled, multivariate, prospective, microgenetic, 4-year longitudinal study that reveals a statistically significant cascade of species-typical cognitive abilities from infancy to childhood. Infancy is a recognizable starting point of life; we find that to a small but significant degree, infancy also represents a setting point in the life of the individual.     

Enhanced old–new recognition and source memory for faces of cooperators and defectors in a social-dilemma game

A popular assumption in evolutionary psychology is that the human mind comprises specialized cognitive modules for social exchange, including a module that serves to enhance memory for faces of cheaters. In the present study, participants played a trust game with computerized opponents, who either defected or cooperated. In a control condition, no interaction took place. In a surprise memory test, old–new recognition for faces and source memory for the associated cooperative or non-cooperative behavior were assessed. A multinomial model was used to measure old–new discrimination, source memory, and guessing biases separately. Inconsistent with the assumption of a memory mechanism that focuses exclusively on cheating, the present study showed enhanced old–new discrimination and source memory for both cooperators and defectors. Rarity of the behavior strategies within the experiment modulated source memory, but only when the differences in base rates were extreme. The findings can be attributed to a mechanism that focuses on exchange-relevant information and flexibly adapts to take into account the relative significance of this information in the encoding context, which may be more beneficial than focusing exclusively on cheaters.     

人与自然和谐的道德基础——古代"天人合一"思想的现代生态伦理启示

人与自然的和谐有着道德基础。古代的“天人合一”思想为我们从道德的视角研究人与自然的和谐,以及建构现代生态伦理观提供了一定的帮助。从道德的意义上,人与自然的和谐中人是道德主体,承担着全部道德责任,其行为是道德评价的对象。人对自然的适应与改造、尊重与利用是辩证的统一。     

慢性心力衰竭患者临床管理与评估

尽管近年来在慢性心力衰竭(CHF)的治疗方面取得了较大的进展,但CHF患者仍有较高的住院率及病死率.CHF临床实践指南的发布促进了规范化治疗.为了取得良好的医疗效果,临床医生必须对心力衰竭患者提供一系列复杂的药物治疗及严格的自我控制措施.随着医学的不断发展,出现了包括心脏再同步化起搏、左心室辅助装置或心脏移植等治疗,而这些手段常需要在对患者进行危险性评估的基础上进行.严格遵循指南并使CHF患者出院后的教育与各种支持项目相结合才能够在一定程度上减低患者的再住院率及病死率.     

An Ecological Approach to Reducing the Social Isolation of People With an Intellectual Disability

An ecological approach to understanding insecure attachments and social isolation among people with an intellectual disability is constructed using Gibson's (1979/1986) affordance-based theory. Although environmental affordances and individual limitations interact to limit the development of social competence, we believe that by focusing on the immediate environment, community-based approaches to helping people with an intellectual disability are often ignored, which increases the burden on individual caregivers. A more comprehensive strategy, which extends Gibson's theory of affordances, allows us to consider how higher level social systems influence the immediate environment and provides the context for understanding why successful change occurs when a multifaceted, holistic approach that works on several levels is adopted. Examining these systems within an ecological framework fundamentally redefines our thinking by shifting the focus from a person's disability to a more nuanced understanding of a person's abilities within the context of appropriate environmental supports in which the person's disability becomes less salient.     

Projective identification as a communication its grammar in borderline psychotic children

This paper distinguishes between the grammar of wishes in neurotic patients and the grammar of imperative needs in borderline patients. The treatment of a borderline psychotic boy 30 years ago was uninformed by subsequent developments in technique arising from the theory of projective identification as a communication rather than as an attack or a defense. Issues that need addressing in borderline patients, especially those who are children, include (a) developmental delay, (b) the distinction between defenses and overcomings in the paranoid position, (c) rectification fantasies of vengeance, and (d) rectification fantasies of justice and other moral imperatives.     

Behavioral Skills Training With Teachers: Booster Training for Improved Maintenance

Behavioral skills training (BST) has been employed within many different populations for the reduction of problem behaviors and acquisition of new skills; however, these changes have not always maintained over time. This study evaluated the effects of a booster training for re-establishing the classroom management proficiencies that teachers had acquired previously, but had declined over a 12-month period. The single-subject experimental results showed the booster training to be effective in re-establishing teacher performance of skills as measured by both analogue role-play and in situ postassessments within the classroom. These findings suggest that a booster training utilizing BST may be an important strategy for maintaining skill performance over time.     

Prevalence and Risk Factors Associated With Suicides of Army Soldiers 2001–2009

Prevalence and risk factors associated with soldiers' suicides 2001–2009 (N = 874) were examined. Army suicide rates increased from 9 per 100,000 in 2001 to 22 per 100,000 in 2009. Soldier suicides were lower than civilians from 2001 to 2007, but higher than civilians after 2007. Army suicides were disproportionately higher for men, deployment experience, and a history of a mental health diagnosis/treatment; and lower for African Americans. Many involved planning (38%), communication (21%), alcohol (19%), or drugs (8%). Many had legal problems (31%), high stress loads (90%), a history of self-injury (10%), and other contributing factors prior to entry into the Army (31%). Implications for understanding suicide among military personnel are discussed.