Concerns of South Korean Patients and Family Members Affected with Genetic Conditions: A Content Analysis of Internet Website Messages

The genetic counseling profession is expanding globally, and many countries, such as South Korea, are in the early stages of developing programs to prepare healthcare professionals specifically trained as genetic counselors. However, little research has investigated the concerns of South Korean patients and family members that have genetic conditions. The present study assessed their concerns by accessing and analyzing messages posted to websites devoted to genetic conditions. Eighteen websites were accessed—1 website concerns general genetic conditions, and 17 concern specific conditions. A sample of 700 messages was translated into English and analyzed using grounded theory analysis. Three major themes and 30 categories were extracted. The themes are: 1) Medical Concerns (e.g., clinical symptoms, diagnosis, prognosis, recurrence risk, prevention, inheritance); 2) Psychosocial Concerns (e.g., emotions, social stigma, social support); and 3) Management Concerns (e.g., therapy and alternative treatments, education, financial support, nutrition, medical facilities, folk remedies). The findings provide insight into the types of information and genetic counseling services that might benefit South Korean individuals and family members.     

Cannot avert the eyes: reduced attentional blink toward others’ emotional expressions in empathic people

Empathy is one of the core components of social interaction. Although current models of empathy emphasize the role of attention, few studies have directly examined the relationship between attentional processes and individual differences in empathy. This study hypothesized that empathic people would process emotional expressions more efficiently and automatically compared to less empathic people. Crucially, such a processing advantage should be present only for faces of others compared to one’s own face. To test this hypothesis, 100 healthy participants varying in their self-reported empathy levels underwent an attentional blink task that tested preferential attentional processing. Results showed a diminished attentional blink effect for sad faces of others in the high-empathy group. Additionally, performance differences in the task were related to both trait empathy and daily prosocial behavior. Overall, our results show that emotional stimuli preferentially capture the attention of empathic people, leading to automatic processing.     

全国高考英语试题的城乡项目功能差异分析

本研究主要目的是针对高考英语成绩存在的城乡差异,检验这种差异是否来源于试题在城乡上的项目功能差异。如果两个能力本来相同的考生群体在某一试题得分上表现出不同程度的差异,该试题就存在项目功能差异。研究采用试题标准化分数差法,利用STDIF软件逐一分析了2016年三套全国高考英语卷的客观题是否存在城乡上的项目功能差异,在确定客观题没有项目功能差异后,以客观题成绩为匹配变量,采用条件得分图法对书面表达题是否存在城乡上的项目功能差异进行了分析。研究结果显示,高考英语全国I、II、III卷均未发现城乡上的项目功能差异试题,即可以认为高考英语全国卷对城乡不同户籍考生都非常公平、公正,城乡考生在英语成绩上的差异并非题目的公平性所致。     

White lie-telling in children for politeness purposes

Prosocial lie-telling behavior in children between 3 and 11 years of age was examined using an undesirable gift paradigm. In the first condition, children received an undesirable gift and were questioned by the gift-giver about whether they liked the gift. In the second condition, children were also given an undesirable gift but received parental encouragement to tell a white lie prior to being questioned by the gift-giver. In the third condition, the child's parent received an undesirable gift and the child was encouraged to lie on behalf of their parent. In all conditions, the majority of children told a white lie and this tendency increased with age. Coding of children's facial expressions using Ekman and Friesen's (1978) Facial Action Coding System revealed significant but small differences between lie-tellers and control children in terms of both positive and negative facial expressions. Detailed parental instruction facilitated children's display of appropriate verbal and nonverbal expressive behaviors when they received an undesirable gift.