Relationship between Disabilities and Adoption Outcomes in African American Children

Although many children adopted from the public child welfare system have special needs, little is known about the experiences of African American adopted children with disabilities and their families. The purpose of this study is to explore different categories of disabilities, including chronic health issues; emotional, mental, or behavioral (EMB) disorders; and intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDDs) on adoption outcomes in a sample of African American children. Data were from the Post-Permanency Round II Survey collected in 2008. A random sample of 412 adoptive parents or legal guardians self-reported their children’s disability diagnoses and family caregiving experiences. Hierarchical regression modelling was used to investigate the relationship between child disability and child and parental outcomes. Results indicated that chronic health issues (β?=?.10, p?<?.05), EMB disorders (β?=?.16, p?<?.01), and IDDs (β?=?.12, p?<?.05) were positively associated with parental burden. In addition, asthma (β?=?.10, p?<?.05), from the larger physical health issue category, was also associated with parental burden. However, none of the disability categories was significantly related with caregiver commitment or adoption dissolution. Future research should disentangle the definitions of special needs or disabilities.     

大学生第二外语词汇学习中的测试效应

本研究采用学习-测试研究范式,以"Swahili-汉语"配对词为实验材料,考察不同实验条件测试对大学生第二外语词汇习得的促进作用。研究发现:(1)不同实验条件的累积回忆正确率相同;(2)测试效应显著,且对长时保持具有促进作用;(3)被试对不同实验条件的学习效果的预期与事实不相符。这些结果表明,自我测试既有助于学生高效习得第二外语词汇,又有助于教师改善课堂教学。     

基于层面理论的大学生职业兴趣心理测量研究

社会分工的不断细化,必然需要职业指导的专业化服务。为了使人们更好的根据自己的兴趣寻找职业,心理学家不断深入对职业兴趣的研究。层面理论是一种独具特色的心理学研究策略,可以将变量之间的关系以空间结构图的形式直观呈现出来,克服了传统统计技术要求变量呈正态分布及变量之间存在线性关系等假设的约束,成为研究心理现象的另一重要途径。本研究运用北京市的5831位大学生职业兴趣调查数据,在理论上将职业兴趣分为职业人格类型与职业声望两个层面,对大学生职业兴趣结构进行验证性分析。结果表明：职业人格类型层面区域系数为0.661;职业声望层面的区域系数为0.667;大学生职业兴趣结构为二层面雷达图结构。     

PETS计算机自适应序列测试设计与模拟研究

根据PETS考试的特点,结合计算机自适应序列测试（CAST）的优势,该研究提出并设计了PETS—CAST测试。为了检验PETS—CAST测试系统的性能,该研究利用PETS试题的真实难度参数和模拟的考生能力参数生成相应的原始得分矩阵,并根据路径规则实现适应性的模块选择。研究结果表明,PETS—CAST所设计的路径能够满足不同能力水平考生的要求,且各条路径的测量精度均能够达到CAST考试的要求。曝光率方面的研究则说明,PETS—CAST应该在设计题池时充分考虑试题模块在数量方面的配置。该模拟研究为PETS—CAST的具体实施在理论和实践层面做了一些有益的尝试。     

Attachment, self-compassion, empathy, and subjective well-being among college students and community adults

Research on subjective well-being suggests that it is only partly a function of environmental circumstances. There may be a personality characteristic or a resilient disposition toward experiencing high levels of well-being even in unfavorable circumstances. Adult attachment may contribute to this resilient disposition. This study examined whether the association between attachment anxiety and subjective well-being was mediated by Neff's (2003a, 2003b) concept of self-compassion. It also examined empathy toward others as a mediator in the association between attachment avoidance and subjective well-being. In Study 1, 195 college students completed self-report surveys. In Study 2, 136 community adults provided a cross-validation of the results. As expected, across these 2 samples, findings suggested that self-compassion mediated the association between attachment anxiety and subjective well-being, and emotional empathy toward others mediated the association between attachment avoidance and subjective well-being.     

The stability of mastery motivation and its relationship with home environment in infants and toddlers

Mastery motivation (intrinsic drives to explore and master one's environment) is a key developmental element. The aims of this study were to investigate (1) the stability of mastery motivation between 2 and 3 years of age for two genders; and (2) the associations between early home environment and toddlers’ mastery motivation in children with typical development.

Methods

Data of 102 children developing typically from a birth cohort study at Northern Taiwan were analyzed in two parts: (1) stability part: mastery motivation of children were measured at 2 and 3 years of age; (2) environment part: child-parent dyads were assessed from birth, 4 months, 6 months, and 2-3 years of age. Outcomes variables were measured at ages 2 and 3 years by the Dimension of Mastery Questionnaire-17th version. Main predictive variables were measured by Home Observation for Measuring Environment Inventory (HOME) to collect data of the qualities of home environment at 6 months and 2 years; by the Revised Infant Temperament Questionnaire to obtain 4-month activity levels; and by the Comprehensive Developmental Inventory for Infants and Toddlers to obtain 2-year developmental quotient (DQ).

Results

There was moderate stability of mastery motivation from 2 to 3 years, and girls’ stability was higher than boys’. 6-Month HOME rather than 2-year HOME measures were positively and significantly correlated with instrumental mastery motivation even when controlling for gender, activity level, and DQ.

Conclusion

Mastery motivation had moderate stability during the toddler period. The quality of home environment in infancy appeared to have a significant impact on toddler's mastery motivation. To promote mastery motivation, caregivers should provide better quality of home environment for infants/toddlers during the very early years.     

不同维度的执行功能与早期心理理论的关系

采用意外地点任务、意外内容任务和三种不同类型的执行功能任务来探究执行功能与心理理论之间的关系。共60名被试,3岁和4岁被试各30名,男女各半。区分自己心理状态和他人心理状态能力与执行功能的关系主要体现在混合成分执行功能与这一能力的密切联系上;在错误信念发展的早期,执行功能与错误信念理解能力的关系主要集中在“混合成分的执行功能与对自己错误信念理解能力,工作记忆的执行功能与对他人错误信念理解能力”这两对联系上     

右腹外侧前额叶对高抑郁水平成年人社会情绪调节的作用：一项tDCS研究

已有的经颅直流电刺激(transcranial direct current stimulation, tDCS)研究证明, 右腹外侧前额叶(right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, RVLPFC)是社会情绪调节的重要脑区, 激活RVLPFC可显著降低人们对社会性负性情绪体验的强度。社会功能受损是抑郁症患者或抑郁倾向人群的重要特征之一。该群体对社会排斥的敏感性高, 且对负性社会情绪体验的情绪调节能力降低。在本研究中, 我们采用外显的情绪调节任务, 研究了高、低抑郁水平的两组成年人被试在RVLPFC接受阳性tDCS后其情绪调节能力的改变。结果表明, 虽然采用tDCS激活RVLPFC可帮助被试通过情绪调节(认知重评)减弱负性情绪体验, 但高抑郁水平被试的负性情绪强度下降程度明显小于低抑郁水平被试。另外本文还发现, 与源于个人的负性情绪相比, tDCS效应对源于社会的负性情绪(即社会排斥)更强。本研究是采用电或磁刺激提高抑郁人群社会情绪调节能力的首次尝试。实验结果表明, 高抑郁水平成年人的RVLPFC仅通过单次、短时间(34 min)的tDCS激活, 其情绪调节能力并未得到显著提升。这提示对抑郁倾向群体或抑郁症患者的干预或治疗需要多次施加tDCS。     

具身认知的“七宗罪”

近二十年来,具身认知已逐渐成为认知科学研究的主流趋势,其理论主张已经辐射到心理学、哲学、语言学、计算机科学等许多领域,研究成果运用范围逐渐扩大。诚然,具身认知在某种程度上弥补了“离身”认知的不足,但其在方法论和认识论方面的问题也日益突显,如循环论证,解释不充分,完全的二元对立,文化、社会、语言因素的忽视等。因此,当务之急是改进研究方法,摒弃先入之见,使其真正成为多角度、全方位、综合性研究。