Parent–Child Communication's Attenuating Effects on Mexican Early Adolescents' Perceived Discrimination,Depressive Symptoms,and Substance Use

Utilizing general strain theory, we hypothesized that perceived discrimination would be positively associated with depressive symptoms, which in turn, would be associated with alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use. Second, we hypothesized that frequency of mother–child and father–child communication against substance use would attenuate the hypothesized effects. Longitudinal survey data were collected from 247 Mexican‐heritage 6th‐ to 8th‐grade students. As hypothesized, perceived discrimination was positively associated with depressive symptoms, which, in turn, were positively associated with alcohol use and marginally related to marijuana use. Regarding moderation, for Mexican‐heritage early‐stage adolescents with high frequencies of mother–child or father–child communication, depressive symptoms were not significantly related to alcohol and marijuana use, although associations were significant for adolescents low in either type of communication.     

Googling Politics: How Offloading Affects Voting and Political Knowledge

Studies suggest that individuals are less likely to process information they can easily look up. Instead of committing information to memory, they rely on the Internet to store information for them—a phenomenon known as “offloading.” We examine the effects of offloading on political knowledge and voting behavior. Using data from a 10-wave panel experiment designed to study information processing in two distinct information environments, we demonstrate that people whose environment is conducive to offloading learn more during an election campaign than individuals whose information environment is not conducive to offloading, even though they look at less information during the campaign. Individuals in the offloading condition also make better vote choices despite examining less information. These results suggest that offloading reduces cognitive load, thereby freeing up processing space in working memory, which can increase learning of information that is accessed, and improve decision-making.     

生命伦理学与医学人文学的关系

生命伦理学的界线并不十分清楚,人们习惯上将生命伦理学看做应用的规范伦理学,并看做医学人文学的组成部分.其实,生命伦理学与医学人文学有着内在的深刻联系.除了道德哲学,医学人文学是生命伦理学理论与实践的基础,具体说,也是作为描述生命伦理学的存在形态.     

Exploring the effects of similarity on mapping spatial relations

Solving a map task requires transferring information acquired in one spatial context to another context, an ability that marks an important step in cognitive development. This study investigated how preschoolers’ mapping performance was affected by the extent of similarity between spaces. Whereas prior work examined effects of similarity in tasks involving matching individual objects, our tasks required considering spatial relations among objects. We found that the accuracy of mapping between two spaces with somewhat different perceptual features was higher than the accuracy of mapping between spaces with identical features. Yet, a further increase in differences between the two spaces had a detrimental effect on mapping. The results suggest that some degree of similarity between spaces is beneficial to children’s ability to transfer relational information. However, when the spaces have the same surface features, it may draw children’s attention to individual objects and inhibit their ability to focus on common relations across contexts.     

尊重人体尸体：人体解剖教学的伦理原则

通过对医学院校解剖教学的调研和对利害关系人的访谈,发现不尊重人体尸体的观念和行为是阻碍遗体捐献的一个重要原因。因此提出“尊重人体尸体”这一解剖教学伦理原则,并加强对医学生解剖教学伦理教育。     

Myopic perception of having a deadline in negotiations: An anchoring effect due to question order

In negotiations, people tend to perceive a deadline as more detrimental to themselves than to their opponents. This phenomenon is termed myopic perception. The present research proposes that myopic perception can be understood as a result of an anchoring effect due to the question order used in probing the perception of a deadline. When people estimate deal prices before rating the influence of a deadline, their judgements are anchored on their negotiation outcomes, making their perception egocentric, which leads to myopic perception. As a result, myopic perception was hypothesized to be reduced by reversing the above question order to change the respondents' judgement anchor from negotiation outcomes to negotiation procedures. In Study 1, myopic perception disappeared when participants rated the general influence of a deadline before estimating deal price in a negotiation scenario. In Study 2, pairs of participants negotiated under a tight deadline. Myopic perception of a deadline was manipulated before the negotiation. Dyads without myopic perception had a smaller discrepancy in reservation price. However, myopic perception had no effect on impasse rates or final deal prices. The results are discussed with respect to behavioural forecasting and practical implications of myopic perception.     

Novel Insights Into Item Keying/Valence Effect Using Latent Difference (LD) Modeling Analysis

Responses to positively and negatively worded items are not always consistent, a behavioral pattern known as the item valence method effect. The current research employed latent difference (LD) modeling (Pohl, Steyer, &; Kraus, 2008 Pohl, S., Steyer, R., &; Kraus, K. (2008). Modelling method effects as individual causal effects. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A, 171, 41–63.[Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) to help determine explanations of the method effect. Respondents were more likely to reject negative characteristics (measured by negatively worded items) than to accept positive ones (measured by positively worded items), and supplementary analysis showed that this tendency was associated with social desirability response style. Correlations between the method effect and social desirability varied across Big Five personality traits, implying that social desirability cannot be the sole reason behind the phenomenon. Other possible explanations are discussed.     

Predicting Compliance in Group CBT Using the Group Therapy Questionnaire

This study examined the clinical applicability of the Group Therapy Questionnaire (GTQ) for identifying individuals at risk of poor attendance in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) groups for depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Participants (n = 80) completed the GTQ prior to their involvement in one of five types of CBT groups. Participants’ attendance was recorded by the group therapists. Findings revealed that patients’ expectations of group were associated with attendance. Level of interpersonal difficulty, health issues, and drug and alcohol use—as assessed by the GTQ—were not associated with attendance. A shorter version of the GTQ with questions tapping expectations of group participation would provide a valuable screening tool to aid clinicians in identifying clients at risk for low attendance.