Navigating uncertainty in human social decision-making: Consequences and coping strategies

Uncertainty is a fundamental aspect of human social life. Based on fruitful findings, the current review aims to establish a schema that outlines the relationship between uncertainty and human social decision-making: the influences of uncertainty on social decision-making (mainly prosocial behaviors) and the strategies commonly employed to reduce social uncertainty. Human prosocial behaviors are modulated by both social and nonsocial uncertainty. Specifically, uncertainty decreases prosocial behaviors by providing moral wiggling room or promoting loss aversion but also helps maintain relationships by mitigating negative interactions. Moreover, impression formation, impression updating, and compliance with social norms are crucial strategies for coping with social uncertainty, but they are subject to various biases. Finally, we highlight some important issues that need to be addressed in future studies. In summary, the current review deepens our understanding of the role of uncertainty in social behaviors.     

中国青少年父母教养方式与自杀意念的元分析

如何降低自杀意念是研究者共同面临的问题,其中家庭因素近些年得到了越来越多的关注。本研究采用元分析的方法考察中国青少年父母教养方式与自杀意念的关系及其影响因素,纳入了符合标准的文献22篇,包括158个效应量,总样本量为16980人。结果发现,父母积极教养方式与自杀意念呈显著负相关,父母消极教养方式与自杀意念呈显著正相关。年龄阶段、自杀意念测量工具能够显著调节父母教养方式与自杀意念的关系,独生子女比例能够调节父母消极教养方式与自杀意念的关系。上述结果表明,父母教养方式能够显著影响自杀意念,家长应采用情感温暖、理解等积极教养方式,而非拒绝、过度干涉等消极教养方式。     

Inferring salesperson capability using stochastic frontier analysis

This paper proposes an easy-to-implement econometric method for inferring salesperson capability from archival panel data, namely stochastic frontier (SF) analysis. We demonstrate this method with a sample of salespersons provided by a life insurance company. Using the proposed SF model, we are able to estimate each salesperson’s capability. Furthermore, we examine the relationship between the estimated salesperson capability and three future outcomes (i.e. future sales performance, future customer attrition, and future salesperson turnover) under different time horizons. We find that, in general, the estimated salesperson capability has a stronger explanatory power for the near than for the more distant future. Since an individual salesperson’s capability cannot be directly observed by researchers (and thus is typically omitted), traditional analyses of sales performance suffer from an omitted-variable problem that can lead to biased estimates of focal variables. The SF model can significantly mitigate this omitted-variable problem. Statistical tests indicate that our sales performance model with estimated salesperson capability results in a statistically significant improvement in model fit. Of note, our model differs methodologically from SF models previously used in the marketing literature in that it is based on a three-component model that disentangles unobserved individual heterogeneity, efficiency, and random shocks.     

Shyness and Adaptation to School in a Chinese Community

This study examined the process of adjustment in shy and nonshy children during the transition to school in a Chinese community. Children (35 shy and 19 nonshy) were assessed three times before and after they entered the first grade. Shy and nonshy children's interactions with peers and teachers, perceived peer acceptance, and anxious behaviour were measured using multiple methods, including naturalistic observations, self‐report, and teacher report. Results indicated that shy and nonshy children showed consistently different behavioural profiles in free play settings and structured classes during the transition. However, teacher ratings of and peer responses to shy and nonshy children were not consistently different. Results are discussed in relation to the cultural context where the study was conducted. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multitasking versus multiplexing: Toward a normative account of limitations in the simultaneous execution of control-demanding behaviors

Why is it that behaviors that rely on control, so striking in their diversity and flexibility, are also subject to such striking limitations? Typically, people cannot engage in more than a few—and usually only a single—control-demanding task at a time. This limitation was a defining element in the earliest conceptualizations of controlled processing; it remains one of the most widely accepted axioms of cognitive psychology, and is even the basis for some laws (e.g., against the use of mobile devices while driving). Remarkably, however, the source of this limitation is still not understood. Here, we examine one potential source of this limitation, in terms of a trade-off between the flexibility and efficiency of representation (“multiplexing”) and the simultaneous engagement of different processing pathways (“multitasking”). We show that even a modest amount of multiplexing rapidly introduces cross-talk among processing pathways, thereby constraining the number that can be productively engaged at once. We propose that, given the large number of advantages of efficient coding, the human brain has favored this over the capacity for multitasking of control-demanding processes.     

基于文本阅读的间接接触也可改善公众对残疾人的态度

以镶嵌残疾人图片的正性行为描述性信息为文本阅读材料,以大学生为被试,采用概念启动范式,考察了健全人对残疾人态度改善的可能性.研究结果表明,阅读残疾人正性行为描述性材料不仅可以降低健全人对残疾人的负性认知评价,而且可以提高其对残疾人的钦佩感和减弱其对残疾人的嫌弃感,同时也可提高健全人对该类人群的积极趋近行为和减弱对该类人群的消极趋近和消极回避行为,从而证明基于文本阅读的间接接触可改善公众对残疾人的负性态度的假设.因此,创造条件鼓励残疾人尽力发挥其积极的社会功能,引导和塑造其身残志不残的品质,有助于改善健全人对该类人群的消极态度.     

右美托咪定对甲亢患者术中血流动力学的比较研究

研究右美托咪定辅助甲亢患者麻醉诱导时血流动力学的改变。40例甲亢患者,随机分为两组：右美托咪定组（ n＝20）与对照组（n＝20）。记录术前与麻醉诱导后的血压、心率、心率收缩压乘积,抽取静脉血进行儿茶酚胺检测。结果右美托咪定组诱导后、插管后即刻、1分钟、2分钟、3分钟,血压、心率、心率收缩压乘积低于对照组,差异有统计学意义（P＜0．05）。右美托咪定组儿茶酚胺在插管后1分钟、插管后2分钟、插管后3分钟低于对照组差异有统计学意义（P＜0．05）。右美托咪定有利于维持甲亢患者麻醉诱导中血流动力学的稳定。