A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of the Distress Thermometer for Screening Distress in Asian Patients with Cancer

Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings - The distress thermometer (DT) is a commonly used tool for screening distress in Asian patients with cancer. However, the optimal cut-off score...     

Prioritization to visual objects: Roles of sensory uncertainty

Two hypotheses, attentional prioritization and attentional spreading, have been proposed to account for object-based attention. The attentional-prioritization hypothesis posits that the positional uncertainty of targets is sufficient to resolve the controversy raised by the competing attentional-spreading hypothesis. Here we challenge the sufficiency of this explanation by showing that object-based attention is a function of sensory uncertainty in a task with consistent high positional uncertainty of the targets. In Experiment 1, object-based attention was modulated by sensory uncertainty induced by the noise from backward masking, showing an object-based effect under high as compared to low sensory uncertainty. This finding was replicated in Experiment 2 with increased task difficulty, to exclude that as a confounding factor, and in Experiment 3 with a psychophysical method, to obtain converging evidence using perceptual threshold measurement. Additionally, such a finding was not observed when sensory uncertainty was eliminated by replacing the backward-masking stimuli with perceptually dissimilar ones in Experiment 4. These results reveal that object-based attention is influenced by sensory uncertainty, even under high positional uncertainty of the targets. Our findings contradict the proposition of attentional spreading, proposing instead an automatic form of object-based attention due to enhancement of the perceptual representation. More importantly, the attentional-prioritization hypothesis based solely on positional uncertainty cannot sufficiently account for object-based attention, but needs to be developed by expanding the concept of uncertainty to include at least sensory uncertainty.     

Self-determined work motivation predicts job outcomes,but what predicts self-determined work motivation?

Self-determined work motivation predicts important job outcomes, such as job satisfaction [Richer, S. F., Blanchard, C., & Vallerand, R. J. (2002). A motivational model of work turnover. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32, 2089–2113], but what predicts self-determined work motivation is less fully understood. We tested general causality orientation—specifically autonomy and control orientation—as a predictor of self-determined work motivation, which in turn was expected to predict job satisfaction and identification commitment as job outcomes. Regression analyses confirmed our hypotheses such that autonomy orientation predicted job outcomes via increased self-determined work motivation. Control orientation predicted self-determined work motivation but did not affect either of the two job outcomes. Findings are discussed with respect to the importance of individual differences in understanding job outcomes.     

Is a Single‐Bladed Knife Enough to Dissect Human Cognition? Commentary on Griffiths et al.

Griffiths, Christian, and Kalish (this issue) present an iterative-learning paradigm applying a Bayesian model to understand inductive biases in categorization. The authors argue that the paradigm is useful as an exploratory tool to understand inductive biases in situations where little is known about the task. It is argued that a theory developed only at the computational level is much like a single-bladed knife that is only useful in highly idealized situations. To be useful as a general tool that cuts through the complex fabric of cognition, we need at least two-bladed scissors that combine both computational and psychological constraints to characterize human behavior. To temper its sometimes expansive claims, it is time to show what a Bayesian model cannot explain. Insight as to how human reality may differ from the Bayesian predictions may shed more light on human cognition than the simpler focus on what the Bayesian approach can explain. There remains much to be done in terms of integrating Bayesian approaches and other approaches in modeling human cognition.     

Implicit sequence learning and conscious awareness

This paper uses the Process Dissociation Procedure to explore whether people can acquire unconscious knowledge in the serial reaction time task [Destrebecqz, A., & Cleeremans, A. (2001). Can sequence learning be implicit? New evidence with the Process Dissociation Procedure. Psychonomic Bulletin &Review, 8, 343-350; Wilkinson, L., & Shanks, D. R. (2004). Intentional control and implicit sequence learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 30, 354-369]. Experiment 1 showed that people generated legal sequences above baseline levels under exclusion instructions. Reward moved exclusion performance towards baseline, indicating that the extent of motivation in the test phase influenced the expression of unconscious knowledge. Experiments 2 and 3 revealed that even with reward, adding noise to the sequences or shortening training led to above-baseline exclusion performance, suggesting that task difficulty and the amount of training also affected the expression of unconscious knowledge. The results help resolve some current debates about the role of conscious awareness in sequence learning.     

两种取向的工作满意度模型构建及实证研究

工作满意度一般被作为衡量员工工作中的幸福感的指标。幸福感的研究存在两种基本取向：享乐取向和完善取向。为验证两种取向的工作满意度结构,对485名MBA学生和864名企业员工进行了调查,探索性因素分析和进一步二阶探索性因素分析表明,工作满意度量表包含8个因素,这8个因素归于两个维度：享乐取向的满意度（包括享乐的工作结果、享乐的工作本身、享乐的人际关系、享乐的组织氛围）和完善取向的满意度（包括完善的工作结果、完善的工作本身、完善的人际关系、完善的组织氛围）。验证性因素分析支持两种取向工作满意度的结构模型。     

航空模拟舱飞行行为的EPIC理论仿真

利用计算机技术,以执行过程交互控制(EPIC)理论框架为基础,建立了一个虚拟飞行员飞行过程的计算模型,并对人在复杂任务下的作业绩效进行了仿真。结果表明：(1)该研究在原有EPIC理论基础上发展的仿真模型合理可行;(2)仿真结果和实验结果拟合良好,模型具有良好的预测能力。该研究为以仿真方法研究复杂任务的心理过程提供了一次有益的尝试。     

论寿命学：2．梦想与现实

以人类最大寿命的相对有限性为基础,论述现阶段延长人类寿命面临的问题以及人类最大寿限演化的远景并着重指出依靠现行医疗模式延寿潜力的有限性以及改变医疗保健观念与运行体系的必要性。     

小学儿童谦虚的道德评价

本研究分析比较了314名7、9、11岁儿童对谦虚故事的道德评价及其评价理由,试图以此初步揭示儿童谦虚观念的发展状况.结果表明随年龄增长,没有谦虚观念的儿童人数比例显著减少,9岁和11岁有谦虚观念的儿童比例显著高于7岁儿童,且11岁儿童出现了一种后谦虚观念--认为人做了好事就应该承认,没有必要谦虚.     

日本侵华战争的国民责任探析

日本侵华战争的责任不能仅归咎于少数统治者,普通民众对战争也负有不可推卸的责任.二战时期,日本社会各界都投入拥护支持战争的浪潮之中,掀起了"举国战争狂热".传统国民性是日本掀起全民战争狂热的重要原因.浓重的狭隘民族主义是近代日本民族的基本特征,他们中的多数人曾虔诚地投入了侵略战争,并把自己的命运与之紧密地联系在一起,才使得在整个战争期间乃至战后,没有多少人对自己的错误思想、行为做出反省,这也是日本总不能对这场战争有彻底的正确认识的民众根源.