Seeing the big picture: Broadening attention relieves sadness and depressed mood

We examined whether the broadened attentional scope would affect people's sad or depressed mood with two experiments, enlightened by the meaning of “seeing the big picture” and the broaden‐and‐build model. Experiment 1 (n = 164) is a laboratory‐based experiment, in which we manipulated the attentional scope by showing participants zoomed‐out or zoomed‐in scenes. In Experiment 2 (n = 44), we studied how depressed mood and positive and negative emotions were affected when participants watched distant versus proximal scenes for eight weeks in real life. Healthy participants in Experiment 1, who were induced to feel sad, could return to the baseline mood after having the broadened attention task but not after having the narrowed attention task, which indicated that immediate attention broadening manipulation could function as antidotes for the lingering effects of induced negative emotions. Participants with depressed mood in Experiment 2 showed reduced depressed mood, increased positive affect, and decreased negative affect after receiving attention broadening training compared to those receiving attention narrowing training. Our findings suggest a robust role of broadened attentional scope in relieving negative emotions and even mildly depressed mood in the long run.     

The effect of spatial frequency information and visual similarity in threat detection

In the current research, we sought to examine the role of spatial frequency on the detection of threat using a speeded visual search paradigm. Participants searched for threat-relevant (snakes or spiders) or non-threat-relevant (frogs or cockroaches) targets in an array of neutral (flowers or mushrooms) distracters, and we measured search performance with images filtered to contain different levels (high and low) of spatial frequency information. The results replicate previous work demonstrating more rapid detection of threatening versus non-threatening stimuli [e.g. LoBue, V. & DeLoache, J. S. (2008). Detecting the snake in the grass: Attention to fear-relevant stimuli by adults and young children. Psychological Science, 19, 284–289. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02081.x]. Most importantly, the results suggest that low spatial frequency or relatively coarse levels of visual information is sufficient for the rapid and accurate detection of threatening stimuli. Furthermore, the results also suggest that visual similarity between the stimuli used in the search tasks plays a significant role in speeded detection. The results are discussed in terms of the theoretical implications for the rapid detection of threat and methodological implications for properly accounting for similarity between the stimuli in visual search studies.     

Detection of Threats under Inattentional Blindness and Perceptual Load

Inattentional blindness refers to the failure to detect the salient unexpected stimuli in one’s visual field when performing an attention-demanding task. The present study examined the detection of threats in a static inattentional blindness paradigm. And the detection rates of evolutionary and ontogenetic threats were compared. Participants counted the number of color words from among three (low load) or six (high load) items presented in a circular array. On the last of six trials, an unexpected threatening/neutral illustration was presented in the center of the array along with the task stimuli. Participants detection of the illustration were thus measured and analyzed. The results suggested that: (1) the threatening stimuli, both evolutionary and ontogenetic, were detected more frequently than non-threatening stimuli; (2) the unexpected illustrations were identified more frequently under low-load condition than under high-load condition; (3) even under high-load situation, the threatening illustrations were more frequently identified than neutral ones. Threats are more likely to be detected under inattentional blindness and perceptual load.     

关于流行性感冒大流行的几个问题

流行性感冒(流感)大流行的发生是有其生物学和社会学基础的,从现在至未来很长的时间内,流感大流行的再现是不可避免的。但是人类在疫灾面前没有必要恐慌,主动、积极、科学的应对,可以把流感大流行对人类和人类生活的危害程度减至最低。     

国际合作中知情同意面临的难题及思考

目前在医学研究的国际合作中,知情同意原则在实施中出现了许多争议和难题.结合一些典型案例,对知情同意的跨文化研究、知情同意表格的误解以及保护受试者与自由研究之间的权衡等问题进行了深入地分析.指出:加强交流、相互尊重、求同存异是解决跨文化研究的必由之路;严格审查、加强监管是避免知情同意流于形式的重要手段;鼓励与防范并举才能达到双赢的局面.     

基督教伦理理论的两种类型

在西方基督徒中间,对与性、家庭生活和医学伦理问题相联系的个体道德问题,存在着严重的分歧.因为在今天的基督徒中间存在着两种伦理理论决定着他们的观点,第一种道德判断是"道义论",另一种道德判断叫做"后果主义".     

虚假医药广告问题与对策

夸大其词、耸人听闻的虚假广告给人民群众造成了巨大的身心伤害,对社会的侵害与污染极为严重。这些非法广告之所以存在,一方面是相关法律法规制定不完善和执行不严格,一方面是医药卫生领域和广告传媒领域职业道德的缺失。医药信息关系群众的生命安全,所以清除带有虚假成分的医药广告刻不容缓。     

肝移植的伦理学问题

肝脏移植和其它器官移植一起实现了人类长期以来渴望生命再生的梦想,并成为终末期肝病的有效治疗方法。器官移植也面对许多伦理道德方面的难题。供体,特别是活体器官的摘取,受体的选择等,都受到社会道德观的制约。从伦理道德角度来分析如何制定相关的法律法规,成为当前社会关注的热点。从受体的利益、人体科研的道德规范以及相关制度的伦理学要求等方面,较为详细的阐述肝移植伦理学的基本原则。     

论医师社会责任意识行为的社会基础

医师作为一种职业,必然要和医师本人的经济利益发生关系。一旦医师的行为和经济利益发生关系,就有可能和医师的社会责任发生冲突。市场的调控作用不能很有效地调节和监控医师的行为,需要通过制度影响医师的经济利益,引导医师负起社会责任。讨论医师的市场准入资格的审定;讨论医师的行医方式和报酬制度的建设;讨论政府主导作用的弱化对医师行为的影响;讨论公立医院运行机制市场化倾向对医师行为的影响,并提出改进意见。     

德性伦理与规范伦理在生命伦理中的契合

在生命伦理领域中,规范伦理与德性伦理都曾发挥重要作用,然而,德性伦理没有受到人们足够的重视,重新厘定传统德性伦理的现代价值显得尤为重要。初步探究在生命伦理迅速发展的情况下,德性伦理与规范伦理相结合的模式。