Approximation,Idealization, and Laws of Nature

Traditional theories construe approximate truth or truthlikeness as a measure of closeness to facts, singular facts, and idealization as an act of either assuming zero of otherwise very small differences from facts or imagining ideal conditions under which scientific laws are either approximately true or will be so when the conditions are relaxed. I first explain the serious but not insurmountable difficulties for the theories of approximation, and then argue that more serious and perhaps insurmountable difficulties for the theory of idealization force us to sever its close tie to approximation. This leads to an appreciation of lawlikeness as a measure of closeness to laws, which I argue is the real measure of idealization whose main purpose is to carve nature at its joints. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Symbolic forms can be mnemonics for recall

Form symbolism using squares and circles can aid recall. In Experiment 1, subjects saw 20 words, each presented in a circle or a square. Words like SOFT and MOTHER were presented in circles in the “congruent” condition, whereas the same words were presented in squares in the “incongruent” condition. Two experiments revealed that words in the congruent condition were more likely to be recalled. A comparison of the conditions with a baseline condition, in which 20 listed words were not closely related to either of the shapes, suggests that the effect was more likely due to facilitation produced by the congruent condition than to inhibition from the incongruent condition.     

Hard to decide? The effect of imagery perspective and construal level on decision difficulty

This research designed three experiments to investigate the mechanism of how imagery perspective influences decision difficulty, which increases consumers' willingness to postpone making choices based on the construal level. Studies 1, 2, and 3 demonstrated that imagining from the actor's perspective lowers one's construal level, and thus leads to greater decision difficulty and willingness to postpone making choices. In comparison, those taking the observer perspective represent things at higher construal levels and have less difficulty making decisions or willingness to postpone making choices. Moreover, the derived results showed the need for cognition to moderate the relationship between imagery perspective and construal level. The findings herein extended the physical buying situation to online consumption, providing implications for marketers to further explore consumer behavior.     

创造性思维四阶段的神经基础

华莱士(Wallas)四阶段论是创造性思维过程研究的重要模型, 该模型认为创造性思维包括准备期、酝酿期、明朗期、验证期。相关神经机制研究表明, 准备期主要包括题目呈现前大脑状态和静息状态的研究, 内侧额叶/ACC及颞叶构成准备期网络; 酝酿期主要包括酝酿期提示、延迟顿悟以及心智游移的相关研究, 这一阶段涉及左右脑的共同参与, 海马、腹内侧前额叶等脑区在酝酿过程中起重要作用; 现有顿悟研究反映明朗期和验证期神经活动, 前额叶、扣带回、颞上回、海马、楔叶、楔前叶、舌回、小脑等在内的脑区构成其神经基础, 其中, 扣带回、前额叶在不同角度进行的研究中均有参与, 颞上回是负责远距离联想的关键脑区, 海马参与定势打破与新颖联系形成, 外侧额叶是定势转移的关键脑区, 楔前叶、左侧额下/额中回、舌回在原型激活中起关键作用, 左外侧前额叶参与对答案细节性的验证加工。未来研究可从研究对象、研究内容、研究手段三方面加以改进, 以对创造性思维过程作更系统的探讨。     

面孔审美加工的神经机制及个体差异

外显和内隐的面孔审美加工的脑成像研究表明,美的面孔比不美的面孔导致眶额皮层、伏隔核、杏仁核等奖赏脑区更大的激活。脑电研究则发现了与面孔审美加工有关的早期负波和晚期正成分。面孔审美加工有关的脑区活动也受到性别、生理周期等个体因素的调节。未来的研究需要比较美的面孔与其它奖赏刺激加工的神经机制,探讨面孔审美加工的不同阶段及时间进程,在面孔知觉的框架下形成合理的面孔审美加工的神经模型。     

父亲的角色态度对其教养投入的影响：母亲态度类型的调节作用

本研究采用双亲关于父亲角色的态度问卷及父亲教养投入问卷,对427个3~7岁儿童的父母进行调查,考察父亲关于自身角色的态度对其教养投入的影响以及母亲关于父亲角色的态度类型在其中的调节作用.结果表明:(1)父亲关于自身教养价值、教养动机、教养技能的态度均可正向预测其教养投入,而父亲关于自身教养天性的态度对其教养投入没有显著的预测作用;(2)母亲态度类型在父亲的教养动机与其教养投入之间具有调节作用,在父亲角色态度的其他维度与教养投入之间无显著的调节效应.当母亲为矛盾型和拒绝型时,父亲的教养动机可正向预测其教养投入;当母亲为接纳型时,父亲的教养动机对其教养投入不具有预测作用.     

审美主体与伦理主体的比较研究

本文通过对审美主体和伦理主体的比较研究揭示了个体存在的伦理层面的含义。首先考察了老庄和海德格尔的后现代宗教式的主体和儒家形而上的宗教主体,以及儒家就伦理问题对于老庄的挑战。结论是他们都缺乏把他者的生存作为自己的绝对的责任的伦理含义,因而是审美主体：其次,通过对于环境主体和伦理主体及审美主体的关系的讨论,阐释了这样一个哲学基本问题：伦理存在必须以有限性存在为前提;而后者只是一个哲学的抽象。片面地强调人的有限性(尼采),片面强调有限存在与超越者的关系(老庄和海德格尔),或否认人的有限性,这些观点都忽略了人在这个世界上的伦理责任。后现代伦理学是指我,作为一个个体(me),对于他者的一切负有不可推卸的责任。     

Constant vigilance: Heritage values and defensive pessimism in coping with severe acute respiratory syndrome in Singapore

The present study investigates the congruency of defensive pessimism in the Asian context and its role in coping with the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) crisis in Singapore. Data collected from 174 Singaporeans supported the hypothesized relationships among Chinese values, defensive pessimism, SARS-related fears, compliance to preventive health-related behaviors and negative outcomes. Path analysis revealed that individuals' endorsement of Chinese value clusters − prudence, industry, and civic harmony − positively predicted their levels of defensive pessimism. The results also indicated that defensive pessimism had a direct positive effect on SARS-related fears and, SARS-related fears, in turn, were directly related to direct preventive health-related behaviors but not related to indirect preventive behaviors. In addition to the indirect effect of Chinese values on direct preventive health-related behaviors, Chinese values had a direct positive effect on both direct and indirect preventive health-related behaviors. Consistent with our contention that defensive pessimism has the potential for leading to particular negative outcomes, defensive pessimism was found to influence negative outcomes but this relationship was partially mediated by SARS-related fears.     

Expressive and receptive language skills of temperamentally shy preschoolers

Although shy children speak less in social situations, the extent to which their language skills fall behind those of their more outgoing peers remains unclear. We selected 22 temperamentally shy and 22 non‐shy children from a larger group of 400 4‐year‐old children who were prescreened for temperamental shyness by maternal report, using the Colorado Childhood Temperament Inventory (CCTI). We then compared the two groups on widely used measures that index expressive and receptive language skills. We found that, although the temperamentally shy children scored lower on both expressive and receptive language skills compared with their non‐shy counterparts, they were nonetheless performing at their age equivalency. The non‐shy children, however, were performing significantly above their age level on expressive and receptive language skills. These findings suggest that the development of normal language skills is not compromised in temperamentally shy preschoolers. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

语言与思维关系的跨文化研究综述

著名的Sapir-Whorf假设提出几十年了,引起了人类学家和心理学家的极大兴趣,也是跨文化心理学研究的重要领域。本文回顾了该假设提出以来,心理学家围绕语言与思维、语言结构与认知形式和内容的关系;作为文化要素的语言与其社会文化生态环境的关系等一系列的问题进行了研究。从这些研究可以看出．在不同领域都有新的进展,语言与思维的关系是否因不同的语言而有所不同,还应在更广泛的文化背景中加以验证。