Adult Attachment Ratings (AAR): An Item Response Theory Analysis

The Adult Attachment Ratings (AAR) include 3 scales for anxious, ambivalent attachment (excessive dependency, interpersonal ambivalence, and compulsive care-giving), 3 for avoidant attachment (rigid self-control, defensive separation, and emotional detachment), and 1 for secure attachment. The scales include items (ranging from 6–16 in their original form) scored by raters using a 3-point format (0 = absent, 1 = present, and 2 = strongly present) and summed to produce a total score. Item response theory (IRT) analyses were conducted with data from 414 participants recruited from psychiatric outpatient, medical, and community settings to identify the most informative items from each scale. The IRT results allowed us to shorten the scales to 5-item versions that are more precise and easier to rate because of their brevity. In general, the effective range of measurement for the scales was 0 to +2 SDs for each of the attachment constructs; that is, from average to high levels of attachment problems. Evidence for convergent and discriminant validity of the scales was investigated by comparing them with the Experiences of Close Relationships–Revised (ECR–R) scale and the Kobak Attachment Q-sort. The best consensus among self-reports on the ECR–R, informant ratings on the ECR–R, and expert judgments on the Q-sort and the AAR emerged for anxious, ambivalent attachment. Given the good psychometric characteristics of the scale for secure attachment, however, this measure alone might provide a simple alternative to more elaborate procedures for some measurement purposes. Conversion tables are provided for the 7 scales to facilitate transformation from raw scores to IRT-calibrated (theta) scores.     

临终心理的理论和研究综述

死亡是人生生老病死必经的最后历程,对临终病人心理的研究,临终护理的探索有重大意义,本文从临终病人的心理及其发展状况,以及临终心理的调适等角度出发,对国内外的临终心理研究进行回顾,并对其中的理论和研究结果做出总结性分析,并对今后研究需要注意的方向加以讨论。     

Glucose consumption decreases impulsive aggression in response to provocation in aggressive individuals

Impaired executive control is implicated in aggression. Research suggests that the acute administration of glucose can improve executive control. In two experiments undergraduates completed a measure of trait aggression and consumed a glucose or placebo beverage before being given the chance to administer a blast of white noise to a fictitious participant. In Experiment 1, all participants were provoked and mentally depleted or not. Glucose was most effective in reducing aggression for those high in trait aggression even when depleted. In Experiment 2, participants were provoked or not. When provoked, glucose reduced aggression among those high in trait aggression. However, when not provoked, glucose increased aggression among those high in trait aggression. These data suggest that the acute administration of glucose can be beneficial in reducing aggression in response to provocation among those high in trait aggression.     

Interpersonal influences on adolescent materialism: A new look at the role of parents and peers

What causes adolescents to be materialistic? Prior research shows parents and peers are an important influence. Researchers have viewed parents and peers as socialization agents that transmit consumption attitudes, goals, and motives to adolescents. We take a different approach, viewing parents and peers as important sources of emotional support and psychological well-being, which increase self-esteem in adolescents. Supportive parents and peers boost adolescents' self-esteem, which decreases their need to turn to material goods to develop positive self-perceptions. In a study with 12–18 year-olds, we find support for our view that self-esteem mediates the relationship between parent/peer influence and adolescent materialism.     

Communicating stereotype‐relevant information: How readily can people individuate?

It is often suggested that people automatically form an impression of a target by using stereotypes. However, people can flexibly deploy different types of individuating processes, depending on the communicative context. We showed that people can individuate targets from their social category by communicating stereotype‐inconsistent information (person–group individuation) when they are required to reproduce information about the targets and people can individuate targets from other individuals by communicating information that is distinctive about the targets (person–person individuation) when required to identify the targets. The participants' performance is unrelated to information memorability (Experiment 1) and is not affected by time pressure (Experiment 2). Humans' adaptive capacity for individuation is discussed.     

权力感与亲社会倾向：自我获益的中介和情境的调节作用

本研究基于情境聚焦理论探讨权力感与亲社会倾向的关系,以及自我获益和情境所起的作用。两项研究通过测量一般权力感（研究一, N= 271）和启动权力感（研究二, N=139名）,考察权力感在不同情境（合作vs.竞争）中的亲社会倾向。结果发现：自我获益在权力感与亲社会倾向之间存在中介作用,竞争合作情境能够调节权力感与自我获益的关系从而影响亲社会倾向,在竞争下,高权者感知到更少获益,表现出更少的亲社会倾向,在合作情境下则相反。     

Holistic or compositional representation of two-digit numbers? Evidence from the distance, magnitude, and SNARC effects in a number-matching task

Whether two-digit numbers are represented holistically (each digit pair processed as one number) or compositionally (each digit pair processed separately as a decade digit and a unit digit) remains unresolved. Two experiments were conducted to examine the distance, magnitude, and SNARC effects in a number-matching task involving two-digit numbers. Forty undergraduates were asked to judge whether two two-digit numbers (presented serially in Experiment 1 and simultaneously in Experiment 2) were the same or not. Results showed that, when numbers were presented serially, unit digits did not make unique contributions to the magnitude and distance effects, supporting the holistic model. When numbers were presented simultaneously, unit digits made unique contributions, supporting the compositional model. The SNARC (Spatial-Numerical Association of Response Codes) effect was evident for the whole numbers and the decade digits, but not for the unit digits in both experiments, which indicates that two-digit numbers are represented on one mental number line. Taken together, these results suggested that the representation of two-digit numbers is on a single mental number line, but it depends on the stage of processing whether they are processed holistically or compositionally.     

特征框架效应的心理机制与影响因素

特征框架效应是指当分别以积极框架和消极框架来描述给定情境中某一事物或事件的关键特征时, 一般情况下人们更偏好以积极框架来描述其关键特征的事物或事件的现象。特征框架效应广泛的存在于消费、医学及政治等领域。目前, 它的解释机制主要包括效价加工的认知机制、参照依赖、查询理论以及认知神经机制。它的影响因素主要包括经验、人格特质、计算能力以及认知闭合需要等。未来的研究应该从深入探索特征框架效应的产生根源和影响因素, 拓展其应用研究, 深入探索偏好消极框架下的特征框架效应以及探讨该现象与其它现象之间的关系等五方面展开。