I Can Stomach That! Fearlessness About Death Predicts Attenuated Facial Electromyography Activity in Response to Death‐Related Images

Objective measures of suicide risk can convey life‐saving information to clinicians, but few such measures exist. This study examined an objective measure of fearlessness about death (FAD), testing whether FAD relates to self‐reported and physiological aversion to death. Females (n = 87) reported FAD and disgust sensitivity, and facial electromyography was used to measure physiological facial responses consistent with disgust while viewing death‐related images. FAD predicted attenuated expression of physiological death aversion, even when controlling for self‐reported death‐related disgust sensitivity. Diminished physiological aversion to death‐related stimuli holds promise as an objective measure of FAD and suicide risk.     

Impact of Firearm Availability and Gun Regulation on State Suicide Rates

Past studies on suicide have investigated the association of firearm ownership and suicide risk in the United States. The aim of the present study was to build on previous work by examining the impact of firearm storage practices and the strictness of firearm regulation on suicide rates at the state level. Data were compiled from primarily three sources. Suicide and firearm ownership information was obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Strictness of handgun regulation was derived from figures available at the Law Center to Prevent Violence, and controls were taken from the US Bureau of the Census. Mixed models were fitted to the data. Household firearm ownership was strongly associated with both suicide by all mechanisms, and firearm suicide. Storage practices had especially elevated consequences on suicide rates. Percent with loaded guns and gun readiness increased suicide rates, and strictness of gun regulation reduced suicide rates. Ready access to firearms can make a difference between life and death. Loaded and unlocked firearms within reach become risk factors for fatal outcomes from suicidal behavior. Future research might want to examine ways of obtaining more recent data on individual firearm ownership. This study proposes several policy recommendations for suicide prevention.     

Engagement in a Science Museum – The Role of Social Interactions

This qualitative research explores the interactions of elementary school students during free-choice activity with science museum exhibits. The study participants were 39 students, who visited a science museum on six occasions during a three-year-period (from 4^th to 6^th grades). Our study showed that most interactions around exhibits are social in nature. Within these social interactions, students mainly discuss the technicalities of operating the exhibits and rarely engage with their scientific content. On occasion, exhibits are no more than settings for social interactions that could equally occur, for example, in the schoolyard. The main implications of this study concern exhibit design and pedagogy. Because students find ways to create their own social interactions in museum settings, museum pedagogy should leverage this social interaction into cognitive engagement with the scientific content of exhibits.     

The open-object illusion: size perception is greatly influenced by object boundaries

This study presents a new powerful visual illusion, in which simple “open” objects—ones with missing boundaries—are perceived as bigger than the same size, fully “closed” objects. In a series of experiments that employed a continuous-response adjustment procedure, it was found that the lack of vertical boundaries inflated the perceived width of an object, whereas the lack of horizontal boundaries inflated its perceived length. The effect was highly robust and it was replicated across different stimulus types and experimental parameters, with almost all observers exhibiting a strong effect. In contrast to the overestimation of the size of an object due to missing boundaries, the inclusion of inner boundaries within an object caused observers to underestimate its size, suggesting that filled space sometimes shrinks, rather than inflates, the perceived size of an object. The open-object illusion bears practical implications for graphics and design as well as important theoretical implications. Specifically, it indicates that the perception of an object’s area is not veridical but rather critically depends on contour closure. It is suggested that the visual system extends the missing boundaries of open contour objects, which results in an overestimation of the object’s size.     

社会公正对权威合法性的影响:社会阶层的调节作用

社会层面中的权威合法性研究是国内外学者和管理实践者近来关注的重要问题。而社会公正的两个维度——分配公正和程序公正对权威合法性的交互作用的结果并不一致。本研究基于解释水平理论,提出社会阶层能调节分配公正和程序公正对权威合法性感知的交互作用,并通过实验室研究和情境启动两种方法进行验证。结果发现对低阶层者来说,无论是否程序公正,分配公正能显著提高个体的权威合法性感知;在分配公正和多得不公条件下,程序公正显著降低权威合法性感知。对高阶层者来说,分配公正能显著提高程序公正时的权威合法性感知;程序公正能显著提高分配公正时的权威合法性感知。研究结果启示社会管理者在推行依法治国时应针对不同阶层民众的思维方式采取管理策略。     

Because difficulty is not the same for everyone: the impact of complexity in working memory is associated with cannabinoid 1 receptor genetic variation in young adults

Individual differences in working memory ability are mainly revealed when a demanding challenge is imposed. Here, we have associated cannabinoid 1 (CB1) receptor genetic variation rs2180619 (AA, AG, GG), which is located in a potential CNR1 regulatory sequence, with performance in working memory. Two-hundred and nine Mexican-mestizo healthy young participants (89 women, 120 men, mean age: 23.26 years, SD?=?2.85) were challenged to solve a medium (2-back) vs. a high (3-back) difficulty N-back tasks. All subjects responded as expected, performance was better with the medium than the high demand task version, but no differences were found among genotypes while performing each working memory (WM) task. However, the cost of the level of complexity in N-back paradigm was double for GG subjects than for AA subjects. It is noteworthy that an additive-dosage allele relation was found for G allele in terms of cost of level of complexity. These genetic variation results support that the endocannabinoid system, evaluated by rs2180619 polymorphism, is involved in WM ability in humans.     

图示写实性对飞机安全须知卡可理解性的影响

本研究使用眼动技术及模拟操作任务考察了图示写实性对飞机安全须知卡可理解性的影响。三组被试分别阅读写实照片、卡通插画、目标实物+其余图画的混合呈现等三种不同呈现形式的安全须知示意图,随后完成模拟操作任务。结果显示,混合组较写实组能更好地引导被试注意投放到与安全操作有关的关键区域上;混合组与写实组的模拟操作绩效均优于卡通组。基于上述结果,笔者建议使用"混合呈现方式"的飞机安全须知卡向乘客传递安全信息。     

循证医学时代安慰剂的再认识

安慰剂的治疗作用早已被人们认识,但是对于其在医学上的应用却一直存在争议.在循证医学兴起的今天,我们应该如何辩证地看待安慰剂的作用及不足,以及在临床试验中应该如何应用安慰剂是一个值得探讨的问题.     

公共卫生的责任主体缺位是众多医学伦理问题产生的根源

我国的卫生、医疗服务系统近年来产生了大量严重的伦理问题,引起了国内外广泛的关注.通过对大量材料的归类、分析,找出我国众多严重伦理问题产生的主要根源是公共卫生责任主体的缺位.解决的主要措施是:加快卫生母法的建立;政府对"公共性"卫生服务责任到位,扭转卫生工作严重的市场化和趋利化倾向;彻底改变医疗费用的"后付制"和"第三方付费制",实行政府正向投入;改变当前在疾病预防和初级卫生保健投入方面过于细化的分级财政体制;制止药品广告和虚假的医疗广告;加大控制政府公立医院建设的成本和降低医院运行费用的工作,严格收费价格纪律等.