Emotional reactions to scandals: When does moral character make a difference?

A scandal can evoke public outrage when it is widely publicized and involves an individual who is perceived to have a high level of cultural representativeness. Two experiments showed that when the scandalous target's moral character was highlighted, emotional responses towards the target were least negative when the scandal was widely circulated and when the target was seen as a representative of his culture. These results suggest that when a cultural symbol is implicated in a widely‐circulated scandal, the negative emotions directed towards the scandalous individual can be alleviated when the public remains confident in his or her commitment to morality.     

The art and science of guessing

This research examined how one affectively reacts to others' guesses at a value one cares about, such as one's income. Conventional wisdom suggests that people will feel happier upon receiving more favorable guesses (e.g., higher income) than less favorable guesses. We found the opposite pattern. We propose a model to explain the effect and identify its boundaries and report experimental evidence for the model. This research enriches existing literature on self-enhancement and yields practical implications for how to approach guessing in interpersonal communications.     

Increases in rewards promote flexible behavior

Offering reward for performance can motivate people to perform a task better, but better preparation for one task usually means decreased flexibility to perform different tasks. In six experiments in which reward varied between low and high levels, we found that reward can encourage people to prepare more flexibly for different tasks, but only as it increased from the level on the previous trial. When the same high rewards were offered continuously trial after trial, people were more inclined to simply stick with doing what had worked previously. We demonstrated such enhancements in flexibility in task switching, a difficult visual search task, and an easier priming of pop-out search task, which shows that this effect generalizes from executive tasks to perceptual processes that require relatively little executive control. These findings suggest that relative, transient changes in reward can exert more potent effects on behavioral flexibility than can the absolute amount of reward, whether it consists of money or points in a social competition.     

Hippocampal CA1 kindling but not long-term potentiation disrupts spatial memory performance

Long-term synaptic enhancement in the hippocampus has been suggested to cause deficits in spatial performance. Synaptic enhancement has been reported after hippocampal kindling that induced repeated electrographic seizures or afterdischarges (ADs) and after long-term potentiation (LTP) defined as synaptic enhancement without ADs. We studied whether repeated stimulations that gave LTP or ADs resulted in spatial performance deficits on the radial arm maze (RAM) and investigated the minimal number of ADs required for such deficits. Three experimental groups were run as follows: (1) 5 hippocampal ADs in 1 d (5-AD group), (2) 10 hippocampal ADs in 2 d (10-AD group), and (3) 12 -frequency primed-burst stimulations (PBSs) in 2 d in order to induce LTP without ADs (LTP group). Each experimental group was run together with a control group during the same time period. Rats were first trained in a spatial task on a radial arm maze with four of the eight arms baited, then given control or experimental treatment, and maze performance was tested in the first week (1-4 d) and fourth week (22-25 d) after treatment. Basal dendritic population excitatory postsynaptic potentials (pEPSPs) and medial perforant path (MPP)-evoked dentate gyrus population spike and polysynaptic CA1 excitation were recorded before and after experimental and control treatment. Spatial memory errors, in particular reference memory errors, were significantly higher in the 10-AD kindled group than any other group on the first and fourth week after treatment. Spatial memory errors were not significantly different in the 5-AD and LTP groups as compared with any control groups at any time. Basal dendritic pEPSP in CA1 was enhanced for about 1 wk after 12 PBSs, 10 ADs, or 5 ADs, while the dentate gyrus population spike and CA1 polysynaptic excitation evoked by MPP was increased for up to 4 wk after 10 ADs, but not 12 PBSs. Thus, distributed alteration of multiple synaptic transmission in the entorhinal-hippocampal circuit, but not LTP at the basal dendritic synapses in CA1, may disrupt spatial performance after 10 hippocampal ADs.     

Black, Hispanic, and White American mothers of adolescents: construction of a national standard

Black, Hispanic, and White American mothers (n = 739) and adolescents (n = 806) completed the Parent Success Indicator to rate maternal performance on subscales of Communication, Use of Time, Teaching, Frustration, Satisfaction, and Information Needs. A weighted method corresponding to ethnic proportions in the American population was applied to construct a national standard for comparative reference. In general, both generations perceived mother performance as favorable. Teaching received the highest rating followed by Satisfaction levels. Mothers felt that Information Needs were their greatest limitation while adolescents reported that their mothers were prone to frustration. The amount of time mothers and adolescents spent together was the most significant independent variable influencing parent performance. Other variables such as income and marital status had limited impact.     

Stimulated release of tissue plasminogen activator from artery wall sympathetic nerves: implications for stress-associated wall damage

Recurrent stress is clinically associated with early onset hypertension and coronary artery disease. A mechanism linking emotion to pathogenic remodeling of the artery wall has not been identified. Stress stimulates acute regulated release of tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) into the circulation, which is presently attributed to the vascular endothelium. Sympathetic neurons also synthesize t-PA and axonally transport it to the arterial smooth muscle. Unlike release by the endothelium, a stress-stimulated sympathetic discharge would potentially accelerate degradation of the wall matrix by plasmin. To assess whether sympathetic axons are the principal source of acute stress-induced arterial release of t-PA, we compared the output from small densely innervated and large sparsely innervated isolated artery segments before and after sympathetic stimulation, and after ablations. Following phenylephrine infusion densely-innervated microvessels in uveal eyecups were released over 60-fold greater amounts of active t-PA per milligram than the sparsely innervated aorta; and ten-fold more than carotid artery segments. Mesenteric artery release was 4.8-fold greater than release by the carotid artery. In vivo, uveal release of t-PA increased more than three-fold within one minute following superior cervical sympathetic ganglion electrical stimulation, and after phenylephrine, or nicotine infusions of the anterior chamber. Circulating levels of t-PA fell 70% following chemical sympathectomy. We propose that sympathetic nerves are the primary source of stress-induced release of t-PA into and from the densely innervated resistance arteries and arterioles, where dysregulated plasmin-induced proteolysis could damage the wall matrix.     

Antipsychotic medication adherence, cocaine use, and recidivism among a parolee sample

This study examined the independent and interactive associations between cocaine use and antipsychotic medication adherence in predicting 12 month criminal recidivism among a sample of mentally ill parolees (N = 200). Consistent with prior research, cocaine use (based on hair assays) was associated with more than a threefold increase (relative to non-cocaine users) in the likelihood of a parolee being returned to custody during the follow-up period. Although medication adherence (based on urine specimens) was not independently associated with a significant reduction in recidivism risk, the interaction between cocaine use and medication adherence was significant, revealing a disproportionate impact of medication adherence specific to cocaine users. Prediction models of recidivism based on self-reported measures of medication adherence and cocaine use revealed only marginally significant trends for cocaine use, no effect for adherence, and no significant interaction between these two predictors.     

内省的心理学新探─—自我观察与心理调适

本文对内省作为一种心理学的基本方法作了历史回顾。作者还把内省看作人的某种个性倾向或心理特征尝试进行实证研究。调查结果表明,内省在被试看来,是自我概念形成与发展所必不可少的。结果还使作者确信,对内省联系个体心理与行为的调适作实证研究,不仅可行,而且有益。     

Situational and Individual Influences on Judgments of Hostile Environment Sexual Harassment1

The current research examines the judgment processes of third-party evaluators of sexual harassment situations. Four situational variables were hypothesized to influence ratings of situation appropriateness and judgments of sexual harassment. The evaluator's gender and personality also were hypothesized to influence both ratings. Participants were 73 male and 51 female undergraduate students. Results indicated that behavior severity and victim response significantly influenced ratings. The frequency of the behavior influenced appropriateness ratings, but interacted with behavior severity for harassment judgments. The effects of the gender of the evaluator were mediated by the evaluator's level of tolerance for harassment. The effects of the power relationship and rater personality were not significant.     

合体汉字字形识别过程探索

该研究用微观发生范式探索了合体汉字和假字的字形识别过程 ,结果发现 :(1 )部件字、真字和假字的正确提取率随呈现时间增长而提高 ,字形刺激的特征加工是一个有序的发展过程 ,对字形的识别加工过程受字形熟悉性和字形结构方式的影响 ;(2 )在左右型字刺激和上下型字刺激中 ,经常首先从右部件或下部件中提取笔画或笔画组合 (称首特征 ) ,而且首特征的提取不受字形熟悉性影响。根据以上结果可以推测 ,字形结构属性在字形识别加工的最初阶段先于特征获加工 ,字形熟悉性则对首特征提取后的特征或部件加工过程产生影响。