Individual attitudes and perceived social norms: Reports on HIV/AIDS‐related stigma among service providers in China

This study examined HIV/AIDS‐related stigma among Chinese service providers by comparing their personal attitudes toward people living with HIV/AIDS with their perception of social norms related to people living with HIV/AIDS. We randomly selected three provincial hospitals, four city/prefecture hospitals, 10 county hospitals, 18 township health clinics, and 54 village clinics from Yunnan, China. Doctors and nurses were randomly sampled proportionally to the doctor–nurse ratio of each hospital or clinic. Lab technicians were over‐sampled in order to include an adequate representation in the analysis. A total of 1,101 service providers participated in a voluntary, anonymous survey where demographic characteristics, individual attitude and perceived social norms toward people living with HIV/AIDS, discrimination intent at work, general prejudicial attitude and knowledge on HIV/AIDS were measured. A majority of the sample demonstrated a similarity between their personal views and what they thought most people in society believe. Multiple logistic regressions revealed that participants who were younger or reported personal contact with people living with HIV/AIDS were significantly more likely to report personal attitudes toward the population that were more liberal than their perceived social norms. Holding a more liberal personal attitude toward people living with HIV/AIDS than perceived social norms was significantly and negatively related to the level of discrimination intent at work, perceived discrimination at interpersonal level and the level of general prejudicial attitude toward people living with HIV/AIDS. Results underscored the importance of understanding social norms and personal attitudes in studying HIV‐related stigma and called for the incorporation of existing human capital into future HIV stigma reduction programs.     

Imaging intelligence with proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-MRS) is a technique for the assay of brain neurochemistry in vivo. N-acetylaspartate (NAA), the most prominent metabolite visible within the ¹H-MRS spectrum, is found primarily within neurons. The current study was designed to further elucidate NAA–cognition relationships, particularly whether such relationships are moderated by sex, or tissue type (gray or white matter). We administered standard measures of intelligence to 63 young, healthy subjects and obtained spectroscopic imaging data within a slab of tissue superior to the lateral ventricles. We found that lower NAA within right anterior gray matter predicted better performance VIQ (F = 6.83, p = .011, r² = .10), while higher NAA within the right posterior gray matter region predicted better PIQ (F = 8.175, p = .006, r² = .12). These findings add to the small but growing body of literature linking brain biochemistry to intelligence in normal healthy subjects using ¹H-MRSI.     

主动性人格的研究现状与展望

近年来,越来越多的研究者与管理者开始关注员工的主动行为,主动行为能够改善组织的效率和提高竞争力。主动行为受到许多因素的影响,其中一个因素即主动性人格。主动性人格是一种稳定的主动行为倾向。许多研究表明：主动性人格与许多行为结果都有密切联系,包括工作绩效、职业生涯成功、领导能力、团队绩效、创业等。今后的研究需要探讨一些问题,如主动性人格与关系绩效、职业生涯成功新标准的关系     

The Parieto-Frontal Integration Theory (P-FIT) of intelligence: converging neuroimaging evidence

"Is there a biology of intelligence which is characteristic of the normal human nervous system?" Here we review 37 modern neuroimaging studies in an attempt to address this question posed by Halstead (1947) as he and other icons of the last century endeavored to understand how brain and behavior are linked through the expression of intelligence and reason. Reviewing studies from functional (i.e., functional magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography) and structural (i.e., magnetic resonance spectroscopy, diffusion tensor imaging, voxel-based morphometry) neuroimaging paradigms, we report a striking consensus suggesting that variations in a distributed network predict individual differences found on intelligence and reasoning tasks. We describe this network as the Parieto-Frontal Integration Theory (P-FIT). The P-FIT model includes, by Brodmann areas (BAs): the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (BAs 6, 9, 10, 45, 46, 47), the inferior (BAs 39, 40) and superior (BA 7) parietal lobule, the anterior cingulate (BA 32), and regions within the temporal (BAs 21, 37) and occipital (BAs 18, 19) lobes. White matter regions (i.e., arcuate fasciculus) are also implicated. The P-FIT is examined in light of findings from human lesion studies, including missile wounds, frontal lobotomy/leukotomy, temporal lobectomy, and lesions resulting in damage to the language network (e.g., aphasia), as well as findings from imaging research identifying brain regions under significant genetic control. Overall, we conclude that modern neuroimaging techniques are beginning to articulate a biology of intelligence. We propose that the P-FIT provides a parsimonious account for many of the empirical observations, to date, which relate individual differences in intelligence test scores to variations in brain structure and function. Moreover, the model provides a framework for testing new hypotheses in future experimental designs.     

Should reason be fragmented?

Cognitive relativists‐pragmatists (Stich, Churchland) claim that human cognitive strategies, lacking a common goal, are in addition divergent to the point of incommensurability. They appeal to the study of reasoning heuristics for evidence on cognitive diversity and incorrigibility. It is here argued that no such evidence is offered by the research, which, on the contrary (1) presents heuristics as uniform across great variations; (2) offers advice for correcting and improving human reasoning; and (3) very often postulates a uniformity of core logical strategies, built into reasoning competence. Cognitive research thus supports a moderate rationalism rather than relativism‐pragmatism.     

Global Versus Health-Specific Social Support and Match of Preferred and Perceived Social Support Levels in Relationship to Compliance and Blood Pressure of Hypertensives1

A comparison of the relative usefulness of a standardized measure of global perceived social support (Procidano and Heller, 1983) with a health-specific index showed that the latter was a better predictor of compliance for a sample consisting mostly of older female hypertensives. However, the relationship of support and compliance to actual health, as measured by blood pressure levels at two times separated by 3 to 6 months, was found to be weak. The hypothesis that the degree of fit between preference for social support and amount of perceived support would affect compliance was not upheld. A model of social support as the positive reaction of others to patients with good health status was proposed as an alternative or complement to the prevalent model in which support is viewed as an antecedent of compliance, and eventually, of improved health.     

Structural Family Therapy

Research studies show that Chinese communities in the United States are in need of mental health services. Structural family therapy offers an effective model for treating families in need of therapy. This article describes why and how the model can be applied.     

Firearm violence and the effects of gun control legislation

Two gun control laws designed to reduce different types of violent crimes were evaluated. In 1981, East St. Louis, IL, imposed stricter penalties for individuals who carry firearms outside their homes for protection (individuals could keep firearms in their homes). This law had only a temporary impact in reducing firearm use in assaults and robberies. In Evanston, IL, a slightly different approach was taken with legislation that banned handguns in the entire city (i.e., individuals could not keep handguns within their homes). A temporary reduction in firearm assaults occurred a few months before the gun law took effect. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Social Support Rejection and Reappraisal by Providers and Recipients1

Study 1 used recalled incidents involving offered or sought social support that were either rejected or later reappraised. Rejected offers of support were perceived to be ignored by would-be recipients, whereas rejected requests for support were viewed as due to lack of concern by would-be providers. For providers, upward reappraisal of support as well as downward reappraisal was usually based on direct feedback of consequences. Recipient reappraisals in either direction were also based mainly on outcomes that contradicted initial perceived effects of support. Study 2 provided additional evidence on the factors that might lead to rejected support. Evaluations of the effect of specific behaviors from potential support providers in hypothetical stress situations identified common behaviors such as offering advice, implying blame, second-guessing the victim's behavior, and minimizing the problem to be unhelpful. Implications for increasing the effective delivery of social support are discussed.