Effects of the Positive Action programme on problem behaviours in elementary school students: a matched-pair randomised control trial in Chicago

This study examined the effects of the Positive Action (PA) programme in Chicago Public Schools on problem behaviours among a cohort of elementary school students from grade three through grade five. Using a matched-pair, randomised control design with 14 elementary schools, approximately 510 fifth-graders self-reported lifetime substance use, serious violence-related behaviour, and current bullying and disruptive behaviours. Three-level (i.e. students nested within schools within school pairs) overdispersed Poisson models were used to examine programme effects on the number of items endorsed for each of the four outcomes. Findings indicated that students in the intervention endorsed 31% fewer substance use behaviours (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 0.69), 37% fewer violence-related behaviours (IRR = 0.63) and 41% fewer bullying behaviours (IRR = 0.59), respectively, compared to students in the control schools. Reduction in reported disruptive behaviours was of a similar magnitude (27%, IRR = 0.73), but was not statistically significant. These results replicate findings of an earlier randomised trial of the PA programme and extend evidence of its effectiveness to youth attending large urban school systems.     

Power fosters context-independent, analytic cognition

The present research tested the hypothesis that power, defined as the capacity to influence others, promotes analytic cognitive processing, by examining the use of linguistic categories and the categorization of objects. Supporting the hypothesis, recalling instances of influencing others facilitated the use of adjectives and discouraged the use of verbs to describe others (Study 1). Recalling instances of influencing others also promoted taxonomic, instead of thematic, categorization (Study 2). Furthermore, the authors also examined the effect of power in a real-life context. They examined whether socioeconomic status (SES) differences in cognitive processing can be partly explained by sense of agency, an antecedent of power (Study 3); high SES individuals made more taxonomic categorization than did low SES individuals, and a sense of agency partially mediated the SES differences in categorization. These findings underscore the role of power in shaping cognitive processes.     

行政人道德风险的经济分析

行政人是“经济人”的特殊形式,其“经济人”的本质属性及边际成本和边际收益的失衡是行政人道德风险产生的内在动因。要避免行政人道德风险的产生,就必须建构以“经济人”假设为逻辑起点,以边际成本和边际收益均衡相等、内控与外控相结合的防范机制。     

论西方传统公益伦理思想

全球性社会公益事业兴起的历史背景和当代公益事业占据社会整体道德建设系统制高点地位的客观现实,要求我们从伦理道德层面研究公益事业,特别是分析公益事业伦理思想的发展历程、思想脉络和流派渊源,这对指导当今社会公益事业的发展,构建社会公益事业的伦理体系,都有非常重要的意义。     

啮齿动物主动母性行为动态改变的神经机制

主动母性行为是雌性哺乳动物在哺乳期内有效照料幼崽的一种动机行为, 对幼崽的生存和行为发展有重要影响。证据显示, 啮齿动物的主动母性行为会经历从产后早期的发动和维持到晚期衰退的动态改变, 反映了雌鼠对幼崽奖赏价值阶段性变化的适应; 这一过程不仅涉及分娩激素事件开启下丘脑内侧视前区(MPOA)-中脑腹侧被盖(VTA)-伏隔核(NA)-腹侧苍白球(VP)通路, 还需要杏仁核基底外侧核(BLA)和内侧前额皮层(MPFC)等脑区对上述通路进行实时调节。哺乳期主动母性行为动态改变及其神经机制的研究, 可以加深对行为进化和早期发展的认识, 也对人类母亲产后抑郁等临床问题的干预有借鉴意义。本文首先利用条件化位置偏好(CPP)任务的行为学证据分析幼崽奖赏价值与主动母性行为动态改变的关系; 然后系统阐述调控这一动态改变的神经机制; 最后对未来需要研究的一些重要问题或方向进行探讨。     

深圳与北京中学生价值观特点比较研究

采用中国人价值取向问卷对507名深圳和北京的中学生进行测查。结果表明:深圳归侨生与非归侨生在“法律规范取向”上差异显著。深圳男女中学生在“金钱权力取向”、“爱情取向”和“家庭取向”上两者存在显著差异。在“正义公理取向”维度上,深圳中学生和北京中学生差异显著,在“从众取向”、“家庭取向”和“公共利益取向”上,两者差异非常显著。     

Factor structure of the new environmental paradigm scale: evidence from an urban sample in southern California

This study examined the factor structure of the New Environmental Paradigm Scale using responses from 261 urban subjects from southern California. The analysis yielded findings inconsistent with many previous studies of the original scale. This study supported an 8-item two-factor model of the scale rather than the one-factor and three-factor models proposed earlier. A subsequent validation study provides evidence for this short form's validity, as the two factors were predictive of commitment to preservation of nature.     

Judging a Book by its Cover: The Influence of Implicit Self‐Theories on Brand User Perceptions

Do people judge others based on the brands they use? Prior research finds evidence to this effect, yet we argue this phenomenon is far from universal. Drawing on research on implicit self‐theories, we find that only entity (but not incremental) theorists are prone to judging people based on their brand use (Studies 1 and 2). We show that entity theorists infer that people use brands to signal who they are to others, thereby forming perceptions of these people based on the personality of the brands they use, but incremental theorists are reluctant to make inferences about brand users’ signaling motives (Studies 3, 4, and 5). When tendencies to make signaling inferences are reduced, entity theorists no longer judge people based on their brand use (Studies 3 and 4). Furthermore, even incremental theorists judge people based on their brand use when given the information that their brand use is not driven by situational forces, but is potentially driven by a signaling motivation (Study 5).     

The Way Evaluation Tastes: Tasting as an Embodied Cue of Evaluation

The current theory and research on embodiment have indicated that the basic bodily experiences, which may be more fundamental and important than previously suggested, can influence human cognitive processes. Drawing upon this perspective, the present study examined the hypothesis that the psychological experience of evaluation is grounded in the physical experience of tasting. In three experiments, we found that a tasting cue facilitated evaluation-related conceptual processing in a lexical decision task (Experiment 1), and induced a desire to evaluate toward novel stimuli (Experiment 2). Furthermore, sweet tastes were associated with more positive and secure evaluations than bitter tastes (Experiment 3). These findings provide converging evidence supporting the prediction that tasting as an embodied cue of evaluation.