Size contrast as a function of conceptual similarity between test and inducers

In four experiments, the effect of the semantic relationship between test and inducing stimuli on the magnitude of size contrast in an Ebbinghaus-type illusion was explored. In Experiments 1 and 2, the greatest illusion was found when test and inducing stimuli were identical in shape and differed only in size. Decreased size contrast was found when inducing stimuli were drawn from the same category as the test stimulus, but were not visually identical. Even less size contrast was found when inducing stimuli were from a near conceptual category, with the least effect when they were drawn from a completely different category. In Experiment 3, it was demonstrated that even if test and inducing stimuli are drawn with identical geometric elements, the size contrast illusion is greatly reduced if they represent apparently different conceptual categories (through the manipulation of orientation and perceptual set). In Experiment 4, any geometric or spatial confounds were ruled out. These results suggest that size contrast is strongly influenced by the conceptual similarity between test and inducing stimuli.     

Psychology of the scientist: LXIII. Perceiving scattergrams: is visual line fitting related to estimation of the correlation coefficient?

Visual line fitting and direct estimation of the correlation coefficient were carried out by 50 subjects using computer-generated scattergrams as stimuli. In visual line fitting, slopes of visual lines were generally greater than the corresponding regression slopes, in agreement with the hypothesis that visual lines are placed so as to bisect the cloud of displayed points at the cloud's major axis rather than to approximate a regression line. Subjects tended to underestimate the correlation coefficient, scaling their judgments of linear structure somewhat more as if they were judging the coefficient of determination. With the actual degree of linear structure partialed out, there were no strong relationships between measures of visual line fitting and measures of estimation. While both of these tasks offer quickly-obtained correlates of linear structure in scattergrams, users should be aware of their biases. We suggest that visual lines do not approximate regression lines very well and estimates of correlation do not approximate the correlation coefficient very well, because the perceptual processes involved perform operations other than regression and correlation. In the present data, these operations appeared to be independent of each other.     

Profile of Mood States: Australian normative data

The Profile of Mood States was administered to 90 Australian women, 30 depressed, 30 anxious, and 30 nonpsychiatric controls. Both clinical groups scored higher than the McNair, Lorr, and Droppleman (1971) normative samples on the negative mood states and scored lower on Vigor. The means for these groups are presented and compared with the 1971 normative data of McNair, Lorr, and Droppleman.     

Prediction of Task-Related Arousal Under Conditions of Environmental Distraction1

The Arousability Predisposition Scale (APS) was used to assess individual differences in arousal that occur when a task is performed under conditions of environmental distraction. The APS is a brief (12-item) scale, that purportedly measures arousability as a trait or predisposition. To manipulate arousal experimentally, subjects performed a speeded search task under conditions of visual and auditory distraction. Pre- and postdistraction task measures of arousal were taken using Thayer's Activation-Deactivation Adjective Check List. The distraction task caused a general increase in arousal as compared to a control group who did not perform the task. Although there were no differences in pretest measures, subjects judged highly arousable on the APS showed a greater change in task-related arousal than subjects judged low on arousability, validating the usefulness of the APS as a measure of arousability under conditions of environmental stress.     

Stages of Learning Motivation: Development and Validation of a Measure1

Prochaska and colleagues’(e.g., Prochaska, DiClemente, & Norcross, 1992) stages‐of‐change theory was employed in the current study to reconceptualize the assessment of motivation to learn. We used the stages‐of‐change framework to develop and test a multidimensional measure of learning motivation using 3 independent samples. The pattern of relationships among the learning stages and learning criteria provided strong support for the appropriateness of using a stage‐based perspective to frame learning motivation. In addition, hierarchical regression analysis showed that the Stages of Learning Motivation Inventory (SOLMI) explained variance in the criteria (e.g., exam average, class satisfaction) beyond controls and a commonly used measure of learning motivation. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

Sensory modality and stimulus control in the pigeon: Cross-species generality of single-incentive selective-association effects

In earlier studies with rats, the effectiveness of the auditory element of a tone–light discriminative stimulus was enhanced when the conditioned incentive value of the compound was negative rather than positive. The present experiment systematically replicated these results in pigeons trained to press a treadle in the presence of a tone–light compound under food-reinforcement or shock-avoidance schedules. Positive incentive value was conditioned to the compound by associating it with either food or relative safety from shock. The compound was made negative in other groups by associating it with shock or the absence of food. When tone and light were presented separately following this training, control by the auditory element was significantly enhanced in the conditions designed to make the compound negative rather than positive. The similarity of this constraint on learning in rats and pigeons suggests that it involves a fundamental attentional and incentive-motivational process with widespread species generality.     

德性与幸福：康德对亚里士多德

本文译自《难以描述的日常性:哲学的可能性之研究》(The elusiveness of the ordinary:Studies in the possibility of philosophy,Yale University Press,2002)第三章:"康德和海德格尔:对亚里士多德的先验替换".作者认为,亚里士多德及其后继者非常关心幸福或至福,把它当作人类努力的最高实现,康德在这点上与亚里士多德具有内在的一致性,尽管他以配享幸福来代替幸福.但是,虽然他承认幸福是人类努力的一个基本目标,他对幸福论的攻击则为19世纪突显的诸如以满足(黑格尔)与工作(尼采)来替代古典的幸福观作了准备.我们可以满足于我们已尽了最大努力以配享幸福,即便我们不能肯定因而也不是真正幸福的.满足无疑低于幸福,而工作则意味着在无尽劳作这有限意义上的满足.在20世纪,幸福被代之以焦虑(克尔凯郭尔已经讨论过并把它从属于宗教的拯救或永福)与本真性(海德格尔).作者认为,幸福观的这种没落史与实践哲学的持续败坏,和它在现代数学与经验科学图景下的转型有关,而加速其没落的,则是本体论与认识论的兴盛,更不用说行为理论与更时髦的人工智能哲学了.在这一章中,作者让亚里士多德分别与康德和海德格尔这两位现代大哲对质,意在让我们看到完全免于先验论或本体论意图的对日常生活的理解如何不同于先验论或本体论意图的理解.亚里士多德与康德的对质点在于从日常或前理论生活中形成出德性的方式不同,而另一对质的要点则在于把日常生活变形为本体论,伦理与政治于是从对"日常性"的考虑中被清除掉了.译者认为,作者所努力的方向,即把现代大师放在更广大的背景特别是古典的视野中进行考察,对于我们如何以适当方式继承自康德以来的现代哲学传统,意义重大.本文所翻译的是这一章的前半部分,题目是译者所拟.     

A Person-Centered Approach to Subjective Well-Being

Rooted in Diener’s (Psychol Bull 95:542–575, 1984) three-component model of subjective well-being (SWB), the present work employed a person-centered approach to studying SWB based on Shmotkin’s (Rev Gen Psychol 9:291–325, 2005) dynamic systems framework. Within-individual configurations of life satisfaction (LS), positive affect (PA), and negative affect (NA) were explored using cluster analysis. Five distinct SWB configurations replicated within and across two samples (N = 756 first-year undergraduates; N = 550 community adults). A substantial number of participants reported a profile indicative of “high SWB” (high LS, frequent PA, infrequent NA). Consistent with expectations, these individuals were characterized by elevated mental, physical, and interpersonal functioning. In contrast, people with a “low SWB” profile reported the greatest dysfunction. Across the five clusters, however, adaptive functioning was not unique to individuals reporting a high SWB profile, nor was dysfunction unique to people characterized by a low SWB configuration. Results are discussed in terms of compensation and strain processes hypothesized by Shmotkin (2005). Implications for future research on SWB are considered.

Telephone-Administered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A Case Study of Anxiety and Depression in Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a chronic medical illness with a high incidence of psychiatric comorbidity, specifically depression and anxiety. Research on treatment of such psychiatric complications is scarce. Non-pharmaceutical treatment options are especially attractive. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a psychotherapeutic treatment option that has been successful in other chronically medically ill populations with comorbid depression and anxiety. The current research had two aims. The first was to pilot the feasibility of screening and identifying PD patients with symptoms of anxiety and depression in a specialized outpatient clinic. The second aim was to pilot the feasibility of telephone-administered CBT for the treatment of depression and anxiety in persons with PD, which was done through a case series comparing telephone-administered CBT to a Support strategy. A fairly large portion (67.5%) of patients screened in the outpatient clinic were identified as having symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. Results also indicated that CBT delivered via the telephone is a useful approach for targeting psychiatric symptoms in this population. A case example is given to illustrate the clinical considerations associated with delivering therapy via telephone to persons with PD. This study was conducted at the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, TX. The first author was previously affiliated with the Houston Center for Quality of Care and Utilization Studies.