The validation of an active control intervention for Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

Most of the extant literature investigating the health effects of mindfulness interventions relies on wait-list control comparisons. The current article specifies and validates an active control condition, the Health Enhancement Program (HEP), thus providing the foundation necessary for rigorous investigations of the relative efficacy of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and for testing mindfulness as an active ingredient. 63 participants were randomized to either MBSR (n = 31) or HEP (n = 32). Compared to HEP, MBSR led to reductions in thermal pain ratings in the mindfulness- but not the HEP-related instruction condition (η² = .18). There were significant improvements over time for general distress (η² = .09), anxiety (η² = .08), hostility (η² = .07), and medical symptoms (η² = .14), but no effects of intervention. Practice was not related to change. HEP is an active control condition for MBSR while remaining inert to mindfulness. These claims are supported by results from a pain task. Participant-reported outcomes (PROs) replicate previous improvements to well-being in MBSR, but indicate that MBSR is no more effective than a rigorous active control in improving these indices. These results emphasize the importance of using an active control condition like HEP in studies evaluating the effectiveness of MBSR.     

The bounds of electrostrictive coefficients of relaxor-based ferroelectric ceramics

Two extreme approximations, namely the Voigt- and Reuss-type approximations, have been used to estimate the effective electrostrictive coefficients of isotropic or anisotropic (as in the dc electric-field-biased piezoelectric mode) relaxor-based ferroelectric ceramics. It is shown that, for a dense ceramic with cubic crystallites, both simple approximations give very similar results and can be used for such estimates. However, for common ceramics containing pores, the Voigt and Reuss approximations yield only extreme upper and lower bounds respectively, and a more appropriate approach is needed.     

Estimating the Reliability of Aggregated and Within-Person Centered Scores in Ecological Momentary Assessment

Consider two independent groups with K measures for each subject. For the j^th group and k^th measure, let μ^tjk be the population trimmed mean, j = 1, 2; k = 1, ..., K. This article compares several methods for testing H 0 : u1k = t2k such that the probability of at least one Type I error is, and simultaneous probability coverage is 1 - α when computing confidence intervals for μ^t1k - μ^t2k . The emphasis is on K = 4 and α = .05. For zero trimming the problem reduces to comparing means, but it is well known that when comparing means, arbitrarily small departures from normality can result in extremely low power relative to using say 20% trimming. Moreover, when skewed distributions are being compared, conventional methods for comparing means can be biased for reasons reviewed in the article. A consequence is that in some realistic situations, the probability of rejecting can be higher when the null hypothesis is true versus a situation where the means differ by a half standard deviation. Switching to robust measures of location is known to reduce this problem, and combining robust measures of location with some type of bootstrap method reduces the problem even more. Published articles suggest that for the problem at hand, the percentile t bootstrap, combined with a 20% trimmed mean, will perform relatively well, but there are known situations where it does not eliminate all problems. In this article we consider an extension of the percentile bootstrap approach that is found to give better results.     

初级运动区的fMRI实验研究

本实验采用功能磁共振为实验仪器,被试进行运动准备和运动执行两种作业活动,实验设计为延时序列运动任务。在对实验数据进行预处理,反卷积、标准化处理后,采用欧式距离公式进行聚类统计,统计结果显示,M1区不仅具有运动执行和运动准备的功能,还发现其他功能区域的激活,不是单纯的运动执行功能,这一区域与三种活动有关。     

散文学习过程中自我解释的实验研究

自我解释已经为许多研究所证实,但是多数研究使用的都是自然学科的内容作为实验材料,探讨散文学习过程中自我解释的研究较少.因此,本研究引入组别变量,自我解释对散文学习的影响.结果发现:(1)自我解释对散文学习产生了影响,对散文的阅读理解具有促进作用;(2)自我解释对散文学习产生影响机制可能是认知缺口填补和心理模型修正(3)自我解释是可以学习和迁移的,并且其中提供的反馈有助于提升自我解释的准确性.     

预警、重复学习和反馈对错误记忆的影响——错误记忆的信号检测论分析

本研究用信号检测论分析预警、重复学习和反馈三种变量对错误记忆的影响.实验1考察预警指导语的影响.实验2考察重复学习和反馈的影响.结果表明:预警对被试辨别力和反应偏向的影响不明显,对错误记忆影响也不显著;重复学习不能明显影响被试的反应标准,但可提高辨别力减弱错误记忆;反馈明显使被试倾向于使用更为宽松的反应标准,难以降低错误记忆.再认双加工模型和激活/监测理论能对实验结果做出合理的解释.     

美国投资心理学理论的进展

美国投资心理学的研究产生于20世纪80年代。西方的许多经济学家在研究投资活动过程中发现,微观经济学和金融学的许多数学模型,不能很好地解释和预测现实中的投资活动,开始加强对个体在投资决策中的心理研究,在Amos Tversky、Daniel Kahneman、Richard Thaler、Robert J.Shiller等一大批经济学家和投资心理学家的努力下,取得了丰硕的成果。为此,美国普林斯顿大学的投资心理学家Kahneman荣获2002年度的诺贝尔经济学奖。文章介绍了西方投资心理学的几个重要理论,即过度反应理论(overreaction theory)、视野理论(prospect theory)、后悔理论(regret theory)及对投资者的过度自信理论（overconfidence theory）。     

暴力电子游戏玩家对攻击性图片注意偏向的ERP研究

本研究采用游戏使用习惯问卷筛选暴力电子游戏玩家和对照组被试各24名,利用线索探测范式,探讨了暴力电子游戏玩家对攻击性图片的注意偏向机制。结果发现：（1）与对照组相比,暴力电子游戏玩家对攻击性图片线索下探测目标诱发的P1潜伏期提前;（2）暴力电子游戏玩家表现出特定的脑电模式：N1潜伏期延长,P2波幅减小,P300波幅降低;（3）线索的有效性效应表现在早期ERP成分（P1）中。结果表明,暴力电子游戏玩家对攻击性图片表现出注意偏向,其脑电模式揭示暴力电子游戏对玩家的认知功能有消极影响。     

应用心理测验评估轻度甲苯中毒者的脑功能状态

以２９名轻度甲苯中毒的工人和２９名作为控制组的工人,就一些神经心理测验上的作业水平,进行了比较。此两组工人工作场所的空气,以８小时的ＴＷＡ计算,所得甲苯含量分别为８８．０ｐｐｍ和１３．５ｐｐｍ。所实施的心理测验包括数字广度、ＷＭＳ视觉记忆测验、本顿视觉保持测验、连线测验、符号数字、栓子安插和手指敲击测验。结果发现,轻度甲苯中毒的工人,无论在语文或非语文的短时记忆、注意力或集中力、知觉运动或手巧等方面的作业水平,都比不上控制组,显示轻度甲苯中毒组之脑功能已受损害。该研究亦进一步表明了轻度毒害性化学溶剂所导致的脑功能损害,可通过简便的心理测验予以相当准确的测查。