Author Index

Authors Index

Author Index     

The influence of experimental neurosis on the conditional reflexes and the content of blood catecholamines and acetylcholine in dogs

Using experimental neurosis as a model, we investigated the mode of adaptive behavior, conditional reflexes and the blood level of neuromediators in four dogs placed in certain versus uncertain conditions in a Pavlovian laboratory. The research consisted of a two year training program with predictable (ordered partial reinforcement) followed by unpredictable (probabilistic reinforcement) situations. As a result, there was a decline in the acetylcholine as compared to a rise of catecholamine levels of the peripheral blood of some of these dogs. There were varied autonomic responses indicating a possible individual response specificity. In one dog, there was a disappearance of motor defense reflexes. The results support the hypothesis that probabilistic reinforcement following ordered partial reinforcement contributed to the dogs’ neurotic disintegration,i.e., uncertainty is a cause of neurotic development.     

Mortality salience and evaluations of in‐group versus out‐group critics: The role of criticism legitimacy and perceived threat

Significant terror management research has examined the impact of mortality salience on evaluations toward in‐group versus out‐group and attitudinally similar versus dissimilar others. However, relatively little research has examined evaluations when group membership is disentangled from attitude similarity. The current research examined the impact of mortality salience on evaluations toward in‐group and out‐group critics when people are less likely to rely on group membership as a heuristic. In Experiment 1, the results showed that in the control condition, participants rated an in‐group member who provided unjustified criticism more positively than an out‐group member who provided the same criticism. Under mortality salience, the reverse occurred: An in‐group member who provided unjustified criticism was rated more negatively than an out‐group member. Experiment 2 showed that under mortality salience, the derogation of an in‐group critic who provided unjustified criticism was mediated by perceptions of threat. Implications for reactions to group‐directed criticism as well as mortality salience effects are discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

人际同步性现象：探索心理咨询过程中同盟关系的新视角

人际同步性是指两个或两个以上的人的言语特点、行为表现、生理指标以及神经生理活动在时间上出现重合的现象, 得益于近10年内技术上的突破, 研究者开始对心理咨询领域的人际同步现象进行初步的探索, 试图从该视角揭示心理咨询过程中咨访双方的互动模式和同盟建立的内在机制。近期研究主要关注非言语同步、生理同步、人际脑同步与同盟及其影响因素之间的关系, 并针对它们各自对同盟的作用机制发展出了相应的理论。未来的研究者可以更多地关注同盟动态变化过程中的人际同步性, 发展整合理论来回应同盟建立的内在机制, 并在临床应用上促进具有人际同步性的心理咨询互动过程。     

Benefitting from a different perspective: The effect of a complementary matching of psychological distance and habitual perspective on emotion regulation

Psychological distance in terms of its purpose as a psychological adjustment is currently not well understood. Some researchers claim that psychological distance serves as an emotion regulator, while others argue that psychological distance has the reverse effect, leading to cognitive avoidance and rumination. To elucidate upon this discrepancy, we propose that a complementary matching of psychological distance to one's habitual psychological distance perspective may lead to better emotion regulation when compared to the original perspective (i.e. fixing on either psychological immersion or distance). This study hypothesizes that a complementary matching of psychological distance to one's habitual perspective generally leads to better emotion regulation; specifically, individuals with high avoidant attachment, who habitually distance themselves from their experiences, may benefit from psychological immersion, while individuals with high anxious attachment, who habitually immerse themselves in their experiences, may benefit from psychological distancing. A total of 83 participants completed measures of adult attachment orientations; read a conflict scenario, triggering their attachment systems; and then rewrote that scenario using designated pronouns, thereby employing psychological immersion or psychological distance. Participants in the self‐immersed condition were asked to write from the first‐person perspective, whereas those in the self‐distancing condition were asked to write from the third‐person perspective. The results support our hypothesis of a complementary matching of psychological distance and habitual perspective.     

On the possibility of tuning the energy separation between space-quantized levels in a quantum well

The idea about change of energy distances between space-quantized energy levels by ionization of an impurity delta layer situated within a quantum well (QW) is put forward and justified. The self-consistent solutions of Schrödinger, Poisson, and electroneutrality equations made for n-type SiGe/Si/SiGe rectangular QW show that the effect really exists and the most dramatic changes can be observed for an edge-delta-doped QW structure.     

Fragile visual short-term memory is an object-based and location-specific store

Fragile visual short-term memory (FM) is a recently discovered form of visual short-term memory. Evidence suggests that it provides rich and high-capacity storage, like iconic memory, yet it exists, without interference, almost as long as visual working memory. In the present study, we sought to unveil the functional underpinnings of this memory storage. We found that FM is only completely erased when the new visual scene appears at the same location and consists of the same objects as the to-be-recalled information. This result has two important implications: First, it shows that FM is an object- and location-specific store, and second, it suggests that FM might be used in everyday life when the presentation of visual information is appropriately designed.     

Proactive Personality and Innovative Work Behavior: the Mediating Effects of Affective States and Creative Self-Efficacy in Teachers

The purpose of the current study was to examine the influence proactive personality on innovative work behavior in teaching profession and investigate the potential mediating effects of affective states and creative self-efficacy on this relationship. Proactive Personality Scale, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, Creative self-efficacy Scale and Teachers’ Innovative Work Behavior Scale were administered to 352 primary and middle school teachers in China. Results showed that proactive personality was significantly positively associated with teachers’ innovative work behavior. Furthermore, mediation analyses revealed that the impact of proactive personality on teachers’ innovative work behavior were simply mediated by positive affect and creative self-efficacy and sequential mediated by positive affect–creative self-efficacy and negative affect–creative self-efficacy. These findings provide a new perspective in understanding the intervening mechanisms underlying proactive personality on innovative work behavior. The possible explanations and limitations are discussed.