Children with autism spectrum disorder are more trusting than typically developing children

The current study examined whether children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) had an indiscriminate trust bias whereby they would believe any information provided by an unfamiliar adult with whom they had no interactive history. Young school-aged children with ASD and their age- and ability-matched typically developing (TD) peers participated in a simple hide-and-seek game. In the game, an experimenter with whom the children had no previous interactive history pointed to or left a marker on a box to indicate the whereabouts of a hidden reward. Results showed that although young school-aged ASD children did not blindly trust any information provided by the unfamiliar adult, they appeared to be more trusting in the adult informant than did their age- and ability-matched TD children.     

社会决策中的公平准则及其神经机制

社会决策中的公平准则一直受到广泛的关注,经济学家和心理学家们分别从动机和认知的角度对这个课题进行了深入探索.在这些工作中,最为突出的是“均等”,“互惠”和“情绪”三个模型的提出.均等和互惠模型试图从动机角度理解个体的公平行为,而情绪模型则更强调个体在公平决策中的认知和情绪的加工过程.近年来脑成像的研究也为这些模型提供了相应的支持,其中与公平准则最密切的脑区是脑岛和背外侧前额叶:前者一般被认为是反映了个体面对不公平待遇时的负性情绪体验;而后者主要负责决策过程中的抑制控制.但这些脑区具体的功能还存在很多争议,反映了不同理论模型对特定脑区功能的不同理解.未来研究应注意三个模型之间的相互补充,以及加强多模态的脑指标的运用,并注重相关脑区的整体性,此外,公平决策行为中的个体差异,以及社会情境对其的影响也应受到重视.     

发展性面孔失认的认知机制及其神经基础

发展性面孔失认症是指个体在童年期就开始表现出来的一种终生性面孔识别缺陷,其不能归因于智力衰退、情感障碍、物体识别困难以及后天性脑损伤.发展性面孔失认症涉及的认知机制包括面孔特异性机制、构型加工障碍、面孔探测、面孔记忆和面孔身份识别.此外,该面孔失认症的神经网络由核心神经网络和延伸的神经网络组成,前者与面孔选择反应和记忆表征有关,后者主要负责面孔知识表征、面孔长时记忆和面孔工作记忆.今后的研究应集中在完善延伸的神经网络、拓展其认知网络;进一步明确面孔探测与发展性面孔失认之间的关系;考察发展性面孔失认症的基因基础、加强其发展性研究以及推动康复工作的展开.     

The Selection of Freebies and the Preference for Freebie Promotions—A Perspective on Item Characteristics

Research on consumer decision making has mainly focused on individual products; however, many products are purchased with other items as part of a promotional package. This paper explores how the characteristics (hedonic versus utilitarian) of the items in freebie promotional packages (e.g., buy one item and get a different item for free) influence consumers' preference for the promotional package. Additionally, the authors examine how the characteristics of the focal item influence consumers' choice of either a hedonic or a utilitarian freebie item. Five experiments, rooted in the concepts of consumer avoidance of overloading negative emotions and motivation to seek hedonic pleasure, show that a package with one utilitarian and one hedonic item generates higher purchase intentions and willingness to pay than a package with either two hedonic or two utilitarian items. Furthermore, consumers who purchase a hedonic (utilitarian) focal item are more likely to choose a utilitarian (hedonic) freebie. These effects exist not only in hypothetical scenarios but also in an incentive‐compatible design. Moreover, the impact of the focal item characteristics on consumer choice of freebie is moderated by acquisition format and time separation. The authors also explore the internal mechanism influencing consumers' freebie choices. The findings have significant implications for both theory and practice. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of a coping with stress scale for a non-western population of children and adolescents

Background and objectives: In the related literature numerous instruments have been developed to measure children and adolescents’ coping with stress. Considering the cultural differences in individuals’ choice for coping strategies, along with the limitations of the existing measures of coping for children and adolescents (e.g., being derived from coping measures developed for adults; unrepresentative samples with limited age range, etc.), the current study aimed to construct a self-report coping scale for a non-western population of children and adolescents.

Design and methods: The study design included both qualitative and quantitative methodology. Three consecutive studies were conducted for the development and validation of the Children and Adolescents’ Coping with Stress Scale (CACSS), a self-report measure assessing coping strategies of children and adolescents aged from 9 to 18 in response to self-identified stressors.

Results: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses resulted in a 61-item CACSS with 10 factors. The scale appears to have a clear factor structure; sufficient temporal stability; and good convergent, discriminant, and construct validity.

Conclusions: By addressing limitations of existing coping scales, CACSS is believed to contribute to the literature as a developmentally appropriate and multidimensional tool.     

What Is Philosophical Education?

1 Clarification in Vocabulary By "education," we generally mean education in schools and colleges.Education in schools,as we know,focuses on teaching knowledge and training capacities in science,technology and other fields in which students will need to grow well.There is,however,another implication of education on which I concentrate here,that we have to consider seriously in our discussion on education.     

Biases in orienting and maintenance of attention among weight dissatisfied women: an eye-movement study

Despite evidence indicating fatness and thinness information are processed differently among weight-preoccupied and eating disordered individuals, the exact nature of these attentional biases is not clear. In this research, eye movement (EM) tracking assessed biases in specific component processes of visual attention (i.e., orientation, detection, maintenance and disengagement of gaze) in relation to body-related stimuli among 20 weight dissatisfied (WD) and 20 weight satisfied young women. Eye movements were recorded while participants completed a dot-probe task that featured fatness-neutral and thinness-neutral word pairs. Compared to controls, WD women were more likely to direct their initial gaze toward fatness words, had a shorter mean latency of first fixation on both fatness and thinness words, had longer first fixation on fatness words but shorter first fixation on thinness words, and shorter total gaze duration on thinness words. Reaction time data showed a maintenance bias towards fatness words among the WD women. In sum, results indicated WD women show initial orienting, speeded detection and initial maintenance biases towards fat body words in addition to a speeded detection – avoidance pattern of biases in relation to thin body words. In sum, results highlight the importance of the utility of EM-tracking as a means of identifying subtle attentional biases among weight dissatisfied women drawn from a non-clinical setting and the need to assess attentional biases as a dynamic process.     

Psychometric properties of the Padua Inventory in Chinese college samples

The aim of the present study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Padua Inventory in Chinese college samples. Three different samples (N1 = 1,939, N2 = 1,341, and N3 = 298) of Chinese college students were recruited. Exploratory factor analyses yielded a four-factor structure which was similar to that found in previous studies. Further, present results showed good internal consistency as well as convergent and divergent validity with the subscales of the Symptom Checklist-90 and the Penn State Worry Questionnaire. Although no sex difference was found on total score, women had significantly higher scores on Factor 2 (Urges and worries of losing control over motor behaviors) and Factor 4 (Checking), while men had significantly higher scores on Factor 3 (Contamination). Implications of ter the results and directions for research are discussed.     

Things online social networking can take away: Reminders of social networking sites undermine the desirability of offline socializing and pleasures

People are beginning to develop symbiotic relationships with social networking sites (SNSs), which provide users with abundant opportunities for social interaction. We contend that if people perceive SNSs as sources of social connection, the idea of SNSs may reduce the desire to pursue offline social activities and offline pleasures. Experiment 1 demonstrated that priming with SNSs was associated with a weakened desirability of offline social activities and an increased inclination to work alone. Felt relatedness mediated the link between SNS primes and reduced desire to engage in offline social activities. Experiment 2 showed that exposure to SNS primes reduced the desirability of offline socializing and lowered the desire for offline pleasurable experiences as well. Moreover, heavy users were more susceptible to this detrimental effect. We provide the first experimental evidence that the idea of online social networking may modulate users’ engagement in offline social activities and offline pleasures. Hence, online social networking may satisfy the need for relatedness but undercut the likelihood of reaping enjoyment from offline social life.