Gender differences in creative thinking revisited: Findings from analysis of variability

This study investigated gender differences in creativity among 985 schoolchildren (499 boys, 486 girls) by analyzing both means and variability. A relatively new creativity test, the Test for Creative Thinking-Drawing Production (TCT-DP), was employed to gain a more refined understanding of gender differences in creativity using a gestalt approach. Whereas the results of analyses of means generally supported the Gender Similarities Hypothesis, the variability analyses tended to support the Greater Male Variability Hypothesis and the Gender Difference Hypothesis. Analyses of the TCT-DP subscales revealed that both genders have their relative strengths and weaknesses in creative thinking. Whereas girls outperformed boys in thoroughness of thinking, boys outperformed girls in boundary-breaking thinking. Variability analyses further showed that more boys clustered in the two extremes of the composite score. Significantly greater variability was found for males on five criteria of the TCT-DP. The educational implications of such a complex pattern of gender differences are discussed. With a view to searching for an explanation for gender differences, several lines of further research are proposed.     

Civic engagement in relation to outcome expectations among African American young adults

The present study examined civic engagement—volunteering and political activism—among 129 African American young adults from an urban community. The proposed model considered factors that motivate young adults to participate in civic activities as well as barriers that might inhibit involvement. Drawing upon social cognitive theory, this study highlighted the role of two related, but independent, types of civic attitudes: community and individual outcome expectations (OEs) as Bandura defines them. Results indicated that perceptions of neighborhood conditions are linked to community OEs, whereas previous involvement in political actions is linked to individual OEs. Analyses also revealed that community and individual OEs are differentially associated with young adults' intentions to engage in future civic activities. Study findings contribute to an area of research that has received limited investigation and are discussed in terms of developing strategies to support civic engagement among African American young adults in urban settings.     

Age and emotion affect how we look at a face: visual scan patterns differ for own-age versus other-age emotional faces

We investigated how age of faces and emotion expressed in faces affect young (n=30) and older (n=20) adults' visual inspection while viewing faces and judging their expressions. Overall, expression identification was better for young than older faces, suggesting that interpreting expressions in young faces is easier than in older faces, even for older participants. Moreover, there were age-group differences in misattributions of expressions, in that young participants were more likely to label disgusted faces as angry, whereas older adults were more likely to label angry faces as disgusted. In addition to effects of emotion expressed in faces, age of faces affected visual inspection of faces: Both young and older participants spent more time looking at own-age than other-age faces, with longer looking at own-age faces predicting better own-age expression identification. Thus, cues used in expression identification may shift as a function of emotion and age of faces, in interaction with age of participants.     

Neuroanatomy of childhood disruptive behavior disorders

Our aims were to (1) examine possible neuroanatomical abnormalities associated with the Disruptive Behavior Disorders (DBDs) as a group and (2) assess neuroanatomical anomalies specific to each DBD (i.e., conduct disorder [CD] and oppositional defiant disorder). Cortical thickness analysis and voxel-based morphometry were analyzed in 47 8-year-old boys (22 DBDs with and without CD and/or ODD and 25 healthy controls) from Magnetic Resonance Imaging brain scans. DBD symptoms were assessed using the Dominic-R. In DBD subjects relative to controls, we found (1) a decreased overall mean cortical thickness; (2) thinning of the cingulate, prefrontal and insular cortices; and (3) decreased gray matter density (GMd) in the same brain regions. We also found that scores on the Dominic-R were negatively correlated with GMd in the prefrontal and precuneus/superior temporal regions. There was a subdiagnostic main effect for CD, related to thinning of the middle/medial frontal, and for ODD in the left rectal/orbitofrontal. Findings suggest that thinning and decreased GMd of the insula disorganizes prefrontal circuits, diminishing the inhibitory influence of the prefrontal cortex on anger, aggression, cruelty, and impulsivity, and increasing a person's likelihood of aggressive behavior. These findings have implications for pathophysiologic models of the DBDs, their diagnostic classification system, and for designing more effective intervention programs.     

试论当代台湾佛教界对资金的吸纳

本文考查了当代台湾佛教界对资金吸纳的18种途径,分析了当代台湾佛教界能大量吸纳到资金的原因,概括了当前台湾佛教界在吸纳资金方面所面临的问题,探讨了台湾佛教界在吸纳资金方面采取的种种应对措施,条分缕析地对台湾当代佛教界的经济问题进行了全方位的研究。     

重构经济学的伦理维度--对经济与伦理、经济学与伦理学关系的反思

经济与伦理都以利益为共同基础与最终指向,二者都有规则的含义,都体现了人类的理性原则。但这并不否定两者之间所存在的差异和冲突。经济与伦理的冲突是由社会分工为前提的实践方式的分化所引起的,是以经济学与伦理学的分工为前提的。构建经济学的伦理维度,旨在用人类整体理性方式来反思经济活动及经济主体之间的关系,从而为市场经济秩序提供伦理辩护,奠定经济发展的价值基础。     

晚明佛教:短暂的辉煌与深远的影响

晚明短短几十年中,社会动荡,民不聊生,佛教诸派因势而起,掀起它在中国古代史上的最后一次辉煌。无论是寺院的兴复,还是义理的抉择,抑或居士佛教的普及,都呈现出前所未有的增长态势,而四大师的先后出现,更是将佛教复兴推向高潮。晚明佛教复兴虽历时短暂,但对后世佛教,尤其是近代佛教的兴起有深远影响。     

刻板印象激活的行为效应

刻板印象激活的行为效应是指刻板印象激活后个体所产生的行为变化。本文介绍了西方关于刻板印象激活的行为效应的两种主要机制,即刻板印象威胁理论和观念运动理论,并对两种理论进行了分析和比较。     

犯罪心理学研究中运用量化方法引起的理论思考

量化与统计分析,是一项重要的研究方法。这一方法在犯罪心理学研究中得到了广泛运用,同时也存在着使用的局限性。犯罪人有很强的心理掩饰性,对包括犯罪人在内的人的心理的测量实际上是一种间接测量,测得的数据是心理学家标定的数据,兼有客观性与主观性。量化研究如果不与科学思维相结合,有可能得出浅薄平庸甚至错误的结论。心理学研究应当以"人性"为基点,多种方法综合运用,实现量化方法与非量化方法的有机结合。     

人际信任与合作的培养:基于信任和公共品博弈的实验研究

研究运用经济行为学的博弈实验法,探索了不同人际信任和合作的培养模式的效果问题。实验一和实验二分别采用两人信任博弈和六人公共品博弈实验范式,探讨了替代强化、直接强化和对照组等不同培养模式下的信任和合作关系变化情况。研究结果显示:1、直接强化组的培养效果好于替代强化组; 2、从实验范式角度而言,两人信任博弈范式下的培养效果优于六人公共品博弈范式; 3、相比于直接强化组而言,替代强化组的培养效果不受实验范式和实验情境的影响,具有跨实验情境的一致性和稳定性。因此,在人际信任和合作关系的培养过程中,相比于直接强化模式更容易受时空的限制和实验效应的影响,观察学习等替代强化的模式更具有可行性及推广性。