Roles of nucleus accumbens and basolateral amygdala in autoshaped lever pressing

Initially-neutral cues paired with rewards are thought to acquire motivational significance, as if the incentive motivational value of the reward is transferred to the cue. Such cues may serve as secondary reinforcers to establish new learning, modulate the performance of instrumental action (Pavlovian-instrumental transfer, PIT), and be the targets of approach and other cue-directed behaviors. Here we examined the effects of lesions of the ventral striatal nucleus accumbens (ACb) and the basolateral amygdala (BLA) on the acquisition of discriminative autoshaped lever-pressing in rats. Insertion of one lever into the experimental chamber was reinforced by sucrose delivery, but insertion of another lever was not reinforced. Although sucrose was delivered independently of the rats' behavior, sham-lesioned rats rapidly came to press the reinforced but not the nonreinforced lever. Bilateral ACb lesions impaired the initial acquisition of sign-tracking but not its terminal levels. In contrast, BLA lesions produced substantial deficits in terminal levels of sign-tracking. Furthermore, whereas ACb lesions primarily affected the probability of lever press responses, BLA lesions mostly affected the rate of responding once it occurred. Finally, disconnection lesions that disrupted communication between ACb and BLA produced both sets of deficits. We suggest that ACb is important for initial acquisition of consummatory-like responses that incorporate hedonic aspects of the reward, while BLA serves to enhance such incentive salience once it is acquired.     

Automatic attention towards face or body as a function of mating motivation

Because women?s faces and bodies carry different cues of reproductive value, men may attend to different perceptual cues as functions of their long-term versus short-term mating motivations. We tested this hypothesis in three experiments on 135 male and 132 female participants. When influenced by short-term rather than long-term mating motivations, men?s attention was captured by (Study 1), was shifted to (Study 2), and was distracted by (Study 3) the waist/hip area rather than the face on photographs of attractive women. Similar effects were not found among the female participants in response to photographs of attractive men. These results support the evolutionary view that, similar to the attentional selectivity found in other domains of life, male perceptual attention has evolved to selectively capture and hold reproductive information about the opposite sex as a function of short-term versus long-term mating goals.     

朴素物理观和朴素心理观--进化心理学视角

人类在进化过程中解决生存与繁衍问题需要适应物理环境和社会环境。进化心理学认为人类适应物理环境与社会环境的心理机制分别称为朴素物理观和朴素心理观。文章首先阐述了朴素物理观和朴素心理观的有关内容,并指出两性差异的一个重要方面在于移情和系统化的不同组合,同时对其进化意义做了分析。     

早期道教仪式

本译文评述了蔡雾溪关于早期道教仪式的博士论文,认为这是近几年同类研究中一部透彻精深并富有创见的研究论著。     

广博·新颖·实用——读郭秀艳著《实验心理学》有感

郭秀艳著《实验心理学》于2004年由人民教育出版社出版。笔者认为该著作具有广博、新颖、实用的特色,是实验心理学中的一部力作,值得心理学专业的研究生仔细研读。     

学习困难儿童与非学习困难儿童问题行为、社会技能的对比研究

本研究采用早期问题行为发现量表、社会技能测量量表对 12 0名小学四、五年级学生进行测量 ,其中学习困难儿童和非学习困难儿童各 6 0名。结果发现 :1.学习困难儿童与非学习困难儿童相比存在明显的问题行为 ;2 .学习困难儿童相对于其非学习困难同伴社会技能低下 ;3.学习困难儿童问题行为与社会技能存在不同程度的负相关     

Provider management of child stress behavior in family day care facilities: scaffolding for learning and development by developmentally appropriate practice

Six children (5 boys, 1 girl; aged 36-60 months) participated in this qualitative study. Each child was enrolled in a different family child care facility. The authors rated the child care providers in 3 of the facilities as using developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) most of the time and rated the providers in the 3 other facilities as rarely or never using DAP. They also examined provider management of children's stress behaviors. The authors observed less active and passive stress behaviors in the high-DAP facilities than in the low-DAP facilities. The authors discuss the results with regard to the distinctively different day care culture found in high-DAP facilities versus low-DAP facilities and the implications for practice.     

Social exclusion and choice: The moderating effect of power state

When encountering two product options in which one has been chosen by minority and the other by majority, what will influence consumers to make a choice? Although much research has solved this question, this research will address these issues from different perspectives by examining the interplay of power state and social exclusion on consumer choice. Drawing on power approach/inhibition and distinctive theories, we propose that the individuals in low power state prefer more distinctive products when they are in social exclusion than in social inclusion. In contrast, the individuals in high power state prefer less distinctive products when they are in social exclusion than in social inclusion. Two studies were conducted to confirm the hypotheses. Specifically, study 1 confirms our hypotheses by manipulating social exclusion and power state. And study 2 further confirms our hypotheses through using different experimental stimuli and a behavioral measure of choice. The theoretical and practical implications of this research are provided. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dyadic effects of marital satisfaction on coparenting in Chinese families: Based on the actor‐partner interdependence model

Based on the actor‐partner interdependence model, this study explored the spillover and crossover effects of marital satisfaction on coparenting in Chinese nuclear and extended families. Spillover and crossover effects refer to the transfer of experiences, affects or behaviors, focusing on the intra‐personal and inter‐personal transfer of a marital subsystem to a coparenting subsystem. The participants comprised 279 couples with children ranging in age from 3 to 7 years old. The marital satisfaction and extent of coparenting of both the fathers and the mothers was tested to examine the dyadic interaction. Structural equation modeling results revealed significant intra‐personal and inter‐personal correlations between marital satisfaction and coparenting, indicating spillover and crossover effects in nuclear and extended families, and there were no differences between the two family structures. The results indicated that fathers' marital satisfaction influenced both fathers' and mothers' coparenting practices.     

小学教师集体效能及其对自我效能功能的调节

通过对28所小学1299名教师的问卷调查,作者主要探讨了教师集体效能在解释学校间教师心理特征各方面差异时的重要性,及其对自我效能预测功能的调节作用。多层分析结果表明,（1）教师自我效能对教师心理特征各方面的表现有显著的预测作用,这一预测作用存在学校间的差异;（2）教师集体效能高的学校,教师的工作满意度、内在动机、工作投入、同事关系满意度平均较高,离职倾向较低;（3）教师集体效能对自我效能与工作满意度等心理特征各方面的关系有显著调节作用,集体效能高的学校,自我效能对教师心理特征诸方面表现的预测力较强