Do individual differences in sociosexuality represent genetic or environmentally contingent strategies? Evidence from the Australian twin registry

Although men are substantially more interested than women in casual sex, there is ample variation in this trait (sociosexuality) within both sexes. One theory hypothesizes that within-sex sociosexual variation results from genetic variation maintained by frequency-dependent selection. If so, sociosexuality should be substantially heritable. A competing theory is that children acquire their mating strategy after observing their parents' relationship. By this theory, sociosexuality should reveal a strong shared environmental component. The authors studied genetic and environmental influences on sociosexuality using a large, representative volunteer twin sample. Parental marital instability was modestly associated with sociosexuality, but this could have been due to either genetic or environmental factors. Consistent with genetic theory, familial resemblance appeared primarily due to additive genetic rather than shared environmental factors.     

Food word processing in Chinese reading: A study of restrained eaters

Food-related attentional bias refers that individuals typically prioritize rewarding food-related cues (e.g. food words and food images) compared with non-food stimuli; however, the findings are inconsistent for restrained eaters. Traditional paradigms used to test food-related attentional bias, such as visual probe tasks and visual search tasks, may not directly and accurately enough to reflect individuals' food-word processing at different cognitive stages. In this study, we introduced the boundary paradigm to investigate food-word attentional bias for both restrained and unrestrained eaters. Eye movements were recorded when they performed a naturalistic sentence-reading task. The results of later-stage analyses showed that food words were fixated on for less time than non-food words, which indicated a superiority of foveal food-word processing for both restrained and unrestrained eaters. The results of early-stage analyses showed that restrained eaters spent more time on pre-target regions in the food-word valid preview conditions, which indicated a parafoveal food-word processing superiority for restrained eaters (i.e. the parafoveal-on-foveal effect). The superiority of foveal food-word processing provides new insights into explaining food-related attentional bias in general groups. Additionally, the enhanced food-word attentional bias in parafoveal processing for restrained eaters illustrates the importance of individual characteristics in studying word recognition.     

认知冲突协调问题与心智的架构

心智架构或认知架构是指一个功能相对完整的认知系统的基本组织结构。经典认知科学的理论或模型大多采纳了某种类似于冯·诺依曼式计算机体系结构的心智架构,即认知系统由一些各司其职的心理模块与一个负责整合与协调的中枢部门所构成。进化心理学的众量模块性论题对经典认知科学的心智架构观提出了严厉挑战,并引发了许多争议。本文提出认知冲突协调问题是任何一个足够复杂的认知系统均需要处理的基本问题,并以此来审视关于心智架构的论战,指出此问题对众量模块性论题构成了严重的困难。     

Understanding the Construct of Maximizing Tendency: A Theoretical and Empirical Evaluation

More attention is being given to the stable, dispositional tendency to maximize when making decisions. Within the growing body of research has been an exchange regarding the appropriate means of measuring maximizing tendency. Guided primarily by psychometric and statistical analyses, these studies have critiqued and revised existing maximizing tendency scales and/or introduced new measures. Importantly, many of these discussions seem to ignore theoretical considerations of the construct of maximizing. In this article, we revisit the original work of Herbert Simon, from where the theory of maximizing tendency was developed, and provide a theoretical account for how maximizers can be distinguished from satisficers and the implications therein for the measurement of maximizing tendency. Across two studies, we provide an updated psychometric, correlational, and behavioral comparison of the two most popular maximizing tendency scales: the Maximization Scale and the Maximizing Tendency Scale. Results demonstrate that the Maximizing Tendency Scale is more theoretically and psychometrically valid than the Maximization Scale. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Happiness and Stock-Market Participation: Empirical Evidence from China

Using the data from the China Household Finance Survey in 2011, we study the relation between happiness and stockholding. We find that a household’s propensity of investing in stocks or mutual funds, as well as household asset shares invested in stocks or mutual funds, is strongly associated with happiness. Moreover, empirical results suggest that among the three potential channels we propose, the association between happiness and stockholding is driven by trust (or social capital), rather than households’ risk preference or optimism level.     

Preliminary Evaluation of a Social Skills Training and Facilitated Play Early Intervention Programme for Extremely Shy Young Children in China

The goal of this study was to provide a preliminary evaluation of a social skills and facilitated play early intervention programme to promote social interaction, prosocial behaviours and socio‐communicative skills among young extremely shy children in China. Participants were a sample of n = 16 extremely shy young children attending kindergarten in Shanghai, China. Children were randomly assigned to either the Social Skills Facilitated Play or comparison condition. Baseline, post‐intervention and 2‐month follow‐up measures included observations of children's social behaviours in quartets of novel peers. Result indicated that as compared with shy controls, shy children who participated in the Social Skills Training Facilitated Play programme were observed to demonstrate significantly greater post‐intervention frequencies of peer interactions (e.g. group play and peer conversation) and prosocial behaviours (e.g. cooperation, sharing and making/accepting social initiations) during unstructured free play with novel peers, as well as better social‐communicative competence during a speech task. Almost all of these improvements were maintained 2 months post‐intervention. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of developing and refining early intervention programmes for extremely shy young children in China. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adult Learners’ Informal Learning Experiences in Formal Education Setting

Schools typically ignore an enormous part of students’ learning, i.e. informal learning. Such informal processes include intentional, incidental, and tacit learning and tend to be unnoticed because of their taken-for-granted nature. By conducting in-depth interviews with 15 students, two teachers, and two program coordinators of an adult education program, this study examines informal learning outcomes, processes, and personal informal learning experiences within formal education. The study aimed to reveal the interaction between formal and informal learning as well as the respondents’ experiences in this matter. Respondents report a diverse array of informal learning results. Respondents describe informal learning to occur through self-directed learning projects, daily conversations and experiences, and the program’s informal and hidden curriculum. According to respondents, informal learning has the potential to enrich and complement formal learning. Moreover, the findings point to potential personal, educational, and societal benefits of revealing informal learning within formal education. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

Inconsistent Condom Use and History of Trauma Among Vietnamese Female Sex Workers in a Chinese Border Region

Previous studies have indicated a potential association between trauma, such as physical violence, emotional violence and sexual violence, and high-risk sexual behavior. Female sex workers (FSWs) were interviewed to elicit history of traumatic events and sexual behaviors. Among 187 participants, 79 (42.2 %) inconsistently used condoms with clients in the past 30 days. Experiencing community violence (OR: 0.4; 95 % CI: 0.2, 0.8) was found to be significantly protective for inconsistent condom use. In this study, experiencing community violence was found to be protective for inconsistent condom use among FSWs, but none of the other trauma subgroups had significant associations with inconsistent condom use. Reasons for unprotected sex among FSW may be more related to economic or other contextual factors.     

When actions speak volumes: The role of inferences about moral character in outrage over racial bigotry

Inferences about moral character may often drive outrage over symbolic acts of racial bigotry. Study 1 demonstrates a theoretically predicted dissociation between moral evaluations of an act and the person who carries out the act. Although Americans regarded the private use of a racial slur as a less blameworthy act than physical assault, use of a slur was perceived as a clearer indicator of poor moral character. Study 2 highlights the dynamic interplay between moral judgments of acts and persons, demonstrating that first making person judgments can bias subsequent act judgments. Privately defacing a picture of Martin Luther King, Jr. led to greater moral condemnation of the agent than of the act itself only when the behavior was evaluated first. When Americans first made character judgments, symbolically defacing a picture of the civil rights leader was significantly more likely to be perceived as an immoral act. These studies support a person‐centered account of outrage over bigotry and demonstrate that moral evaluations of acts and persons converge and diverge under theoretically meaningful circumstances. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

无关言语对阅读的干扰基于内容还是过程？——来自眼动研究的证据

采用眼动追踪技术,考察无关言语对句子材料相同的自然阅读和校对阅读的影响,探讨无关言语对阅读的干扰机制是基于内容还是过程。结果发现,有意义言语显著干扰了正常的阅读行为,而无意义言语与无背景音条件不存在显著差异。并且背景言语类型与任务类型的交互作用显著,表现为言语的语义成分只干扰了自然阅读,而对校对阅读没有影响。实验结果支持过程干扰假说。