动物个体差异研究对人格心理学的贡献

动物个体差异的研究与人格心理学的关系已经引起了很多学者的关注。虽然对动物个体差异有许多相关描述,但文章采用一个广泛的工作定义,即动物在不同的情景下一致表现出来的一套相关行为。对动物个体差异的测量需要考虑物种间的可比较性和物种内的充分性。文章从人格结构的探讨,遗传和环境的作用,理解人格与认知、健康的关系,以及个体与环境的匹配等方面讨论和分析了动物个体差异的研究对人格心理学的可能贡献     

Parenting-related childhood learning history and panic vulnerability: a test using a laboratory-based biological challenge procedure

A small but growing literature highlights specific parenting behaviors in increasing panic vulnerability among offspring. The current study examined the association between parenting-related instrumental and observational learning of sick-role behavior during childhood and reactivity to a panic-relevant biological challenge procedure that has evidenced predictive validity in terms of panic onset. Participants were 93 physically and psychologically healthy young adults (39 females; M_age = 23.41 years). As expected, results indicated that instrumental learning experiences involving (panic-relevant) arousal-reactive symptoms predicted increased post-challenge anxiety, arousal, and negative affective valence, even after accounting for variability associated with other theoretically relevant variables (e.g., anxiety sensitivity). Consistent with prior work, this learning history effect was specific to arousal-reactive, as opposed to arousal non-reactive, symptoms. Unexpectedly, observational learning was not related to challenge responding. Findings are discussed in terms of the potential role of parenting in etiologic models of panic development.     

Infants attribute goals even to biomechanically impossible actions

Human infants readily interpret the actions of others in terms of goals, but the origins of this important cognitive skill are keenly debated. We tested whether infants recognize others′ actions as goal-directed on the basis of their experience with carrying out and observing goal-directed actions, or whether their perception of a goal-directed action is based on the recognition of a specific event structure. Counterintuitively, but consistent with our prediction, we observed that infants appear to extend goal attribution even to biomechanically impossible actions so long as they are physically efficient, indicating that the notion of ‘goal′ is unlikely to be derived directly from infants′ experience.     

面孔认知的四个层面及FFA在其中的作用

面孔具有明显不同于其他刺激物的特点,面孔认知的目的也因此与其他物体认知的目的大相径庭。依据面孔认知的目的,本文将面孔认知划分为四个层面：将面孔区别于一般物体的第一层面,对面孔物理属性进行识别的第二层面,对面孔的生物属性进行识别的第三层面和对面孔的社会属性进行识别的第四层面。FFA是面孔加工的一个重要脑区,通过论述它对面孔认知各层面的作用,FFA在面孔加工中的作用被进一步明确。     

The effects of feature type in operant serial feature-positive discriminations

In two experiments, rats were trained on two operant serial feature positive discriminations in which one feature was a flavored solution and the second feature was a visual or auditory cue. As in a previous study ([Goddard and Holland, 1996]), transfer of a feature’s control to the target of the other discrimination was not observed when the flavor feature and the reinforcer were flavored sucrose solutions (Experiment 1). The performance of comparison groups showed that this lack of transfer was not due to confounded differences in the event contingencies resulting from having similar stimuli serve as feature and reinforcer. By contrast, in Experiment 2, transfer was observed between visual and flavor features when the flavor feature was unsweetened and the reinforcer was plain sucrose. These results suggest that the lack of transfer in Experiment 1 and in [Goddard and Holland, 1996] study were related to the biological significance or hedonic properties of the sucrose feature.     

A novel integrated knowledge explanation of factors leading to suicide

Psycho-social and biological theories of suicide are sometimes presented in a dichotomous manner. It is hypothesised that there is a base rate of suicide in all communities which is influenced not only by biological factors, but also by psycho-social factors. However, various countries or specific groups or regions within a country whose suicide rate diverges significantly from this base rate do so predominantly because of psycho-social factors. This theory has practical implications in terms of where certain countries or regions should focus their suicide prevention programmes.     

Being Conscious of Marc Bekoff: Thinking of Animal Self-Consciousness

The preceding article by Marc Bekoff reveals much about our current understanding of animal self‐consciousness and its implications. It also reveals how much more there is to be said and considered. This response briefly examines animal self‐consciousness from scientific, moral, and theological perspectives. As Bekoff emphasizes, self‐consciousness is not one thing but many. Consequently, our moral relationship to animals is not simply one based on a graded hierarchy of abilities. Furthermore, the complexity of animal self‐awareness can serve as stimulus for thinking about issues of theodicy and soteriology in a broader sense.     

Painful semantic context modulates the relationship between action words and biological movement perception

Studies have revealed a close relationship between action–word processing and the detection of point-light biological movements and that this effect can be modulated by the context of action-verb presentation. The goal of the present study was to further examine the extent to which motor representation activation plays a role in this relationship by testing the influence of painless/painful sentence understanding during a listening task. Participants judged the presence or absence of a point-light biological movement that was embedded in a scrambled mask after a congruent or incongruent action sentence was presented. The sentences varied according to the context of action-verb presentation (painful, painless). Perceptual judgments of human movements improved after a prior presentation of a congruent action sentence but only in the painless context. Thus, our findings show that pain included in a semantic context of sentence presentation can preclude the relationship between action–word understanding and point-light biological movement judgments.     

He throws like a girl (but only when he's sad): emotion affects sex-decoding of biological motion displays

Gender stereotypes have been implicated in sex-typed perceptions of facial emotion. Such interpretations were recently called into question because facial cues of emotion are confounded with sexually dimorphic facial cues. Here we examine the role of visual cues and gender stereotypes in perceptions of biological motion displays, thus overcoming the morphological confounding inherent in facial displays. In four studies, participants’ judgments revealed gender stereotyping. Observers accurately perceived emotion from biological motion displays (Study 1), and this affected sex categorizations. Angry displays were overwhelmingly judged to be men; sad displays were judged to be women (Studies 2–4). Moreover, this pattern remained strong when stimuli were equated for velocity (Study 3). We argue that these results were obtained because perceivers applied gender stereotypes of emotion to infer sex category (Study 4). Implications for both vision sciences and social psychology are discussed.