Song recognition in zebra finches: Are there sensitive periods for song memorization?

Male zebra finches learn to sing songs that they hear between 25 and 65 days of age, the sensitive period for song learning. In this experiment, male and female zebra finches were exposed to zebra finch songs either before (n = 9) or during (n = 4) the sensitive period. Following song exposure, recognition memory for the songs was assessed with an operant discrimination between familiar and novel songs. Zebra finches that were exposed to songs between 22 and 30 days of age discriminated between familiar and novel songs; zebra finches exposed to songs from 9 to 17 days of age did not. Failure to memorize songs heard prior to the sensitive period may contribute to the exclusion of those songs from the repertoire of songbirds.     

A Recess Evaluation with the Players: Taking Steps Toward Participatory Action Research

This qualitative study, part of a Canadian national study of fathers’ involvement, opened up First Nations and Métis fathering as a new area of inquiry. Conversational interviews with 80 Indigenous fathers illuminated the socio-historical conditions that have shaped Indigenous men’s experiences of learning to be a father and becoming a man in the context of changing gender relationships and the regeneration of circles of care. Indigenous fathers’ experiences unfold in a socio-historical context fraught with difficulties. However, the study findings suggest cultural strengths and sources of resilience unseen in research and community programs driven by Euro-western perspectives. This research can inform efforts to reduce systemic barriers and reconstitute positive father involvement following disrupted intergenerational transmission of fathering in Canada and elsewhere.     

Covariation of self‐ and other‐directed aggression among inpatient youth: continuity in the transition to treatment and shared risk factors

Although other‐ and self‐directed aggression covary in very high‐risk youth, these forms of aggression infrequently are studied simultaneously. Understanding better their covariation is an important task for improving services to high‐risk youth. In this study, data from the clinical records of 476 youth admitted to secure inpatient treatment were analyzed to examine relations among self‐ and other‐directed aggression exhibit before and during inpatient treatment. Analyses tested the hypotheses that self‐ and other‐directed aggression would tend to covary and display continuity from pre‐treatment to in‐treatment. Also tested were the hypotheses that youth with histories of co‐occurring self‐ and other‐directed aggression would show the highest levels of aggression during treatment and the greatest degree of personal and contextual risk on entering treatment. These hypotheses were largely supported. Exploratory analyses revealed interesting discontinuities in aggression (aggression emitted only before or during treatment) with critical implications for research and practice with youth receiving clinical care, especially those in institutional placements. Aggr. Behav. 36:205–217, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Chronic passive exposure to aggression escalates aggressiveness of rat observers

Previous studies have documented that exposure to aggression increases aggressiveness of human witnesses. However, the question of whether passive exposure to aggression can exclusively cause a risk of aggressive inclination for observers through a learning process, rather than mimicry effect, has not been readily addressed in the clinical literature. This study aimed to investigate this question by using a simple animal model to test the behavioral effect of chronic passive exposure to aggression. Our results indicate that observer rats that had been passively exposed to aggression for 10 min per day for 23 consecutive days exhibited more aggressive behavior than controls or those groups undergoing a single exposure to passive aggression. Furthermore, aggression levels in the group of 23‐day chronic exposure to aggression lasted 16 days after the recovery from exposure to aggression. These data suggest that the development of aggression in this model occurred through a learning process because only chronic exposure to aggression resulted in this behavioral outcome in the long run. Aggr. Behav. 36:54–66, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Kierkegaard on the (un)happiness of faith

Hegel famously accuses Christianity of ‘unhappy consciousness’: it has a normative goal – union with the divine – that it cannot, in principle, satisfy. Kierkegaard was intimately aware of this criticism and, unlike some of Hegel’s other accusations, takes it seriously. In this paper my co-author and I investigate the way in which Kierkegaard addresses this issue in two texts published in 1843: Fear and Trembling and ‘The Expectancy of Faith’. We are especially interested in how the two texts describe faith’s relationship to finitude: for instance, whether the person of faith is permitted to expect that God will bless her in particular and concrete ways. My co-author and I offer competing interpretations. I argue that there is a deep tension in the way faith is described in the two texts; my co-author argues that there is consonance.     

On Luo Congyan’s Ethics

Luo Congyan put forward the idea that benevolence is the substance while righteousness is its function, which placed the intrinsic value of human beings on a more fundamental position and affirmed the unity of benevolent principle and universal norms from the perspective of the relationship between substance and function. The unity of benevolence and righteousness involves the connection between value and norms, and the latter relate to the relationship between morality and law in the broader sense. On the basis of the idea of using both benevolence and righteousness, Luo Congyan examined the relationship between morality and law. Corresponding to the emphasis on the role of both law and political power, Luo Congyan concerned himself with how to establish rational interpersonal relationships in various ways. Furthermore, Luo Congyan emphasized the significance of behavior in everyday life, while he affirmed that the universal principle should be followed. In this way, he developed the earlier Confucian thought. Translated from Studies in Ethics by Xiao Mo     

荀子社会分层的政治伦理思想及其现代价值

基于天人关系,荀子从人的自然本性和社会性出发,对其社会分层的政治伦理思想作了哲学论证。以“礼”为核心和标准,荀子把社会分层划分为社会等级分层与社会职业分层两个层面。荀子把“礼”的功能———“群”与“分”,特别是等级差别之“分”作为社会分层的手段,以最终实现社会和谐有序的政治理想。这对于我们今天构建社会主义和谐社会仍具有一定的现实意义。     

人与自然和谐的道德基础——古代"天人合一"思想的现代生态伦理启示

人与自然的和谐有着道德基础。古代的“天人合一”思想为我们从道德的视角研究人与自然的和谐,以及建构现代生态伦理观提供了一定的帮助。从道德的意义上,人与自然的和谐中人是道德主体,承担着全部道德责任,其行为是道德评价的对象。人对自然的适应与改造、尊重与利用是辩证的统一。     

“多少”概念发展的研究

采用数量判定任务,分别用2～30和5～100范围内点子图为刺激,研究个体“多”和“少”概念的发展。结果发现：在5～100点子条件下,随年龄的增长,个体“多”概念的判断值、“少”概念的判断值、“多”“少”概念的临界值均显著增大;7～9岁是个体“多少”概念发展的转折期;个体对“多少”概念的认知具有相对性;在本实验的两种条件下,随年龄增长,个体“多”概念的判断值、“少”概念的判断值、“多”“少”概念的临界值逐渐趋于刺激点子数最大值的2/3、1/3、1/2,“多”概念与“少”概念判断的不确定距离逐渐趋于刺激点子数最大变化范围的1/3或略小于1/3。     

大学生学习动机问卷的初步编制

本研究结合开放式问卷所获资料,在文献研究的基础上建构了大学生学习动机的维度,编制了大学生学习动机问卷,并将之施测于427名大学生。问卷的因素分析结果表明：（1）大学生学习动机归并为求知兴趣、能力追求、声誉获取和利他取向四个维度;（2）自编大学生学习动机问卷的信度和效度指标均达到了心理测量学要求。