Buddhist and Western perspectives on suffering,stress, and coping

The distinct definition of stress postulated by Buddhist and Western cultures is the foundation for their different coping styles, traditions, and practices. Dukkha, derived from Buddha’s Four Noble Truths, appears on the surface similar to psychological stress. Further examination of the Eastern cosmology yields a fundamental disagreement between Western psychological theory and Buddhists’ conception of suffering and stress related to incorporating reality into the formulation. Cross-cultural research on traditional approaches to coping with occupational stress found that problem solving was the most effective strategy, however in Thailand meditation helped nurses cope with a variety of stressors such as dealing with death and dying. Paul Tyson Ph.D is a professor of psychology and teaches perception, Western and Eastern consciousness at Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada L2S 3A1. His research publications have ranged from lucid dreams to memory enhancement after drinking alcohol, but his primary focus has been on EEG biofeedback, stress management, and current cross-cultural publications are on how Buddhists cope with stress. Correspond with Paul Tyson via e-mail at tyson@brocku.ca Rana Pongruengphant R.N., Ph.D. is an associate professor in the Faculty of Nursing and Vice-President for Academic Affairs at Burapha University, Bangsaen, Chonburi, Thailand 20131. She teaches nursing administration, nursing research and computers for research. Her publications ranged from nursing administration, nursing practice, nursing education, and cross-cultural studies of coping with occupational stress.Correspond with Rana Pongruengphant via e-mail at rena@bucc.ac.th     

The role of pre-exposure to novel food tastes in activity-based conditioned taste avoidance

Rats were given differential exposure to three distinct and novel foods. One of these foods was exposed for 7 days; another for 2 days, and the last was not exposed. Next, half of the rats received six daily sessions in which a compound of the three flavors was followed by opportunities to run in wheels. The other rats received the food compound but without wheel running. On the next day, all rats were given a choice among the three food flavors presented concurrently in separate dishes. When the compound food had been followed by wheel running, rats ate little of the food given no pre-exposure, more of the food given 2 days of pre-exposure, and considerably more of the food given 7 days of pre-exposure. In comparison, rats who did not receive an opportunity to run ate equal and moderate amounts of the three foods. The results suggest that pre-exposure to a food’s taste produces latent inhibition that interferes with conditioned taste avoidance produced by pairing a taste (CS) with wheel running (US).     

Scaling relative incentive value in anticipatory behavior

Papini and Pellegrini (Papini, M. R., & Pellegrini, S. Scaling relative incentive value in consummatory behavior. Learning and Motivation, in press) observed that, within limits, the level of consummatory responding of rats exposed to incentive downshifts in the concentration of sucrose solutions was similar when the ratio of test/training solutions was the same. For example, 32 → 4% and 16 → 2% downshifts (1:8 test/training ratios) lead to similar levels of consummatory behavior, despite differences in the absolute concentrations of the solutions involved in the downshift. This suggests the applicability of Weber’s law to spaced-trial, incentive-downshift situations. Experiment 1 extended these results to runway performance using food pellets as reward, and Experiment 2 to lever pressing performance, using an autoshaping procedure and sucrose solutions as rewards. The results conform well to the test/training ratio suggesting that Weber’s law is applicable to anticipatory behavior. A simple mathematical rule that can be easily incorporated into models based on linear operators describes the results of consummatory and anticipatory behavior experiments.     

事后聪明式偏差的理论模型及影响因素

事后聪明式偏差是指人们在得知事件结果后,会因记忆扭曲、对自身预测能力或事件发生必然性的需要的诱发,而表现出过高估计自己在事前预测能力的现象。许多研究表明,该偏差普遍存在于实验和真实情境中,很难通过实施策略而减小。该现象的理论模型主要基于认知过程和社会性动机,影响因素有研究方法、个人特质、能力变量、年龄因素、个人相关度和事件效价,在未来研究中应注重对理论的整合以及校正策略在应用中的探索     

反恐维稳行动中优化谈判专家心理能力的基本措施

反恐维稳行动任务的多样性要求必须有特种能力的专业人员参与其中,谈判专家以其特殊的的角色在人质危机等活动中发挥着重要的作用。本文从谈判专家心理能力的构成要素出发,分析了谈判专家应当具备的心理能力,以及优化这些能力的基本措施。     

高血压脑出血的治疗策略

高血压脑出血（hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage,HICH）是一种高发病率、高致残率和高致死率的全球性疾病,一直是神经内、外科治疗的重点和难点。迄今,国际上缺乏对HICH的规范治疗方案,传统方法主要有内科药物和外科手术治疗。本文试图从哲学和临床的角度探讨HICH的治疗策略。     

特殊人群结核病的流行病学调查

为了了解某监狱犯人中结核病的患病及结核菌耐药情况,为防治提供依据,采用痰检和结核菌素试验的方式对研究对象进行普查,结核分枝杆菌采用罗氏培养,药敏试验采用比例法。结果显示,PPD试验总阳性率为60．54％。痰检发现24例患者,涂阳患病率为898．54／10万。培养菌株总耐药率为95．83％,其中初治耐药率、复治耐药率和多重耐药率分别为87．5％,100％和73．91％。提示该特殊人群结核病患病率高于一般人群。     

干扰素治疗慢性乙型肝炎管理策略初探

在慢性乙肝抗病毒治疗中干扰素作为一线治疗取得了一定的疗效。在治疗过程中通过选择合适的慢性乙肝患者、监测疗效、确立个体化的疗程和剂量、及时监测不良反应和恰当的处理和最大限度的提高患者的依从性可使干扰素的疗效达到最大化。     

Use of samples differing markedly in salience may encourage use of a single-code/default strategy in matching-to-sample in pigeons

To test the hypothesis that pigeons will only code the more salient sample when samples differ markedly in salience, pigeons were trained with samples consisting of a 2-s presentation of food (highly salient sample) and an 8-s presentation of keylight (less salient sample). During retention testing, pigeons tended to respond at longer delays as if an 8-s keylight sample had been presented. This finding is consistent with use of a single-code/default strategy in which only the 2-s food sample was coded and the comparison associated with an 8-s keylight sample was selected by default in the absence of memory for the salient 2-s food sample. Hence, a marked difference in sample salience appears to encourage use of a single-code/default strategy.     

Context blocking in rat autoshaping: Sign-tracking versus goal-tracking

Prior experience of unsignaled food can interfere with subsequent acquisition by birds of autoshaped key-pecking at a signal light. This has been understood to indicate that unsignaled food results in context conditioning, which blocks subsequent learning about the keylight-food relationship. In the present experiment with rats lever insertion as the conditioned stimulus (CS) preceded sucrose delivery as the unconditioned stimulus (US). Half the rats initially received unsignaled USs in the conditioning context, while the remainder did not. Both lever-presses (sign-tracking) and magazine-entries (goal-tracking) were recorded. Under immediate reinforcement conditions, prior unsignaled US interfered with sign-tracking, but had no effect on goal-tracking. In two further groups, a trace condition prevented development of sign-tracking. In this case, prior context conditioning interfered with goal-tracking. These results suggest that interference with sign-tracking may reflect response competition, while interference with goal-tracking under trace conditions may reflect failure to acquire a CS-US association.