Psychology through international congresses: differences between regions, countries, and congresses

A published database of presentations from the seven most recent International Congresses of Applied Psychology (ICAPs) was compared to a similar but unpublished database (Adair, Anguas-Plata, Unik, & Radons, 2009) on the International Congresses of Psychology (ICPs) for the years 1996-2004. Analyses revealed phenomena characteristic of attendance at both international congresses: Participation rates spike dramatically for host countries; less dramatic regional surges in participation occur when the congress is held in a neighbouring country. Psychologists from 117 different countries participated in the seven recent congresses (ICAP and ICP) from 1994 to 2006. Overall ICP was double the size of ICAP, and represented a larger set of countries at each of its congresses. Regardless of location, most participants at both congresses came from the same 11 economically advantaged and seven majority-world countries. Congress presentations are dispersed across a much larger number of countries than are journal publications. The USA, for example, had modest 14.4% (ICAP) and 11.6% (ICP) presentation rates, much smaller than its majority share of publications (Adair, 2009 ). By contrast, the USA had the greater share of invited addresses at both ICAP (33.7%) and ICP (28.9%) congresses. Nonetheless, the majority-world countries contributing to both ICAP and ICP are clearly indicative of where the discipline is gaining strength and importance to international psychology. The emergence of Iran as a new leading national contributor to the two most recent international congresses, and the rise in the proportion of presentations by majority-world psychologists at ICAPs from only about one in five to more than one of every three presentations in recent congresses are findings consistent with Zakaria's (2008) analysis of changes taking place in the world. Within international congresses, certainly, the "rise of the rest" is changing the face of international psychology.     

Increases in parental investment and child health as a result of an early intervention

Parental investment (involving time or money invested in 3-year-olds) and child health were assessed as an outcome of (a) children’s risk status (preterm vs. full-term birth) and (b) maternal resources (defined here in terms of their problem-solving skills in resolving caregiving challenges). Resources were varied systematically as a function of maternal participation in a traditional home visitation program versus a novel cognitively enhanced program that facilitated parenting skills more successfully. As predicted, mothers in the traditional home visitation condition invested preferentially in low-risk children, whereas mothers in the cognitively enhanced condition invested preferentially in high-risk children (who, in turn, showed maximal health benefits). Maternal investment of time in care provision mediated the relationship between predictor variables and children’s health. This pattern supports an evolutionary model of parental investment in which parents show discriminative solicitude based on the reproductive potential of the child and parents’ access to relevant resources.     

心理学研究工具与心理学的发展

本文在考察心理学发展与研究工具的关系基础上,总结了心理学研究工具的定义和分类,并重点探索了心理学研究工具在心理学发展过程中的作用。并指出在未来心理学研究中新的研究工具和方法将起到越来越重要的作用。     

消极偏差还是积极缺乏:抑郁的积极心理学解释

抑郁的认知理论被认为是当代最具影响的抑郁理论之一,其中贝克抑郁理论与无望抑郁理论是两大主要的认知理论。认知理论主张消极认知偏差是导致抑郁的易感因素。然而,"抑郁现实主义"及"积极错觉"等研究却证实抑郁个体并不存在消极认知偏差。以往研究的矛盾实际上反映了当代心理学过分关注消极的病理化倾向。新兴的积极心理学则试图从全新视角解释抑郁,导致抑郁的原因不是个体身上积极因素的缺位,而是积极力量未被充分发挥。     

解释学的后现代转向及其对后现代心理学的意义

随着后现代思潮的兴起,解释学领域出现了后现代转向,在对解释本身及解释模式的阐释、对成见的看法以及真理观等方面有许多转变,这些转变对后现代心理学产生很大影响,表现在:对研究对象的分析水平由个体中心转向对关系的研究;研究方法上由唯一客观的实证方法转向多元方法论;研究原则上由价值中立转向强调历史文化因素的影响;知识观上由追求知识的客观性、普适性转向知识的社会建构性。同时,后现代解释学对心理现象和实践应用的认识,对克服后现代心理学认识论和方法论上的相对主义也很有启发。     

组织心理学研究的情境化及多层次理论

由于组织具有明确的目标和特定的任务, 组织心理与一般情境中人的心理有所区别。由于组织情境下的心理与行为受到个体、群体、组织甚至社会几个层次上的多种因素的影响, 组织心理研究者所建立理论要揭示这些情境变量与所研究的现象之间的联系。本文首先介绍了近年来组织研究中的情境化趋势, 举例说明情境化对于理论发展的贡献。随后, 本文阐述了组织心理学研究中的理论层次问题, 强调界定构念和理论层次的必要性, 并说明界定理论层次背后的逻辑。文章以群体层次的研究为例, 说明形成群体层次构念的方法以及测量群体层次构念时需要注意的问题。鉴于组织中个体层次的因变量会受到个体和更高层次变量的共同影响, 文章在最后部分介绍了组织心理学研究中的多层次理论。本文以近年来发表的组织心理学研究报告为例, 说明研究的情境化以及建立多层次理论的方法。     

生命意义心理学理论取向与测量

生命意义的心理学理论与实证研究始于20世纪中期,经由存在主义心理学取向、人格与动机取向,到相对主义观点,再到积极心理学取向,生命意义的心理学研究逐渐摆脱"哲学风格",从而完成了其"心理学化"的历程。20世纪60年代开始,研究者们从生命意义感和生命意义源这两个研究维度出发,陆续开发了大量的测量工具。生命意义感和生命意义源测量的综合化成为近年来测量工具发展的趋势。生命意义的心理学研究在理论视角、测量内容与方法、实践应用等方面有着广阔的发展前景。     

Liberation social psychology: learning from Latin America

Liberation Social Psychology (la psicología social de la liberación, LSP) has developed amongst a body of psychologists in Latin America over the last decade. There has been no survey of the field in English, although some of the ideas are of relevance for those working with oppressed groups elsewhere in the world. This article explores the context in which LSP grew from the work of Ignacio Martín‐Baró and was developed by Maritza Montero, amongst others. Within LSP, key concepts emerge, including ‘conscientization’, ‘realismo‐crítico’, ‘de‐ideologization’, a social orientation, ‘the preferential option for the oppressed majorities’ and methodological eclecticism. The application of LSP is explored with reference to three domains. First, it is suggested that community social psychology as practised in some parts of Latin America reflects LSP in its emphasis on social transformation and participatory methods. Second, psycho‐social work with victims of state oppression, which adopts a highly social and societal orientation embodies LSP. Third, social analyses which explicitly adopt socio‐psychological‐political analyses of the social realities confronting countries in Latin America embrace, in different ways, principles and concepts of LSP. Some of the challenges facing LSP are discussed and open dialogue is encouraged between LSP and critical, community and applied social psychologists. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ethics and Intuitions

For millennia, philosophers have speculated about the origins of ethics. Recent research in evolutionary psychology and the neurosciences has shed light on that question. But this research also has normative significance. A standard way of arguing against a normative ethical theory is to show that in some circumstances the theory leads to judgments that are contrary to our common moral intuitions. If, however, these moral intuitions are the biological residue of our evolutionary history, it is not clear why we should regard them as having any normative force. Research in the neurosciences should therefore lead us to reconsider the role of intuitions in normative ethics.