Do you see what I see? Co-actor posture modulates visual processing in joint tasks

ABSTRACT

Interacting with other people is a ubiquitous part of daily life. A complex set of processes enable our successful interactions with others. The present research was conducted to investigate how the processing of visual stimuli may be affected by the presence and the hand posture of a co-actor. Experiments conducted with participants acting alone have revealed that the distance from the stimulus to the hand of a participant can alter visual processing. In the main experiment of the present paper, we asked whether this posture-related source of visual bias persists when participants share the task with another person. The effect of personal and co-actor hand-proximity on visual processing was assessed through object-specific benefits to visual recognition in a task performed by two co-actors. Pairs of participants completed a joint visual recognition task and, across different blocks of trials, the position of their own hands and of their partner's hands varied relative to the stimuli. In contrast to control studies conducted with participants acting alone, an object-specific recognition benefit was found across all hand location conditions. These data suggest that visual processing is, in some cases, sensitive to the posture of a co-actor.     

Religion and Helping Charitable Causes

Two studies assessed the relationship between religiousness and various measures of self-reported helping behavior, as well as actual volunteering for charitable causes. Results indicated that, although religious students in this study (as measured by a Christian Orthodoxy scale) indicated that they were more likely to volunteer to help in religion-related contexts, they did not report being, nor were they actually, more likely than less religious individuals to volunteer to help (nonreligious) charitable groups. Consistent with past research, however, those with an intrinsic religious orientation did volunteer to help charitable groups more than did those with an extrinsic religious orientation.     

2-8年级儿童的责任心发展

以241名2-8年级儿童为被试,运用情境故事探索儿童责任心发展的特点。结果显示：（1）责任心的认知判断与行为倾向一致性较低;行为倾向与情感体验一致性较高;（2）责任心归因可以分为权威取向、自我取向、认可取向、成本取向、原则取向5种;（3）随着年级升高,自我和社会责任心归因中权威取向比例下降,原则取向比例上升;环境责任心归因中成本取向比例下降,原则取向比例上升;（4）责任心的成本取向似乎与现今的社会转型有关,是以往研究所没有的。     

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.     

Your own actions influence how you perceive other people: A misattribution of action appraisals

The attribution of personal traits to other persons depends on the actions the observer performs at the same time (Bach & Tipper, 2007). Here, we show that the effect reflects a misattribution of appraisals of the observers’ own actions to the actions of others. We exploited spatial compatibility effects to manipulate how fluently—how fast and how accurately—participants identified two individuals performing sporty or academic actions. The traits attributed to each person in a subsequent rating task depended on the fluency of participants’ responses in a specific manner. An individual more fluently identified while performing the academic action appeared more academic and less sporty. An individual more fluently identified while performing the sporty action appeared sportier. Thus, social perception is—at least partially—embodied. The ease of our own responses can be misattributed to the actions of others, affecting which personal traits are attributed to them.     

It’s in your nature: a pluralistic folk psychology

I suggest a pluralistic account of folk psychology according to which not all predictions or explanations rely on the attribution of mental states, and not all intentional actions are explained by mental states. This view of folk psychology is supported by research in developmental and social psychology. It is well known that people use personality traits to predict behavior. I argue that trait attribution is not shorthand for mental state attributions, since traits are not identical to beliefs or desires, and an understanding of belief or desire is not necessary for using trait attributions. In addition, we sometimes predict and explain behavior through appeal to personality traits that the target wouldn’t endorse, and so could not serve as the target’s reasons. I conclude by suggesting that our folk psychology includes the notion that some behavior is explained by personality traits—who the person is—rather than by beliefs and desires—what the person thinks. Consequences of this view for the debate between simulation theory and theory theory, as well as the debate on chimpanzee theory of mind are discussed.     

The benefits of knowing what you know (and what you don’t): How calibration affects credibility

People tend to believe, and take advice from, informants who are highly confident. However, people use more than a mere “confidence heuristic.” We believe that confidence is influential because—in the absence of other information—people assume it is a valid cue to an informant’s likelihood of being correct. However, when people get evidence about an informant’s calibration (i.e., her confidence-accuracy relationship) they override reliance on confidence or accuracy alone. Two experiments in which participants choose between two opposing witnesses to a car accident show that neither confidence nor accuracy alone explains judgments of credibility; rather, whether a person is seen as credible ultimately depends on whether the person demonstrates good calibration. Credibility depends on whether sources were justified in believing what they believed.     

中国传统文化取向管理人员的成败归因风格研究

选用台湾杨国枢先生编制的《传统性量表》和自编《管理成败归因风格问卷》,随机选取542名企业管理人员,调查研究中国传统文化取向管理人员的成败归因风格特征。研究发现：1）“孝亲敬祖”和“宿命自保”文化取向的人,成功外归因的倾向显著地高于成功内归因倾向。2）“男性优越”、“权威守成”、“宿命自保”文化取向的人,失败不可控外归因倾向显著地高于失败内归因倾向。     

On the meaning of meaning when being mean: commentary on Berkowitz's "on the consideration of automatic as well as controlled psychological processes in aggression"

Berkowitz (this issue) makes a cogent case for his cognitive neo-associationist (CNA) model that some aggressive behaviors occur automatically, emotionally, and through conditioned association with other stimuli. He also proposes that they can occur without "processing," that is, without meaning. He contrasts his position with that of social information processing (SIP) models, which he casts as positing only controlled processing mechanisms for aggressive behavior. However, both CNA and SIP models posit automatic as well as controlled processes in aggressive behavior. Most aggressive behaviors occur through automatic processes, which are nonetheless rule governed. SIP models differ from the CNA model in asserting the essential role of meaning (often through nonconscious, automatic, and emotional processes) in mediating the link between a stimulus and an angry aggressive behavioral response.     

试论医生医疗工作归因

借鉴目前归因理论研究的成果,重点探讨了医生医疗工作归因的含义、结构、作用及方法,提出医生应学会对自己医疗工作中的成败进行合理的归因,自觉地总结经验、汲取教训,不断取得医学事业上的成功.