工读学校学生的物质滥用行为及其关键影响因素分析

选取西南某省工读学校的193名工读学生参加问卷调查,拟考察工读生的物质滥用行为特点,并初步探索影响工读生物质滥用行为的关键因素以及各关键因素的相对影响力。结果发现:(1)工读生中存在较严重的每日吸烟(49%)、大量饮酒(41%)和毒品使用行为(41%),女生的毒品使用行为约是男生的两倍(74%vs.35%);(2)父母物质滥用行为与态度、同伴物质滥用行为与态度、同伴压力、抵制效能感是影响工读生出现物质滥用行为的关键影响因素;(3)在工读生物质滥用行为影响因素的关系模型中,父母诸因素可以显著地预测同伴诸因素,同时,父母和同伴特点又通过影响工读生的抵制效能感,间接地预测工读生的三种物质滥用行为。其中,父母诸因素对工读生的物质滥用行为和抵制效能感的预测力大于同伴的作用。     

社会主义核心价值体系融入大学生思想政治教育的调查与思考

对江苏、安徽两省大学生和高校思想政治理论课教师进行的调查显示,大学生对社会主义核心价值体系基内容能基本了解和认可,对社会主义核心价值体系建设的措施的也持积极的看法。同时,调查也表明当前大学生在马克思主义信仰、理想信念等方面的认识上存在着许多不足;高校思想政治课教师的理论素养、思想政治理论课教学也存在不少亟待解决的问题。应高度重视社会主义核心价值体系融入大学生思想政治教育的极端重要性,通过改进高校思想政治理论课教学、开展大学生个人品德建设、注重解决现实生活中使人困惑的问题以及整合利用多种课外教育资源、增加社会实践环节等措施来加强和改进大学生的社会主义核心价值体系教育。     

Increasing task precision demands reveals that the reach and grasp remain subject to different perception-action constraints in 12-month-old human infants

The reach and grasp follow different developmental trajectories, but are often considered to have achieved nearly adult-like precision and integration by 12 months of age. This study used frame-by-frame video analysis to investigate whether increasing precision demands, by placing small reaching targets on a narrow pedestal rather than on a flat table, would influence the reach and grasp movements of 12-month-old infants in a complementary or differential fashion. The results reveal that placing the target atop a pedestal impaired the infants’s ability to direct an appropriate digit towards the small target, but did not produce a corresponding decrease in the frequency with which they used an index-thumb pincer grip to grasp the target. This was due to the fact that, although infants were more likely to contact the target with a suboptimal part of the hand in the pedestal condition, a greater proportion of these suboptimal contacts ultimately transitioned to a successful index-thumb pincer grip. Thus, increasing task precision demands impaired reach accuracy, but facilitated index-thumb grip formation, in 12-month-old infants. The differential response of the reach and grasp to the increased precision demands of the pedestal condition suggests that the two movements are not fully integrated and, when precision demands are great, remain sensitive to different perception-action constraints in 12-month-old infants.     

A cognitive architecture for modeling emotion dynamics: Intensity estimation from physiological signals

Current approaches to emotion recognition do not address the fact that emotions are dynamic processes. This work concerns itself with the development of a cognitive architecture for modeling the dynamics of emotions with specific focus on a gray-box model for dynamic emotion intensity estimation that can incorporate findings from appraisal models, specifically Scherer’s Component Process Model. It is based on Dynamic Field Theory which allows the combination of theoretical knowledge with data-driven experimental approaches. A user study is conducted applying the proposed model to estimate intensity of negative emotions from physiological signals. Results show significant improvements of the proposed model to common methodology and baselines. The flexible cognitive architecture opens a wide field of experiments and directions to deepen the understanding of emotion processes as a whole.     

The role of personality traits,core self‐evaluation,and emotional intelligence in career decision‐making difficulties

This study examines the role of personality traits, core self‐evaluation, and emotional intelligence (EI) in career decision‐making difficulties. Italian university students (N= 232) responded to questions on the Big Five Questionnaire, Core Self‐Evaluation Scale, Bar‐On Emotional Quotient Inventory, and Career Decision‐Making Difficulties Questionnaire. It was found that EI adds significant incremental variance compared with personality traits and core self‐evaluation in predicting career decision‐making difficulties. The results draw attention to the unique role of EI in career decision‐making difficulties, offering new research opportunities and intervention possibilities.     

Complex problem solving — More than reasoning?

This study investigates the internal structure and construct validity of Complex Problem Solving (CPS), which is measured by a Multiple-Item-Approach. It is tested, if (a) three facets of CPS - rule identification (adequateness of strategies), rule knowledge (generated knowledge) and rule application (ability to control a system) - can be empirically distinguished, how (b) reasoning is related to these CPS-facets and if (c) CPS shows incremental validity in predicting school grade point average (GPA) beyond reasoning. N = 222 university students completed MicroDYN, a computer-based CPS test and Ravens Advanced Progressive Matrices. Analysis including structural equation models showed that a 2-dimensionsal model of CPS including rule knowledge and rule application fitted the data best. Furthermore, reasoning predicted performance in rule application only indirectly through its influence on rule knowledge indicating that learning during system exploration is a prerequisite for controlling a system successfully. Finally, CPS explained variance in GPA even beyond reasoning, showing incremental validity of CPS. Thus, CPS measures important aspects of academic performance not assessed by reasoning and should be considered when predicting real life criteria such as GPA.     

Dynamics of identity development and separation–individuation in parent–child relationships during adolescence and emerging adulthood – A conceptual integration

Identity development and separation–individuation in parent–child relationships are widely perceived as related tasks of psychosocial maturation. However, a dynamic, developmental perspective that explains how intra-personal change in identity evolves from transactions between parents and children is not sufficiently represented in the literature. In this article, a selective literature review of psychological approaches to identity development and separation–individuation is presented with a focus on how the role of parents has been covered by approaches to identity development and on how general mechanisms of identity change could be filled with content by processes of separation–individuation. Afterwards, dynamics of identity development and separation–individuation are integrated based on the conceptualization of parents and children as two interrelated identity systems. Specifically, it is illustrated how interpersonal differences in long-term related changes in identity formation, identity evaluation, autonomy, and separateness and attachment between parents and children, could be explained by parent–child transactions in the transition between childhood and adolescence and between adolescence and emerging adulthood. Finally, implications of an integrative perspective for future empirical research are discussed.     

Contributions of dynamic systems theory to cognitive development

We examine the contributions of dynamic systems theory to the field of cognitive development, focusing on modeling using dynamic neural fields. After introducing central concepts of dynamic field theory (DFT), we probe empirical predictions and findings around two examples—the DFT of infant perseverative reaching that explains Piaget's A-not-B error and the DFT of spatial memory that explain changes in spatial cognition in early development. Review of the literature around these examples reveals that computational modeling is having an impact on empirical research in cognitive development; however, this impact does not extend to neural and clinical research. Moreover, there is a tendency for researchers to interpret models narrowly, anchoring them to specific tasks. We conclude on an optimistic note, encouraging both theoreticians and experimentalists to work toward a more theory-driven future.