未来情景思考对目标达成的双刃作用及其机制

未来情景思考指个体想象并预先感受某个可能在未来发生的自我相关情景事件的心理加工,它对目标达成可产生双刃影响:一些思考方式会妨碍目标达成,如想象理想的结果或过程;而另一些思考方式则会促进目标达成,如过程模拟和想象较为消极的目标相关场景。对于未来情景思考是促进还是妨碍目标达成,动机水平的高低和执行意向的清晰程度可能是关键调节因素,相应的干预策略可通过增强这两者而将未来情景思考对目标达成的妨碍作用转化为促进作用。进一步的研究需系统探讨不同方式的未来情景思考影响目标达成的认知神经机制,并对目标特征和人格特点如何调节未来情景思考对目标达成的影响进行探讨。     

Authenticity and Constructivism in Education

This paper examines the concept of authenticity and its relevance in education, from a philosophical perspective. Under the heading of educational authenticity (EA), I critique Fred Newmann’s views on authentic pedagogy and intellectual work. I argue against the notion that authentic engagement is usefully analyzed in terms of a relationship between school work and: “real” work. I also seek to clarify the increasingly problematic concept of constructivism, arguing that there are two distinct constructivist theses, only one of which deserves serious attention. I explain that the correspondence view of authenticity pays insufficient attention to the reality that the presence of “real world” connections does not guarantee that teaching and learning will be truly authentic. As a bridge to a philosophically acceptable understanding of authenticity, I reflect on John Dewey, who famously strove to base his views on education on the experience of the child, while rejecting that such experience requires validation from the “real” world. And Jean Jacques Rousseau offers several clues as to how the search for an authentic self might proceed beyond the Romanticist vision of an inner essence. These include the idea of the self as constructed inter-subjectively, which I capture by the term “one among others” and which, in turn, reveals persons as dialogically engaged in working out who they are and what they stand for (an idea found in the work of Charles Taylor). There is a clear affinity here with the imperative proposed by Newmann. I embrace the idea that the cultivation of dialogue should be a key priority in classrooms, because dialogue drives each individual to seek meaning in the context of seeing her/himself as one among others. I highlight the role of the classroom community of inquiry as an environment which has the dual function of cultivating disciplined inquiry and facilitating the kind of personal development that can, most properly, be termed “authentic”.

Using system dynamics modeling to understand the impact of social change initiatives

Community psychologists have a long history of interest in understanding social systems and how to bring about enduring positive change in these systems. However, the methods that community psychologists use to anticipate and evaluate the changes that result from system change efforts are less well developed. In the current paper, we introduce readers to system dynamics modeling, an action research approach to studying complex systems and the consequences of system change. We illustrate this approach by describing a system dynamics model of educational reform. We provide readers with an introduction to system dynamics modeling, as well as describe the strengths and limitations of the approach for application to community psychology.     

Globalization, state transformation, and educational re-structuring: why postmodern diversity will prevail over standardization

Over the past two decades the educational policies of neo-liberal nation states have exhibited contradictory tendencies, promoting both bureaucratic standardization of curriculum and standardized evaluation on the one hand, and postmodern diversification on the other. Despite recent increases in bureaucratic standardization, I argue that the economic, social and cultural effects of globalization will pressure these states towards postmodern diversification of educational arrangements to strengthen their perceived legitimacy.     

Paradigms in the study of creativity: Introducing the perspective of cultural psychology

This article identifies three paradigms in creativity theory and research in psychology. The He-paradigm, focused on the solitary genius, has been followed, mainly after the 1950s, by the I-paradigm, equally individualistic in nature but attributing creativity to each and every individual. Extending this view, the We-paradigm incorporates what became known as the social psychology of creativity. The cultural psychology of creativity builds upon this last theoretical approach while being critical of some of its assumptions. This relatively new perspective, using the conceptual and methodological framework of cultural psychology, investigates the sociocultural roots and dynamics of all our creative acts and employs a tetradic framework of self - community - new artifact - existing artifacts in its conceptualization of creativity. The theoretical basis of the cultural psychology approach is analyzed as well as some of its main implications for both the understanding and study of creativity.     

Post-Discharge Experiences of People with Psychosis Following Partial Hospital Program Completion

Partial hospital programs are day programs which act as a bridge between inpatient and outpatient care for people with severe and persistent mental illness. This study explored the gap that exists in understanding the post-discharge experiences of people who have experienced psychosis. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 8 participants with psychosis, at least 4 weeks after completing partial hospital program. Identified themes included improved sense of wellness, changes in structure/routine, accessing community resources, social support and engagement, engagement in leisure, and impact of medication. Occupational therapists can use these findings to enhance programming at partial hospital programs and other similar programs.     

Noncanonical orientation without occlusion: Children's drawings of transparent objects

The use of a transparent model in a drawing task allows all the features of the model to remain visible whatever its orientation. N. H. Freeman (1980, Strategies of Representation in Young Children, New York/London, Academic Press) found that when drawing a transparent glass with its handle turned away, children made more canonical errors (drawing the handle at the side) than when drawing a similarly orientated opaque cup. According to Freeman being able to see the handle in a noncanonical orientation “triggers” a canonical representation of the object (N. H. Freeman 1980, p. 252). Two experiments are reported which investigated children's drawings of transparent objects. The drawings obtained from children between 4 and 7 years old produced two major findings. First, the tendency toward canonicality when drawing a glass with its handle turned away was significantly reduced when two glasses in differeing orientations were presented side by side. Second, the number of canonical errors was lower when the glass was filled with milk (thus hiding the handle). This latter finding confirms that of N. H. Freeman (1980). However, the first suggests that children use situationally appropriate information when drawing transparent objects in a way similar to that noted by A. M. Davis (1983, Contextual Sensitivity in Young Children's Drawings, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 35, 478–486) using opaque objects.