Psychology's limits as a scientific discipline: A personal view

I provided a more personal view of Wachtel's (1980) article. I began by discussing the extent to which my own research program complied with his distinctive recommendations. After offering a different take on the impact of high productivity, I focused on (a) the negative effects of the quest for extramural funding and (b) the positive effects of a better balance between theoretical and empirical contributions. I then turn to some of my own theoretical and empirical studies of the place that theory has in successful science. This research suggests that theory only has a beneficial effect when it is integrative in function and when it is closely constrained by available data. I end with a speculation regarding the value of having theories that are maximally formal, even mathematical.     

Response-specific effects of pain observation on motor behavior

How does seeing a painful event happening to someone else influence the observer's own motor system? To address this question, we measured simple reaction times following videos showing noxious or innocuous implements contacting corporeal or noncorporeal objects. Key releases in a go/nogo task were speeded, and key presses slowed, after subjects saw a video of a needle pricking a fingertip. No such effect was seen when the observed hand was replaced by a sponge, nor when the needle was replaced by a cotton bud. These findings demonstrate that pain observation modulates the motor system by speeding withdrawal movements and slowing approach movements of the finger. This illustrates a basic mechanism by which visual information about pain is used to facilitate appropriate behavioral responses.     

"What if…": The Use of Conceptual Simulations in Scientific Reasoning

The term conceptual simulation refers to a type of everyday reasoning strategy commonly called "what if" reasoning. It has been suggested in a number of contexts that this type of reasoning plays an important role in scientific discovery; however, little direct evidence exists to support this claim. This article proposes that conceptual simulation is likely to be used in situations of informational uncertainty, and may be used to help scientists resolve that uncertainty. We conducted two studies to investigate the relationship between conceptual simulation and informational uncertainty. Study 1 was an in vivo study of expert scientists; the results suggest that scientists do use conceptual simulation in situations of informational uncertainty, and that they use conceptual simulation to make inferences from their data using the analogical reasoning process of alignment by similarity detection. Study 2 experimentally manipulated experts' level of uncertainty and provides further support for the hypothesis that conceptual simulation is more likely to be used in situations of informational uncertainty. Finally, we discuss the relationship between conceptual simulation and other types of reasoning using qualitative mental models.     

“为逐利而追名”：社会观察和社会距离对亲环境行为的影响

研究采用绿色消费范式考察社会观察对亲环境行为的影响以及社会距离的作用。实验1探讨有、无互惠的社会观察对亲环境行为的影响。结果发现无互惠的社会观察未对亲环境行为产生影响;而有互惠的社会观察条件下的亲环境行为大于无观察条件（控制条件）。实验2探讨社会距离和有互惠的社会观察对亲环境行为的影响。结果发现,当环境结果的承担者指向熟人和陌生人时,有互惠的社会观察条件下的亲环境行为大于控制条件,而当环境结果的承担者指向密友时无此差异。这些结果说明,社会观察情境下人们为了在将来获益,会出于名誉的策略考虑而做出更多的亲环境行为,而社会距离在其中起着调节作用。     

Accompagner et instrumenter l’intervention dans une organisation en transition (SCOP) : quand l’intervenant doit prendre et trouver sa place

Our contribution is based on the observation in immersion of a collective of workers engaged in the struggle to take back its factory in Scop. We seek to understand, from the analysis of this intervention, what is the place and the role that the psychologist of work takes or is given in this context of transformation. From this perspective, the use of the intervention method has produced a large body of data that we have chosen to analyze according to the job four-dimensional model (Clot, 2008). We seek then to make visible our slippages in the use of this method, the interferences that may be the cause, the way in which they affect us, and what we can make of it. As we believe that these affects, however uncomfortable, can be transformed into objects of analysis to the benefit of the collective and its current activity.     

DEVELOPMENT OF THE PARENT‐CHILD PLAY SCALE FOR USE IN CHILDREN WITH FEEDING DISORDERS

The Parent‐Child Play Scale was developed as a scale that complements the Parent‐Child Feeding Scale, created by I. Chatoor et al. (1997), to evaluate mother–infant/toddler interactions in two different caregiving contexts of a young child's everyday life, specifically play and feeding. This Play Scale can be used with infants and toddlers ranging in age from 1 month to 3 years and provides reliable global ratings of mother–child interactions during 10 min of videotaped free‐play in a laboratory setting. The scale consists of 32 mother and infant/toddler interactive behaviors which are rated by trained observers from videotaped observations. Four subscales are derived: Dyadic Reciprocity, Maternal Unresponsiveness to Infant's/Toddler's Cues, Dyadic Conflict, and Maternal Intrusiveness. Construct validity and interrater and test‐retest reliability of the Play Scale have been demonstrated. This Play Scale discriminates between children with and without feeding disorders as well as between children with different subtypes of feeding disorders as defined by the Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood, Revised (DC:0–3R) (Feeding Disorder of State Regulation, Feeding Disorder of Caregiver‐Infant Reciprocity, and Infantile Anorexia). It can be used for research or clinical practice in the diagnosis and treatment of early feeding problems, to assess the pervasiveness of mother–infant/toddler difficulties and to monitor changes following therapy.     

一个妊娠急性脂肪肝病例引发的思考

从一个妊娠急性脂肪肝病例的诊断和治疗过程中,认识到在临床实践中认真细致的观察,突破思维定势开拓创新的重要性。并体会到医疗风险问题制约着医护人员主观能动性的发挥,如何采取防范措施值得深思。     

The Contribution of the Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System (DPICS) Warm-Up Segments in Assessing Parent-Child Interactions

This study evaluated the inclusion of uncoded segments in the Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System, an analogue observation of parent-child interactions. The relationships between warm-up and coded segments were assessed, as well as the segments’ associations with parent ratings of parent and child behaviors. Sixty-nine non-referred parent-child dyads engaged in the observation. Parents completed measures about their parenting and children's behaviors. Significant differences were observed between the first situation's warm-up and coded segments, whereas minimal differences were found for the second situation. Findings suggest that the second warm-up segment may not be necessary for optimal assessment of parent-child interactions.     

Measuring Change During Behavioral Parent Training Using the Parent Instruction-Giving Game with Youngsters (PIGGY): A Clinical Replication

This is the second study to investigate the clinical use of the Parent-Instruction Game with Youngsters (PIGGY) which is a structured observation system derived from the Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System II (DPICS-II; Eyberg, Bessmer, Newcomb, Edwards, & Robinson, 1994) and the Behavior Coding System (BCS; Forehand & McMahon, 1981 Forehand , R. L. , & McMahon , R. J. ( 1981 ). Helping the noncompliant child . New York , NY : Guilford Press . [Google Scholar]). In a previous study, the PIGGY demonstrated strong reliability and validity as well as clinical utility (Hupp, Reitman, Forde, Shriver, & Kelley, 2008). The present study is a replication of the previous research on clinical utility by using the PIGGY to monitor changes in parent and child behavior during and after behavioral parent training.     

Sun protection behaviour of children and their parents at the beach

Abstract

The present study observed the sun protection behaviour of 8–12 year old children and their parents on the beach. Interviews with children and parents were then conducted to examine possible influences on sun protection and the relationship between observed and self reported behaviour.

The sample consisted of 50 children and 68 parents. All 50 children were observed and interviewed. All the parents were observed and 33 were interviewed. Indices of sun protection cover were computed as a sum of clothing and sunscreen cover. Most parents and children were inadequately covered against the sun. Factors related to children's sun protection included parent's cover and the child's tan level. The relationship between attitude to sun protection and observed behaviour could not be examined as all children and parents indicated they thought it was important to protect their skin against the sun.

Inconsistencies between observed and self-reported sun protection were found for children who were not protecting themselves. The possibility that self-report may overestimate actual protective behaviour is discussed.