Decreasing signs of negative affect and correlated self-injury in an individual with mental retardation and mood disturbances

We evaluated the effects of an enriched environment, based on a paired-choice preference assessment, on both rates of self-injurious behavior (SIB) and percentage of session intervals during which signs of negative affect were displayed by a woman with mental retardation and a mood disorder. Results suggested that SIB and signs of negative affect were highly correlated and that the enriched environment effectively reduced both.     

Behavioral variability in SHR and WKY rats as a function of rearing environment and reinforcement contingency.

The spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) may model aspects of human attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). For example, just as responses by children with ADHD tend to be variable, so too SHRs often respond more variably than do Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) control rats. The present study asked whether behavioral variability in the SHR strain is influenced by rearing environment, a question related to hypotheses concerning the etiology of human ADHD. Some rats from each strain were reared in an enriched environment (housed socially), and others were reared in an impoverished environment (housed in isolation). Four groups--enriched SHR, impoverished SHR, enriched WKY, and impoverished WKY--were studied under two reinforcement contingencies, one in which reinforcement was independent of response variability and the other in which reinforcement depended upon high variability. The main finding was that rearing environment did not influence response variability (enriched and impoverished subjects responded similarly throughout). However, rearing environment affected body weight (enriched subjects weighted more than impoverished subjects) and response rate (impoverished subjects generally responded faster than enriched subjects). In addition, SHRs tended to respond variably throughout the experiment, whereas WKYs were more sensitive to the variability contingencies. Thus, behavioral variability was affected by genetic strain and by reinforcement contingency but not by the environment in which the subjects were reared.     

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: WALKING THE BOUNDARY

Abstract. Theology and science generally conduct research independently, with no interchange. The possibility for mutual enrichment often is thwarted because people working in the two fields have very different worldviews, which are mostly held subconsciously. In this paper I will try to establish a dialogue of mutual enrichment. I have chosen artificial intelligence (AI) as an exemplary scientific discipline and the theology of Paul Tillich as a complement. I reinterpret Tillich's concept of sin to introduce a framework for a dialogue between the two. This framework aims to prevent people from either camp from assuming the existence of absolute truth and thus creating a dogmatism. Paradoxically, it also prevents people from being relativistic. The aim is to overcome mutual indifference and ignorance.     

教师情绪智力和工作绩效的关系：工作家庭促进和主动行为的中介作用

采用整群抽样法对630名中小学教师进行调查,考察教师情绪智力与工作绩效之间的关系,以及工作家庭促进和主动行为在其中的中介作用。结果发现：（1）教师情绪智力、工作促进家庭、家庭促进工作和主动行为与工作绩效呈显著正相关;（2）教师情绪智力对工作绩效具有直接的正向预测作用,同时还通过家庭促进工作和主动行为的多重中介作用对工作绩效产生影响;（3）高低情绪智力对工作绩效的影响机制不同,低情绪智力通过家庭促进工作的部分中介作用影响教师工作绩效,高情绪智力通过家庭促进工作和主动行为的完全多重中介作用影响教师工作绩效;（4）工作家庭促进中工作促进家庭维度在教师情绪智力影响工作绩效中没有显著中介作用。     

The Work–Home Interface: Linking Work‐Related Wellbeing and Volunteer Work

An abundance of research shows the benefits of participation in volunteer work for individuals, employers and the society as a whole. However, relatively little is known about the precursors of volunteer work. In this study, we aim to fill this gap by investigating to what extent work‐related well‐being can function as a driver of volunteer work. Moreover, building on the Conservations of Resources Theory (Hobfoll, 1989 , 2011 ), we propose that the relationship between work‐related well‐being (burnout and engagement) and volunteer work is mediated by the work–home interface (work–home enrichment and work–home conflict). This hypothesis was tested in a large Swiss sample (N = 1947). Consistent with our expectations, structural equation analyses revealed an indirect relationship between (i) work engagement and volunteer work via work–home enrichment and (ii) between burnout and volunteer work via work–home conflict. In conclusion, it seems that well‐being at work indeed functions as a precursor for volunteer work because of the consequences it has for the work–family interface. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Folkbiology meets microbiology: a study of conceptual and behavioral change

Health education can offer a valuable window onto conceptual and behavioral change. In Study 1, we mapped out 3rd-grade Chinese children’s beliefs about causes of colds and flu and ways they can be prevented. We also explored older adults’ beliefs as a possible source of the children’s ideas. In Study 2, we gave 3rd- and 4th-grade Chinese children either a conventional cold/flu education program or an experimental “Think Biology” program that focused on a biological causal mechanism for cold/flu transmission. The “Think Biology” program led children to reason about cold/flu causation and prevention more scientifically than the conventional program, and their reasoning abilities dovetailed with their mastery of the causal mechanism. Study 3, a modified replication of Study 2, found useful behavioral change as well as conceptual change among children who received the “Think Biology” program and documented coherence among knowledge enrichment, conceptual change, and behavioral change.     

工作－家庭界面研究的新视角：工作家庭促进研究

工作家庭促进关注的是工作－家庭关系中的积极方面,指的是个体由于在某一社会系统（工作或者家庭）中的投入,而对另一系统（如家庭或者工作）的发展产生贡献的程度。文章首先探讨了工作家庭促进的理论源流、概念界定以及三个主要的研究方向;接下来介绍了基于系统论思想的促进发生机制模型;最后指出了今后两个首要的研究方向,即工作家庭促进测量工具的开发及其与相关变量的关系研究     

工作对家庭的增益与中小学教师的工作满意度:职业认同的中介作用及其性别差异

探究工作对家庭的增益影响中小学教师工作满意度的过程机制。采用纵向设计对760名中小学教师进行问卷调查,时间点1测查人口学变量和工作对家庭的增益,时间点2测查职业认同和工作满意度。结果发现:(1)工作对家庭的增益能够显著正向预测工作满意度;(2)职业认同在工作对家庭的增益与工作满意度的关系中起部分中介作用;(3)性别对此中介过程的前半段路径具有调节作用,表现为男教师的工作对家庭的增益对职业认同的预测效力更高。结果表明:工作对家庭的增益显著影响中小学教师的工作满意度,职业认同在此影响过程中具有中介作用,且这一中介作用存在性别差异。     

Couple Enrichment Approaches

Abstract

Contemporary couple enrichment approaches are classified and select programs described. The research on their effectiveness is summarized and their usefulness as primary interventions or as adjunct interventions for couples in therapy is highlighted. Directions for future research and practice are suggested.     

Conversational construction of new meaning configurations in organizational innovation: A generative approach

Abstract

Organizational innovation is approached as a joint conversational event where new configurations of meaning are constructed. The emphasis in this article is on understanding the social dynamic processes of creating new meaning. A perspectivistic approach is developed which looks at how actors speak from their perspectives and give form to the sense-making process through discursive practices. The innovation process is documented, using an interpretive research, in two case studies: the creation of a young high tech firm and the internal development of a manufacturing unit of a multinational corporation. Three theoretical propositions derived from the cases are discussed and interwoven with existing literature: generative characteristics of conversations, the experiential profundity which can be seen as inherently social-relational, and the paradoxical nature of innovation. These propositions are summarized in conceptual charts; their use lies in multiplying and developing them into new ones as new contexts are explored.