Motivational control of impulsive behavior interacts with choice opportunities

Impulsive behavior has been investigated through choice between a smaller/immediate reinforcer and a larger/delayed reinforcer, or through performance on a differential reinforcement of low rate (DRL) schedule. In the present study, we investigated a methodological divergence between these two procedures: in the former procedure, delay is a consequence of the subject's own choice, whereas in the later procedure, subjects are explicitly reinforced for delaying a response. In Experiment 1, 7 rats maintained at 80% of their free-feeding weights showed poorer efficiency of lever-pressing responses on a DRL 30-s schedule than when they were maintained at 90% of free-feeding weight. In Experiment 2, 16 rats were subjected to a concurrent chain schedule: the initial link was concurrent fixed ratio 1 fixed ratio 1, and each of these alternatives was followed by a short-DRL requirement with a one pellet reinforcer or a long-DRL requirement with a three pellet reinforcer. In one block of trials, rats were not allowed to choose between the two terminal links (forced-choice), whereas in the other block of trials rats were allowed to choose freely between the two terminal links (free-choice). Compared with rats maintained at 95% of their free-feeding weights, rats maintained at 80% of their free-feeding weights showed poorer efficiency in the terminal links’ DRL schedule performance (just as in Experiment 1), but this difference was shown only in the forced-choice blocks. These results indicate that motivational control of DRL schedule performance interacts with type of choice-making opportunity and highlight the direct comparison of motivational control of impulsive choice and DRL schedule performance.     

Career-choice readiness in adolescence: Developmental trajectories and individual differences

Developing career-choice readiness is an important task in adolescence, but current theory and research has provided a rather static view of the phenomenon. The present study investigated the development of career-choice readiness among a group of 325 Swiss students assessed four times every 5 months from seventh through eighth grade. A variable-centered approach applying latent curve modeling showed not only a linear increase of readiness over time but also significant inter-individual differences in the level and development of readiness. Higher levels were predicted by more self-esteem and generalized self-efficacy and fewer perceived barriers while increase in readiness was predicted by increase in occupational information. A person-centered approach applying latent class-growth analysis identified four distinct developmental trajectories: high-increasing (42%), high-decreasing (5%), moderate-increasing (42%), and constantly low (11%). Students with different trajectories showed significant differences in core self-evaluations, occupational knowledge, and barriers. The results suggest that environmental demands promote a developmental trend in readiness development that overrules individual differences for the majority of students. Individual differences affect the level of readiness to a greater extent than the process of its development. Career information seems pivotal for readiness increase.     

Generational differences in American students’ reasons for going to college, 1971–2014: The rise of extrinsic motives

ABSTRACT

We examined generational differences in reasons for attending college among a nationally representative sample of college students (N = 8 million) entering college between 1971–2014. We validated the items on reasons for attending college against an established measure of extrinsic and intrinsic values among college students in 2014 (n = 189). Millennials (in college 2000s–2010s) and Generation X (1980s–1990s) valued extrinsic reasons for going to college (“to make more money”) more, and anti-extrinsic reasons (“to gain a general education and appreciation of ideas”) less than Boomers when they were the same age in the 1960s–1970s. Extrinsic reasons for going to college were higher in years with more income inequality, college enrollment, and extrinsic values. These results mirror previous research finding generational increases in extrinsic values begun by GenX and continued by Millennials, suggesting that more recent generations are more likely to favor extrinsic values in their decision-making.     

社会决策：自我利益与他人利益的权衡

自我利益与他人利益之间的冲突是社会决策中最重要的心理冲突之一。在自我利益与他人利益中寻求平衡是社会决策的关键。西方经济学理论在很长一段时间里认为,追求自我利益是人类行为的唯一动机。近年来越来越多的理论和实证研究表明在社会互动中,人类同时也会关心他人的利益。本文试图将自我利益和他人利益作为社会决策中利益权衡的两端,综合起来阐释诸如合作、利他、公平、利己等人类社会决策行为的重要概念,力图将纷繁的概念整合到统一、清晰的框架中。     

儿童完全信息最后通牒博弈决策的发展

考查了200名4-12岁儿童及40名成人完全信息最后通牒博弈决策的发展趋势与特点,并对情绪在最后通牒博弈决策中的作用做了初步探索。结果表明：（1）完全信息最后通牒任务中,作为分配者时4-6岁儿童更多提出小于半数的要约,而9-12岁儿童和成人则更多地提出平等分配的要约。作为应答者时儿童和成人均接受大部分要约。（2）公平策略和权宜策略是儿童与成人分配者采取的主要策略,而儿童与成人应答者则主要采用权宜策略。（3）基于满意与否的情绪体验是儿童应答者是否行使否决权的直接动力。     

逃生决策中的信息源直觉和分析对采纳偏向的影响

选取82名被试,探讨在突发危急事件的逃生判断和决策中人们对不同信息源的采纳偏向,同时探讨直觉和分析两种思维倾向以及直觉和分析两种决策风格对逃生判断和决策中信息源采纳的影响。结果：（1）在模拟突发危急事件的逃生判断和决策中人们对不同信息源的采纳倾向存在明显差异,来自权威、熟悉以及具有高信任度的信息源更容易被采纳;（2）直觉性思维倾向启动条件下和分析性思维倾向启动条件下的信息源采纳倾向差异不明显;（3）直觉型决策风格对信息源的采纳倾向具有明显预测性,而分析型决策风格对信息源的采纳倾向不具有明显预测性。主要结论     

Athletics and executive functioning: How athletic participation and sport type correlate with cognitive performance

ObjectivesThis study aims to further the knowledge regarding the documented link between physical exercise and cognitive function. Specifically, we examined the relationship between the type and level of sports in which college students participate and their executive functioning (EF).DesignWe utilized a 3-way quasi-experimental design, and grouped participants by athletic status (athlete or non-athlete), sport type (self-paced, externally paced, or non-athlete; see Singer, 2000), and level (high-skilled or recreational).MethodsWe evaluated EF by administering a battery of validated tests of decision making, problem solving, and inhibition.ResultsWe found that athletes scored higher on some of the EF measures than non-athletes. Furthermore, we observed that scores varied by sport type according to which subset of EF each test measured. Self-paced athletes scored highest on an inhibition task, and externally paced athletes scored highest on a problem-solving task.ConclusionsOur results suggest that athletes outperform non-athletes on tests of such EF domains as inhibition and problem solving, and that different types of athletic experience may correlate with higher levels of particular EF domains.     

Does interaction matter? Testing whether a confidence heuristic can replace interaction in collective decision-making

In a range of contexts, individuals arrive at collective decisions by sharing confidence in their judgements. This tendency to evaluate the reliability of information by the confidence with which it is expressed has been termed the ‘confidence heuristic’. We tested two ways of implementing the confidence heuristic in the context of a collective perceptual decision-making task: either directly, by opting for the judgement made with higher confidence, or indirectly, by opting for the faster judgement, exploiting an inverse correlation between confidence and reaction time. We found that the success of these heuristics depends on how similar individuals are in terms of the reliability of their judgements and, more importantly, that for dissimilar individuals such heuristics are dramatically inferior to interaction. Interaction allows individuals to alleviate, but not fully resolve, differences in the reliability of their judgements. We discuss the implications of these findings for models of confidence and collective decision-making.     

不同风险态度大学生职业决策的线索偏好及信息搜索特点

探讨不同风险态度的大学生在职业决策中的线索偏好及信息搜索特点。以大学生为被试,以Weber的风险态度问卷为工具,筛选出风险寻求大学生26名,风险规避大学生23名,采用信息板技术进行模拟职业决策研究。结果发现：（1）风险寻求和风险规避大学生在职业决策中点击次数最多的职业属性均依次是工资、发展空间和兴趣;（2）在信息板的点击次数上,风险寻求被试比风险规避被试更多;在搜索模式上,风险寻求组被试和风险规避组的得分均为正值,但风险寻求组被试的得分显著高于风险规避组。因此,大学生职业决策中偏好的线索主要是工资、发展空间和兴趣;风险寻求者的信息搜索模式与风险规避者不同,风险寻求者更倾向于以选项为基础的搜索模式。     

Feeling grateful to God: A qualitative inquiry

There is an expanding literature on the psychological and relationship effects of positive disclosure, whereby people who disclose about good things that happen to them benefit from this disclosure. Extending this research, we focused on what people identify as positive information about themselves and why they disclose this content to others. College students (190 men and 219 women) described what they considered to be a positive experience, feeling, or private aspect of themselves and whether or not they had disclosed this information to close others (mother, father, same-sex friend, and dating/intimate partner). They also described their reasons for disclosing and/or not disclosing to these relationship targets. Based on participants’ open-ended responses, we constructed taxonomies of positive information about the self and the reasons for and against disclosing this content. The research documents how different relationship contexts affect the disclosure of positive information and the reasons for these disclosure decisions.