The Universal Principles of Evolution

Here we identify the core properties of genetic evolution with the intention of providing a unified definition of evolving systems that applies unequivocally in the natural and social sciences. Our definition is: evolution sustains organized systems through high fidelity replication of information. This definition can be broken down into five essential components: (1) high fidelity replication of information with 0% < survival rate < 100%; (2) expendable replication technology distinct from the replication information; (3) inert information that provides no kinetic energy to the replication process; (4) demonstrates a quantifiable resistance to entropy; (5) demonstrates intentionality.     

Children,childhood, and development in evolutionary perspective

We examine children, childhood, and development from an evolutionary perspective. We begin by reviewing major assumptions of evolutionary–developmental psychology, including the integration of “soft” developmental systems theory with ideas from mainstream evolutionary psychology. We then discuss the concept of adaptive developmental plasticity and describe the core evolutionary concept of developmental programming and some of its applications to human development, as instantiated in life history theory and the theory of differential susceptibility to environmental influence. We then discuss the concept of adaptation from an evolutionary–developmental perspective, including ontogenetic and deferred adaptations, and examine the development of some adaptations of infancy and childhood from the domains of folk psychology and folk physics. We conclude that evolutionary theory can serve as a metatheory for developmental science.     

Detecting concealed information using feedback related event-related brain potentials

Employing an event-related potential (ERP)-based concealed information test (CIT), the present study investigated (1) the neurocognitive processes when people received feedbacks regarding their deceptive/truthful responses and (2) whether such feedback-related ERP activities can be used to detect concealed information above and beyond the recognition-related P300. During the CIT, participants were presented with rare, meaningful probes (their own names) embedded within a series of frequent yet meaningless irrelevants (others’ names). Participants were instructed to deny their recognition of the probes. Critically, following participants’ responses, they were provided with feedbacks regarding whether they succeeded or failed in the CIT. Replicating previous ERP-based CITs, we found a larger P300 elicited by probe compared to irrelevant. Regarding feedback-related ERPs, a temporospatial Principle Component Analyses found two ERP components that were not only sensitive to feedback manipulations but also can discriminate probe from irrelevant: an earlier, central-distributed positivity that was elicited by “success” feedbacks peaked around 219 ms; and a later, right central-distributed positivity that was also elicited by “success” feedbacks, peaked around 400 ms. Importantly, the feedback ERPs were not correlated with P300 that was elicited by probe/irrelevant, suggesting that these two ERPs reflect independent processes underlying memory concealment. These findings illustrate the feasibility and promise of using feedback-related ERPs to detect concealed memory and thus deception.     

Downsizing and Supersizing: How Changes in Product Attributes Influence Consumer Preferences

This paper investigates how changing the value of one attribute while keeping other attributes constant influences consumers' judgments and behaviors. We find that in two options, a proportionally equal change in one attribute tilts people's preference toward the option with higher (or lower) absolute magnitude of change when the change is desirable (or undesirable). We propose that when individuals face an attribute change, they use a deliberative and effortful response, known as System 2, to detect the change. However, they rely less on this system to evaluate the changed options. Instead, a more automatic System 1 processing influences their decision by making them apply the bigger‐is‐better heuristic (bigger‐is‐worse for an undesirable change) to prefer the option with the highest (lowest) absolute magnitude of change. Six studies demonstrate this phenomenon in both lab and real settings and support our hypothesis. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

同一性风格:青少年自我同一性研究的新视角

近年来,自我同一性问题的研究由关注同一性状态转向关注同一性风格。同一性风格是指个体在建立与维持同一性时表现出的社会认知策略方面的偏好,包括信息风格、规范风格和扩散/逃避风格。研究者围绕同一性风格与社会认知加工策略、人格、家庭环境、心理健康、学业表现等方面关系展开了丰富的研究。未来的研究方法和被试样本应该更加多样化,跨文化比较研究及干预性研究也有待进一步开展。     

青少年负性情绪信息注意偏向的情绪弹性和性别效应

探讨情绪弹性和性别变量对青少年加工负性情绪信息时注意偏向的影响,采用情绪stroop实验范式,以46名青少年为被试,以负性情绪图片为实验材料,考察不同情绪弹性和性别的青少年在负性情绪图片颜色识别时的反应时间差异。结果发现,情绪弹性对负性情绪图片颜色识别的主效应显著,统计效力非常明显;性别对负性情绪图片颜色识别的主效应显著,统计效力明显;情绪弹性与性别在颜色识别上的交互作用不显著。这说明青少年负性情绪信息加工过程中产生的注意偏向效应受情绪弹性和性别因素的影响。     

Segmentation by lexical subtraction in Hungarian speakers of second-language English

Using cross-modal form priming, we compared the use of stress and lexicality in the segmentation of spoken English by native English speakers (L1) and by native Hungarian speakers of second-language English (L2). For both language groups, lexicality was found to be an effective segmentation cue. That is, spoken disyllabic word fragments were stronger primes in a subsequent visual word recognition task when preceded by meaningful words than when preceded by nonwords: For example, the first two syllables of corridor were a more effective prime for visually presented corridor when heard in the phrase anythingcorri than in imoshingcorri. The stress pattern of the prime (strong–weak vs. weak–strong) did not affect the degree of priming. For L1 speakers, this supports previous findings about the preferential use of high-level segmentation strategies in clear speech. For L2 speakers, the lexical strategy was employed regardless of L2 proficiency level and instead of exploiting the consistent stress pattern of their native language. This is clear evidence for the primacy and robustness of segmentation by lexical subtraction even in individuals whose lexical knowledge is limited.     

Generation difficulty and memory for source

The role of the word predictability from sentence context for reality monitoring and external source monitoring was examined in two experiments. In a reality-monitoring task, discrimination of an internal source was better in the hard than in the easy condition. It is probable that extra cognitive operations engaged during word generation in the hard condition were effective cues for reality-monitoring judgements. In contrast, in an external source-monitoring task (recognition memory of item's colour), the hard condition resulted in worse source memory for generated words than did the easy condition. This result is consistent both with an item–context trade-off hypothesis and a processing hypothesis. Greater effort involved at the time of generation might limit resources available for encoding of an external source. It is also possible that for generated words, the hard condition promoted conceptual processing instead of perceptual processing; therefore the item's colour was not effectively encoded.     

Applicability of systems philosophy to the futuristic science of education: Dissident vistas

This dissertation is a futuristic exploration into “dissident vistas” in pedagogical science and, in fact, in human sciences in general. The scope of educational research is often narrowed and distorted by the sociopolitical needs of the established academic elite. The mainstream of the present tradition of pedagogical theory and research has failed to focus on the phenomenon of education as a whole in order to open new perspectives for its beneficial influence on the society. There has been, for decades now, a growing need for education to become a change agent —a strategic tool for serious search after goals and models relevant to the future progress of the human society. Proper new scientific attempts are necessary if education is to be seriously considered as such a change agent. It is the firm conviction of the author that any attitude of today's educationalists towards their work, other than that of serious obligation towards the future of mankind, would be ethically unsound. Certain ambiguity has always surrounded the concept of education: is education a whole system or is it a vague set of very different things (human aspirations, social conditions, intentional input, contextual circumstances, natural processes etc.)? This ambiguity must be reduced, if any explicit discussion of the role of education is sought. In pedagogical science, and indeed in most human sciences, there are very few ontological premises, and certainly no axioms, that the majority of scientists would generally agree on. Systematic ontological and epistemological study of the phenomenon of education is almost nonexistent. It is to this end that this research is hoped to contribute.     

Interaction,information and meaning

The possibility of a “unified theory of information” which avoids reifying information or attributing agency to it is explored using the patterned processes characteristic of self‐organization. Interactions are shown to create information from the level of quantum physics to human societies. The difference between meaningless and meaningful information is explained through the contextualizing role of systems.