Who is causing what? The sense of agency is relational and efferent-triggered

The sense of agency ("I did that") is a basic feature of our subjective experience. Experimental studies usually focus on either its attributional aspects (the "I" of "I did that") or on its motoric aspects (the "did" aspect of "I did that"). Here, we combine both aspects and focus on the subjective experience of the time between action and effect. Previous studies [Haggard, P., Aschersleben, G., Gehrke, J., & Prinz, W. (2002a). Action, binding and awareness. In W. Prinz, & B. Hommel (Eds.), Common mechanisms in perception and action: Attention and performance (Vol. XIX, pp. 266-285). Oxford: Oxford University Press] have shown a temporal attraction in the perceived times of actions and effects, but did directly not study the relation between them. In three experiments, time estimates of an interval between an action and its subsequent sensory effect were obtained. The actions were either voluntary key press actions performed by the participant or kinematically identical movements applied passively to the finger. The effects were either auditory or visual events or a passive movement induced to another finger. The results first indicated a shortening of the interval between one's own voluntary action and a subsequent effect, relative to passive movement conditions. Second, intervals initiated by observed movements, either of another person or of an inanimate object, were always perceived like those involving passive movements of one's own body, and never like those involving active movements. Third, this binding effect was comparable for auditory, somatic and visual effects of action. Our results provide the first direct evidence that agency involves a generalisable relation between actions and their consequences, and is triggered by efferent motor commands.     

Moral appraisals affect doing/allowing judgments

An extensive body of research suggests that the distinction between doing and allowing plays a critical role in shaping moral appraisals. Here, we report evidence from a pair of experiments suggesting that the converse is also true: moral appraisals affect doing/allowing judgments. Specifically, morally bad behavior is more likely to be construed as actively ‘doing’ than as passively ‘allowing’. This finding adds to a growing list of folk concepts influenced by moral appraisal, including causation and intentional action. We therefore suggest that the present finding favors the view that moral appraisal plays a pervasive role in shaping diverse cognitive representations across multiple domains.     

特质标签对儿童错误信念理解的影响

该研究将错误信念任务中主人公加上"聪明"或"笨"的标签,以考察特质标签是否会影响儿童对错误信念的理解。360名5~8岁儿童参加实验,每个年龄组儿童随机分配到"聪明"标签组、无标签组和"笨"标签组。结果表明:(1)"聪明"标签会极大地阻碍67、岁儿童理解他人错误信念,对5、8岁儿童没有影响;(2)"笨"标签对所有年龄组儿童错误信念的理解都没有产生影响。     

7~9岁儿童二级错误信念和失言理解的发展

采用二级错误信念任务、失言理解任务分别考察了90名7-9岁学龄儿童心理理论的发展。结果表明,7岁组儿童在二级错误信念和失言理解任务上的成绩与8岁组、9岁组存在显著差异,但8岁组和9岁组儿童之间没有显著差异,提示8岁可能是个体心理理论发展的又一个转折点。三组被试在二级错误信念理解上的成绩显著高于失言理解任务上的成绩,在控制年龄后,他们在两种心理理论任务上的成绩显著相关。另外,失言任务中三种心理状态理解的得分两两相关。综合以上结果,在学龄期,心理理论仍有质的发展,且心理理论的信念、情绪和意图等核心概念仍然相互关联。     

To point a finger: attentional and motor consequences of observing pointing movements

Recent studies showed that action observation activates neural circuits used in performing the same action and facilitates execution of a similar motor program. This system for direct mapping of observed actions onto observer’s own motor representation is considered critical for human imitation capabilities. The present study shows that observing a pointing action activates a representation of that action in anatomical space, irrespectively of whether the action is shown in allocentric or egocentric perspective. This finding is at odds with the studies on imitation which showed that humans tend to imitate in a spatially compatible (specular) way, as if looking in a mirror. Our results suggest that shared representations for actions are organized in the same spatial coordinates; however, a transformation of this representation might be required for imitation tasks in order to accommodate the goals of imitative action.     

Do the wrong thing: How toddlers tell a joke from a mistake

We investigated whether 19–36-month-olds (1) differentiate mistakes from jokes, and (2) understand humorous intentions. The experimenter demonstrated unambiguous jokes accompanied by laughter, unambiguous mistakes accompanied by the experimenter saying, “Woops!”, and ambiguous actions that could either be a mistake or a joke, accompanied by either laughter or, “Woops!” Toddlers were asked to try. Nineteen- to 36-month-olds differentiated jokes and mistakes by copying unambiguous jokes and correcting unambiguous mistakes. Only 25–36-month-olds differentiated mistakes and humorous intentions by copying ambiguous actions marked by laughter, and correcting those marked by, “Woops!” Understanding humorous intentions precedes understanding intentions behind pretense, lying, and false beliefs, thus may be a first step in understanding that others can intend to do the wrong thing.     

Faith schooling: implications for teacher educators. A perspective from Northern Ireland

The separate and parallel systems of schooling in Northern Ireland that largely reflect Protestant/Catholic divisions have been much criticised on the grounds that they have failed to promote social cohesion. These divisions are also evident in teacher education provision and attempts to offset the negative effects of this separation have made only a limited impact. By means of a brief survey of the relationship between two de facto religiously separated teacher education institutions, from the early twentieth century to the present day, this article considers the issues for teacher educators and argues that separateness at this level has been disadvantageous in relation to the challenges of preparing student teachers to work in a diverse, plural society.     

论自省

自省具有双重源头:道德感情--或道德志向--和道德智慧.因此,一个人要做到经常且深刻的自省,一方面,必须提高自己的道德认识和道德智慧,树立诸如"美德乃是每个人获得幸福的必要条件"的道德信念;另一方面,必须扩充和强大"做一个有美德的人"的道德欲望、道德感情和道德志向,立志做一个君子、仁人乃至圣人.     

孤独症个体的谎言理解及其与对自我/他人错误信念理解的关系

选取言语智力匹配的孤独症个体（19名）、典型发展个体（20名）、智力迟滞个体（19名）为被试,动画呈现以言语和非言语信息为线索的两个谎言情景,考察了孤独症个体谎言理解中的谎言行为判断、真假信息辨别、谎言意图理解及其与自我/他人错误信念理解的关系。结果表明：（1）孤独症个体能够进行谎言行为判断,其困难主要表现在辨别真假信息及对谎言意图的理解上;（2）孤独症个体对他人错误信念理解越好,对真假信息辨别也越准确,而谎言意图理解则与对自我错误信念的理解有关;（3）谎言线索以言语或非言语方式呈现对孤独症谎言理解并无影响。     

事件合理性对句子阅读的影响

事件合理性在句子阅读中作用的研究有助于明确句子阅读时各种信息的时间整合进程, 进一步建构语言理解的系统构架。研究表明事件合理性会影响句子阅读。一方面, 句子阅读的很多研究方法都可以用来考察事件合理性; 另一方面, 事件合理性研究结果的解释可以补充句子理解机制。目前研究者们对事件合理性能否即时影响句子阅读存在争议, 而且影响事件合理性的因素有很多, 因此以后的研究应平衡好各种影响因素, 也可采用双语被试来研究句子合理性。