Intersubjectivity in perception

The embodied, embedded, enactive, and extended approaches to cognition explicate many important details for a phenomenology of perception, and are consistent with some of the traditional phenomenological analyses. Theorists working in these areas, however, often fail to provide an account of how intersubjectivity might relate to perception. This paper suggests some ways in which intersubjectivity is important for an adequate account of perception.

Age-Related Differences in Identity Style: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

The Identity Style Inventory–Revised for a Sixth-Grade Reading Level (ISI-6G) was administered to samples of community college students (N = 99) and middle school and high school students (N = 320). Tests of between-groups differences indicated that the college sample had a significantly lower mean diffuse-avoidant score on the ISI-6G than the middle and high school sample. In terms of actual assignment to identity styles, college students were significantly more likely to be classified as informational or normative, while the younger students were more likely to be diffuse-avoidant. The mean ages of participants for each of the three identity styles were compared, and it was found that diffuse-avoidant participants had the lowest mean age (15.54 years), while individuals with an informational orientation had the highest mean age (17.20 years). Results suggest that, in general, identity style evolves with age and maturity and the general trajectory or progression involves movement away from a diffuse-avoidant orientation. Findings are discussed in terms of current knowledge of neurocognitive development during adolescence and early adulthood.     

Insight without cortex: lessons from the avian brain

Insight is a cognitive feature that is usually regarded as being generated by the neocortex and being present only in humans and possibly some closely related primates. In this essay we show that especially corvids display behavioral skills within the domains of object permanence, episodic memory, theory of mind, and tool use/causal reasoning that are insightful. These similarities between humans and corvids at the behavioral level are probably the result of a convergent evolution. Similarly, the telencephalic structures involved in higher cognitive functions in both species show a high degree of similarity, although the forebrain of birds has no cortex-like lamination. The neural substrate for insight-related cognitive functions in mammals and birds is thus not necessarily based on a laminated cortical structure but can be generated by differently organized forebrains. Hence, neither is insight restricted to mammals, as predicted from a “scala naturae”, nor is the laminated cortex a prerequisite for the highest cognitive functions.     

Correlates of Self-reported Attachment (In)security in Children: The Role of Parental Romantic Attachment Status and Rearing Behaviors

We investigated the influence of self-reported parental romantic attachment status and rearing behaviors on children’s self-reported attachment (in)security towards father and mother in a sample of 237 non-clinical children aged 9–12. All children and their parents completed a single-item measure of attachment style. The parents further completed an index of their authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive rearing behaviors. Results showed that the attachment status of the father was significantly related to the child’s attachment style to the father. Further, children who portray themselves as insecurely attached to their fathers have fathers with lower average authoritative scores compared to children who are securely attached to their fathers. In examining the relative contribution of attachment style and rearing behaviors of the parents, insecure attachment status of the father was still significantly related to insecure attachment style of the child but the effect of authoritative rearing behaviors of the father on attachment (in)security of children was not statistically significant anymore. Altogether, these results support the notion that attachment status of the father was most substantially associated with self-reported insecure attachment of children.     

Sex differences in object location memory and spatial navigation in Long-Evans rats

In both humans and rodents, males typically excel on a number of tasks requiring spatial ability. However, human females exhibit advantages in memory for the spatial location of objects. This study investigated whether rats would exhibit similar sex differences on a task of object location memory (OLM) and on the watermaze (WM). We predicted that females should outperform males on the OLM task and that males should outperform females on the WM. To control for possible effects of housing environment, rats were housed in either complex environments or in standard shoebox housing. Eighty Long-Evans rats (40 males and 40 females) were housed in either complex (Complex rats) or standard shoebox housing (Control rats). Results indicated that males had superior performance on the WM, whereas females outperformed males on the OLM task, regardless of housing environment. As these sex differences cannot be easily attributed to differences in cognitive style related to linguistic processing of environmental features or to selection pressures related to the hunting gathering evolutionary prehistory of humans, these data suggest that sex differences in spatial ability may be related to traits selected for by polygynous mating strategies.     

Riding the Third Wave: T<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">u</Emphasis> Weiming’s Confucian Axiology

Du Weiming (Tu Weiming) has assisted in defining the New Confucian movement, a philosophical discourse that depends on axiological themes and traits based on an exegesis and defense of the revival and reform of traditional Confucian discourse inherited from the Classical and Neo-Confucian waves in East Asia. Thomas A. Metzger’s discussion of the profound difference between modern Western post-Enlightenment discourse and New Confucian discourse challenges many of Du’s primary assumptions. My conclusion is that Du is both a citizen of the modern Western academy and a Confucian public intellectual dedicated to mediating the great debate that now spans the Pacific ocean between the West and a revived East Asian cultural complex, including New Confucianism as a major dialogue partner at the beginning of the new millennium by continuing the historic Confucian commitment to a theory of values.     

老年人的依恋特点

老年阶段进入依恋研究者的视野是上个世纪90年代之后才陆续开始的。十几年来,该领域积累了不少研究成果。一系列研究考查了不同依恋对象对老年人生活的影响,包括对兄弟姐妹、成年子女、配偶、父母的依恋以及一种特殊的依恋：符号化依恋;不少研究发现了依恋模式分布的年龄效应,冷漠型和安全型依恋是老年依恋的主要模式,这与年轻成人的分布有很大差异;当前关于老年依恋的心理功能研究主要集中于以下两大领域：（1）老年依恋与慢性疾病中的照料;（2）老年依恋与心理健康。对于老年人依恋的研究还远未达到成熟的地步,老年依恋的测量工具亟待改进,跨文化的研究也需要进一步推广     

情绪反应时间动力性的研究现状与展望

情绪反应的时间动力性系指情绪反应在时间方面的动力性质,是情感风格、情绪调节、情绪恢复等内容的重要特征,其研究对促进身心健康、完善情绪理论具有重要的理论和实践意义。文章阐述了情绪反应时间动力性的内涵与外延、相关理论,以及情绪反应时间动力性的各个参数及其影响因素的研究现状,并就未来研究增加自主生理反应指标、文化背景等因素予以展望     

注意状态、认知方式与前瞻记忆的TAP效应

采用经典实验室研究范式,实验一探讨了前瞻记忆任务为知觉加工条件下,注意状态和前瞻记忆任务与进行中任务一致和不一致时对不同认知方式个体前瞻记忆成绩的影响,实验二探讨了前瞻记忆任务为语义加工条件下,注意状态和前瞻记忆任务与进行中任务一致和不一致时对不同认知方式个体前瞻记忆成绩的影响,结果表明,（1）在前瞻记忆任务加工类型是语义加工和知觉加工两种条件下,场依存与场独立个体均发现了TAP效应的存在,而且场依存个体表现出更明显的TAP效应;（2）当前瞻记忆任务与进行中任务的加工类型不一致时,场独立个体的前瞻记忆成绩明显高于场依存个体,而在两类任务加工类型一致情况下,场独立与场依存个体的前瞻记忆成绩不存在明显差异;（3）在前瞻记忆任务是知觉加工时,分心对前瞻记忆成绩有明显不利的影响;而在前瞻记忆任务是语义加工时,只有当前瞻记忆任务与进行中任务加工类型不一致时,分心对前瞻记忆才有明显不利的影响,而且在分心条件下的TAP效应更明显。     

个体认知方式与材料复杂性对视空间工作记忆的影响

采用计算机呈现的Corsi积木点击任务,探讨了不同认知方式个体对材料的路径、结构和数量复杂性不同的视空间工作记忆的广度。研究结果表明：（1）场独立性认知方式是影响视空间工作记忆广度的一个重要的个别差异变量,在路径复杂或呈现的材料结构随机的条件下,场独立者的视空间工作记忆广度明显高于场依存者;（2）材料呈现的路径、数量是影响视空间记忆广度的重要因素,在路径简单或数量少的情况下被试的视空间记忆广度要明显得高