Concept of uprightness in baboons: assessment with pictures of realistic scenes

How nonhuman primates process pictures of natural scenes or objects remains a matter of debates. This issue was addressed in the current research by questioning the processing of the canonical orientation of pictures in baboons. Two adult guinea baboons were trained to use an interactive key (IK) on a touch-screen to change the orientation of target pictures showing humans or quadruped mammals until upright. In experiment 1, both baboons successfully learned to use the IK when that key induced a 90 degrees rightward rotation of the picture, but post-training transfer of performance did not occur to novel pictures of natural scenes due to potential motor biases. In Experiment 2, a touch on IK randomly displayed the pictures in any of the four cardinal orientations. Baboons successfully learned the task, but transfer to novel pictures could only be demonstrated after they had been exposed to 360-480 pictures in that condition. Experiment 3 confirmed positive transfers to novel pictures, and showed that both the figure and background information controlled the behavior. Our research on baboons therefore demonstrates the development and use of an "upright" concept, and indicates that picture processing modes strongly depend on the subject's past experience with naturalistic pictorial stimuli.     

纳米伦理:规范分析和范式转换

鉴于纳米技术目前显现出的启发式控制活力,可以将其作为伦理学一个重要的潜在探索领域。这就要求把对纳米技术的规范分析从一般技术制品和后果评估扩大到技术隐喻、想象和语言评估,由此认为目前占据主流地位的德莱克斯勒式纳米机器是一种机械隐喻,必然导向决定论式的单向度社会命运,但其论敌斯默莱的生物模拟隐喻实际上意味着一种范式转换,因为它为人在纳米技术发展中提供了表达责任感的道德机会。沿着这一线索,目前倡导伦理导向的纳米技术发展,就是要把它作为一个多学科背景依赖领域,把参与其社会意义塑造的各种主客体要素引导到人道主义立场上来,以使纳米世界建构真正体现人的全面发展。     

Stress scolaire des collégiens et des lycéens : effet de l’appréhension de l’orientation et de la pression de la note

The aim of this study was to test the predictive effect of two variables related to meritocratic ideology and possibly associated with academic stress: academic orientation related worries and apprehension of school evaluation. Differential effects of these variables on stress were also investigated regarding gender and school (middle-high and high schools). Six hundred and nine secondary students completed a questionnaire. Results show that emotional worries regarding academic orientation and apprehension of school evaluation are significant predictors of academic stress. Results reveal differential effects for middle-high school and high school students. In practice, grading and methods used to this aim should be carefully considered as well as the support offered regarding orientation project of middle-high school students especially.     

The political glass cliff: When left-wing orientation leads to minority candidate choices for hard-to-win seats

IntroductionGlass cliff evidence shows that women and ethnic, racial, and immigration (ERI) groups are more likely to face precarious leadership positions than majority groups. In politics, this is illustrated by minority candidates running for harder-to-win seats than majority candidates.ObjectiveThe present research extends these correlational findings on ERI populations to an experimental setting and investigates the underlying reasons.MethodTwo scenario-based experimental studies were conducted with voting populations in France and Switzerland, who took the role of party decision-maker. In Study 1 (n = 64), we manipulated candidate origin and measured the choice of political ward (hard vs. easy-to-win), while in Study 2 (n = 151), we manipulated ward winnability and measured candidate choice (ERI minority vs. majority).ResultsOverall, findings suggest that ERI minority (compared to majority) political candidates were more likely to be matched with hard-to-win than easy-to-win political wards. Of interest, this finding only occurred for participants with a political left-wing orientation. Moreover, both studies investigated the reasons underlying such tendency and, in particular, focused on participants’ motivation to implement change.ConclusionThe discussion confronts hostile and benign motives for glass cliff decisions and highlights the potentially distinct consequences for minority candidates.     

Influence of teachers’ political orientation and values on their success prediction toward students from different socioeconomic background

IntroductionTeachers tend to develop negative expectations and behaviours towards students coming from low socioeconomic backgrounds.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to test the influence of teacher political orientation, as well as their attachment to power and universalism values, on their predictions of academic success towards students from different socioeconomic backgrounds.MethodEighty-eight high school teachers (M_age = 38.04 years; 44.3% men) responded to a questionnaire of political ideology and values, as well as to a questionnaire evaluating their prediction of success towards male high school students from different socioeconomic backgrounds.ResultsTeachers predicted a better academic success for students coming from a high socioeconomic background. Despite relatively small effect size, political ideology, as well as attachment to power and universalism values, predicted the bias of judgment.ConclusionTaking into consideration teachers’ ideology and values would deepen understanding of processes underlying expectations development.     

追求快乐还是追求意义?青少年幸福倾向及其对学习行为的影响

研究使用问卷调查法,以2828名中学生为对象,考察了幸福倾向对其学习目标、学习毅力、学习策略、学习投入等学习行为的影响。结果表明:(1)青少年的意义倾向对其成就目标中的掌握目标和表现趋近维度、学习毅力、学习策略和学习投入都有显著的正向预测作用,对成就目标中的表现回避维度具有显著的负向预测作用;(2)青少年的快乐倾向对掌握目标、学习毅力、学习策略和学习投入都有显著的负向预测作用,对表现趋近和表现回避有显著的正向预测作用;(3)通过意义倾向和快乐倾向两个维度可以将青少年分为四类,双高组和单高意义组的青少年在学习行为表现上最积极,双低组的青少年学习行为表现最为消极。总体来说,追求快乐还是意义会影响到青少年学习行为这一重要的发展指标,意义比快乐更能促进青少年的积极健康发展。     

成就目标导向对创业行动效能的影响研究

在调查基础上,本文研究了成就目标导向对创业行动效能的影响。研究结果表明,学习目标导向与自我效能感及创业行动效能存在正相关,业绩接近目标导向与自我效能感及创业行动效能存在较弱的负相关．业绩回避目标导向与自我效能感及创业行动效能存在较高的负相关;自我效能感对创业行动效能具有显著影响;自我效能感在成就目标导向对创业行动效能的影响中起中介作用。     

How competent are trainee and newly qualified counsellors to work with Lesbian,Gay, and Bisexual clients and what do they perceive as their most effective learning experiences?

Aim: Professional therapy organisations promote the importance of working with difference, yet subtle negative biases towards lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) clients continue. Issues of competence in this area have only recently been addressed. This research aims to study the effectiveness of training to support therapists working with LGB clients in Britain. Method: Students (past and present) of an integrative counselling diploma course completed questionnaires including: background details, a Sexual Orientation Counselor Competence scale (Bidell, 2005), and two qualitative questions about previous learning relating to LGB issues. Quantitative analysis utilising a one way ANOVA test was used to compare the levels of competence at different times in training, and grounded theory to analyse the qualitative responses. Results: Results show that students have a high level of awareness, although a lower level measured in year two of the programme. The qualitative results indicate the learning value of personal experiences. Further themes describe the ways in which students learnt about LGB issues. Discussion: The reduction in scores for awareness may indicate that training facilitates a deeper understanding of self. Key themes indicate the importance of challenging old internal working models of sexual orientation. Implications for practice: The results will enable competences and effective learning experiences to be mapped in the curriculum.     

A Motivational Model of Authoritarianism: Integrating Personal and Situational Determinants

We describe and test a collective security model of authoritarianism. This model sees Right Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) as directly caused by collective security motivation (CSM), which is in turn influenced jointly by personality (with its effects mediated through group identification and dangerous world beliefs) and social threat (with its effects mediated through dangerous world beliefs). Two studies tested this model using student samples—one was correlational ( N =  218), while the other included an experimental manipulation of threat using future scenarios ( N =  136). Structural equation analyses partially supported the model suggesting that CSM fully mediated the effects of threat and group identification on RWA, but only partially mediated the effect of personality, which also had important direct effects.     

Orientation perception in Williams Syndrome: Discrimination and integration

Williams Syndrome (WS) is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder, which stems from a genetic deletion on chromosome 7 and causes a profound weakness in visuospatial cognition. Our current study explores how orientation perception may contribute to the visuospatial deficits in WS. In Experiment 1, we found that WS individuals and normal 3–4 year olds had similar orientation discrimination thresholds and had similar prevalence of mirror-reversal errors for diagonal targets (±45 deg). In Experiment 2, we asked whether this immaturity in orientation discrimination would also be reflected in a task requiring integration of oriented elements. We found that sensitivities of WS individuals for detecting orientation-defined contours were higher than sensitivities of normal 3–4 year olds, and were not significantly different from sensitivities of normal adults. Together, these results suggest that orientation discrimination and orientation integration have different maturational trajectories in normal development and different susceptibilities to damage in WS. These may reflect largely separate visuospatial mechanisms.