Against Teleological Essentialism

In two recent papers, Rose and Nichols present evidence in favor of the view that humans represent category essences in terms of a telos, such as honey-making, and not in terms of scientific essences, such as bee DNA. Here, I challenge their interpretation of the evidence and show that it is directly predicted by the main theory they seek to undermine. I argue that their results can be explained as instances of diagnostic reasoning about scientific essences.     

Influence of social stigma on subjective well‐being of persons with albinism in Ghana

Previous studies have shown that social stigma adversely affects quality of life. However, little research has assessed the influence of social stigma on subjective well‐being (SWB) of persons with albinism (PWA) in Ghana, and the role that perceived social support plays in this relationship. This study investigated the SWB of PWA in Ghana. Participants (N = 105) completed a survey questionnaire on social stigma, social support, and SWB. Results from structural equation modelling showed a significant negative association between social stigma and SWB. Perceived social support partially mediated the negative effect that social stigma has on SWB, with significant other support emerging as a reliable predictor of SWB in this sample. Results suggest that the population with albinism in Ghana is experiencing high levels of social stigma, which is adversely affecting its SWB. Social stigma seems to be preventing PWA from being accorded the needed social support by family and friends. The results highlight the importance of designing stigma‐reduction educational interventions that target social stigma at family, community, and societal levels.     

Equanimity: The somatization of a moral sentiment from the eighteenth to late twentieth century

Over the past 40 years, mindfulness‐based therapies (MBTs) have gained a reputation among the biomedical community for their ability to contribute to health, mental capital, and human flourishing. Recently, however, critical mindfulness scholars have questioned the moral import of MBTs, claiming that, in modernizing meditation, they strip Buddhist practices of their ethical and soteriological content. Inspired by Harrington and Dunne's (2015, p. 630) recent call to historicize this present discontent, I offer an account for this perceived “de‐ethicization” of mindfulness, locating it in a long history of changes in the ontological infrastructures supporting moral reasoning from the eighteenth century onwards. Through the example of equanimity—a virtue that has been a part of Western and Eastern character ethics and theories of flourishing from the ancient period to the modern age—I show how, from the eighteenth century, research in the natural sciences on nervous diseases, stress, and relaxation, provided a frame for rethinking moral equanimity as a somatic experience of physiological calm. This transformation reaches its peak in the late twentieth century in research on mindfulness, which builds upon that tradition by folding into its ambit Eastern conceptions of equanimity as well. Insofar as modern MBTs continue to somatize moral virtues, I argue that they raise questions about the degree to which they are conducive to human flourishing and well‐being, as opposed to the related but narrower notions of health and mental capital.     

The psychologically rich life questionnaire

Psychologists have thought of a good life in terms of its happiness or meaning. We propose that psychological richness is another, neglected aspect of a good life. In Study 1, we administered an initial questionnaire to a student sample, testing 2-week test-retest stability, convergent validity using informant reports. We conducted further tests of the scale’s factor structure, its correlations with personality and demographic variables, and the generalizability of this psychological richness measure in a non-student American sample (Study 2), a nationally-representative probability sample of Americans (Study 3) and in a sample from India (Study 4). In all 4 studies, a psychologically rich life was predicted by openness to experience, extraversion, and lower levels of neuroticism.     

Effect of shifts in body weight on rats' straight alley performance as a function of reward magnitude

The performance of rats trained in a straight alley for 55 trials under 75% body weight and then shifted to 90% body weight was compared to that of rats trained only under 90% body weight. When training was with a small reward the speed of the shifted group decreased to the level of the 90% small reward control groups, but when training was with a large reward the speed of the shifted group dropped below the level of the 90% large reward control group. Thus, the effects on performance of shifting deprivation level following extended training depend on the reward magnitude employed.     

SK-克雷佩林心理测验--一种客观性人格测验的研究和编制

本研究遵循克雷佩林连续加算法的基本原则,充分吸收内田一克雷佩林心理测验的长处,参照其客观化的作业方式和操作方法,并加以改进,研究并编制出一套既科学又客观的连续加法运算作业测验,以编制者的名义命名为SK-克雷佩林心理测验。并根据作业曲线的变化特征提出了“作业商数”这一客观化指标,可以对受测者作业曲线的总体分布以及与标准作业曲线的符合或偏差程度有大致的了解,并由此推断个体心理机能各方面基本倾向是比较协调还是略有偏差等。     

Resisting body dissatisfaction: fat women who endorse fat acceptance

Fat women who endorsed fat acceptance (N=128) were recruited from Radiance Magazine. Relationships between objectified body consciousness (OBC), body esteem, and psychological well-being for the mostly European American sample were similar to those found in other samples. OBC was independently related to body esteem when weight dissatisfaction was controlled. Those who endorsed the need for social change in attitudes towards fat people had higher body esteem and self-acceptance, and lower body shame, than those who endorsed personal acceptance of body size only.     

两汉时期的性习心理思想

能够代表汉代200余年历史进程的性习心理思想的主要观点可以概括为：《淮南子》的“循天返朴说”、董仲舒的“性待教为善说”和王充的“性有善恶,教可异化说”。这些观点不仅在当时能够集时代之大成,就是今天,对现代心理学研究仍有启发和借鉴的价值。     

Couple‐based Intervention for Depression: An Effectiveness Study in the National Health Service in England

This study represents an effectiveness study and service evaluation of a cognitive behavioral, couple‐based treatment for depression (BCT‐D) provided in London services that are part of the “Improving Access to Psychological Therapies” (IAPT) program in England. Twenty‐three therapists in community clinics were trained in BCT‐D during a 5‐day workshop, followed by monthly group supervision for 1 year. The BCT‐D treatment outcome findings are based on 63 couples in which at least one partner was depressed and elected to receive BCT‐D. Eighty‐five percent of couples also demonstrated relationship distress, and 49% of the nonclient partners also met caseness for depression or anxiety. Findings demonstrated a recovery rate of 57% with BCT‐D, compared to 41% for all IAPT treatments for depression in London. Nonclient partners who met caseness demonstrated a 48% recovery rate with BCT‐D, although they were not the focus of treatment. BCT‐D was equally effective for clients regardless of the clinical status of the nonclient partner, suggesting its effectiveness in assisting both members of the couple simultaneously. Likewise, treatment was equally effective whether or not both partners reported relationship distress. The findings are promising regarding the successful application of BCT‐D in routine clinical settings.