Great apes’ performance in discriminating weight and achromatic color

Much work has been done on visual discrimination in primates over the past decade. In contrast, very little is known about the relevance of non-visual information in discrimination learning. We investigated weight and achromatic color (color, henceforth) discrimination in bonobos, gorillas and orangutans, using the exchange paradigm in which subjects have to give objects to the experimenter in order to receive a reward. Unlike previous studies, subjects were not trained to lift objects because lifting the objects was an integral part of the exchange procedure. This methodology also allowed us a direct comparison between visual and weight discrimination. We presented 12 subjects (5 bonobos, 2 gorillas and 5 orangutans) with two sets of objects corresponding to two conditions. The objects in the color condition (white/black) differed only in color and those in the weight condition (light/heavy) differed only in weight. Five apes learned to discriminate weight and six to discriminate color. Subjects learned color discrimination faster than weight discrimination. Our results suggest that bonobos and orangutans are sensitive to differences in weight and able to learn discriminating objects that differ in this property.     

行为经济学中的损失规避

损失规避是指,人们总是强烈倾向于规避损失：一定数额的损失所引起的心理感受,其强烈程度约相当于两倍数额的获益感受。这种强烈的心理与行为倾向广泛存在于风险与非风险领域,在该两个领域中损失规避的研究范式也不同。损失规避常见于经济和消费等领域,可用于解释行为决策中有悖于规范化理论的诸多现象,如禀赋效应、现状偏差、股权溢价之迷和赢者的诅咒等。然而,损失规避的机制研究还存在许多尚未解决的问题,如损失规避的本质以及适用条件。今后的研究不仅要注重认知角度和情感依恋,还要结合认知过程来研究损失规避的性质和内在机制,以期帮助人们认识、预测及干预由损失规避造成的经济损失和非理性决策。     

Casting weight goal as a function of weight status among a representative population-based sample of adolescents

This paper pursues two objectives: (1) to estimate proportions of adolescents with a weight goal that matched and mismatched weight status, and (2) to identify correlates of a mismatched weight goal. Data were from a representative population-based sample of adolescents (n = 2346, 51% female; 91.5% complete data). Results showed that 69% of adolescents had a weight goal that matched weight status whereas 31% had a weight goal that mismatched weight status. Body dissatisfaction was a significant predictor of having a mismatched weight goal for both sexes while elevated psychological distress was a predictor among girls. Being body dissatisfied mediated the association between psychological distress and having a mismatched weight goal among girls. Casting weight goal as a function of weight status may allow for a better understanding of overall weight management strategies.     

得失程数的变化: 损失规避现象的新视点

损失规避是预期理论的核心部分之一, 指等量的损失和获得产生的心理效用并不相同, 前者大于后者。大量研究从生理、认知、情感等角度探讨损失规避的内在机制和规律, 以期认识、预测并控制损失规避导致的偏差。本研究假设损失规避与获得或损失的“程数”(route)有关, 以往研究发现了损失规避现象, 是由于其采用的“双程损失-单程获得”典型情境中, 损失程数多于获得程数。为检验该假设, 本研究设计了不同于传统范式的“获得和损失程数相等”的镜像情境、“单程损失－双程获得”及“三程获得”三种不同的得失情境。研究结果支持本假设: 当损失的程数等于或少于获得的程数时, 损失规避现象消失; 获得或损失的程数越多, 个体对其的心理感受强度趋于越高。建议未来研究进一步检验心理感受强度在程数和损失规避行为之间的中介作用。     

Response persistence: the effects of stimulus control on negatively reinforced problem behavior in a concurrent operant

In the context of instructional demands, compliance and problem behavior can be considered concurrent operants. Of applied interest is increasing one response (i.e., compliance) while decreasing the other (i.e., problem behavior). Strategic arrangement of reinforcement can alter response allocation accordingly. Such schedules can also influence response persistence and generalization. A case study is used to illustrate the effects of stimulus-reinforcer relations in a concurrent-operants arrangement involving an adult with developmental disabilities and problem behavior. Results are discussed in the context of basic operant research findings in the areas of stimulus control and behavioral persistence.     

当代中国人价值观的结构与特点

本研究以事实驱动作为方法学切入点, 系统研究了中国人的价值观结构及特点等问题。研究采用通过系统编制形成的《中国人价值观问卷》, 对工人、农民、专业技术人员、大学生和中学生五类人群进行了测量。其中, 1100份有效数据的探索性因素分析表明, 中国人价值观是一个8因素结构, 具体包括品格自律、才能务实、公共利益、人伦情感、名望成就、家庭本位、守法从众、金钱权力; 随后对1196份有效数据进行结构验证和信度检验, 结果表明中国人价值观问卷(Chinese Values Questionnaire, CVQ)具有良好的构想效度和信度。同时, 通过对中国人价值观现状的分析发现, 中国人价值观具有“好人定位”特点, 并据此提出相应的理论模型。     

Young children's affective decision-making in a gambling task: Does difficulty in learning the gain/loss schedule matter?

This research investigated the development of affective decision-making (ADM) during early childhood, in particular role of difficulty in learning a gain/loss schedule. In Experiment 1, we administrated the Children's Gambling Task (CGT) to 60 Chinese children aged 3 and 4, replicating the results obtained by Kerr and Zelazo [Kerr, A., & Zelazo, P. D. (2004). Development of “hot” executive function: The Children's Gambling Task. Brain and Cognition, 55, 148–157]. In Experiment 2, the CGT was modified to make it easier for young children to learn the gain/loss schedule by increasing delayed loss frequency and magnitude in the disadvantageous deck, and a larger sample (181 children aged 3–5) was assessed. Age-differences between 3- and 4-year-olds, rather than 4- and 5-year-olds, showed that ADM develops rapidly between 3 and 4 years. The reduction of the difficulty in learning the gain/loss schedule provides the basis for an account of the development of young children's AMD.     

进展期非小细胞肺癌维持治疗进展

化疗在进展期非小细胞肺癌的地位已经确立,现有的方案已经达到“化疗疗效平台”。延长化疗无潜在益处,有什么办法可以保持现有的疗效。为此,提出了维持治疗的概念,维持治疗是指患者在完成标准的几个周期化疗且疾病得到控制后再接受的化疗,架起一二线治疗间的桥梁。带来进一步的临床获益。     

Unemployment impairs mental health: Meta-analyses

The effect of unemployment on mental health was examined with meta-analytic methods across 237 cross-sectional and 87 longitudinal studies. The average overall effect size was d = 0.51 with unemployed persons showing more distress than employed persons. A significant difference was found for several indicator variables of mental health (mixed symptoms of distress, depression, anxiety, psychosomatic symptoms, subjective well-being, and self esteem). The average number of persons with psychological problems among the unemployed was 34%, compared to 16% among employed individuals. Moderator analyses demonstrated that men and people with blue-collar-jobs were more distressed by unemployment than women and people with white-collar jobs. Linear and curvilinear moderating effects of the duration of unemployment were also identified. Furthermore, the negative effect of unemployment on mental health was stronger in countries with a weak level of economic development, unequal income distributions, or weak unemployment protection systems compared to other countries. Meta-analyses of longitudinal studies and natural experiments endorsed the assumption that unemployment is not only correlated to distress but also causes it. Seemingly inconsistent longitudinal results of older meta-analyses can be explained by retest artifacts. We also identified mental-health related selection effects during job loss and job search, but they are weak. With an effect size of d = −.35 intervention programs for unemployed people were found to be moderately effective in ameliorating unemployment-related distress among continuously unemployed persons.     

Contextual effects on number-time interaction

Time perception has long been known to be affected by numerical representations. Recent studies further demonstrate that when participants estimate the duration of Arabic numbers, number magnitude, though task-irrelevant, biases duration judgment to produce underestimation for smaller numbers and overestimation for larger numbers. Such effects were found in the present study to be significantly reduced when a weight unit gram was suffixed to the numbers rendering the mental magnitude differences between different numbers less distinctive. The effects were enhanced when a different unit kilogram was suffixed to the numbers enlarging the perceived magnitude differences between different numbers. The results indicate that effects of number magnitude on duration estimation should not be attributed to the mathematical differences between numbers but to how the numbers are perceived to differ from each other in magnitude in specific contexts when they denote concrete items. The results also provide new evidence for the theoretical proposal of a common generalized magnitude system and indicate that the system must be extended to include other action-oriented magnitudes, such as weight.