Prototypes of the “natural” concepts discovery

In works of Eleanor Rosch “natural” concepts was introduced that reflect a high correlated structure of features of objects of the external world. Prototypes of the “natural” concepts are clearest cases of objects that reflect this highly correlated structure. The same high correlated structure manifested in the “natural” phenotypical classification. To formalize this highly correlated structure, we define a special type of probabilistic causal relations and then probabilistic formal concepts as a cyclically connected probabilistic causal relations. Based on these definitions, we developed a method of prototypes discovery and illustrate it on the example of digits’ prototypes discovery.     

Consciousness as a logically consistent and prognostic model of reality

The work demonstrates that brain might reflect the external world causal relationships in the form of a logically consistent and prognostic model of reality, which shows up as consciousness. The paper analyses and solves the problem of statistical ambiguity and provides a formal model of causal relationships as probabilistic maximally specific rules. We suppose that brain makes all possible inferences from causal relationships. We prove that the suggested formal model has a property of an unambiguous inference: from consistent premises we infer a consistent conclusion. It enables a set of all inferences to form a consistent model of the perceived world. Causal relationships may create fixed points of cyclic inter-predictable properties. We consider the “natural” classification introduced by John St. Mill and demonstrate that a variety of fixed points of the objects’ attributes forms a “natural” classification of the external world. Then we consider notions of “natural” categories and causal models of categories, introduced by Eleanor Rosch and Bob Rehder and demonstrate that fixed points of causal relationships between objects attributes, which we perceive, formalize these notions. If the “natural” classification describes the objects of the external world, and “natural” concepts the perception of these objects, then the theory of integrated information, introduced by G. Tononi, describes the information processes of the brain for “natural” concepts formation that reflects the “natural” classification. We argue that integrated information provides high accuracy of the objects identification. A computer-based experiment is provided that illustrates fixed points formation for coded digits.     

How (and where) does moral judgment work?

Moral psychology has long focused on reasoning, but recent evidence suggests that moral judgment is more a matter of emotion and affective intuition than deliberate reasoning. Here we discuss recent findings in psychology and cognitive neuroscience, including several studies that specifically investigate moral judgment. These findings indicate the importance of affect, although they allow that reasoning can play a restricted but significant role in moral judgment. They also point towards a preliminary account of the functional neuroanatomy of moral judgment, according to which many brain areas make important contributions to moral judgment although none is devoted specifically to it.     

Learning about life and death in early childhood

have argued that young children initially understand biological phenomena in terms of vitalism, a mode of construal in which "life" or "life-force" is the central causal-explanatory concept. This study investigated the development of vitalistic reasoning in young children's concepts of life, the human body and death. Sixty preschool children between the ages of 3 years, 7 months and 5 years, 11 months participated. All children were initially given structured interviews to assess their knowledge of (1) human body function and (2) death. From this sample 40 children in the Training group were taught about the human body and how it functions to maintain life. The Control group (n=20) received no training. All 60 children were subsequently reassessed on their knowledge of human body function and death. Results from the initial interviews indicated that young children who spontaneously appealed to vitalistic concepts in reasoning about human body functioning were also more sophisticated in their understanding of death. Results from the posttraining interviews showed that children readily learned to adopt a vitalistic approach to human body functioning, and that this learning coincided with significant development in their understanding of human body function, and of death. The overall pattern of results supports the claim that the acquisition of a vitalistic causal-explanatory framework serves to structure children's concepts and facilitates learning in the domain of biology.     

The Feeling-Tone Questionnaire: Reliability and Validity of a Direct Patient Assessment Screening Instrument for the Detection of Depressive Symptoms in Cases of Dementia

The purpose of this study was to develop a reliable and valid measure of affective disorder in elderly demented patients. The field lacks instruments which are sensitive to detecting depressive signs in severely as well as mildly and moderately demented subjects. Two samples of subjects were chosen for study. The first sample consisted of subjects from six institutions, which were chosen for study from a probability sample of 25 long-term care institutions in New York City. This sample was part of the Cross-National Institutional Study conducted in New York and London (Gurland et al., 1979; Mann et al., 1984). Thirty patients were selected at random within each institution. The second sample consisted of 52 inpatients at Willard Psychiatric Center, a traditional state psychiatric hospital in upstate New York. All subjects had a chart diagnosis of dementia and were 60 years old or older. The mean age of the sample was 82 years and 56% of the subjects were female. The Feeling-Tone Questionnaire, which was developed for these analyses, consists of 16 dichotomous items and 16 5-point Likert ratings of affect. The reliability of this scale using Cronbach's alpha is .91 for the long-term care institutional sample and .90 for the psychiatric hospital sample. Interrater reliability for two raters on ten cases is .99. Test–retest reliability on ten cases with a 1-day to 2-day interval between trials is .81. A short mood scale was developed from the observational data as a validity measure for the Feeling-Tone Questionnaire. Evidence for the validity of the Feeling-Tone Questionnaire is provided.     

未来取向应对的双阶段序列模型及其时间透视机制

最近的研究表明, 未来取向应对对于应激管理起着不可忽视的重要作用。但预先应对和预防应对的关系及其作用机制, 一直是困扰应对研究者的重要问题。我们的前期工作显示, 序列模型比平行模型能更好地表征预先应对和预防应对的内在关系, 时间透视比威胁知觉更能解释预防应对的前因。本项目首次以时间知觉和内隐态度为切入点, 探索未来取向应对机制的理论模型。研究内容拟包括：(1)以大学生就业为情境, 构建未来取向应对的双阶段序列模型; (2)以大学生入学适应为情境, 用内隐认知充实和验证未来取向应对的序列模型; (3)用时间折扣模型的任务范式, 探讨未来取向应对不同阶段的时间透视机制：(4)用威胁性和中性的阈下面孔作情绪启动, 验证未来取向应对不同阶段的时间透视机制。本研究为发掘预先应对和预防应对的关系及其内在机制, 及基于未来取向应对的干预在心理健康和教育领域的应用奠定了基础。     

Mind,brain and body. Healing trauma: the way forward

The paper explores an interdisciplinary whole person approach to healing from trauma that conserves our rich inheritance from Jung but also takes on board insights from research in the areas of attachment, trauma and the neurobiology of emotion. It is now over 20 years since insights from neurobiology began to be used to inform clinical practice. The paper reviews key insights which have emerged, along with the ways they enable therapists to help mind, brain and body to heal and the ways in which they clarify why, in clinical practice, we do what we do. Traditionally the emphasis has been on words, interpretations, and meaning‐making. Currently there is greater appreciation of the affective, relational, embodied aspects of therapeutic work and the way in which these relate to traumatic early interactive experience that is held outside of human awareness. The ways in which knowledge of particular systems of connectivity inform understanding of the whole mind‐brain‐body relationship are examined. The way forward for clinical practice to become more focused in order to help clients to heal in mind and body is reviewed.     

领导者情感的作用机制：一个跨层的整合观点

领导者情感能够影响下属个体绩效和团队整体绩效, 但作用机制尚不清晰。基于情感事件理论和情绪传染理论, 在个体层面上, 领导者情感通过情绪传染和领导者行为两条路径影响下属情感, 进而影响下属绩效和工作态度。其次在团队层面上, 个体情感通过情绪传染和交叉影响形成团队情感基调, 通过影响团队过程, 进而影响团队绩效。最后, 文章提出领导者情感的跨层整合模型, 并对未来研究方向进行讨论。     

具身视角下道德概念净脏隐喻的特征、影响因素与未来展望

摘 要 基于概念隐喻理论与具身认知理论,身体净脏与道德概念存在隐喻联结;道德概念净脏隐喻具有心理现实性,并对道德判断产生一致性和补偿性效应;道德概念净脏隐喻的中介因素有厌恶情绪和道德自我意象,调节因素有身体敏感性和道德敏感性;未来研究应在道德概念净脏隐喻的神经机制、情境性、指向性、干预机制、文化差异等方面进行丰富和完善。     

Temporal dynamics of anxiety-related attentional bias: is affective context a missing piece of the puzzle?

Previous research has demonstrated that anxious individuals attend to negative emotional information at the expense of other information. This is commonly referred to as attentional bias. The field has historically conceived of this process as relatively static; however, research by [Zvielli, A., Bernstein, A., &; Koster, E. H. W. (2014). Dynamics of attentional bias to threat in anxious adults: Bias towards and/or away? PLoS ONE, 9(8), e104025; Zvielli, A., Bernstein, A., &; Koster, E. H. W. (2015). Temporal dynamics of attentional bias. Clinical Psychological Science, 3(5), 772–788.], and others, challenges this assumption by demonstrating considerable temporal variability in attentional bias amongst anxious individuals. Still, the mechanisms driving these temporal dynamics are less well known. Using a modified dot-probe task, the present study examined the impact of two relevant contextual variables- affective valence and trial repetition. Affective context was instantiated by the presentation of negative versus neutral pictures before each trial, while repetition context was achieved via the presentation of the valenced pictures in either a blocked- or mixed-trial design. Results indicate that individuals with higher trait-anxiety levels were significantly more influenced by blocked presentations of negative affective information, leading to greater temporal fluctuations in attentional bias. Furthermore, our findings provide additional evidence that attentional bias is best conceptualised as dynamic and variable, and that an individual’s affective experience is one factor that regulates attentional bias dynamics. Implications relating to theoretical and methodological factors are discussed.