Identification of Matrices in Science and Engineering

Engineering science is a scientific discipline that from the point of view of epistemology and the philosophy of science has been somewhat neglected. When engineering science was under philosophical scrutiny it often just involved the question of whether engineering is a spin-off of pure and applied science and their methods. We, however, hold that engineering is a science governed by its own epistemology, methodology and ontology. This point is systematically argued by comparing the different sciences with respect to a particular set of characterization criteria. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Personal Income and Subjective Well-being: A Review

Conventional wisdom holds that money has little relevance to happiness. This review will demonstrate quite the opposite is true and will argue that case using the Homeostatic Theory of Subjective Well-Being (SWB). Homeostatic theory proposes that SWB is held within a narrow range determined by personality. Experience with the environment also impacts on this system but its influence is attenuated by two sets of buffers. The internal buffers comprise beliefs in perceived control, self-esteem, and optimism. The external buffers comprise resources, such as personal assistance, that ameliorate the impact of potentially negative events. This model predicts significantly different levels of SWB for people who are rich, people on average Western incomes, and people who are poor. Data are provided that support this prediction. It is concluded that money buys happiness to the extent that external resources permit optimal functioning of the SWB homeostatic system.     

A Quasi-Experimental Analysis of the Association Between Family Income and Offspring Conduct Problems

The study presents a quasi-experimental analysis of data on 9,194 offspring (ages 4–11 years old) of women from a nationally representative U.S. sample of households to test the causal hypotheses about the association between family income and childhood conduct problems (CPs). Comparison of unrelated individuals in the sample indicated a robust inverse association, with the relation being larger at higher levels of income and for male offspring, even when statistical covariates were included to account for measured confounds that distinguish different families. Offspring also were compared to their siblings and cousins who were exposed to different levels of family income in childhood to rule out unmeasured environmental and genetic factors confounded with family income as explanations for the association. In these within-family analyses, boys exposed to lower family income still exhibited significantly higher levels of CPs. When considered in the context of previous studies using different designs, these results support the inference that family income influences CPs, particularly in males, through causal environmental processes specifically related to earnings within the nuclear family. This research was supported by grant R01-MH070025 to Benjamin B. Lahey. The research was approved by the Institutional Review Board at Indiana University. Resubmitted to the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology on April 21, 2008 and October 20, 2008.     

Does Mastery of ABLA Level 6 Make it Easier for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities to Learn to Name Objects?

Level 6 of the Assessment of Basic Learning Abilities (ABLA) assesses the ease or difficulty with which persons with developmental disabilities are able to learn a two-choice auditory-visual discrimination. We investigated whether participants who passed ABLA Level 6 (Group 1) would more readily learn object naming (vocal tacts) than those who failed ABLA Level 6 (Group 2). The groups were matched on the Communication Subscale of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale. Results indicated that Group 1 met mastery criterion for a significantly larger number of naming responses and in significantly fewer trials than Group 2. The implications for language training are discussed.     

再论我国心理学的分化现象

我国心理学正处于分化过程之中,其中两个明显的例证就是:基础心理学与应用及人文心理学的分化,以及对心理学研究和服务成果的评价标准摆脱SCI的束缚.这背后深层的原因在于,若以科学哲学认识论的视角,人类的知识大致可分为可靠有用的知识和无用虚幻(伪科学)的知识,可靠知识又可进一步分为科学的知识和非科学的知识.心理学从诞生之日起...     

The Ideational Foundations of Symbolic Ideology

Theories of symbolic ideology view it as an affective orientation untouched by ideational content. Drawing on Shalom Schwartz's theory of basic human values, we propose that four bedrock values—universalism, openness to change, conservation, and self-enhancement—shape symbolic ideology. We explore whether politically sophisticated and unsophisticated individuals ground symbolic ideological identities in cognitive values to a comparable degree. Using data from two nationally representative U.S. surveys, we find that universalism and conservation predict liberal-conservative attachments for people at all levels of sophistication. By contrast, openness to change and self-enhancement values appear to have little influence on symbolic ideology. The universalism and conservation effects hold controlling for multiple psychological and individual differences variables. These results suggest that ideational predispositions play a substantial role in shaping symbolic ideology.     

中学生内在生活目标与主观幸福感的关系:基本心理需求的中介作用

为探究中学生内在生活目标、基本心理需求与主观幸福感的关系,采用内在生活目标量表、基本心理需求量表和主观幸福感量表对885名中学生进行问卷调查.结果表明:(1)男生的基本心理需求得分显著高于女生,独生子女的基本心理需求得分、主观幸福感得分显著高于非独生子女;(2)中学生内在生活目标、基本心理需求及主观幸福感两两均呈显著正...     

文化疏离感对汉区高校少数民族大学生幸福感的影响机制

为揭示文化疏离感与汉区高校少数民族大学生幸福感的关系,以及压力性生活事件的调节效应和基本心理需要的中介效应,采用文化疏离感量表、压力量表、基本心理需要量表和幸福感问卷对汉区高校少数民族大学生幸福感进行研究。结果显示:(1)文化疏离感会降低汉区高校少数民族大学生幸福感;(2)压力性生活事件对文化疏离感与汉区高校少数民族大学生幸福感的关系具有调节效应;(3)这一调节效应是以基本心理需要为中介变量。因此,文化疏离感对汉区高校少数民族大学生幸福感的影响是有中介的调节效应。     

毛泽东与农村人民公社所有制及基本核算单位的演变

农村人民公社的所有制及基本核算单位,经历了从人民公社的"一大二公"和大集体所有制,到以生产(大)队为基本核算单位,再到生产小队的部分所有制,最后到以生产小队(又称生产队)为基本核算单位的演变历程.总的趋势是一次比一次更朝着符合生产力发展水平、调动农民群众积极性因而更代表群众利益的方向前进.毛泽东在这个历史演进过程中发挥了主要作用.既要承认毛泽东在大跃进和人民公社化运动中犯了严重的指导思想上的左倾错误,也要看到毛泽东为纠正实际工作中的左倾错误而作出的艰辛努力和重要贡献.力求更客观、全面地评价建国后的毛泽东.     

锚定效应的种类、影响因素及干预措施

锚定效应是指个体在不确定情境下的决策会受到初始无关锚影响致使其随后的数值估计偏向该锚的一种判断偏差现象。不同种类的锚定效应其影响因素和干预措施不同, 如影响传统锚定效应的有锚定信息特征、能力变量、情绪因素及个体差异性等, 基本锚定效应的主要影响因素有知识技能与时间压力, 自发锚定效应则受动机变量、认知因素及内部信念等影响。未来研究可深入挖掘认知加工机制、类比推理过程和开发DDS系统等来帮助减少各种锚定偏差。