Heart rate and blood pressure responses to a competitive role‐playing game

The effects of the outcome of competitive encounters on physiological parameters have been studied, especially testosterone levels, but hardly on other systems that, however, present a high sensitivity to stress. This study assessed the effect of a competitive game on heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) in a sample of university students. In addition, the influence of anxiety and attributions of the outcome was also explored. Only winners significantly showed a rise in HR during the competition followed by a decrease along the posttask phase in addition to more internal attributions. On the contrary, the average HR for losers during the competition was lower compared with their baseline values. No differences depending on the outcome were found in BP. The cardiovascular response as well as the subjective interpretation of the outcome suggest a more active strategy employed by winners vs. a more passive strategy of losers. Future studies should specifically investigate the importance of coping strategies for psychophysiological adaptation to contests and for the outcome reached. This would permit an advance in the understanding of the role of individual differences in the processes of stress and in associated diseases. Aggr. Behav. 27:351–359, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Brief Report: Young Adult Women Resolving Interpersonal Conflicts

Little is known about the social cognitive development of young adults. Furthermore, existing studies of young adults tend to rely on college-age participants. A study of social cognition during interpersonal conflict was conducted with 100 young adult women (mean age = 25 years). The relationship of contextual variables to conflict-resolution strategy was examined. Strategy coding was done according to Selman's (1980) four-level model of interpersonal negotiation strategies. Of the features of context studied, the nature of the relationship between the participant and the other person (work-based, personal, or impersonal) was related to strategy use. Most strategies used (46%) were low-level unilateral strategies, e.g., giving in to the demands of the other person. Most participants reported conflicts at work. These data, taken with other research on young adults' perceived lack of ability at handling conflicts at work, suggest that constructive conflict management programs may be important for young adult women in the school-to-work transition.     

Clinical Ethics: Theory Or Practice?

This article starts with a brief historical account of the ongoing debate about the status of clinical ethics: theory of practice. The author goes on to argue that clinical ethics is best understood as a practice. However, its practicality should not be measured by the extent to which clinical-ethical consultants manage to mediate or negotiate resolutions to ethical conflicts. Rather, clinical ethics is practical because it is characterized by a profound concern for the well-being of individual patients as well as the moral parameters of swift and urgent medical action in the face of limited supportive information.     

Comparison of Different Feedback Procedures in Second Language Vocabulary Learning

Research into the learning of Second Language (SL) vocabulary by beginning learners has indicated that the simultaneous presentation of the First and Second Language words results in blocking of the learning process by the familiar First Language (FL) word. Previous research also suggests that blocking by the First Language can be eliminated by bringing it in as informative feedback (either as a written or spoken word). Our experiments were designed to further extend this research. The use of a picture, either as feedback or simultaneously presented with its equivalent, along with the aural feedback and the conventional procedures were investigated in Experiment 1. Results revealed that pictures blocked the learning process less than the written FL word when both were presented with their SL referent. When used as feedback, however, pictures were not as good as the spoken FL word. Experiment 2 demonstrated that aural feedback was the best type of feedback when compared with the picture and written FL presentations, and that the picture feedback was better than the written feedback. Taken together, the results of these two studies showed that all forms of feedback overcame the problem of blocking created by simultaneous presentation of the FL and SL words, and that aural feedback was the most effective feedback procedure. It was suggested that the superiority of aural feedback was likely to be a consequence of the use of a different input channel to that of the visually presented written SL word.     

运动竞赛焦虑量表中国常模的修订

运动竞赛焦虑量表是由美国的马腾斯专为运动员编制的特质焦虑量表。它是一种与特定的情境相结合的、能够有效地测出被测者通常在运动竞赛(或游戏)时焦虑水平的量表。我们在全国六大区十四个省市抽取了2,988名被试,修订了10—12岁(男、女),13—15岁(男、女),16—18岁(男、女)和19—25岁(男、女)的八个常模。同时,进行了效度和信度检验。本量表可以作为对业余的或专业的运动员进行运动竞赛焦虑的诊断与研究用。     

Who lives,who dies,who decides: Differences between mass public shooters who survive,are killed,and commit suicide

This study provides an in-depth analysis of American mass public shooting conclusions between 1966 and 2017. Specifically, this work examines differences in factors contributing to the perpetrator's likelihood of surviving, being killed, and committing suicide. Ten hypotheses, rooted in previous homicide, suicide, homicide-suicide, and mass public shooting literature consider different psychological, situational, and background factors shaping the outcome of mass public shootings. Significant findings indicate factors influencing perpetrators' suicide include suicidal ideation, higher victim counts, and suicide copycat effects. Factors influencing perpetrators being killed similarly include higher victim counts, the arrival of law enforcement, lethal/non-lethal resistance, and government targets. This investigation provides practical implications for practitioners and policymakers, especially law enforcement and mental health practitioners, seeking to develop intervention and prevention strategies for addressing suicidal ideation and its most lethal outcome: mass public shootings.     

Partners' internal stress and well-being: The role of dyadic coping and problem resolution

Couples' experiences of daily stress can be detrimental for partners' individual and relational well-being, specifically their identity as a couple, their relational satisfaction, and their life satisfaction. Grounded in the Systemic Transactional Model, this study aimed at analyzing factors that may safeguard partners and their relationship from detrimental effects of internal stress (i.e., stress that originates inside the relationship). We examined the buffering effect of partners' positive dyadic coping and internal problem resolution. Daily diary data were collected across 7 days from 82 heterosexual couples. Multilevel dyadic analyses showed that internal stress was negatively associated with partners' individual and relational well-being. Positive dyadic coping moderated the association between partners' internal stress and couple satisfaction for both partners, but not life satisfaction and couple identity. Moreover, for partners who reported a resolution to the internal problem, the negative associations of internal stress with life satisfaction, couple satisfaction, and couple identity were significantly lower than for those who did not resolve the internal problem. This study confirms the negative role of internal stress on well-being, shows the associations between internal stress and couple identity, and highlights the protective role of dyadic coping and internal problem resolution in couples' daily lives.     

句法歧义消解影响因素、认知机制及其神经基础

句法歧义消解主要是指人们在面临多种句法分析可能性的情况下,句法分析器抑制不正确的句法分析而选择正确句法分析的认知过程。研究表明,该过程受到工作记忆、认知控制能力、语言分布频率、语境、韵律等因素的影响。为有效说明人们是如何完成句法歧义消解的,研究者们建构了诸如花园路径模型、约束满意理论、弱交互作用句法分析理论等相关模型。另外,基于脑成像技术研究表明,左侧额下回、左侧颞叶后部、中部和前部在句法消歧任务中都有显著激活。未来研究当围绕着句法消歧中的语义效应、句法和词汇歧义消解机制的异同、句法消歧中抑制能力的效应等方面展开。     

组间竞争对小学生合作绩效及言语互动策略的影响*

以80名小学生为被试,采用拼图任务,对小组在竞争与非竞争情境下的合作绩效和言语互动策略进行比较。结果发现：（1）组间竞争提升了小学高年级儿童的合作效率,但对低年级儿童的合作绩效无明显影响。（2）组间竞争抑制了低年级儿童在小组合作过程中的言语沟通,而同样情境下高年级小组成员的言语沟通量显著增加。（3）组间竞争促进了高年级小组成员之间的积极言语互动。年级和情境在建议、询问、表扬、应答和指令等言语互动策略上的交互作用显著。由此可见,组间竞争对小学儿童的合作绩效和言语互动策略存在影响,但这种影响在不同年级存在差异。     

提取诱发遗忘：项目强度与测试顺序的影响

提取诱发遗忘是指对先前学过的部分材料进行提取练习会使与练习材料相关的其它材料发生遗忘。目前该现象存在抑制与非抑制理论之争。本研究以64名大学生为被试,通过考察项目强度和测试顺序对提取诱发遗忘的影响,对上述争论进行了探讨。结果表明：（1）只有高强度项目才会引发提取诱发遗忘;（2）当控制由测试顺序所产生的输出干扰效应后,高强度项目仍然会引发提取诱发遗忘。本研究结果支持了提取诱发遗忘的抑制理论。