The Role of Fear-Avoidance Cognitions and Behaviors in Patients with Chronic Tinnitus

The current study investigated the role of fear-avoidance—a concept from chronic pain research—in chronic tinnitus. A self-report measure the “Tinnitus Fear-Avoidance Cognitions and Behaviors Scale (T-FAS)” was developed and validated. Furthermore, the role of fear-avoidance behavior as mediator of the relationship between anxiety sensitivity and tinnitus handicap was investigated. From a clinical setting, N = 373 patients with chronic tinnitus completed questionnaires assessing tinnitus handicap (Tinnitus Handicap Inventory), anxiety, depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), anxiety sensitivity (Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3), personality factors (Big Five Inventory-10), and fear-avoidance. To analyze the psychometric properties, principal component analysis with parallel component extraction and correlational analyses were used. To examine a possible mediating effect, hierarchical regression analysis was applied. The principal component analysis resulted in a three-factor solution: Fear-avoidance Cognitions, Tinnitus-related Fear-Avoidance Behavior, and Ear-related Fear-Avoidance Behavior. Internal consistency was satisfactory for the total scale and all subscales. High correlations between tinnitus-related handicap scales, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and the T-FAS were found, whereas associations with personality factors were low. Moreover, results indicate a significant partial mediation of fear-avoidance behaviors in the relationship between anxiety sensitivity and the cognitive dimension of tinnitus handicap. Results show that fear-avoidance behavior plays an important role in tinnitus handicap. More attention should be paid to this concept in research and clinical practice of psychotherapy for chronic tinnitus.     

红色的心理效应:现象与机制研究述评

红色是自然界和人类社会最常见的颜色之一,它对人类心理与行为的影响受到心理学家的关注.2005年发表在Nature上关于红色队服增强奥运选手竞赛成绩的研究报告,引发了一系列红色心理效应研究.本文从生理指标、行为观察、认知、语言文化、情绪、态度等多个角度综述了红色心理效应的现象和机制,并提出“情境假说”来解释红色对心理与行为的影响.综述表明,红色的心理效应缘于其在不同情境下联结着不同的心理意义.这些联结受先天遗传和后天环境的共同影响.红色与心理意义的联结诱发了特定的心理状态,从而影响个体的心理与行为.颜色对心理的影响及其机制,已经成为颜色科学基础与应用研究的前沿领域之一.     

SNARC效应: 现状、理论与建议

SNARC效应是当对数字进行奇偶判断时,即使数的奇偶性与数的大小无关,但右手（左手）对相对大（小）的数的反应快。首先介绍SNARC效应的起源和理论解释,然后总结SNARC效应的特性,论述SNARC效应和Simon效应以及MARC 效应的关系,并对SNARC效应的脑机制进行了概述,最后提出3个有待深入研究的问题：（1）SNARC效应的加工处理机制;（2）SANRC效应的理论探索;（3）SNARC效应的本质。     

Adolescent coping with everyday stressors: A seven-nation study of youth from central,eastern, southern,and northern Europe

The present study compares problem-specific coping strategies and coping styles of European adolescents from seven nations. The sample consisted of 3031 adolescent participants, aged 11 to 20, from Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Norway, Portugal, and Switzerland. The adolescents completed the Coping Across Situations Questionnaire (CASQ) by indicating which coping strategies (from 20 alternatives) they usually employed in dealing with age-specific problems (covering 8 different domains). The strategies can be collapsed to three coping styles: active coping, internal coping, and withdrawal. Results show that adolescents from all seven nations predominantly employed functional forms of coping, i.e., active coping and internal coping. In addition, the pattern of frequently and rarely applied coping strategies was similar across cultures. Differences in coping style were revealed for some, but not all problem domains, suggesting that cross-cultural similarity in coping exists for specific stressors. Problem-specific analyses helped to clarify where cultural influence is most distinct. Whereas cultural diversity was highest for coping with job-related problems, coping with self- and future-related problems was highly similar among adolescents from all the nations. Despite the considerable traditional, educational, and economic differences among the cultures investigated, the similarities in coping behaviour were impressive. Explanations for cultural universals and differences in adolescent coping are discussed.     

Mental rotation performance and the effect of gender in fourth graders and adults

The DSM-IV implicitly assumes that development is uniform across ability domains, which implies that relationships between ability measures do not differ across development. We assessed whether correlations between measures of nine ability constructs differed across samples of children aged 3 – 5 (n = 117), 6 – 8 (n = 116), 9 – 11 (n = 124) and 12 – 14 years (n = 92). LISREL analyses show that correlations in each age group differ from those of each other age group. Parallel analyses indicate that the latent structure of ability differs across age groups. We conclude that shared maturational processes, including changes in the connectivity of neural systems, are responsible for decreasingly and increasingly strong relationships between some ability measures.     

热情与能力的关系及其影响因素

社会认知的两个基本维度热情与能力之间存在一种特殊的关系, 它既可能是晕轮效应所认为的正向关系, 也可能是补偿效应和影射效应所认为的负向关系, 还有可能是受多种因素影响的正交关系。热情与能力的关系受到知觉者自身因素、知觉对象的特点、知觉者与知觉对象的关系以及外部环境等多种因素的影响, 而热情与能力关系的内部机制不明确是学者们对其关系产生分歧的根本原因。今后需要进一步探讨热情与能力的内部机制, 进行跨文化的检验和比较研究, 进一步探索其关系的影响因素, 建构热情与能力的关系模型。     

娃娃脸效应：对婴儿面孔的偏好及过度泛化

娃娃脸效应是指由婴儿面孔特征(或婴儿图式)所引发的普遍、进化的社会认知反应, 不仅包括对婴儿面孔的偏好性反应—— 如优先注意、关怀和照料的冲动, 还包括对于具备婴儿图式的成年人、动物甚至非生命物体的泛化性反应, 即认为这些对象具有与婴儿相似的特质并对其产生相应的态度和行为。娃娃脸效应的表现、影响因素及神经机制的相关研究证明了人类对于婴儿面孔特征的偏好性反应是一种本能释放机制, 并为进化心理学中的亲代投资及性别选择理论提供了佐证。娃娃脸效应的文化差异以及实践应用可能是这一领域未来研究的主要方向。     

声音情绪的跨文化识别

声音情绪跨文化识别是在跨文化前提下对无语义声音所传递情绪信息的识别。目前, 对声音情绪跨文化识别的研究热点主要集中于：跨文化一致性、群内优势效应、性别和年龄问题、自发声音情绪识别、语言材料的选取等五个方面的研究。今后, 声音情绪跨文化识别的研究应在声音情绪的材料获取、影响因素、双语研究这三个方面作进一步的探索和完善。     

噪音背景对二语语音感知的影响

日常言语交流常常会遇到各种噪音的干扰。研究表明, 噪音所产生的能量掩蔽和信息掩蔽会给语音感知带来较大影响。在感知地道的二语语音时, 二语者在各种噪音条件下所受干扰通常比母语者更大, 其表现随噪音类型、水平和目标音位特征的不同而变化; 同时, 二语者的感知也存在较大个体差异, 这是多种因素影响的结果。在噪音下感知带有各种外国腔的二语口音时, 母语者的表现差于其对地道母语语音的感知; 二语经历贫乏的二语者则对与自己口音类似的外国腔感知较好, 但二语经历较长的二语者在感知中却表现出较大灵活性。     

人际间情绪预测过程中的样例锚定效应

以教师预测学生的情绪为例,考察人际间情绪预测中是否存在样例锚定效应。两个实验分别采取自由回忆和样例启动范式操纵样例锚,并请教师预测典型教育情境中学生的情绪反应。结果发现,样例中学生的情绪越强烈,教师预测学生的情绪也越强烈,预测的准确性越低。可见,在教师预测学生情绪这样的人际间情绪预测过程中,存在样例锚定效应,但只有典型的样例锚才能促进情绪预测的准确性。