Competing roles for the subfactors of need for closure in committing the fundamental attribution error

Webster’s (1993) finding that the need for closure (NFC) trait predicts the fundamental attribution error (FAE) is well-cited but has mixed support. After detailing failed replications and contradictory findings, this article reports an attempt to verify the positive NFC–FAE relation using the questioner–contestant paradigm. Rarely investigated but potentially vital to the field, this research also considered the two orthogonal subfactors of NFC, decisiveness and need for structure (Neuberg, Judice, & West, 1997). Results showed that need for structure predicted, overall NFC partially predicted, but decisiveness attenuated the FAE. Thus, Webster’s finding was both replicated and reversed by different aspects of NFC. Decisiveness adds to a short list of trait moderators of the FAE. Implications are discussed for how to measure NFC.     

Contact calls: Information and social function

The focus of acoustic communication studies differs between birds and primates due to differences between the avian and primate social structures. Contact calls exist in almost all species independent of social structure, indicating their importance for animals. Contact calls contain various types of information about the sender. They function to keep groups cohesive or to help reunite visually separated individuals. In this review, we first describe the type of information contained in the acoustic structure of contact calls, and then we consider the function of contact calls in animals' social lives, particularly their function as identity advertisements.     

Persistence of emphasis in language production: A cross-linguistic approach

This study investigates the way in which speakers determine which aspects of an utterance to emphasize and how this affects the form of utterances. To do this, we ask whether the binding between emphasis and thematic roles persists between utterances. In one within-language (Dutch-Dutch) and three cross-linguistic (Dutch-English) structural priming experiments, we measured persistence effects for four different Dutch transitives (actives, PP-initial passives, PP-medial passives, and PP-final passives). Whereas English allows only one passive (PP-final passive), Dutch allows three different variants with the same functional assignment, but different constituent structures. Additionally, the degree of emphasis on the agent differs significantly between the PP-initial passive and the other passives (Experiment 1). Experiment 2 showed persistence of actives, PP-medial, and PP-final passives in Dutch, but no priming between passives with different constituent structures. Experiments 3 and 4, however, showed that both PP-medial and PP-final passives prime the use of English passives. Experiment 5 confirmed that the emphasis on thematic roles persists: the proportion of passives in the PP-initial passive condition fell midway between the proportions produced in the active and PP-medial passive condition.     

Cognitive Error Questionnaire (CEQ): Psychometric Properties and Factor Structure of the German Translation

A central component of Beck et al.’s (1979) cognitive theory of depression is faulty information processing reflected by so-called cognitive errors. These cognitive errors are the reason why depressed individuals systematically misinterpret the significance of events in a negative way. They are usually assessed with the application of the Cognitive Error Questionnaire (CEQ). This study examines the psychometric properties and factor structure of the German version of the CEQ in a sample of 796 volunteers at a German university. Results confirmed that the German CEQ has satisfactory to very good psychometric properties, like the American original. Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated that a hierarchical four-factor model with four subscales and 1 s order factor fits the data best. Therefore, besides using the German CEQ in studies with German-speaking samples, the similarities in psychometric properties of the American and German CEQ allow for cross-cultural studies.     

运用均数与协方差结构模型侦查项目功能差异

阐释了运用多组均数与协方差结构(MACS)模型侦查多级反应项目的一致性与非一致性项目功能差异(DIF)的原理与程序, 以道德自我概念量表DIF的侦查进行示例, 并对该方法进行了评价。与项目反应理论比照, MACS采用系统的、迭代的方式利用修正指数来侦查DIF, 并提供多个拟合指数协同评价模型拟合;与标准验证性因素分析相较, MACS不仅能侦查非一致性DIF, 而且能侦查一致性DIF。运用MACS侦查DIF是一种值得推荐的方法。     

子图问题学习对几何解题迁移的影响

将一个图形（称为母图）的若干条线段删除后得到的图形叫做母图的子图。运用实验方法探讨了子图结构学习和子图变式学习对解决问题的迁移效果。结果表明：子图结构学习仅对解决“图形结构相同、逻辑结构相同”问题有明显迁移作用;子图变式学习对解决“图形结构相同、逻辑结构相同”没有明显迁移作用,对“图形结构相似、逻辑结构相同”、“图形结构相同、逻辑结构相似”以及“图形结构相似、逻辑结构相似”四类问题均有明显迁移作用。     

专家医生的知识结构及诊断推理方式

医学专长研究中“中间者效应”的发现,引发了研究者对专家医生知识结构的探讨。在“知识打包”的基础上,医生的临床知识以“疾病脚本”的方式组织起来。随着临床经验的增加,专家医生积累了丰富的疾病脚本。在临床诊断中,他们无需对病人所有的体征和症状进行仔细地和系统地分析,而是通过非分析性的推理方式——“模式识别”或“样例识别”便可自动激活与之匹配的疾病脚本,据此对病人做出迅速而准确的诊断。医学专长的本质就在于专家医生以“疾病脚本”的方式组织起来的知识结构。“适应性专长”代表了未来医学专长研究的新方向     

西方婚姻沟通研究进展述评

目前西方婚姻研究领域的主流—— 婚姻沟通研究表现出三大进展：从个体研究视角转向互动视角; 从单一维度划分沟通类型转向功能性的划分; 从人格影响因素的探索转向权力结构的探索。该领域未来的研究趋势应集中在关注积极互动、扩展研究范式、探索调节或中介机制、探讨夫妻权力的不同层面以及重新评价人格因素的影响等方面。     

中国人心理账户的内隐结构

“心理账户”是个人、家庭或企业集团在心理上对结果（尤其是经济结果）的记录、编码、分类和估价的心理过程,它揭示了人们进行资金（财富）决策时的内在认知编码。研究对全国9个省市1268名有效被试进行问卷调查,经过探索性因子分析、验证性因子分析以及二阶因子验证发现：中国人的心理账户系统有一个相对稳定的“3－4－2”分类结构。即收入账户有“工作相关的常规收入”、“非常规的额外收入”和“经营收入”三个账户;开支账户有“生活必需开支”、“家庭建设与个人发展开支”、“情感维系开支”和“享乐休闲开支”四个账户;存储账户有“安全型保障账户”和“风险型存储账户”两个账户。心理账户的分类研究对探究人们的经济决策行为有重要意义     

从耗散理论解读肿瘤的发病及治疗

肿瘤的综合治疗方案,即药物-社会-心理治疗已广泛地应用于临床,虽效果显著,但其机制尚缺乏确切的实验依据。笔者从耗散结构理论来解读这种综合疗法,认为药物、社会及心理治疗均是通过增加机体的负熵,使肿瘤患者的内环境处于有序平衡状态而改善其病情。从耗散理论出发可以将肿瘤的综合疗法更好地应用于临床。