Burying by rats in response to aversive and nonaversive stimuli

Previous investigations have shown that rats bury a variety of conditioned and unconditioned aversive stimuli. Such burying has been considered as a species-typical defensive reaction. In the present studies, rats buried spouts filled with Tabasco sauce, or condensed milk to which a taste aversion was conditioned, but did not bury water-filled spouts or spouts filled with a palatable novel food (apple juice) to which a taste aversion was not conditioned. However, in other experiments rats consistently and repeatedly buried Purina Rat Chow, Purina Rat Chow coated with quinine, and glass marbles. This indicates that a variety of stimuli, not all aversive or novel, evoke burying by rats. Whereas the behavior may reasonably be considered as a species-typical defensive behavior in some situations, the wide range of conditions that occasion burying suggests that the behavior has no single biological function.     

Inter-event differences in action memory

Two experiments examined the effect of verb-noun connectivity on recall of simple action phrases, under motor and nonmotor encoding conditions. Connectivity, measured by associative overlap and rated belongingness, was found to make a difference. High-connectivity pairs are better recalled than low-connectivity pairs. Primacy effects are absent with low-connectivity pairs, but generally present with high-connectivity pairs—irrespective of encoding conditions. Inter-item action phrase differences thus influence the effects studied in action memory research. The results were discussed in terms of strategic and nonstrategic conceptions of memory for actions.     

童年压力及死亡威胁启动对择偶要求的影响

本实验从生命史理论出发, 研究童年期环境压力如何与当前环境中的压力线索相互作用并影响个体对异性的择偶要求。被试为70名大学本科生, 其中一部分被试被分配到死亡威胁启动组, 他们阅读一篇描述近期国内暴力犯罪及死亡率上升的新闻报道, 另一部分被试被分配到控制组, 他们阅读一篇描述一个人花了很长时间寻找遗失钱包的文章。被试自我报告对异性的理想择偶要求及其童年压力。控制了性别及恋爱状态后, 多元回归分析表明：童年压力与启动条件仅在身体吸引力的理想标准上有显著交互作用。其中, 低童年压力组在死亡威胁启动下对异性身体吸引力的理想标准显著高于控制条件, 而高童年压力组在死亡威胁启动下对异性身体吸引力的理想要求则显著低于控制条件。此外, 启动条件在异性做“好父母”的择偶标准上有显著主效应, 死亡威胁启动下的被试对异性做好父母的择偶标准高于控制组被试。而在对资源的择偶标准上既不存在童年压力和死亡威胁启动的主效应, 也不存在交互作用。研究说明童年压力与当前环境压力会影响个体对异性的择偶要求, 但对不同择偶要求的影响作用不同。     

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。     

统计概要表征的内容与机制

人类能够快速提取集合刺激中的统计信息, 并形成以集中趋势和变异性为主要内容的统计概要表征。根据注意资源的使用, 统计概要表征的加工方式可分为分布式注意下的整体加工和聚焦注意下的个体加工。两种加工在工作记忆中相互影响, 共同构建了对集合刺激的表征。统计概要表征适用于多种刺激类型, 发生在低水平和高水平加工中, 因而可能是一种普遍的知觉加工方式。未来研究可关注统计概要表征的神经基础及其对决策的影响。     

儿童的直接推理能力及策略的发展

采用文字形式陈述前提,让儿童根据前提内容回答问题,以了解儿童在语言条件下的直接推理能力。并通过事后追问儿童作答的原因,对儿童推理的策略进行分析。结果表明：（1）6岁和7岁儿童初步发展了语言条件下的直接推理能力,8岁儿童形成了这种能力。从6岁到8岁,儿童的这种推理能力随年龄增长而迅速提高。（2）否定前提和肯定前提没有给儿童的直接推理造成影响。而且,反义词的转换,也没有增加任务的推理难度。（3）从6岁到8岁儿童的有效生成能力和使用能力都在明显提高。6岁、7岁儿童在直接推理时有效策略和无效策略并存,但几乎所有的8岁儿童都使用了“重复或解释前提”这一有效策略。     

国际学术交流中的诡道:AIDS病毒发现权之争

关于艾滋病病毒发现权之争的著述在国外已有许多,但国内对这一事件从科学史角度的研究还不多见.本研究试图在艾滋病的最初发现,病源学研究,以及病毒发现之争的起因等方面进行回顾的基础上,对美国科学家和美国政府在这一事件中的一些做法和表现,从美国当代国家科学发展战略观的角度进行解读,并通过历史分析求得有益的启示.     

Constant vigilance: Heritage values and defensive pessimism in coping with severe acute respiratory syndrome in Singapore

The present study investigates the congruency of defensive pessimism in the Asian context and its role in coping with the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) crisis in Singapore. Data collected from 174 Singaporeans supported the hypothesized relationships among Chinese values, defensive pessimism, SARS-related fears, compliance to preventive health-related behaviors and negative outcomes. Path analysis revealed that individuals' endorsement of Chinese value clusters − prudence, industry, and civic harmony − positively predicted their levels of defensive pessimism. The results also indicated that defensive pessimism had a direct positive effect on SARS-related fears and, SARS-related fears, in turn, were directly related to direct preventive health-related behaviors but not related to indirect preventive behaviors. In addition to the indirect effect of Chinese values on direct preventive health-related behaviors, Chinese values had a direct positive effect on both direct and indirect preventive health-related behaviors. Consistent with our contention that defensive pessimism has the potential for leading to particular negative outcomes, defensive pessimism was found to influence negative outcomes but this relationship was partially mediated by SARS-related fears.     

关于数学应用题心理表征策略的新理论

本文主要阐述了数学应用题心理表征中的两种策略一直接转换策略和问题模型策略,介绍了两种策略的认知过程,并对两种策略的区分方法进行了探讨,最后总结说明了研究数学心理表征在理论和实践中的意义。     

群体讨论过程中信息策略的变化

启发式是人类决策的重要特征,然而对于群体分布式加工条件下的启发式研究却是一个困难的任务。本研究利用多特征多选择决策任务与过程跟踪技术,对群体讨论条件下的启发式决策特点进行研究。结果发现,在群体讨论情景下,决策者的信息呈现策略要更加完全,但决策者的信息搜索负荷并没有因此而增加,群体的各成员之间形成了信息策略上的分布式加工,所以在群体工作情景中的表现出相互依赖性与内隐加工机制。