COMPUTER‐ASSISTED MEASUREMENT OF WOUND SIZE ASSOCIATED WITH SELF‐INJURIOUS BEHAVIOR

We evaluated an inexpensive, efficient, and noninvasive technique for measuring tissue damage produced by self‐injurious behavior (SIB). The technique involved computerized measurement of wound surface area (WSA) based on digital photographs. In Study 1, we compared photographic measurement to a more commonly used procedure, transparency measurement, in estimating WSA of 20 wound models. Results showed that both methods were reliable and that there was a high degree of correspondence between the 2 sets of measures. In Study 2, we compared photographic WSA measures to direct‐observation measures in documenting changes over time in the SIB exhibited by a woman with Prader‐Willi syndrome. Results showed that increases and decreases in observed SIB during baseline and treatment conditions corresponded with changes in WSA measures, indicating that the computer‐assisted photographic technique may be useful as a corroborative measure or as a primary measure when direct observation of SIB is not feasible.     

The Effect of Social and Situational Factors on the Intended Response to Aggression Among Adolescents

ABSTRACT

In this study, I explored intended response to aggression among adolescents. I drew hypotheses from social identity theory, cost/benefit considerations, and social information processing model. I asked 217 Jewish and Muslim male adolescents in this study to assess their intended use of aggression in 12 hypothetical conflict situations (vignettes), in which I manipulated the opponent's religion, gender, acquaintance, and severity of aggression. I mainly found that male adolescents respond to aggression by same-religion opponents more moderately than to cross-religion aggression; their response is more moderate to cross-gender aggression than to same-gender aggression; response is more moderate to the aggression of familiar opponents than to that of unfamiliar ones; and response is less severe toward moderate than toward severe aggression.     

What Does God Know? Supernatural Agents’ Access to Socially Strategic and Non‐Strategic Information

Current evolutionary and cognitive theories of religion posit that supernatural agent concepts emerge from cognitive systems such as theory of mind and social cognition. Some argue that these concepts evolved to maintain social order by minimizing antisocial behavior. If these theories are correct, then people should process information about supernatural agents' socially strategic knowledge more quickly than non-strategic knowledge. Furthermore, agents' knowledge of immoral and uncooperative social behaviors should be especially accessible to people. To examine these hypotheses, we measured response-times to questions about the knowledge attributed to four different agents--God, Santa Claus, a fictional surveillance government, and omniscient but non-interfering aliens--that vary in their omniscience, moral concern, ability to punish, and how supernatural they are. As anticipated, participants respond more quickly to questions about agents' socially strategic knowledge than non-strategic knowledge, but only when agents are able to punish.     

如何削弱产品来源国效应*—— 产品信息呈现方式的影响研究

以元认知和双系统模式的心理学理论为背景, 研究了分析式系统对来源国效应的削弱, 检验了产品信息呈现方式对来源国效应的调节作用。三个研究说明, 分析式系统的启动可以有效削弱来源国效应; 特定的产品信息呈现方式所引起的消费者信息处理不流畅性感知会激发消费者的元认知困难, 从而使他们在产品评价过程中主要依赖分析式系统, 达到削弱来源国效应的目的; 并不是所有能引起信息处理不流畅性的产品信息呈现方式都能削弱来源国效应, 过于复杂的呈现方式由于给消费者带来过多认知负荷, 反而不能成功启动分析系统, 从而无法削弱产品来源国形象对消费者产品评价的影响。     

汉字字谜任务中限制解除的电生理机制

尽管“限制解除”作为一种顿悟问题解决的关键途径早在上世纪90年代就被德国心理学者Knoblich及其同事提出, 但学界对于“限制解除”所包含的信息加工程序、阶段以及相应的脑认知过程却并未有进一步的探讨和细化。本文从“限制解除”的理论角度出发, 以答案提示催化的“诱发式”字谜解决顿悟为例, 首次提出了一个关于“诱发式”限制解除过程的信息加工阶段初步构想。该构想认为：顿悟问题解决中的“诱发式”限制解除过程包含3个不同的信息加工阶段。第一阶段是以早期注意参与为特征的冲突信息的预警或预处理过程; 第二阶段是以新旧思路交替为特征的关键限制解除过程, 鉴于这个过程以基本问题表征空间的拓展为特征, 因此我们推测右脑的活动很有可能在这个过程中占据主导地位; 第三阶段是以自上而下的控制加工为特征的重新整合过程。脑电研究数据部分地支持了本研究的假设, 发现了上述第一阶段在脑电变化上体现为顿悟性限制解除所伴随的N100/P200复合体; 第二阶段体现为P300在300~400 ms的时间窗内的地形图分布及差异波; 而第三阶段则体现为N400在400~800 ms内的变化。脑电结果还证实：在第二阶段也就是限制解除的关键阶段, 右脑的活动明显强于左脑, 提示基本问题空间的拓展可能更多地依赖于右脑, 而在第三阶段也就是信息的重新整合阶段则表现出相反的半球偏侧化倾向。上述发现有可能为进一步认识和理解顿悟中“限制解除”的脑认知机理提供了新的见解。     

An Extension of SIC Predictions to the Wiener Coactive Model

The survivor interaction contrasts (SIC) is a powerful measure for distinguishing among candidate models of human information processing. One class of models to which SIC analysis can apply are the coactive, or channel summation, models of human information processing. In general, parametric forms of coactive models assume that responses are made based on the first passage time across a fixed threshold of a sum of stochastic processes. Previous work has shown that the SIC for a coactive model based on the sum of Poisson processes has a distinctive down-up-down form, with an early negative region that is smaller than the later positive region. In this note, we demonstrate that a coactive process based on the sum of two Wiener processes has the same SIC form.     

College students' search for sexual health information from their best friends: An application of the theory of motivated information management

Guided by the theory of motivated information management, this study investigated the extent to which Singaporean college students' sexual health information‐seeking behaviour could be accounted for by their anxiety of uncertainty discrepancy, their perceived outcomes of information seeking and their perceived confidence in seeking and coping with sexual health information acquired from their best friends. Taking into account that issue relevance may play a role in individuals' health decision‐making, this study also examined the effect of perceived vulnerability on respondents' sexual health information‐seeking behaviour. An online survey was conducted with 202 undergraduate students at a university in Singapore. Respondents were asked to report the frequency with which they sought four types of sexual health information from their best friends: unwanted pregnancy, abortion, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections. Survey data showed that respondents' uncertainty discrepancy was positively associated with their anxiety. Anxiety had negative effects on efficacy and outcome expectancy. Outcome expectancy was positively associated with efficacy. Both efficacy and perceived vulnerability accounted for a significant amount of variance in respondents' sexual health information‐seeking behaviour. Findings from this study contribute to a better understanding of young adults' sexual health information behaviour in a Singapore context.     

Situational information and the design of representative learning tasks: What impact does a scoreboard have on expert taekwondo fighters' behaviour and affective-cognitive responses?

Designing representative learning tasks is one means to enhance sports practice. Recent work has highlighted how the presence of situational information could help the design of these tasks by shaping intentions and enhancing the affective demands of practice, however this has yet to be empirically tested. This study tested this hypothesis by manipulating the presence of a scoreboard featuring time and score situational information as expert taekwondo athletes fought in practice. Nine taekwondo fighters fought with and without situational information in a counterbalanced order. Behaviour was assessed by tracking fighters' location coordinates to assess fighter-fighter dyad coordination and through notational analysis of attacking actions. Affect and cognition were assessed with mixed-methods that included perceptual scales measuring anxiety, arousal, mental effort, score perception, and post-fight video-facilitated confrontational interviews to explore how conditions differed. The results revealed that the presence of the situational information had significant effects on taekwondo players. When present, fighters reported greater cognitive anxiety (d = 0.39, p < 0.05), somatic anxiety (d = 1.11, p < 0.05) and emotion intensity (d = 0.33, p < 0.05). The enhanced affective demands were associated with behaviour changes that included fighters preferring to spend time at closer distances (d = 0.25, p < 0.05), and more predictable technique selection (d = 1.04, p < 0.05). Qualitative data supported these findings. Players also reported their intentions were coupled to the context of scoreboard. This study reveals that situational information changes the affective and behavioural demands of practice to be more like competition. Further, situational sampling affords performers the opportunity to practice attuning to the relevant affordances for a specific context.     

父母差别对待与青少年问题行为的关系：一个有调节的中介模型

通过问卷调查的方式,采用同胞不同经历问卷、关系网络问卷和问题行为量表对开封市1179名初高中学生进行研究。研究结果显示：（1）父母差别对待与外/内化问题行为呈显著正相关;同胞关系与外/内化问题行为呈显著负相关;父母差别对待和同胞关系呈显著负相关。（2）同胞关系在父母差别对待与外/内化问题行为之间起部分中介作用。（3）“父母差别对待→同胞关系→外/内化问题行为”这一中介路径的前半段受出生顺序调节;与年幼个体相比,父母差别对待对年长个体的同胞关系影响更大。出生顺序会调节父母差别对待对同胞关系的影响,提示二胎家庭要更关注年长个体的变化。