Imitation is beneficial for verb learning in toddlers

The interplay between action and language is still not fully understood in terms of its relevance for early language development. Here, we investigated whether action imitation may be beneficial for first language acquisition. In a word-learning study 24-, 30- and 36-month-old children (N = 96) learned the labels of different actions in one of two conditions: Either the children just observed the experimenter producing the action (observation condition) or children produced the action themselves (action condition). The results show that 36-month-olds learned the labels of the more complex actions in both conditions, whereas 30-month-olds learned the labels only in the action but not in the observation condition. These findings suggest that action imitation is beneficial for verb learning early in life.     

Cue-elicited food seeking is eliminated with aversive outcomes following outcome devaluation

In outcome-selective Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT), stimuli that are predictive of specific outcomes prime instrumental responses that are associated with these outcomes. Previous human studies yielded mixed evidence in respect to whether the PIT effect is affected by a posttraining devaluation of an outcome, with the PIT effect being preserved after a devaluation of a primary reinforcer (food, drugs) but not following the devaluation of a secondary reinforcer (money). The present research examined whether outcome-selective transfer is eliminated when the devaluation of a primary (liquid) reinforcer is strong and aversive. Experiment 1 confirmed these expectations following a devaluation with bad tasting Tween 20. However, outcome-selective transfer was still observed when the earned (devalued) outcome was not consumed immediately after each test (Experiment 2). These results suggest that the capacity of a Pavlovian cue to motivate a specific response is affected by the incentive value of the shared outcome only when the devaluation yields an aversive outcome that is consumed immediately.     

A role of goals for social inhibition of return?

The social inhibition of return (sIOR) effect refers to the finding that response initiation times are longer if a movement is executed to a location where another person has responded to just before. Previous studies have examined the influence of the goal of the action on sIOR. In these studies, however, the movement endpoint and to-be-attained goal (e.g., touching/pressing a response key) were at the same spatial location. In the present two experiments, we disentangled movement endpoint and goal's identity and locations by means of introducing action effects that followed directly from a movement. Similar methods were previously shown powerful enough to clearly show the importance of action goals for other phenomena—a finding consistent with effect-based theories of action control, such as the ideomotor theory. The results of the present study revealed that sIOR was shaped by the movement endpoint location, not the goal's identity or location. That is, in both experiments, an sIOR effect was observed, but the magnitude of the sIOR effect was not modulated by repetitions/switches of goals or their locations. Thus, results indicate that goals play a negligible role in the emergence of the sIOR and, consequently, highlight the importance of action observation for the emergence of the sIOR effect.     

Putting action memory to the test: testing affects subsequent restudy but not long-term forgetting of action events

Testing memory typically enhances subsequent re-encoding of information (“indirect” testing effect) and, as compared to restudy, it also benefits later long-term retention (“direct” testing effect). We investigated the effect of testing on subsequent restudy and 1-week retention of action events (e.g. “water the plant”). In addition, we investigated if the type of recall practice (noun-cued vs. verb-cued) moderates these testing benefits. The results showed an indirect testing effect that increased following noun-cued recall of verbs as compared to verb-cued recall of nouns. In contrast, a direct testing effect on the forgetting rate of performed actions was not reliably observed, neither for noun- nor verb-cued recall. Thus, to the extent that this study successfully dissociated direct and indirect testing-based enhancements, they seem to be differentially effective for performed actions, and may rely on partially different mechanisms.     

Descriptive analysis of the nature and extent of bullying behavior in a maximum‐security prison

This aim of this study was to investigate the nature and extent of direct and indirect bullying in a maximum‐security prison and to assess prisoners' attitudes toward victims of bullying. A total of 194 adult male prisoners completed the Direct and Indirect Prisoner Behavior Checklist (DIPC) [Ireland (1998): University of Central Lancashire; Ireland (1999a): Aggressive Behavior] and a modified version of the Rigby and Slee [1991: J Social Psychol 131:615–627] provictim scale. The results showed that more than half of the prisoners sampled had been bullied in the past week. Only a small number of prisoners could be classified as either a pure bully or a pure victim, with almost half classified as both a bully and a victim. The most frequent types of bullying used were psychological/verbal and indirect forms. No significant differences were found between pure bullies, bully/victims, pure victims, and the not involved groups' attitudes toward the victims of bullying. These findings hold implications for anti‐bullying programs that fail to fully consider the prevalence of indirect forms of bullying and that an individual can be both a bully and a victim. Aggr. Behav. 26:213–223, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

多元语言文化对个体情境下与社会情境下认知转换功能的差异性影响——来自锡伯族的证据

多民族国家由多个民族和族群组成。个体处于各种民族关系或族群关系中, 需要与其他民族或族群的人协作。“西迁”使我国的锡伯族分居于新疆和东北, 走上了不同的发展道路。新疆锡伯族处于多元语言文化中, 不仅保留了本民族的语言和文字, 也汲取了周边民族的语言文化营养; 而东北锡伯族则与汉族融合, 逐渐失去了本民族的语言和文字, 转用汉语和汉字。采用经典认知转换任务和联合认知转换任务, 对比新疆锡伯族和东北锡伯族在个体情境下和社会情境下的认知转换功能差异, 探讨多元语言文化对个体情境下与社会情境下认知转换功能的影响。结果发现, 在个体情境下, 新疆锡伯族的转换代价更小; 在社会情境下, 新疆锡伯族的联合机制更容易被激活, 他们分配认知资源去表征同伴的任务, 自我-他人的整合程度更高, 转换代价更大。整个研究表明, 多元语言文化对认知转换功能具有不同的影响：促进个体情境下的认知转换功能, 降低社会情境下的认知转换功能。本研究的结果为多民族国家的文化和心理建设提供了重要启示。     

Too great to act in solidarity: The negative relationship between collective narcissism and solidarity-based collective action

Three studies examined the association between narcissistic identification with one’s advantaged in-group and engagement in solidarity-based collective action. Drawing on theory and past research, a negative effect of collective narcissism on solidarity-based collective action was expected. A two-wave longitudinal study (N = 162) found that Polish participants’ narcissistic, but not secure, national identification decreased their willingness to engage in collective action in solidarity with refugees over time. A field study (N = 258) performed during a mass protest against a proposed abortion ban showed that men’s gender-based collective narcissism was a negative predictor of solidarity-based engagement (operationalized as protest behavior and collective action intentions) and this effect was mediated by lowered empathy for women. Finally, a web-based survey (N = 1,992) revealed that heterosexual/cisgender individuals’ collective narcissism was negatively associated with collective action intentions in support of LGBT rights and that this effect was sequentially mediated by increased intergroup anxiety and decreased empathy for LGBT people. Theoretical implications of the present findings, research limitations, and future directions are discussed.     

群组成员行动目标的一致性对群体实体性的影响:动作形式一致性的调节作用

群体被视为一个有机整体的特性被称为群体实体性。研究从行为的行动目标和动作形式两个特征维度出发,探讨了行动目标一致性和动作形式一致性如何共同作用于群体实体性。结果发现,在不同群体规模下,群体成员具有一致目标的群体实体性均高于不一致条件,但只有当行为发生在群体情景且符合合理性原则时,动作形式一致性对该影响关系才起到调节作用。该结果表明,只有当行为发生在群体情景且符合合理性原则时,行动目标和动作形式才联合作用于群体实体性。     

Academic activism and its impact on individual‐level mobilization,sources of learning,and the future of academia in Turkey

In January 2016, academics in Turkey distributed a peace petition calling for an end to hostilities and to restart negotiations with the Kurdish movement. The Turkish government responded by opening legal cases, jailing academics, and dismissing them from universities. In the state of emergency following the July 2016 coup attempt in Turkey, the government's extended powers allowed them to fire thousands of civil servants from every branch of government, including thousands of academics. This increased the number of academics who organized to form and teach in academic collectives. The current study evaluates how politicization occurs in scholars removed from the university environment. Traditional approaches to collective action and politicization suggest that empowerment is an important catalyst in politicization and continuation of collective political engagement. With the social and political restrictions that decree law dismissals place on scholars, what is it that motivates them to politicize? The current study was conducted through semistructured interviews with nine academics who work in these collectives. Participants described their politicization in terms of previous practice, reaction to injustice, and ideals of academia and academic freedom. They further evaluated current and prospective functions and possible barriers to academic collectives. Finally, although somewhat ambivalent, participants discussed feelings of efficacy, psychosocial support, and senses of solidarity and liberation in terms of being empowered. Their perspectives provide an opportunity to understand how and where academics engage in scholar activism for an independent and free academia in the context of consolidated political oppression.