歧视知觉对城市流动儿童幸福感的影响：中介机制及归属需要的调节作用

采用整群取样法对选自北京市的1551名流动儿童进行测查, 探讨歧视知觉对城市流动儿童的个体和群体幸福感的影响机制, 即内群体认同和群体地位感在其中的中介作用, 以及不同归属需要下内群体认同和群体地位感的中介作用差异。结果表明：(1)公立学校小学流动儿童的个体和群体幸福感相对较高; 流动男生比流动女生具有较高的生活满意度, 流动女生比流动男生具有较高的群体幸福感。(2)歧视知觉对城市流动儿童的个体和群体幸福感存在直接显著的负向预测作用, 并通过内群体情感认同和群体地位感的中介作用负向预测群体幸福感。(3)不同归属需要下歧视知觉对个体和群体幸福感的作用机制存在差异。在高归属需要组, 歧视知觉对个体幸福感存在直接显著的负向预测作用, 并通过群体地位感和群体幸福感的双重中介消极地影响个体幸福感; 歧视知觉完全通过群体地位感的中介消极地影响群体幸福感。在低归属需要组, 歧视知觉对个体幸福感既存在直接的负向预测作用, 也通过内群体情感认同和群体地位感的中介发挥间接性的积极作用; 歧视知觉对群体幸福感只存在间接的消极影响, 内群体情感认同和群体地位感在其中发挥完全中介作用。这表明, 内群体情感认同和群体地位感在流动儿童歧视知觉与幸福感之间的中介效应受到归属需要的调节影响。     

Can dogs count?

Numerical competencies have been thoroughly examined in several species, yet relatively few studies have examined such processes in the domestic dog. In an initial experiment, procedures from numerical studies of chimpanzees (0010 and 0015) were adapted for use with 27 domestic dogs. Subjects in these experiments watched as different quantities of food were sequentially dropped into each of two bowls. The subjects were then allowed to select and consume the contents of one of the bowls. Although dogs excelled in a 1 vs 0 condition, their performance failed to significantly surpass chance across all other ratios. In a second experiment with a single subject (a rough collie named Sedona), the procedure was revised so that non-food stimuli were presented simultaneously to the dog on two magnet boards. If Sedona chose the board with the majority of the items, she was rewarded with a piece of food hidden underneath the board. If she made an incorrect choice, she received no reinforcement. Interestingly, Sedona's performance far exceeded that of the dogs in Experiment 1. Implications of these findings for the study of domestic dogs are discussed.     

Weight-based discrimination,body dissatisfaction and emotional eating: The role of perceived social consensus

Objective: Discrimination can have a negative impact on psychological well-being, attitudes and behaviour. This research evaluates the impact of experiences of weight-based discrimination upon emotional eating and body dissatisfaction, and also explores whether people's beliefs about an ingroup's social consensus concerning how favourably overweight people are regarded can moderate the relationship between experiences of discrimination and negative eating and weight-related cognitions and behaviours.

Research methods and procedures: 197 undergraduate students completed measures about their experiences of weight-based discrimination, emotional eating and body dissatisfaction. Participants also reported their beliefs concerning an ingroup's attitude towards overweight people.

Results: Recollections of weight-based discrimination significantly contributed to emotional eating and body dissatisfaction. However, the relationships between experiencing discrimination and body dissatisfaction and emotional eating were weakest amongst participants who believed that the ingroup held a positive attitude towards overweight people.

Discussion: Beliefs about ingroup social consensus concerning overweight people can influence the relationships between weight-based discrimination and emotional eating and body dissatisfaction. Changing group perceptions to perceive it to be unacceptable to discriminate against overweight people may help to protect victims of discrimination against the negative consequences of weight-based stigma.     

Prolonged development of auditory skills: A role for perceptual anchoring?

Many auditory skills continue to develop beyond infancy and even into adolescence, but the factors underlying this prolonged development remain poorly understood. Of interest here is the contribution of on-line statistical learning of stimulus repetitions (anchoring) to the development of auditory spectral and temporal discrimination, as well as the potential contributions of auditory attention and working memory. Children, aged 6–13 years, as well as adults (age range: 21–33 years) were tested on auditory frequency and duration discrimination. Each type of discrimination was measured in two conditions (XAB and XXXAB) designed to afford different levels of anchoring by varying the number of repetitions of a standard stimulus (X) prior to the presentation of the test tone (A or B) in each trial. Auditory attention and working memory were also assessed. Whereas duration and frequency discrimination in either condition did not reach adult level prior to 11 years of age, the magnitude of the anchoring effect was similar across ages. These data suggest that perceptual anchoring matures prior to the attainment of adult-like discrimination thresholds. Likewise, neither attention nor working memory could account for the observed developmental trajectories. That auditory discrimination and anchoring follow dissociable developmental trajectories suggests that different factors might contribute to the development of each. We therefore conclude that although anchoring might be necessary for attaining good auditory discrimination, it does not account for the prolonged development of auditory frequency and duration discrimination in school-aged children.     

Acquisition,Extinction, Recovery,and Reversal of Different Response Sequences Under Conditional Control by Nicotine in Rats

Complex voluntary behaviors occur in sequence. Eight rats were trained in an operant procedure that used nicotine and non-drug (saline) states as interoceptive cues that signaled which of two behavioral sequences led to food reward. The distal and proximal responses in the chain were always maintained on variable interval 30-sec and fixed ratio-1 schedules, respectively, and rate differences between the responses were used as the dependent variable. Extinction and reversal training was conducted. Distal response rates were significantly greater than proximal response rates during training, testing, extinction, and reversal learning. These data suggest that (a) nicotine can establish interoceptive control over different response sequences, and (b) extinction of one response sequence may be state-dependent. The clinical relevance of extinction of complex behavioral repertoires such as drug-seeking and drug-taking behavior that are evoked by specific interoceptive cues is addressed in regard to drug abuse treatment and relapse.     

The divisive potential of differences and similarities: The role of intergroup distinctiveness in intergroup differentiation

In this article we examine the relationship between perceptions of intergroup distinctiveness and intergroup differentiation. Research in this area has highlighted two contrasting hypotheses: high distinctiveness is predicted to lead to increased intergroup differentiation (self-categorisation theory), while low distinctiveness or too much similarity can also underlie positive differentiation (social identity theory). We argue for a theoretical integration of these predictions and outline their domains of applicability. In addition to empirical studies from our own laboratory, support for these hypotheses in the literature is examined meta-analytically, and we assess the power of a number of moderators of the distinctiveness ‐ differentiation relation. We focus on group identification and salience of the superordinate category as the most powerful moderators of this relation. We report evidence that low group distinctiveness leads to more differentiation for high identifiers, while high group distinctiveness leads to more differentiation for low identifiers. In addition, our meta-analysis revealed that when the superordinate category was not salient, low distinctiveness tended to lead to differentiation (albeit not significantly so) while high distinctiveness led to differentiation when the salience of the superordinate category was high. A model is proposed integrating our predictions concerning moderators of the distinctiveness ‐ differentiation relation. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed and we suggest directions for future research.     

The role of social support in the acculturation and mental health of unaccompanied minor asylum seekers

There is a lack of knowledge about psychosocial resources that may sustain post‐resettlement psychological adjustment among unaccompanied minor asylum‐seekers. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of social support from family abroad and friends on acculturation, discrimination, and mental health among these vulnerable children and youth. Questionnaire data were collected from a population‐based multi‐ethnic sample involving 895 unaccompanied minors resettled in municipalities in all regions of the country. They met in groups in their local communities. The informants were on average 18.6 years, and had an average length of stay in Norway of 3.5 years. The findings showed that the participants suffered from high levels of ongoing war related intrusive symptoms and depression. Still, at the same time they engaged in adaptation processes that are normative to youth with immigrant backgrounds, in terms of constructing supportive networks and developing culture competence. In accordance with the main effect hypothesis, social support had direct effects on depression and indirect effects by increasing culture competence that may aid the young refugees in dealing with discrimination. However, there were no effects of social support on symptoms of PTSD. The findings give direction to areas of interventions, beyond dealing with the sequel of the traumas the unaccompanied minors have been exposed to, not only for clinicians, but also social workers and school personnel.     

The Relationship of Adverse Childhood Experiences to PTSD,Depression, Poly-Drug Use and Suicide Attempt in Reservation-Based Native American Adolescents and Young Adults

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with numerous risk behaviors and mental health outcomes among youth. This study examines the relationship between the number of types of exposures to ACEs and risk behaviors and mental health outcomes among reservation‐based Native Americans. In 2011, data were collected from Native American (N = 288; 15–24 years of age) tribal members from a remote plains reservation using an anonymous web‐based questionnaire. We analyzed the relationship between six ACEs, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, physical and emotional neglect, witness to intimate partner violence, for those <18 years, and included historical loss associated symptoms, and perceived discrimination for those <19 years; and four risk behavior/mental health outcomes: post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, depression symptoms, poly‐drug use, and suicide attempt. Seventy‐eight percent of the sample reported at least one ACE and 40 % reported at least two. The cumulative impact of the ACEs were significant (p < .001) for the four outcomes with each additional ACE increasing the odds of suicide attempt (37 %), poly‐drug use (51 %), PTSD symptoms (55 %), and depression symptoms (57 %). To address these findings culturally appropriate childhood and adolescent interventions for reservation‐based populations must be developed, tested and evaluated longitudinally.