Minding Animals, Minding Earth: Old Brains, New Bottlenecks

Abstract. I emphasize the importance of broadening behavioral, ecological, and conservation science into a more integrative, interdisciplinary, socially responsible, compassionate, spiritual, and holistic endeavor. I stress the significance of studies of animal behavior, especially ethological research concerned with animal emotions in which individuals are named and recognized for their own personalities, for helping us to learn not only about the nonhuman animal beings with whom we share Earth but also about who we are and our place in nature. We are best understood in relationship with others. To this end I develop the notions of “minding animals” and “deep ethology.” Animals are sources of wisdom, a way of knowing. We are all citizens of Earth, members of a global community in which intimate reciprocal and beneficent peaceful relationships are mandatory. A world without cruelty and with boundless compassion, respect, grace, humility, spirituality, and love would be a better world in which to live. We have compelling responsibilities for making Earth a better and more peaceful habitat for all beings. It is essential that we do better than our ancestors. We must reflect and step lightly as we “redecorate” nature. Time is not on our side. I plead for the development of heartfelt and holistic science that allows for joy and play. Science need not be suspicious of things it cannot fully understand. We must not avert our eyes or other senses from the eyes and voices of other beings who urgently need our uncompromising and unconditional aid and love. We can do much more than we have done for animals and the Earth.     

Model Building With Prospect Theory: A Cognitive Approach to International Relations

Despite the growing call for new models of politics grounded in the capacities of real–world decision–makers, much international relations theory still incorporates rationalist assumptions. Scholars defend such assumptions as the best way to produce parsimonious theoretical structures. Recent attempts to deploy prospect theory in the study of international politics are consistent with the call for empirically grounded models of political behavior. However, past attempts have often emphasized individualized comparisons of prospect theory with rational choice at the expense of building deductive theory. The analysis here demonstrates that prospect theory can produce deductive models for empirical comparison with those already manufactured under rational choice. The result is a new set of propositions concerning international politics securely anchored to the actual capacities of human actors.     

医患关系现状的多维视角思考的研究

依据社会学和心理学理论,从社会政治、经济、文化、心理、法律多维层面对医患关系的现状进行思考.认为其形成原因是多元的;改善途径应是全方位的;努力应是社会的;历程是漫长的;人性化的医疗服务是必要的.     

社会困境问题的理论架构与实验研究

社会困境是指个体理性导致集体非理性这样的情境。社会困境研究的推进要求一个新的框架来理解已有理论, 这一框架将这些理论区分为宏观、中观和微观三个层面。实验研究依据这些不同层面的理论, 以实验游戏为工具来探讨人们在面临社会困境时做出选择的心理机制及其影响因素, 从而对社会困境问题发展出相应的问题解决路径。理论的发展、实验任务本身的改进以及研究的外在效度预示了通过实验方法来研究社会困境问题有着广阔的前景。     

催产素对社会决策行为的影响

大量的研究已经证明催产素对人类社会决策起着重要的调节作用。以往研究者采用多种实验范式用于探讨催产素对社会决策的影响, 研究内容主要包括合作与保护行为、道德行为、信任行为和慷慨行为。研究者已提出三种关于催产素的可能的作用机制用来解释观察到的实验结果, 三种理论各有侧重。未来的研究中应关注鼻喷催产素和受体基因多态性等生理机制、并考虑催产素影响社会决策行为的性别差异、建立更完善并可供检验的理论模型。