Self-control and mechanisms of behavior: Why self-control is not a natural mental kind

In this paper, I argue for two main hypotheses. First, that (philosophical) self-control is not a natural mental kind and, second, that there is no dedicated mechanism of self-control (indeed, the latter claim forms part of my argument for the former). By the first claim, I simply mean that those behaviors we label as “self-controlled” are a somewhat arbitrarily selected hodgepodge that do not have anything in common that distinguishes them from other behaviors. In other words, self-control is a gerrymandered property that does not correspond to a natural mental or psychological kind. By the second claim, I mean that self-controlled behaviors are not produced by a mechanism (or a set of them) that is not utilized in the production of other (non-self-controlled) behaviors. Not only is there no natural mental property of self-control, there is no mechanism (such as willpower) that is dedicated to producing self-controlled behavior. I further evaluate whether this account of self-control has enough explanatory power to account for a range of phenomena related to self-control (systematic self-control failures, etc.). I argue that my account does a better job of explaining these phenomena than accounts which appeal to a dedicated self-control mechanism.     

重复知盲效应的理论之争及脑机制

重复知盲现象自被发现至今已走过四分之一世纪, 这期间重复知盲的产生机制一直是争论的焦点, 并有标记个体化理论、类型节点不应期理论、竞争理论、提取失败理论和建构/归因理论等多种理论解释。大量研究证明, 重复知盲是一种视知觉失败现象, 但也有研究认为它是一种记忆失败现象。很多研究还发现, 重复知盲不仅受到呈现时间和间隔刺激个数的限制, 还受到实验材料的性质、刺激的空间位置及人们的反应方式等多种因素的影响。近些年来, 随着ERP和fMRI等技术的利用, 从更深层次揭示了重复知盲产生的脑机制。同时, 重复知盲也作为一种实验范式应用于视觉加工领域的研究中。目前关于重复知盲仍然有很多问题值得探索。     

音乐传达哲理性概念的认知神经机制

哲理性概念是音乐表现的对象之一。由于音乐不具有类似语言的语义性, 对哲理性概念的理解常常成为音乐欣赏者的困扰。基于此, 本项目聚焦于听者对哲理性概念的理解。通过选取音乐训练经历不同的人群为被试, 系统考察哲理性概念加工的认知神经机制。本项目成果将揭示音乐诱发哲理性概念加工的神经机制, 厘清音乐训练对音乐外在意义加工的作用, 从而在一定程度上回答人类对音乐意义理解的普遍性问题。     

人类疼痛表情研究进展

疼痛表情是人类疼痛表达的行为方式之一,具有重要的生存适应和社会交流价值。疼痛表情研究应当遵循行为观察方法,基于面部运动编码系统（Facial Action Coding System, FACS）的表情编码有助于疼痛表情的量化分析。年龄、性别、社会因素、文化背景等多种因素会影响疼痛表情表达,使疼痛表情在不同个体之间表现出共性和个性并存的特性。在不断改进研究方法的基础上,未来可对疼痛表情的生理心理机制作出更多阐述,并有望建立完备的人类疼痛表情信息库。     

变革型领导研究综述

变革型领导作为近二十多年来领导力研究的热点,在领导力的研究中占有重要的地位。本文对变革型领导的的概念和变革型领导的结构及测量进行了介绍,并对变革型领导有效性和作用机制进行评述,最后对变革型领导研究提出了展望。     

My life is a longing: Child abuse and its adult sequelae Results of the Brody longitudinal study from birth to age 30

The psychoanalytically oriented Brody longitudinal study has followed the psychological development of 76 individuals from birth to age 30. Ten suffered severe maltreatment in childhood in the form of rejection and/or physical abuse at the hands of one or both parents. This report describes the effects of child abuse on the emerging personalities of the children, as well as on their adult personalities and mental health. Specifi cally, as adults the maltreated children had signifi cantly more psychiatric illness (typically depressions and anxiety disorders), less mature psychological defense mechanisms, more insecure mental representations of attachment to their parents as indicated by the adult attachment interview, and a lower Global Assessment of Functioning than their well-treated counterparts. Additionally, their prevailing moods were joyless. Case examples show the emergence of symptoms, personality disorders, and defenses over time, as well as the workings of ameliorating infl uences. Several of the maltreated children made relatively successful adaptations as adults, indicating children's potential for resilience. Resilience, however, may be a superfi cial concept, for, in this series of cases, seemingly adequate coping in formerly mistreated children always came at the price of emotional vulnerability and compromised potential.     

The influence of robotic guidance on error detection and correction mechanisms

New technologies have expanded the available methods to help individuals learn or re-learn motor skills. Despite equivocal evidence for the impact of robotic guidance for motor skill acquisition (Marchal-Crespo, McHughen, Cramer, & Reinkensmeyer, 2010), we have recently shown that robotic guidance mixed with unassisted practice can significantly improve the learning of a golf putting task (Bested & Tremblay, 2018). To understand the mechanisms associated with this new mixed approach (i.e., unassisted and robot-guided practice) for the learning of a golf putting task, the current study aimed to determine if such mixed practice extends to one’s ability to detect errors. Participants completed a pre-test, an acquisition phase, as well as immediate, delayed (24-h), and transfer post-tests. During the pre-test, kinematic data from the putter was converted into highly accurate, consistent, and smooth trajectories delivered by a robot arm. During acquisition, 2 groups performed putts towards 3 different targets with robotic guidance on either 0% or 50% of acquisition trials. Only the 50% guidance group significantly reduced ball endpoint distance and variability, as well as ball endpoint error estimations, between the pre-test and the post-tests (i.e., immediate retention, 24-h retention, and 24-h transfer). The current study showed that allowing one to experience both robotic guidance and unassisted (i.e., errorful) performances enhances one’s ability to detect errors, which can explain the beneficial motor learning effects of a mixed practice schedule.     

Trauma awareness and preparedness: Their influence on posttraumatic stress disorder development related to armed conflict experience

This study examined influences of trauma awareness and preparedness on the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in civilian and military personnel with exposure to the civil war. Participants were 302 people with exposure to civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (civilians = 68%; females = 47%; age range = 16 to 76 years old, SD = 13.58 years). Participants completed the Posttraumatic Checklist Scale, General Self-Efficacy Scale, and Traumatic Events List. The data were analysed to predict PTSD development from trauma awareness and preparedness, taking exposure to multiple traumas into account as a risk factor. Findings suggest that trauma awareness and preparedness play an important role among military personnel in moderating the risk of developing PTSD, more so than among the civilian population. Mental health professionals working with civil war survivors should seek to explore trauma awareness and preparedness as resources for minimising risk for PTSD in armed conflict situations.     

神经科学偏见效应：可重复性及其心理机制的探索

神经科学的发展对其他学科以及社会产生了重要的影响。虽然神经科学方法与行为研究方法都是探索人类心理与行为的有效手段并各有所长, 但神经科学的研究结果却可能引起人们过度的解读和信任。研究者发现, 当某一结论使用神经科学结果作为证据时, 比使用行为科学结果或者心理生理学指标作为证据时更加让人信服, 即使神经科学结果与该结论之间毫无关系, 这种现象被称为神经科学偏见(neuroscience bias)。通过系统回顾近年来关于神经科学偏见的研究, 我们发现：(1)虽然神经科学偏见存在可重复性的争论, 但该效应确实存在; (2)神经科学偏见的产生可能是因为个体倾向于还原论的解释(即使用低层次、简单的机制来解释更高层次上的现象)及心理本质主义的影响(即人们认为心理与行为的本质是神经活动)。神经科学偏见反映了公众对科学结果解读的偏见, 未来研究需要探讨这种偏见的心理机制, 从而引导科学结果的正确解读和运用。     

手写体文字识别的特点及神经机制

手写体文字与打印体文字的识别过程存在很大差异, 与打印体文字相比, 手写体文字的识别受文本材料的影响更大, 具体包括文字的物理结构特性、文字特性、书写风格等。有关神经机制的研究发现, 手写体文字识别加工所涉及的脑区与打印体文字有所区别, 它既包含识别打印体文字的枕叶和外侧额顶叶, 还涉及到手写体文字识别的文化特异性脑区, 包括左后侧运动皮层, 外侧前额叶和后侧顶叶皮层。手写体文字加工既涉及整体加工, 也涉及特征加工, 加工方式既有其特异性, 又有与打印体文字的共同之处。未来研究应该进一步探究大脑在识别手写体文字时, 怎样在嘈杂的视觉信息中提取目标词, 并考虑手写体文字识别理论模型的构建, 以便更好地解释手写体文字的识别过程。