A university-based incentive program to increase safety belt use: Toward cost-effective institutionalization

A cost-effective incentive program to increase safety belt use was implemented by the campus police of a large university. For each of the 3-week intervention periods during three consecutive academic quarters, the 22 campus police officers recorded the license plate numbers of vehicles with drivers wearing a shoulder belt. From these numbers, 10 raffle winners were drawn who received gift certificates donated by community merchants. Faculty and staff increased their belt usage markedly as a result of the "Seatbelt Sweepstakes," whereas students increased their belt use only slightly. A cost-effectiveness analysis indicated that the sweepstakes cost an average of $0.98 per each newly buckled driver. During each sweepstakes intervention, officers' belt usage increased significantly, but diminished to initial baseline levels after the final withdrawal of the program. Surveys of officers' opinions indicated that the police would accept the program demands as a regular task requirement. This result and the fact that program promotion and coordination were eventually taken over by two student organizations suggest that institutionalization of the "Seatbelt Sweepstakes" is feasible.     

Deci and Ryan's cognitive evaluation theory of intrinsic motivation: A set of common sense theorems

Cognitive evaluation theory as put forward by Deci and Ryan (1985) is examined. The theory, which deals with intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, has inspired considerable amount of empirical research in the last two decades. However, contrary to the mainstream view and that of its authors, it is argued here that the theory consists of necessary truths of common sense (folk) psychology, rather than contingent and empirically testable hypotheses. As such the theory spells out what must necessarily be the case in human motivation and the empirical evidence amassed to test its validity is irrelevant. Such testing should be abandoned if its purpose is to appraise the truth value of the theory's propositions. To empirically test necessary true propositions is not only redundant in such cases, but also a waste of time and resources.     

Gender Differences in Preferences for Singles Ads that Proclaim Extrinsic Versus Intrinsic Values

Two studies (Ns = 1,113 and 98) examined University men and womens’ differing preferences for singles ads as a function of the values declared by ad-writers, using Kasser and colleagues’ distinction between extrinsic values (financial success, status/fame, and image/attractiveness) and intrinsic values (emotional intimacy, community contribution, and personal growth). In general, participants preferred writers espousing intrinsic values. Women, compared to men, especially preferred partners espousing intrinsic values. They also expressed less interest in partners espousing extrinsic values, with one exception: compared to men, they were more interested in partners espousing financial success values. Implications for debates regarding the evolved versus sociological origins of gender differences are discussed, as well as implications for theories of attraction based on the matching hypothesis.     

Variation in arm-choice strategies of rats in radial-maze tasks

Rats were trained with three delay-interpolated tasks in a radial-arm maze. The tasks differed in the post-delay bait conditions. When every arm was baited in the post-delay free choices (Task E8B), rats made adjacent-arm choices frequently. When only the four arms unvisited in the pre-delay forced choices were baited after delay (Task U4B), rats chose unvisited arms preferentially, with frequent arm investigations. When four quasi-randomly selected arms were baited after delay (Task R4B), rats did not choose adjacent arms as frequently as the rats in Task E8B did, and made fewer arm investigations. These results indicate that the rats developed different arm-choice strategies in accordance with tasks. As for the effects of rewarding, post-delay choice behavior was not affected by the pre-delay bait conditions.     

社会价值取向对自我社会奖赏加工的影响——来自ERPs的证据

社会价值取向(Social Value Orientation, SVO)是相互依存情境下人们对自己和他人分配结果的一种稳定的社会偏好,按SVO不同可以将个体分为\"亲社会取向\"和\"亲自我取向\"个体。已有研究表明SVO影响个体对涉及自我金钱奖赏的结果评价加工,而它如何影响自我社会奖赏加工过程尚不明确。本研究让亲社会取向和亲自我取向被试完成涉及自我社会奖赏(包含社会接纳和自我成就感)的猜牌建议给予任务,同时记录其加工他人对建议的反馈(接受vs.拒绝)和他人最终结果(收益vs.损失)时诱发的脑电成分。结果发现,在建议反馈加工阶段,相比亲自我取向个体,亲社会取向个体在反馈相关负波(FRN)波幅(峰-峰值)和P3平均波幅上,建议被对方接受和被对方拒绝所诱发的波幅差异均显著;在他人最终结果加工阶段,建议被对方拒绝后,对于亲社会取向个体,对方损失诱发的反馈相关负FRN波幅比对方收益诱发的波幅更负,而对方损失诱发的P3波幅小于对方收益诱发的波幅;对于亲自我取向个体,对方损失与收益诱发的FRN波幅无差异,对方损失诱发的P3波幅显著大于对方收益诱发的波幅。这些结果表明社会价值取向调节个体对自我社会奖赏的加...