Risk and protective factors for urban African-American youth

The present study investigated risk and resilience processes in a sample of urban African-American youth. Risk and protective factors were assessed across ecological levels including individual, family and community. Both externalizing and internalizing symptomatology were included as measures of child adjustment. Youth and parental reports as well as various methods, such as the Experience Sampling Method, were used to capture the daily experiences of the adolescents from different perspectives. Poverty, hassles, and exposure to violence predicted higher rates of externalizing and internalizing symptoms. Individual and family protective variables emerged as powerful sources of resilience. An inner sense of confidence and helpful family support were associated with reductions in the deleterious effects of community poverty. Two main patterns, protective-stabilizing and overwhelming-risk, seemed to characterize most of the risk by protective factor interactions. The present findings are important for understanding the complex experiences of urban youth and furthering the literature on sources of risk and protection for African-Americans.     

Psychopathy and aggression: Examining the role of psychopathy factors in predicting laboratory aggression under hostile and instrumental conditions

Psychopathy is a problematic configuration of traits and behaviors that is consistently correlated with aggressive, criminal behavior. Studies have suggested that psychopathy is composed of related but distinct factors that manifest divergent relations with a host of constructs including aggression. In the current study, we used a sample of 126 men to examine whether these psychopathy factors are differentially related to aggression manifested in two conditions (instrumental and hostile/reactive aggression) of a laboratory aggression paradigm. Traits related to an antagonistic interpersonal style and emotional detachment (i.e., Factor 1) were related to aggression in both conditions whereas traits related to negative emotionality, impulsivity, and an antagonistic style (i.e., Factor 2) were related to aggression only in the hostile/reactive condition. Potential explanations for these findings are put forth.     

Models of misbelief: Integrating motivational and deficit theories of delusions

The impact of our desires and preferences upon our ordinary, everyday beliefs is well-documented [Gilovich, T. (1991). How we know what isn’t so: The fallibility of human reason in everyday life. New York: The Free Press.]. The influence of such motivational factors on delusions, which are instances of pathological misbelief, has tended however to be neglected by certain prevailing models of delusion formation and maintenance. This paper explores a distinction between two general classes of theoretical explanation for delusions; the motivational and the deficit. Motivational approaches view delusions as extreme instances of self-deception; as defensive attempts to relieve pain and distress. Deficit approaches, in contrast, view delusions as the consequence of defects in the normal functioning of belief mechanisms, underpinned by neuroanatomical or neurophysiological abnormalities. It is argued that although there are good reasons to be sceptical of motivational theories (particularly in their more floridly psychodynamic manifestations), recent experiments confirm that motives are important causal forces where delusions are concerned. It is therefore concluded that the most comprehensive account of delusions will involve a theoretical unification of both motivational and deficit approaches.     

西方社区感研究的现状与趋势

社区感指社区成员之间及其同团体之间的相互影响与归属感,通过彼此承诺而使成员需要得以满足的共同信念,并且以社区历史为基础所形成的情感联结。文章首先说明了社区感概念的形成与发展;然后着重介绍了西方在不同类型社区感、社区感影响因素及测量工具方面取得的新成果;最后展望了该领域在研究方法、研究内容和社区感能力培养方面的发展趋势     

关于迁移理论的几点思考

迁移理论是教育心理学研究的一个重要内容,在其发展过程中不断有新观点产生。其间后继观点往往对先前观点有所臧否,这很正常。但后继观点本身以及对先前观点的评价并不一定无懈可击。桑代克对形式训练说的否定是值得商榷的;认知结构迁移理论否定相同因素是迁移的条件也值得讨论;相同因素应是迁移产生的最为重要的条件。     

Psyche and System: On Progress in the Integration of Individual Psychotherapy and Family Psychotherapy

This article addresses the frequency with which the same group of patients utilizes individual and family therapies, and at the same time do not constitute actual integration. The conditions under which such serial or concurrent utilization of the two forms of psychotherapy may be considered to be integrative are discussed.     

情绪面孔搜索不对称性：情绪观与知觉观的争议

情绪面孔搜索不对称性是指当负性情绪面孔作为目标, 正性情绪面孔作为分心物时, 其搜索速度比正性情绪面孔作为目标时(负性情绪面孔作为分心物)更快。对于这一现象的解释存在争议, 研究者主要从不同情绪面孔在情绪因素和知觉因素两个方面的差异进行解释。来自行为研究和认知神经科学的证据对情绪面孔搜索不对称性效应的解释主要有威胁性刺激捕获假设和情绪摆脱假设的情绪观, 以及嘴部差异说、闭合结构说、知觉组群说以及其他面部特征假设的知觉观。经过对比评价两类观点的理论异同和实验证据认为未来的研究可以整合情绪因素和知觉因素来解释该效应。     

内隐序列学习意识的理论、测量和影响因素

内隐序列学习意识理论有二分和渐进两种观点。意识的主观和客观行为测量来源于二分理论, 其研究却产生了渐进理论; 电生理和脑成像测量则存在严重的二分偏向。影响意识的三因素--反应刺激间隔(RSI)、人格开放性和新异刺激都是意识产生的原因, 其有关研究各自支持或反对两种意识理论, 进一步探索可能孕育出新的意识理论。鉴于二分理论无法解释中间意识, 反之渐进理论无法解释意识与无意识的脑区分离, 本文提出双系统渐进理论或可统合两者, 且可能促使大脑网络技术探索意识产生机制的多样性和竞争性等新研究的产生。此外, 所有测量方式的敏感性等级尚待确定, 影响意识三因素的交互作用也值得探索。     

皮质醇日常节律与儿童问题行为及心理社会因素的关系

HPA轴(下丘脑?垂体?肾上腺皮质轴, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal cortex axis)是人体应对压力的重要神经内分泌系统, 其终产物皮质醇常作为测量压力的生物学指标。目前的研究多通过皮质醇日常节律表示静息状态下HPA轴的活动, 而日常节律因其较高的稳定性和可靠性成为儿童生理健康评估的最佳指标。儿童期迅速发育的神经内分泌系统与儿童的行为相互作用, 并受到多种心理社会因素的影响。以往研究主要关注皮质醇日常节律与儿童问题行为及心理社会因素的关系, 未来研究应讨论逆境条件下影响儿童成长的危险性因素和保护性因素, 并探索环境对儿童行为影响可能存在的内分泌机制。     

国外社会心理学领域中主观幸福感的研究进展

社会心理学领域扩展与深化了现代主观幸福感的研究。本文介绍了国外社会心理学领域中有关主观幸福感研究的5个方面的新进展：适应与主观幸福感、记忆与主观幸福感、消极因素与主观幸福感、友好关系与主观幸福感、文化与主观幸福感,勾画出了幸福感的完整风貌,增进了心理学对主观幸福感的理解。