Delineating the Structural Precursors and Cognitive Consequences of Personal Powerlessness: the Filipino Woman's Experience

Adopting a structural-cognitive perspective and path analysis, this study demonstrates that personal powerlessness generates sequelae of maladaptive cognitions, namely, low self-esteem, low success expectancies and a weak motivation for self-improvement. Despite adverse structural and natural forces, Bicolano women exhibited self-efficacy, high self-esteem, and strong propensity for self-improvement, albeit expressing low success expectancies. These constructive cognitions can be attributed to the women's strong achievement ethic, high educational attainment, and supportive kinship system. These factors also compensate for the depressive effects of low success expectancies on the motivation for self-improvement. Implications for empowerment strategies and cognitive literature are discussed.     

Enhancing social diffusion theory as a basis for prevention intervention: A conceptual and strategic framework

Social diffusion theory has recently been recognized as a promising approach for large-scale disease prevention and health promotion efforts. This paper describes how principles and tactics from social cognitive theory, operant psychology, social psychology, social marketing, and the overarching stages of change model can be used to further develop the conceptual and strategic (technological) bases of social diffusion theory. Within an integrative framework, we discuss in detail more effective ways to train peer mediators of behavior change as one example of how social diffusion theory can benefit from this conceptual and strategic reformulation. We then further illustrate the use of peer mediators of change in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and cancer prevention intervention studies with both interventions training peer mediators to diffuse information, norms, and risk reduction strategies. Although the results of these studies showed reductions in high-risk behaviors across population segments, more closely following the framework discussed in this article should further increase the behavior change potential of future interventions based on social diffusion theory.     

The Impact of Cognitive Diversity on Crisis Negotiations

This paper reports on a series of experiments designed to assess the impact of grouping decision makers by level of cognitive complexity on the outcomes they attain in crisis negotiations. The participants—University of Maryland undergraduates who took roles in a simulated international hostage crisis—used a computer decision support system and a controlled network environment for communications. The goal of the experiments was to better understand the dynamics that lead certain types of groupings to have greater success in negotiations, and that lead certain groups of adversaries to achieve more mutually beneficial outcomes such as compromise and agreement. The findings point to a positive relationship between the level of homogeneity in cognitive complexity among decision makers and the achievement of positive outcomes in crisis negotiations.     

Knowledge-How and Epistemic Value

A conspicuous oversight in recent debates about the vexed problem of the value of knowledge has been the value of knowledge-how. This would not be surprising if knowledge-how were, as Gilbert Ryle [1945, 1949 Ryle, Gilbert 1949. The Concept of Mind, London: Hutchinson's University Library.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]] famously thought, fundamentally different from knowledge-that. However, reductive intellectualists [e.g. Stanley and Williamson 2001 Ryle, Gilbert 1949. The Concept of Mind, London: Hutchinson's University Library.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; Brogaard 2008, 2009 Brogaard, Berit 2009. What Mary Did Yesterday: Reflections on Knowledge-Wh, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 78/2: 439–67.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 2011 Brogaard, Berit 2011. Knowledge-How: A Unified Account, in Knowing How: Essays on Knowledge, Mind, and Action, ed. John Bengson and Marc A. Moffett, New York: Oxford University Press: 136–60. [Google Scholar]; Stanley 2011a Stanley, Jason 2011a. Knowing (How), Noûs 45/2: 207–38.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 2011b Stanley, Jason 2011b. Know How, Oxford: Oxford University Press.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]] maintain that knowledge-how just is a kind of knowledge-that. Accordingly, reductive intellectualists must predict that the value problems facing propositional knowledge will equally apply to knowledge-how. We show, however, that this is not the case. Accordingly, we highlight a value-driven argument for thinking (contra reductive intellectualism) that knowledge-how and knowledge-that come apart.     

Breaking down a barrier: increasing perceived out‐group knowledge reduces negative expectancies about intergroup interaction

Although intergroup contact is an effective way of reducing prejudice, negative expectancies about interacting with out‐group members often create a barrier to intergroup contact. The current study investigated cognitive appraisals by which negative expectancies may arise. Specifically, we examined whether increasing Anglo Australians' appraisals of their knowledge about Muslims would reduce their negative expectancies about an (ostensible) upcoming interaction with a Muslim Australian. Participants (89 Anglo Australians) completed a test that provided positive feedback either on their knowledge about Muslims or on their general knowledge (control). As predicted, Anglo Australians who received positive feedback on their knowledge about Muslims had a lower threat appraisal and expected to feel less anxious during the intergroup interaction compared with those who were in the control condition. This provides support for the precursory role out‐group knowledge may have as a resource that is appraised upon the prospect of an intergroup interaction.     

Investigating Individual Differences in Toddler Search with Mixture Models

Children's performance on cognitive tasks is often described in categorical terms in that a child is described as either passing or failing a test, or knowing or not knowing some concept. We used binomial mixture models to determine whether individual children could be classified as passing or failing two search tasks, the DeLoache model room task and the Berthier et al. door task. The data support categorical classification of the children and suggest that the increase in average proportion correct with age is the result of an increasing proportion of children who can solve the tasks. Performance on the two tasks was concordant, and improving performance could be due to advances in a single psychological ability, such as cognitive control. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Including Both Voices: A New Bidirectional Framework for Understanding and Improving Intergroup Relations

Methods: If successful intergroup harmony is to be achieved between two groups, then both groups' voices must be heard. Despite this, 60 years of social psychological “intergroup” prejudice research has tended to adopt a solely majority‐centric perspective, with the majority group portrayed as the active agent of prejudice, and the minority group as passive targets. Objective: This paper critically reviews relevant literature, highlighting this unidirectional imbalance, and proposes a new, two‐stage bidirectional framework, where we encourage researchers and educators to first understand how minority and majority groups' intergroup attitudes and emotions impact intergroup dynamics, before tailoring and implementing contact and recategorisation strategies to improve intergroup relations, nationally and internationally. Conclusion: We argue that the interactive nature of the intergroup dynamic needs to be better understood, and each group's voice heard, before prejudice can be effectively reduced. Lastly, we describe an Australian study, the Dual Identity and Electronic‐contact (DIEC) programme, that has been conducted and has successfully applied this bidirectional framework.     

降低决策冲动性的方法及其神经机制

大量实验研究显示, 成瘾患者、多动症患者和病态赌博者在决策中表现出冲动偏好。目前研究冲动性决策偏好的经典实验范式是延迟折扣任务。通过延迟折扣任务, 心理学家揭示了冲动性决策偏好的神经机制并构建了多种理论, 包括单一系统评价理论、双系统评价理论、自我控制理论和自我参照加工理论。基于这些理论, 已经发展出了多种降低决策冲动性的方法, 包括想象未来具体事件、工作记忆训练、预先承诺以及提高血液中葡萄糖水平, 其背后的神经机制是通过认知控制和价值表征理论来实现的。未来研究方向需集中于价值计算、价值系统和多体素模式分析(MVPA)在改善决策冲动性以及内在机制研究上的应用。     

变长CD-CAT中的曝光控制与终止规则

本研究借鉴传统计算机化自适应测验的思想, 并结合认知诊断的特点, 在认知诊断框架下提出了4种变长CD-CAT的终止规则, 分别是属性标准误法(SEA)、邻近后验概率之差法(DAPP)、二等分法(HA)以及混合法(HM)。在未控制曝光和采用不同曝光控制条件下, 与HSU法及KL法进行了比较。研究结果表明：(1) 终止条件越严格, 平均测验长度越长, 按测验长度最大值终止的测验百分比越大, 模式判准率越高。(2) 当未加入曝光控制时, 4种新的终止规则均有较好表现, 与HSU法十分接近。随着最大后验概率预设值的增加或e的减小, 模式判准率呈上升趋势, 平均测验长度逐渐增加, 但在题库使用率方面均较差。(3) 当加入项目曝光控制时, 6种变长终止规则下的题库使用率有了极大的提升, 仍能保持较高的模式判准率, 并且不同的曝光控制方法对终止规则的影响是不同的。其中, 相对标准终止规则极易受到曝光控制方法的影响。(4) 综合来看, SEA、HM以及HA法在各项指标上的表现与HSU法基本一致, 其次为KL法和DAPP法。