Teaching social perception skills to adolescents with autism and intellectual disabilities using video‐based group instruction

Few interventions focus on teaching social skills to adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disabilities (ID) that are consistently used during interactions with peers ( Carter et al., 2014). The present study evaluated the effects of video‐based group instruction (VGI) on the acquisition of social perception skills of five adolescents with ASD or ID in a public school setting. Social perception involves observing affective behaviors of others, discriminating relevant environmental stimuli, and differentially reinforcing the affective behavior of another person. Typically developing peers supported VGI implementation as social partners for participants. A multiple probe design across behaviors demonstrated the effectiveness of VGI for teaching social perception skills. Four of five participants acquired and maintained the targeted social perception skills, and we observed some transfer to a nontreatment setting. Results of this study suggest VGI may support the acquisition of social perception among adolescents with ASD or ID.     

Feasibility of and teacher preference for student‐led implementation of the good behavior game in early elementary classrooms

The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is a classwide group contingency shown to reduce disruptive student behavior. We examined the feasibility of training young students to lead the GBG in one first‐grade and three kindergarten classes. We also examined teacher preference for teacher‐led GBG, student‐led GBG, or no GBG using a concurrent chains procedure. We successfully trained students in all classes to lead the GBG, and the GBG reduced disruptive behavior regardless of who implemented it. Preference for who implemented the game varied across teachers. Results of this study suggest that students as young as kindergarten age can be trained to implement the GBG and that teacher preference should be taken into account when determining how classwide interventions are to be implemented.     

多水平导师指导行为对员工结果的影响机制

作为一种促进员工社会化和职业发展的工具, 导师制已在各类企业中得到了广泛应用。然而, 近些年员工工作需求以及组织工作方式的变化分别对导师指导行为的作用结果和指导内容产生了冲击。一方面, 传统导师指导行为作用的研究大多限于员工职业结果; 另一方面, 传统导师制的研究仍停留在一对一的指导, 忽略了针对徒弟群体的指导。为此, 将在现实观察和理论回顾的基础上, 首先提出多水平导师指导行为的概念, 包括为徒弟群提供“一致性”指导的“群体水平指导行为”与为单个徒弟提供“差异化”指导的“个体水平指导行为”; 然后, 检验自我效能与群体认同在多水平导师指导行为对徒弟个体和徒弟群体的工作绩效与非职业结果影响的中介机制, 以及不同水平导师指导行为对徒弟(群)结果的跨层交互效应。以期填补过去导师制在作用结果(仅仅关注职业结果)和指导内容(忽略群体水平)研究上的不足, 并为企业有效实施导师制提供启示与帮助。     

非熟练中-英双语者跨语言的错误记忆通道效应

采用DRM范式以112名非熟练中-英双语者为被试进行了跨语言的错误记忆通道效应实验。实验采用三因素混合设计,根据学习通道和测验通道的不同,把被试分为4组,用由汉语与英语单词组成的DRM词表进行学习和测验。结果发现,⑴在非熟练中-英双语被试中存在错误记忆的跨语言现象;⑵非熟练中-英双语者跨语言的错误记忆存在很强的语言特异性,表现为相同语言条件高于不同语言条件、汉语高于英语;⑶在学习与测验相同语言条件下运用校正的再认分数——敏感性指标Pr,进一步探讨错误记忆的通道效应,发现了跟西方不一致的结论：即无论汉语词表还是英语词表,非熟练中-英双语者在视觉通道上的错误记忆明显高于听觉通道     

How grammar can cope with limited short-term memory: simultaneity and seriality in sign languages

It is known that in American Sign Language (ASL) span is shorter than in English, but this discrepancy has never been systematically investigated using other pairs of signed and spoken languages. This finding is at odds with results showing that short-term memory (STM) for signs has an internal organization similar to STM for words. Moreover, some methodological questions remain open. Thus, we measured span of deaf and matched hearing participants for Italian Sign Language (LIS) and Italian, respectively, controlling for all the possible variables that might be responsible for the discrepancy: yet, a difference in span between deaf signers and hearing speakers was found. However, the advantage of hearing subjects was removed in a visuo-spatial STM task. We attribute the source of the lower span to the internal structure of signs: indeed, unlike English (or Italian) words, signs contain both simultaneous and sequential components. Nonetheless, sign languages are fully-fledged grammatical systems, probably because the overall architecture of the grammar of signed languages reduces the STM load. Our hypothesis is that the faculty of language is dependent on STM, being however flexible enough to develop even in a relatively hostile environment.     

Emergent Processes in Group Behavior

ABSTRACT— Just as neurons interconnect in networks that create structured thoughts beyond the ken of any individual neuron, so people spontaneously organize themselves into groups to create emergent organizations that no individual may intend, comprehend, or even perceive. Recent technological advances have provided us with unprecedented opportunities for conducting controlled laboratory experiments on human collective behavior. We describe two experimental paradigms in which we attempt to build predictive bridges between the beliefs, goals, and cognitive capacities of individuals and patterns of behavior at the group level, showing how the members of a group dynamically allocate themselves to resources and how innovations diffuse through a social network. Agent-based computational models have provided useful explanatory and predictive accounts. Together, the models and experiments point to tradeoffs between exploration and exploitation—that is, compromises between individuals using their own innovations and using innovations obtained from their peers—and the emergence of group-level organizations such as population waves, bandwagon effects, and spontaneous specialization.     

Group processes in food choices: The role of ethnic identity and perceived ethnic norms upon intentions to purchase ethnical food products

A study tested an extended Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) model, inclusive of measures of ethnical identification and perceived ethnic group norms, in the ethnical food purchasing domain. One hundred and thirty‐five Jamaicans, living in the Brixton neighbourhood, London, were administered a self‐reported questionnaire measuring the classical TPB components (attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, behavioural intentions) plus three additional components: identification with the Jamaican group, perceived norms of the Jamaican group and past behaviour. Results of hierarchical multiple regressions showed that past behaviour, ethnical identification and perceived group norms explain an additional proportion of variance in intentions, independently of attitudes, subjective norms and perceived control. A two‐way interaction, between ethnical identification and perceived group norms, was detected. A stronger relation between group norms and intentions emerged among high ethnical identifiers. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

跨情境下集群行为的动因机制

群体性事件是当下我国典型的集群行为。本研究通过实验室情景设计的方法, 考察了跨情境下群体相对剥夺如何通过群体认同作用于集群行为, 及群体愤怒和群体效能对集群行为的影响。结果表明：1) 同一触发情境下, 群体认同调节群体相对剥夺－集群行为(意向)之间的关系。一般群体认同凸显的个体在高群体相对剥夺水平下有更强烈的集群行为参与(意向)。这源自群体认同对群体相对剥夺不同水平下群体效能与集群行为意向之间的二次调节。对于特定群体认同凸显的个体, 无论群体相对剥夺水平的高低, 都有较高的集群行为参与(意向)。这当中, 群体愤怒起到了部分中介的作用。2) 不同触发情境下, 群体认同对群体相对剥夺与集群行为意向的调节作用出现差异。该调节作用仅出现在利益无关情境中。此外, 群体愤怒与群体效能对集群行为意向的影响在不同情境下有区别：在利益无关情境中, 群体愤怒的影响显著大于群体效能; 在利益相关情境中, 群体效能与群体愤怒的影响无显著差异。本研究扩展了集群行为的双路径模型, 并为政府预防和化解群体性事件提供思路。     

Political Contacts: Analyzing the Role of Similarity in Theories of Prejudice

Over the last 50 years, many theories of prejudice reduction in social psychology have embraced the premise that intergroup contact allows people to recognize similarities between themselves, and that this perceived similarity overwhelms the social distance associated with intergroup antipathy. Given the mixed empirical evidence, however, we suggest that the positive effects of perceived similarity have been overemphasized. Although similarity may be sufficient for improved intergroup relations, the relationship between similarity and intergroup relations is far more complex than the literature usually suggests. Moreover, studying difference in intergroup contexts may yield new ways to resolve intergroup conflict and address group inequalities.