Aggression and commensalism in house mouse: a comparative study across Europe and the near east

Species specific differences of house mouse social behavior compared to its closest relatives (aboriginal species Mus macedonicus, Mus spicilegus, and Mus spretus) have recently been suggested. However, substantial variation of behavioral traits between mouse populations has been also evidenced. Agonistic behavior of laboratory‐born house mice from five commensal populations (Mus musculus musculus: central Czech Republic, Mus musculus domesticus: Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, and natural Mus m. musculus/domesticus hybrids from the Czech part of the hybrid zone) and five non‐commensal populations of M. m. domesticus (C. Syria, E. Syria, Jordan, Iran, Libya) was studied. Dyadic interactions in a neutral cage were performed and the effects of sex and population on time spent by agonistic behavior evaluated. In all studied populations, the male‐male interactions were more agonistic than the female‐female ones. Male‐male behavior gradually increased from the least agonistic population of M. m. musculus from Central Europe to the Near East populations of M. m. domesticus exhibiting the highest scores of agonistic behavior. Between‐population differences were even stronger when female‐female encounters were considered. While females of commensal populations belonging to both M. m. musculus and M. m. domesticus were tolerant of each other, those coming from non‐commensal populations of M. m. domesticus were highly agonistic, reaching even the level of aggression between the females of some aboriginal mouse species. This phenomenon may be attributed to increased competition for food in non‐commensal populations when compared to commensal ones supplied by superabundant resources. Social behavior of house mice, therefore, appears to be pliable rather than rigid and species specific. It can be changed rapidly according to ecological needs and such adaptability allows house mice to colonize various habitats. Aggr. Behav. 31:283–293, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

书《孟子·离娄·齐人有一妻一妾》章后

《孟子·离娄·齐人有一妻一妾》章是中国最早的人情小说,孟子非常成功地运用了视角转换这一小说技巧,最后点明寓意的一句话对蒲松龄的《聊斋志异》有负面影响。如能与其前一章合读,将会看出孟子发现了人类被偷窥的尴尬处境。历来的学者割裂了此章与前一章的联系,影响了读者对孟子的认识。     

What is Radical Behaviorism? A Review of Jay Moore's Conceptual Foundations of Radical Behaviorism

B. F. Skinner founded both radical behaviorism and behavior analysis. His founding innovations included: a versatile preparation for studying behavior; explicating the generic nature of stimulus and response; a pragmatic criterion for defining behavioral units; response rate as a datum; the concept of stimulus control; the concept of verbal behavior; and explicating the explanatory power of contingencies. Besides these achievements, however, Skinner also made some mistakes. Subsequent developments in radical behaviorist thought have attempted to remedy these mistakes. Moore's book presents a “party line” version of radical behaviorism. It focuses narrowly on a few of Skinner's concepts (mostly mentalism and verbal behavior) and contains no criticism of his mistakes. In fact, Moore adds a few mistakes of his own manufacture; for example, he insists that the mental realm does not exist—an unprovable and distracting assertion. The book's portrayal of behavior analysis would have been current around 1960; it mentions almost none of the developments since then. It also includes almost no developments in radical behaviorism since Skinner. Moore's book would give an unwary reader a highly distorted picture of contemporary behavior analysis and radical behaviorism.     

Evasion, private events, and pragmatism: A Reply to Moore's response to my review of Conceptual Foundations of Radical Behaviorism

Moore's screed in response to my review of his book uses several rhetorical tricks to counter criticism without actually addressing it: he tries to preempt the transparency of his own orthodoxy by groundlessly accusing me of orthodoxy; he caricatures my criticisms to make them appear obviously wrong; he professes lack of understanding so as to dodge having to attempt a genuine response; and he engages in pejorative labeling to dismiss the criticisms without analysis. From a scientific and pragmatic point of view, private events are a mistake, precisely because they are private. They cannot serve as independent variables, as Moore suggests, because they cannot be measured; “private independent variable” is a contradiction in terms. When we carefully examine locutions like “observe” and “report on,” we discover that they entail only public verbal and nonverbal behavior, not objects and not private events as objects. A person in pain is not reporting on anything, is engaging in public verbal and nonverbal pain‐behavior, and an infant or a dog may be considered to be in pain. The public behavior is all that matters, because determining whether a person is really in pain privately is impossible. The same is true of any private event, and the control of the public behavior on which the verbal community comments lies in the public environment. We cannot have two sets of principles, one for verbal behavior and one for nonverbal behavior or one for humans and one for other animals.     

Strategic Planning to Enhance Teaching and Learning with Technology

Abstract. Seminaries across North America are continuing to expand their use of technology for theological education. This article explores eight issues surrounding the strategic planning process when it comes to technology. These have to do with the obstacles to fresh thinking, the current best practices in strategic planning processes, detailed discussions of the impact of various models of technology for theological education on faculty, Information Technology personnel, and students as well as the issues surrounding delivery system models and the issue of sustainability.     

生态学习观:一种审视学习的新视角

学习理论作为教育心理学的重要组成部分,百余年来发展繁盛。然而,无论是行为主义、信息加工、建构主义、还是目前流行的社会文化观,每一种学习理论所能描述和解释的不过是学习现象的某些方面或某一层次,都未能反映出人类学习的完整图景。本文尝试提出生态学习的思想,试图展现学习的整体、适应和多元的面孔。     

Sales manager cost control engagement: antecedents and performance implications

Many organizations face competing agendas by which they are expected to simultaneously grow sales output while controlling associated costs. At the interface of this organizational pressure and the sales force’s implementation of such initiatives is the sales manager. However, questions with significant implications remain regarding how a sales manager’s requisite engagement with cost control affects sales performance. To address this issue, the authors conceptualize and operationalize the notion of sales manager cost control engagement. Results from a survey of 178 business-to-business sales managers show the antecedent and consequence effects of sales manager cost control engagement. A variety of organizational factors are shown to effectively direct the sales manager’s attention to cost control, which in turn has a positive impact on cost-related sales performance. These findings add to an emergent body of research aimed at understanding key skills required of sales managers for driving sales performance as well as provide a novel perspective for sales managers to consider when balancing pressures between cost inputs and sales outputs. Several theoretical and managerial implications are offered, as are future research directions.     

东西方文化的人性观差异及其对道德认知的影响

人性观,即认为人性究竟是本善的还是本恶的,不仅是哲学思辨的焦点,也是日常生活中形成的一种常人理论(lay theory)。对于东西方文化传统的检视表明,西方文化占主导地位的是性恶论人性观,东方文化占主导地位的则是性善论人性观。研究通过实证数据支持了这一结论,发现中国被试相对于美国被试,对于人性的主观评定更倾向于性善的一端(研究1)。这种人性观差异导致中国被试在道德方面,尤其是规范性道德(行善)方面,对人提出了更高的要求(研究1),并且这种因果关系得到了启动实验的支持(研究2)。这些研究结果有助于人们更好地理解文化如何塑造了人们对于人性和道德的看法。     

What Is Conventionalism about Moral Rights and Duties?

A powerful objection against moral conventionalism says that it gives the wrong reasons for individual rights and duties. The reason why I must not break my promise to you, for example, should lie in the damage to you—rather than to the practice of promising or to all other participants in that practice. Common targets of this objection include the theories of Hobbes, Gauthier, Hooker, Binmore, and Rawls. I argue that (1) the conventionalism of these theories is superficial; (2) genuinely conventionalist theories are not vulnerable to the objection; and (3) genuine moral conventionalism is independently plausible.     

对"心理学危机论"的思考

对当前心理学界存在的心理发展的多种危机论进行了分析,认为,心理学的危机并非源于当前的心理学科本身,而在于心理学者的主观认识和实际工作中。要改变心理学发展缓慢的现状,必须打破心理学者之间过分独立的学术研究活动和学术交流活动,消除存在于心理学者之间的成见,找寻存在于心理学自身和存在于社会需求中的发展机遇．