Social Consequences of the Internet for Adolescents: A Decade of Research

ABSTRACT— Adolescents are currently the defining users of the Internet. They spend more time online than adults do, and they use the Internet for social interaction more often than adults do. This article discusses the state of the literature on the consequences of online communication technologies (e.g., instant messaging) for adolescents' social connectedness and well-being. Whereas several studies in the 1990s suggested that Internet use is detrimental, recent studies tend to report opposite effects. We first explain why the results of more recent studies diverge from those of earlier studies. Then, we discuss a viable hypothesis to explain the recent findings: the Internet-enhanced self-disclosure hypothesis. Finally, we discuss some contingent factors that may deserve special attention in future research.     

How Emotions Regulate Social Life: The Emotions as Social Information (EASI) Model

ABSTRACT— The idea that emotions regulate social interaction is increasingly popular. But exactly how do emotions do this? To address this question, I draw on research on the interpersonal effects of emotions on behavior in personal relationships, parent–child interactions, conflict, negotiation, and leadership, and propose a new framework that can account for existing findings and guide future research: the emotions as social information (EASI) model. I demonstrate that emotional expressions affect observers' behavior by triggering inferential processes and/or affective reactions in them. The predictive strength of these two processes—which may inspire different behaviors—depends on the observer's information processing and on social-relational factors. Examples of moderators that determine the relative predictive strength of inferences and affective reactions include power, need for cognitive closure, time pressure, display rules, and the appropriateness and target of the emotional expression, which are all discussed.     

Dissociating the effects of angular disparity and image similarity in mental rotation and object recognition

Performance is often impaired linearly with increasing angular disparity between two objects in tasks that measure mental rotation or object recognition. But increased angular disparity is often accompanied by changes in the similarity between views of an object, confounding the impact of the two factors in these tasks. We examined separately the effects of angular disparity and image similarity on handedness (to test mental rotation) and identity (to test object recognition) judgments with 3-D novel objects. When similarity was approximately equated, an effect of angular disparity was only found for handedness but not identity judgments. With a fixed angular disparity, performance was better for similar than dissimilar image pairs in both tasks, with a larger effect for identity than handedness judgments. Our results suggest that mental rotation involves mental transformation procedures that depend on angular disparity, but that object recognition is predominately dependent on the similarity of image features.     

Empirical comparison of Markov and quantum models of decision making

There are at least two general theories for building probabilistic-dynamical systems: one is Markov theory and another is quantum theory. These two mathematical frameworks share many fundamental ideas, but they also differ in some key properties. On the one hand, Markov theory obeys the law of total probability, but quantum theory does not; on the other hand, quantum theory obeys the doubly stochastic law, but Markov theory does not. Therefore, the decision about whether to use a Markov or a quantum system depends on which of these laws are empirically obeyed in an application. This article derives two general methods for testing these theories that are parameter free, and presents a new experimental test. The article concludes with a review of experimental findings from cognitive psychology that evaluate these two properties.     

Self-Interest, Symbolic Attitudes, and Support for Public Policy: A Multilevel Analysis

This paper examines the role of self-interest and symbolic attitudes as predictors of support for two domestic policy issues—guaranteed jobs and incomes and national health insurance—in the American National Election Survey (ANES) between 1972 and 2004. As was the case in 1976 when Sears, Lau, Tyler, and Allen (1980 ) first explored this topic, symbolic attitudes continue to be much more important predictors of policy attitudes than various indicators of self-interest over the 30 years we analyze. We explore this finding further to determine whether any individual/internal and external/contextual variables affect the magnitude of self-interest effects on policy support. Five possible internal moderators of self-interest effects are examined: (1) political knowledge, (2) issue publics, (3) political values, (4) social identifications, and (5) emotions, but none are found to boost the magnitude of the self-interest effect. However, we do find some evidence that contextual variables representing the social/information environment moderate the impact of self-interest on public opinion.     

Neuropsychological and Behavioral Effects of Antiepilepsy Drugs

Antiepilepsy drugs work by decreasing neuronal irritability, which may also result in the non-desired side effect of decreased neuropsychological function. In addition to cognitive side effects, antiepilepsy drugs (AEDs) may be associated with behavioral effects which may range from irritability and hyperactivity to positive psychotropic effects on mood. There have been many new medications released since the 1990s, and although they tend to have more favorable side effect profiles compared to their older counterparts, there continues to be a risk of decreased cognitive function with the majority of these agents. The effects of in utero antiepilepsy drug exposure are increasingly being investigated, and differential drug risk is beginning to be described for both anatomic and cognitive outcomes. Patients with epilepsy undergoing neuropsychological evaluations are commonly on AEDs, and it is important for the clinician to recognize the potential contribution of AED therapy to neuropsychological profiles. The present article serves to provide an overview of our current understanding regarding the risks of antiepilepsy drug use for both cognitive and behavioral side effects.     

The interactive effects of temperament and maternal parenting on toddlers' externalizing behaviours

The present study aimed to determine the potential moderating effects of temperamental traits on the relation between parenting and toddlers' externalizing behaviours. For that purpose, this study examined the interplay between temperament and maternal parenting behaviours in predicting the level as well as the development of toddlers' externalizing behaviours. Participants were 115 boys (wave 1, M=16.9 months; wave 2, M=23.2 months) and their mothers, who were observed in a 13‐min structured play session at home. With regard to the prediction of the level of externalizing behaviours at wave 1, main effects were found for children's temperamental characteristics. In addition, maternal negative control interacted significantly with children's inhibitory control in predicting this level of externalizing behaviours. The findings with regard to the development of externalizing behaviours showed that the effects of maternal negative control and lack of maternal sensitivity were stronger for toddlers with a difficult temperament: maternal negative control and lack of maternal sensitivity were related to an increase in externalizing behaviours for temperamentally difficult children only. These results offer support for the goodness‐of‐fit hypothesis, stressing the idea that the effects of temperament and the social environment depend to a large extent on their interplay. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

西蒙效应研究新进展

该文主要从三个方面回顾了西蒙效应的研究：双线路模型,信息门控御制理论以及最新的从捆绑的角度对西蒙效应所做的事件文件构想的解释。在对各个理论的优势和不足做了简要的评价后,启示和思考的部分提出了改善实验的概括性方案,同时对理论的扩展提出了相应的建议。     

If and Then: A Critique of Speculative NanoEthics

Most known technology serves to ingeniously adapt the world to the physical and mental limitations of human beings. Humankind has acquired awesome power with its rather limited means. Nanotechnological capabilities further this power. On some accounts, however, nanotechnological research will contribute to a rather different kind of technological development, namely one that changes human beings so as to remove or reduce their physical and mental limitations. The prospect of this technological development has inspired a fair amount of ethical debate. Here, proponents and opponents of such visions of human enhancement are criticized alike for engaging in speculative ethics. This critique exposes a general pattern that extends to other nano-, bio-, or neuroethical debates. While it does not apply to all discussions of “enhancement technologies” it does apply to all ethical discourse that constructs and validates an incredible future which it only then proceeds to endorse or critique. This discourse violates conditions of intelligibility, squanders the scarce and valuable resource of ethical concern, and misleads by casting remote possibilities or philosophical thought-experiments as foresight about likely technical developments. In effect, it deflects consideration from the transformative technologies of the present.

测量方式和言语报告对嫉妒反应的影响

本研究通过两个实验发现,不同测量方式对嫉妒心理的测量程度存在差别,间接方式在测量嫉妒程度上要显著高于直接方式。对嫉妒情境的言语分析对嫉妒的测量存在比较复杂的影响,总体上,其主效应不显著,但对测量方式存在不同的影响模式,对间接测量有扩大效应,而对嫉妒的直接测量有缩小的趋势。