Expressive Electronic Journal Writing: Freedom of Communication for Survivors of Acquired Brain Injury

In addition to the impaired ability to effectively communicate, adults with acquired brain injury (ABI) also experience high incidences of depression, social isolation, and decreased quality of life. Expressive writing programs have been shown to be effective in alleviating these concomitant impairments in other populations including incarcerated inmates (Lane, Writing as a road to self-discovery, F & W, Cincinnati 1993). In addition, computer applications such as email have been suggested as an effective means of improving communication and social isolation in adults with brain injury (Sohlberg et al. [2003]. Brain Injury, 17(7), 609–629). This investigation examines the effects of on-line expressive journal writing on the communication, emotional status, social integration and quality of life of individuals with brain injury.     

On the meaning of meaning when being mean: commentary on Berkowitz's "on the consideration of automatic as well as controlled psychological processes in aggression"

Berkowitz (this issue) makes a cogent case for his cognitive neo-associationist (CNA) model that some aggressive behaviors occur automatically, emotionally, and through conditioned association with other stimuli. He also proposes that they can occur without "processing," that is, without meaning. He contrasts his position with that of social information processing (SIP) models, which he casts as positing only controlled processing mechanisms for aggressive behavior. However, both CNA and SIP models posit automatic as well as controlled processes in aggressive behavior. Most aggressive behaviors occur through automatic processes, which are nonetheless rule governed. SIP models differ from the CNA model in asserting the essential role of meaning (often through nonconscious, automatic, and emotional processes) in mediating the link between a stimulus and an angry aggressive behavioral response.     

Congruity Effects in Time and Space: Behavioral and ERP Measures

Two experiments investigated whether motion metaphors for time affected the perception of spatial motion. Participants read sentences either about literal motion through space or metaphorical motion through time written from either the ego-moving or object-moving perspective. Each sentence was followed by a cartoon clip. Smiley-moving clips showed an iconic happy face moving toward a polygon, and shape-moving clips showed a polygon moving toward a happy face. In Experiment 1, using an explicit judgment task, participants judged smiley-moving cartoons as related to ego-moving sentences about space and about time, and shape-moving cartoons as related to object-moving sentences. In Experiment 2, participants viewed the same stimuli, but the cartoons were task-irrelevant. Event-related brain potentials revealed an early attentional effect of congruity on cartoons following sentences about space, and a later semantic effect on cartoons following sentences about time. Results are most consistent with accounts that posit differences in the processing of novel and conventional metaphors.     

攻击行为社会信息加工模型与道德领域理论的整合

儿童攻击行为研究中Dodge等人提出的社会信息加工模型,强调社会交互作用情境下个体的信息加工过程与后来的社会行为之间的联系,对于信息加工所依据的数据库则缺乏系统的阐述。领域理论源于对道德认知的思考,将个体的社会知识分为道德、常规和个人三个领域,强调个体在领域认同标准和领域混合事件推理上的差异。Arsenio和Lemerise在情绪与社会信息加工模型整合的基础上,提出借鉴领域理论来说明数据库的内部结构以及其中的社会知识对于信息加工的影响。这些整合体现了认知和情绪在社会行为加工和决策过程中的交互作用,有利于说明存储在长时记忆中的社会知识之间的联系及作用,引发了对各种形式的内部心理成分的理论思考和多个实证研究方向,也为心理研究其他方面的整合工作提供了值得借鉴的研究思路     

客体位置判断的视触关联研究

本文从个体对客体位置信息的加工出发,对触动觉位置判断以及视触位置信息整合的特点进行了探讨.两个实验分别从触动觉客体位置判断和视触位置判断及视触位置信息整合进行了研究.结果表明,当个体伸手对客体位置进行判断时,对对侧空间客体位置的变化感知更加敏感和准确,同时对距离呈现中心较远的客体的位置判断成绩较好,而客体呈现时所在的半空间对左右手的客体位置判断成绩并没有产生一致的影响;在视触空间位置信息整合时,随着空间信息加工任务难度的增大,个体通过手、胳膊的关节以及本体感觉所获得的对空间位置信息的表征的准确度可能会下降,而视觉对触动觉的引导作用开始显现出来并变得比较重要.     

重读对语篇表征中的信息的激活的影响

考察在口语语篇表征中重读是如何影响新信息和旧信息的激活.结果表明,与无重读的基线条件相比,重读条件下,新信息和旧信息在语篇表征中的激活水平都提高.无论其信息结构如何,重读会提高它所标识的概念节点在语篇表征中的激活.     

领导行为:企业并购整合研究的新方向

过去一个世纪以来,国际性兼并、收购和战略联盟急剧增多,然而大部分并购案例均以失败告终,无法达到其原定目标,有的甚至使企业陷入困境.导致并购失败的最主要原因是并购后的整合失败,并非战略与财政不当.领导行为在组织变革和组织再造过程中起着关键性作用,但其在组织并购整合过程中的作用却一直被研究者忽视.全球范围内并购浪潮的持续增长要求领导者迅速提升自身的应对能力,但领导在组织并购整合中的作用机制尚待深入研究.本文介绍了企业并购整合过程中所需的基本领导模式、相关研究的理论基础与方向,以期为提高并购整合活动的领导效力及深入研究提供参考.     

认知疗法的整合性发展

认知疗法于20世纪60-70年代在美国产生,在数十年的发展过程中其理论与治疗技术不断得以丰富和发展,目前已成为心理治疗的主要流派之一。本文主要对今年来认知疗法的整合性发展,及其在应用中存在的一些问题进行了概述。     

原型表征对创造性问题解决过程中的启发效应的影响

以32个科学发明创造问题为实验材料, 采用“学习8个原型-测试8个问题”的两阶段实验范式, 通过操纵原型学习条件(是否有标识或插图)考察了原型的知识表征对创造性问题解决的启发效应的影响, 结果发现：1)标识对原型的激活率在无插图水平上有显著影响, 有标识比无标识原型的激活率更高, 在有插图水平上无显著影响; 插图对原型的激活率有显著影响, 有插图比无插图原型的激活率更高。2)标识和插图都对问题解决的正确率有显著影响, 有标识比无标识正确率更高, 有插图比无插图正确率更高。3)标识和插图在原型激活率和问题解决正确率上都存在显著交互作用, 反映出原型启发的思维过程是复杂的, 表现出灵活性、经济性的特点。     

文本阅读中信息的协调性整合

根据文本阅读双加工理论的主要观点, 研究者提出了“协调性整合”这一信息加工形式, 然后通过设计一系列的实验, 系统探讨了文本阅读中协调性整合的性质、过程和条件等内容, 这些研究成果验证并支撑了文本阅读双加工理论的核心观点, 进一步丰富了文本阅读双加工理论的内容, 推动了文本阅读研究的进一步发展。