Influences on the perceived risk of purchasing online

This paper examines whether the perceived risk of online purchasing by consumers varies with the frequency of previous purchases, satisfaction with previous purchase experiences, the good/service orientation of an intended purchase and the level of purchase decision involvement required. No association was found between the frequency of online purchasing and perceived risk, although satisfaction with prior internet purchases was negatively associated with the perceived risk of intended purchases, but only for low‐involvement products. Differences in perceived risk were associated with whether the intended purchase was a good or service and whether it was a high or low‐involvement product. Analysis of consumer perceived risks, disaggregated by type of risk and purchase situation, provides insight into impediments that may hinder the expansion of consumer purchasing using the internet. Copyright © 2004 Henry Stewart Publications.     

大学生网络行为的元认知研究

本研究分析了大学生网络行为元认知的特点．从元认知的角度揭示网络成瘾行为的心理机制。通过探索性因素分析,表明大学生网络行为的元认知水平包含有七个因素,并且其总水平与网络成瘾有显着的相关。     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
James Campbell, Recovering Benjamin Franklin
Elliot L. Jurist, Beyond Hegel and Nietzsche: Philosophy, Culture, and Agency     

Buying cars online: the adoption of the web for high‐involvement,high‐cost purchases

This research explores the adoption of the Web throughout the buying process within high‐value, high‐involvement product categories (the car sector). Diffusion of innovations (Rogers, 1983) and innovation resistance Ram and Sheth (1989) theories are utilised and found to be useful. The research is exploratory, based on eight qualitative, semi‐structured individual interviews with potential car buyers. Findings indicate that there is resistance to adopting online car purchase overall, but relative advantage is recognised at the early, information seeking stages. Consumers use the Web to improve the balance of power between themselves and car salespeople. Innovation resistance during later stages, result from the need for personal experience of the product prior to purchase, ie test driving, as well as the uncertainty regarding after‐sales support. Further resistance comes from a reluctance to give up the social aspects of car buying and a perceived inability to negotiate with websites. It is suggested that organisations operating in these markets should focus Web activities on information provision, or opt for a hybrid strategy using both online and offline channels. Copyright © 2002 Henry Stewart Publications.     

Is banara really a word?

Bowers, Davis, and Hanley (Bowers, J. S., Davis, C. J., & Hanley, D. A. (2005). Interfering neighbours: The impact of novel word learning on the identification of visually similar words. Cognition, 97(3), B45-B54) reported that if participants were trained to type nonwords such as banara, subsequent semantic categorization responses to similar words such as banana were delayed. This was taken as direct experimental support for a process of lexical competition during word recognition. This interpretation assumes that banara has been lexicalized, which predicts that masked form priming for items such as banara-banana should be reduced or eliminated. An experiment is reported showing that the trained novel words produced the same amount of priming as untrained nonwords on both the first and the second day of training, suggesting that the interference observed by Bowers et al was not due to word-on-word competition.     

Lexical access in early stages of visual word processing: A single-trial correlational MEG study of heteronym recognition

We present an MEG study of heteronym recognition, aiming to distinguish between two theories of lexical access: the ‘early access’ theory, which entails that lexical access occurs at early (pre 200 ms) stages of processing, and the ‘late access’ theory, which interprets this early activity as orthographic word-form identification rather than genuine lexical access. A correlational analysis method was employed to examine effects of the heteronyms’ form and lexical properties on brain activity. We find support for the ‘late access’ view, in that lexical properties did not affect processing until after 300 ms, while earlier activation was primarily modulated by orthographic form.     

对不同类网络信息态度的IAT研究

采用内隐联想测验（Implicit Association Test简称IAT）对不同类网络信息态度进行测量和研究。结果显示,无论是词汇测验还是图片测验,相容联结的平均反应时均小于不相容联结平均反应时,且差异显著。结论：（1）人们对于不同类的网络信息有一定的偏好,产生了IAT效应;（2）与政策信息相比,被试对娱乐信息的形式和内容（即实验中所采用的截图与词语）都表现出显著的偏好;（3）在内隐社会认知领域,存在对娱乐信息的偏好,且男女之间无性别差异。     

Custody and Access Evaluations: Issues for Mental Health Professionals Conducting Assessments withMentally Disordered or Mentally Retarded Parents

Mental health professionals are increasingly beingcalled upon by the courts to offer their expertise inchild custody and access disputes. This paperaddresses the specialized role mental healthprofessionals have in custody and access hearings,particularly in cases wherein one or both parents havereceived a mental diagnosis (i.e., of mental disorderor mental retardation). The focus upon thispopulation of parents is warranted, as there is adearth of both empirical literature and professionalguidelines to provide direction to the mental healthprofessional that is offering his or her expertise tothe court regarding these parents. Additionally,there are specific issues that the mental healthprofessional needs to remain cognizant of, above andbeyond general issues associated with conductingcustody and access assessments, when conductingassessments on parents with mental diagnoses. Theliterature on the parenting behaviors and risk ofchild abuse and neglect associated with mentallydisordered and mentally retarded parents is reviewed,and the limitations in our empirical knowledge ofthese areas are highlighted. Recommendations formental health professionals conducting custodyevaluations in hearings where one or both parents havea mental diagnosis are provided.     

Discriminability of fixed-ratio schedules for pigeons: effects of payoff values

Three pigeons, previously trained to discriminate different numbers of responses (fixed ratios), were tested under different reinforcement contingencies (payoff matrices) at two levels of sensitivity. For one subject, relative reinforcement magnitude was varied—at first, across sessions and then, at midsession by reversing values—without exteroceptive cues. For another, relative reinforcement magnitude and/or probability was varied every 50 trials with cues by correlating different payoff matrices with different key colors. For the third subject, relative reinforcement probability was varied more frequently with cues—in the limit, at random—to demonstrate stimulus control of response bias on a trial-by-trial basis. A signal-detection analysis showed that bias changed with payoffs, for as many as seven different matrices, while sensitivity remained unchanged. The obtained functions (receiver operating characteristics) were similar under different payoff conditions, which suggests that a single mechanism controls bias. However, they differed enough in slope to require a relatively complex account (e.g., the general Gaussian model of detection theory).     

The Making of an Interdisciplinary Partnership: The Case of the Chicago Food System Collaborative

Interdisciplinary partnerships foster innovation to address pressing social problems. This paper describes an interdisciplinary partnership called the Chicago Food System Collaborative (CFSC) composed of a team of partners from four academic institutions and three community-based organizations representing a total of eight disciplines that included: community development and community organizing, community psychology, geography, nursing, nutrition, public health, sociology, and urban planning and policy. Partners came together to address the issue of access to healthy foods and nutrition in a working class African American neighborhood. We analyze and discuss the core principles that guided the partnership and its impact across three dimensions: understanding through interdisciplinary action research, building capacity, and facilitating innovations in practices and policies. Despite the challenges of interdisciplinary partnerships, the potential benefits and impact of such efforts reflect their value as a comprehensive approach to addressing complex social problems.