Eyes on the prize: The longitudinal benefits of goal focus on progress toward a weight loss goal

Past research suggests that focusing on what has not yet been accomplished (goal focus) signals a lack of progress towards one's high commitment goals and inspires greater motivation than does focusing on what has already been accomplished (accomplishment focus). The present investigation extends this research to a longitudinal, important domain by exploring the consequences of focusing on one's goals versus accomplishments when pursuing a weight loss goal. Participants were tracked over the course of a 12-week weight loss program that utilized weekly group discussions and a companion website to direct participants' focus toward their end weight loss goal or toward what they had already achieved. Goal-focused participants reported higher levels of commitment to their goal and, ultimately, lost more weight than did accomplishment-focused and no focus control participants. Accomplishment-focused participants did not differ from controls on any measure.     

行为经济学在养老储蓄领域的助推应用

“行为经济学之父”Richard Thaler因在行为经济学领域的突出贡献而获2017年诺贝尔经济学奖。Thaler利用行为经济学原理提出了“明日多储蓄”项目, 助推美国养老金储蓄率的提高。在初涉养老金储蓄领域时, Thaler提出采取“自动加入”的方式提高员工养老储蓄参与率; 接着提出采取“自动升级”的方式提高员工的储蓄率, 最终形成了“明日多储蓄”项目。“明日多储蓄”项目具有自由家长主义性质, 不仅能提高员工养老储蓄参与率、储蓄率, 还能优化资产投资配置。该项目产生了深远的影响：在应用层面上, 英国、新西兰等国家跟进推出了类似的养老储蓄政策; 在研究层面上, 一批后继研究者受此启发展开了个体养老金储蓄行为背后心理学机制的探索。结合中国养老储蓄三大支柱发展不平衡的现状, 我们提出可利用框架效应、心理账户、默认选项、将损失程数由双程变为单程等行为经济学手段助推中国养老储蓄的发展。国家可以考虑通过制度设计和政策制定助推全社会养老金参与率和缴纳水平的提高。     

A new spin on losses looming larger than gains: asymmetric implicit associations from slot machine experience

Kahneman and Tversky's prospect theory states, among other things, that losses loom larger than gains. As much research as this simple idea has generated, key questions remain. How fundamental is the losses‐looming‐larger effect: will it emerge under more minimal circumstances than previously tested and will it manifest in implicit associations? And how does the actual experience of predominant losses or gains affect the losses‐looming‐larger effect? In two experiments employing non‐traditional methods, participants experienced slot machine spins in which symbols were paired with gain, loss, and neutral outcomes. After experiencing these pairings, participants took Implicit Association Tests (IATs). In Experiment 1, implicit associations formed by the minimal experience of the slot machine were lopsided: negative associations with the loss symbol were stronger than positive associations with the gain symbol. In addition, it was found that the extent to which losses loomed larger depended on the context of the slot machine experience, with losses looming implicitly larger than gains most when they were fewer in number (participants experienced a net‐gain) and least when they were the predominant outcome (participants experienced a net‐loss). Finally, in Experiment 2, a potential artifact was ruled out and a replication obtained by showing that slot machine losses implicitly loom larger whether conceptualized from the perspective of a casino player or a casino owner. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Body checking and avoidance among behavioral weight-loss participants

The present study examined the psychological and weight-related correlates of body checking and avoidance behaviors in individuals who have lost weight through obesity treatment. Among 185 individuals in behavioral weight-control treatment, the prevalence of body checking and avoidance behavior was assessed, as well as the relationship of checking and avoidance to attitudinal disturbances, weight loss, and perception of struggling in treatment. Checking and avoidance were frequent, and they correlated significantly with higher overvaluation of shape and weight, lower self-esteem, greater body dissatisfaction, higher fear of fat, and the perception of greater struggling in weight-loss treatment. Checking was inversely correlated with the percentage weight lost in treatment and BMI lost but not related to pre-treatment or current BMI. Thus, body checking and avoidance behaviors were associated with psychological disturbances and poorer treatment outcome.     

Rotation to simple loadings using component loss functions: The orthogonal case

Component loss functions (CLFs) are used to generalize the quartimax criterion for orthogonal rotation in factor analysis. These replace the fourth powers of the factor loadings by an arbitrary function of the second powers. Criteria of this form were introduced by a number of authors, primarily Katz and Rohlf (1974) and Rozeboom (1991), but there has been essentially no follow-up to this work. A method so simple, natural, and general deserves to be investigated more completely. A number of theoretical results are derived including the fact that any method using a concave CLF will recover perfect simple structure whenever it exists, and there are methods that will recover Thurstone simple structure whenever it exists. Specific CLFs are identified and it is shown how to compare these using standardized plots. Numerical examples are used to illustrate and compare CLF and other methods. Sorted absolute loading plots are introduced to aid in comparing results and setting parameters for methods that require them.The author is very indebted to a reviewer for pointing him to the generalized hyperplane count literature and to all the reviewers for valuable comments and suggestions.     

BORGES, IMMORTALITY AND THE CIRCULAR RUINS

The author explores ideas surrounding immortality and death focusing on the interplay between their development in two stories by Borges ('The circular ruins' and 'The immortal') and their manifestation in a patient. With the help of Borges's stories, the author addresses the desperate necessity experienced by some individuals to search for immortality. This is not just an expression of the universal wish to live forever but, at a deeper level, arises from the impossibility of bearing the mental pain of experiencing ordinary human vulnerability and loss - death being the ultimate expression of such vulnerability. It is suggested that the relentless pursuit of immortality in such individuals expresses an omnipotent phantasy of ridding the self of the emotional pain and fear that arises through being alive. It leads to a denial of the emotional significance of passage of time, of separation and sexual differences. In actuality, the individual's state of not feeling approximates to a complete loss of human identity and emotional death, with no place for any meaningful others. The individual him/herself becomes a 'mere image', living in a delusional world peopled by him/herself and his/ her projections, and ending up trapped inside the circular ruins he/she has generated. The horror experienced at the stark awareness of the individual's emotional death and the wish to re-establish contact with the good internal objects that have been attacked sets in motion the long process of searching for the recovery of a sense of temporality (that would still include the wish for immortality) and, with it, a sense of identity.     

Effect of dichotomous thinking on the association of depression with BMI and weight change among obese females

This study tested whether a dichotomous thinking style moderates the association of depression with body mass, and investigated the effect of dichotomous thinking and depression on weight loss during a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) intervention.Overweight and obese females (n = 76) participated in CBT for weight management for 12 weeks. Before treatment, dichotomous thinking moderated the association of depression with BMI, such that depression was positively associated with BMI among those with low dichotomous thinking, but was not associated among those with high dichotomous thinking. Weight loss was negatively associated with pre-treatment depression and frequency of treatment attendance, but not with dichotomous thinking. Females who regard their weight as unacceptably high and who think dichotomously may experience high levels of depression irrespective of their actual weight, while depression may be proportionate to the degree of obesity among those who do not think dichotomously. Depression, but not dichotomous thinking, is likely to interfere with the ability to adhere to short-term weight loss strategies.     

Similar Processes Despite Divergent Behavior in Two Commonly Used Measures of Risky Decision Making

Performance on complex decision-making tasks may depend on a multitude of processes. Two such tasks, the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and Balloon Analog Risk Task (BART), are of particular interest because they are associated with real world risky behavior, including illegal drug use. We used cognitive models to disentangle underlying processes in both tasks. Whereas behavioral measures from the IGT and BART were uncorrelated, cognitive models revealed two reliable cross-task associations. Results suggest that the tasks similarly measure loss aversion and decision-consistency processes, but not necessarily the same learning process. Additionally, substance-using individuals (and especially stimulant users) performed worse on the IGT than healthy controls did, and this pattern could be explained by reduced decision consistency.     

海洛因戒断者对金钱奖赏的反馈加工异常：来自ERP的证据

本研究采用金钱奖赏延迟任务考察了海洛因戒断者对金钱奖赏和损失的预期和反馈加工及其电生理机制。结果发现,预期阶段两组被试由不同线索诱发的P3波幅不存在显著差异。在金钱奖赏加工的反馈阶段,海洛因戒断组由金钱收益条件诱发的RewP波幅显著小于对照组由金钱收益条件诱发的RewP波幅,而在无收益无损失条件下两组被试诱发的RewP波幅不存在显著差异。此外,海洛因戒断组由金钱收益条件诱发的P3波幅与无收益无损失条件诱发的P3波幅不存在显著差异,而对照组由金钱收益条件诱发的P3波幅显著大于其由无收益无损失条件诱发的P3波幅。在金钱损失加工的反馈阶段,由金钱损失和无收益无损失条件诱发的RewP波幅在两组被试之间不存在显著差异,且两组被试由金钱损失条件诱发的P3波幅均显著大于其由无收益无损失条件诱发的P3波幅。以上结果说明海洛因戒断者对金钱奖赏的反馈加工存在异常,具体表现为其对金钱奖赏的敏感性降低或对金钱奖赏的趋近动机减弱。     

Genetic Evaluation and Counseling of Couples with Recurrent Miscarriage: Recommendations of the National Society of Genetic Counselors

The objective of this document is to provide recommendations for genetic evaluation and counseling of couples with recurrent miscarriage (RM). The recommendations are the opinions of the multidisciplinary Inherited Pregnancy Loss Working Group (IPLWG), with expertise in genetic counseling, medical genetics, maternal fetal medicine, internal medicine, infectious disease, cytogenetics, and coagulation disorders. The IPLWG defines RM as three or more clinically recognized consecutive or non-consecutive pregnancy losses occurring prior to fetal viability (<24 weeks gestation). These recommendations are provided to assist genetic counselors and other health care providers in clinical decision-making, as well as to promote consistency of patient care, guide the allocation of medical resources, and increase awareness of the psychosocial and cultural issues experienced by couples with RM. The IPLWG was convened with support from the March of Dimes Western Washington State Chapter and the University of Washington Division of Medical Genetics. The recommendations are U.S. Preventive Task Force Class III, and are based on clinical experiences, review of pertinent English-language published articles, and reports of expert committees. This document reviews the suspected causes of RM, provides indications for genetic evaluation and testing, addresses psychosocial and cultural considerations, and provides professional and patient resources. These recommendations should not be construed as dictating an exclusive course of medical management, nor does the use of such recommendations guarantee a particular outcome. The professional judgment of a health care provider, familiar with the circumstances of a specific case, should always supersede these recommendations.