Assessment of mand selection for functional communication training packages

We evaluated the effects of training novel and existing mands during functional communication training (FCT) to decrease problem behavior for 2 children. A functional analysis (Phase 1) identified mands for FCT. Phase 2 used distinct stimulus conditions to train novel and existing mands. Phase 3 evaluated allocation of responding within a concurrent-schedules design. When reinforcement for either mand was concurrently available, the children used existing mands more than novel mands, but higher levels of problem behavior occurred with existing mands.     

Hemisphere Specialization as an Aid in Early Infancy

In order that different directions of attention can be organized, they have to be labeled and assessed. A statement of a general problem can be regarded as a label for a general direction of attention. Hope about it, as the perceived probability of sufficient success, on the basis of work done, can be regarded as an assessment. It can be argued that a young infant meets an impasse arising from the work on 2 incompatible general problems, (1) that of raising hope of certainty about the environment (linked to the arousal system because repeated stimulation has less effect), and (2) that of raising hope of producing effects (linked to the activation system because here some effect must be produced before activity can cease). A certainty–right hypothesis, that the right hemisphere deals with the certainty problem and the left deals with the producing-effects problem, and hence keeps work on the two problems apart in early infancy while the corpus callosum is undeveloped, and that a matching specialization continues in later life, is supported.     

数学学习不良的研究及趋势

认知心理学、神经心理学的研究发现了数学学习不良(MD)儿童的3种基本算术技能障碍:语义记忆型MD、程序型MD、视觉空间型MD,并对它们的机制和特征做了考察.近年来对MD儿童较高级数学问题解决的研究呈现如下特点:参与到该研究的领域很多;研究所涉及的认知和非认知因素增多;教学干预研究大量出现.目前MD研究在辨别MD儿童、缺陷的概念以及神经心理学解释上面临挑战.因此该研究领域的趋势是从发展的、整体的视角来考察影响MD的各种因素,并注意各种方法的革新和结合.     

Mortality and World Hunger

Why does world hunger hold an inferior place on the contemporary moral agenda? Proposed answer: because it is a political, not a moral problem. It is not a moral problem, because morality needs two conditions fulfilled: that those be in some way close to the agent unto whom that agent is doing something that is to be morally assessed; and that the relevant good or bad states or events can be clearly credited to some particular agent or agents. Neither condition is fulfilled in the case of world hunger. This explains morality's failure to come to grips with it. Yet, while lacking morality's endorsement, the abolition of world hunger may still be a political goal.     

What Have Psychologists (And Others) Discovered About the Process of Scientific Discovery?

We describe four major approaches to the study of science–historical accounts of scientific discoveries, psychological experiments with nonscientists working on tasks related to scientific discoveries, direct observation of ongoing scientific laboratories, and computational modeling of scientific discovery processes–by viewing them through the lens of the theory of human problem solving. We compare and contrast the different approaches, indicate their complementarities, and provide examples from each approach that converge on a set of principles of scientific discovery.     

Supervenience and Basic Christian Beliefs

A field-oriented interpretation of Whiteheadian societies of actual occasions, when used to explain the notion of "strong supervenience" as applied to the mind-brain problem, allows one to claim that not only higher-level properties such as consciousness but even higher-level entities such as the mind or soul are emergent from lower-level systems of neuronal interaction. Moreover, it also explains the preexistence of God to the world and Christian belief in eternal life with the triune God in a way that is impossible within the limits of a theory of strong supervenience.     

高中生解决化学实验问题的心理过程及其影响因素的进一步研究

对中学化学实验问题解决心理机制的前期研究的基础上,本研究进一步采用活动任务分析、心理模拟、现场实验活动观测、学生自我反思问卷调查,以及定量统计相结合的研究方法,对22名高三优秀学生解决化学实验问题的心理活动及其影响因素进行了较深入的探查,对了解我国高中生化学实验问题解决的能力和水平特点,以及如何改革中学化学实验教学具有重要启示.     

高中学生解决计算类化学问题的表征及其与策略关系的研究

在国内外关于问题解决中表征和策略研究的基础上,本研究提出了高中学生解决计算类化学问题的五个表征层次和四种解决策略,并用出声思维法对15位典型被试学生进行了详尽的个案分析.研究结果表明:高中学生在解决计算类化学问题时的表征程度(包括表征时间的长短和表征正确率的高低)决定了其问题解决策略的选取,表征程度高的学生倾向于选择相对优化的策略.