Juggling Parent Care and Employment Responsibilities: The Dilemmas of Adult Daughter Caregivers in the Workforce

We review findings from our programmatic research on adult daughters who are simultaneously involved in the roles of employee and care provider to an impaired parent. Two opposing theoretical perspectives on the health effects of occupying these two roles are described, and empirical findings that bear on each perspective are presented. Our review reveals that, consistent with the competing demands perspective, parent care and employment often conflict with one another. Consistent with the energy expansion perspective, however, there is evidence that holding these two roles can be beneficial for the health of adult daughters.     

评估职业兴趣的结构

Holland的职业兴趣理论对当今兴趣研究产生了广泛、深远的影响。但是目前,还没有研究考察Holland理论假设在中国的适用性。研究共检验了5个与Holland的6种兴趣类型(RiASEC)有关的假设,其中两个是由本文研究者提出。研究搜集了在中国进行的、与Holland理论有关的研究,并最终选择了9个RIASEC相关矩阵。假定顺序的随机化检验以及方差分析的结果表明,Holland的圆形假设与数据的拟合程度在5个模型中最差;多维标度法结果表明,RIASEC的空间结构图并没有很好地符合Holland的圆形假设。     

Varieties of Religious Naturalism

This article opens with two generic definitions of religious naturalism in general: one by Jerome Stone and one by Rem Edwards used by Charley Hardwick. Two boundary issues, humanism and process theology, are discussed. A brief sketch of my own "minimalist" and pluralist version of religious naturalism follows. Finally, several issues that are, or should be, faced by religious naturalists are explored.     

Critique of the methodology of empirical research on individual modernity in Taiwan

Yang's 1974 to 1991 research on individual modernity and traditionalism in Taiwan is examined and the methodology for developing measurement instruments in this program critiqued. It is proposed that the proper strategy for research on indigenous psychology is to analyze a culture at the conceptual level with the symbolic approach, and then conduct empirical research on 'lifeworlds' using activity theory. Yang's research on individual modernity and traditionalism uses an inductive empirical approach without the theoretical grounding of conceptual analyses. Based on the philosophy of constructive realism, two types of knowledge (the scientific 'microworld' and the 'experienced lifeworld') are differentiated in order to explicate the significance of the discontinuity hypothesis of modernity for non-Western countries and to critique Yang's methodology for measuring individual modernity and traditionalism. It is proposed that the research strategy of cultural psychology be used in future study. This replacement would usher in the indigenous psychology approach as is evident in Yang's (1999, Yang, 2000) later works.     

An alternative approach to relapse analysis: Using Monte Carlo methods and proportional rates of response

Relapse is the recovery of a previously suppressed response. Animal models have been useful in examining the mechanisms underlying relapse (e.g., reinstatement, renewal, reacquisition, resurgence). However, there are several challenges to analyzing relapse data using traditional approaches. For example, null hypothesis significance testing is commonly used to determine whether relapse has occurred. However, this method requires several a priori assumptions about the data, as well as a large sample size for between‐subjects comparisons or repeated testing for within‐subjects comparisons. Monte Carlo methods may represent an improved analytic technique, because these methods require no prior assumptions, permit smaller sample sizes, and can be tailored to account for all of the data from an experiment instead of some limited set. In the present study, we conducted reanalyses of three studies of relapse (Berry, Sweeney, & Odum, 2014 ; Galizio et al., 2018 ; Odum & Shahan, 2004 ) using Monte Carlo techniques to determine if relapse occurred and if there were differences in rate of response based on relevant independent variables (such as group membership or schedule of reinforcement). These reanalyses supported the previous findings. Finally, we provide general recommendations for using Monte Carlo methods in studies of relapse.     

Replicability and randomization test logic in behavior analysis

Randomization tests are a class of nonparametric statistics that determine the significance of treatment effects. Unlike parametric statistics, randomization tests do not assume a random sample, or make any of the distributional assumptions that often preclude statistical inferences about single‐case data. A feature that randomization tests share with parametric statistics, however, is the derivation of a p‐value. P‐values are notoriously misinterpreted and are partly responsible for the putative “replication crisis.” Behavior analysts might question the utility of adding such a controversial index of statistical significance to their methods, so it is the aim of this paper to describe the randomization test logic and its potentially beneficial consequences. In doing so, this paper will: (1) address the replication crisis as a behavior analyst views it, (2) differentiate the problematic p‐values of parametric statistics from the, arguably, more useful p‐values of randomization tests, and (3) review the logic of randomization tests and their unique fit within the behavior analytic tradition of studying behavioral processes that cut across species.     

颜色范畴知觉效应发生在大脑两半球：来自纳西族和汉族的证据

采用色环搜索单任务和双任务范式, 考察语言中区分蓝、绿的汉族和语言中蓝、绿混用的纳西族对蓝色和绿色的辨别是否存在颜色范畴知觉效应(Categorical perception, 以下简称为CP效应)。结果发现：(1)纳西族对蓝色和绿色的区分比汉族困难, 体现了语言的作用; (2)语言中蓝、绿混用的纳西族与语言中区分蓝、绿的汉族都出现显著的蓝绿CP效应; (3)两个民族被试的左视野的CP效应受到图形记忆次任务的显著干扰, 说明左视野的CP效应与右脑激活有关。整个研究表明, 颜色CP效应既存在普遍的知觉机制, 也存在语言驱动机制, 语言的作用存在直接效应。研究结果支持颜色词与颜色认知的相互作用理论。     

The “analysis of competing hypotheses” in intelligence analysis

The intelligence community uses “structured analytic techniques” to help analysts think critically and avoid cognitive bias. However, little evidence exists of how techniques are applied and whether they are effective. We examined the use of the analysis of competing hypotheses (ACH)—a technique designed to reduce “confirmation bias.” Fifty intelligence analysts were randomly assigned to use ACH or not when completing a hypothesis testing task that had probabilistic ground truth. Data on analysts' judgement processes and conclusions were collected using written protocols that were then coded for statistical analyses. We found that ACH‐trained analysts did not follow all of the steps of ACH. There was mixed evidence for ACH's ability to reduce confirmation bias, and we observed that ACH may increase judgement inconsistency and error. It may be prudent for the intelligence community to consider the conditions under which ACH would prove useful and to explore alternatives.     

Negative work reflection,personal resources,and work engagement: the moderating role of perceived organizational support

This day-level study examined the role of perceived organizational support (POS) in the context of employees’ negative work reflection during off-job time. We hypothesized that negative work reflection during off-job time should be indirectly related to reduced work engagement on the next workday through personal resources (i.e., vigour and self-efficacy) in the morning. In addition, we hypothesized that POS moderated the relationships between negative work reflection and personal resources and between personal resources and work engagement. In total, 100 employees completed one general survey and three daily surveys (in the morning, after work, and at bedtime) over five workdays. Results of multilevel path analyses showed that negative work reflection was neither directly associated with personal resources nor indirectly with work engagement via personal resources, although vigour and self-efficacy positively predicted increased work engagement. However, negative work reflection was negatively associated with self-efficacy when POS was low. POS did not predict work engagement, but moderated the relationships between personal resources and work engagement: Consistent with the resource substitution hypothesis, high levels of POS compensated for low levels of vigour and self-efficacy. Negative work reflection had a significant negative indirect effect on work engagement through self-efficacy only when POS was low.     

My Ordinary Anti-Sceptical Beliefs Are Not Insensitive

An orthodox sceptical hypothesis claims that one’s belief that “I am not a brain-in-a-vat (BIV)” (or any other ordinary anti-sceptical belief) is insensitive. A form of sensitivity-based scepticism, can thus be constructed by combining this orthodox hypothesis with the sensitivity principle and the closure principle. Unlike traditional solutions to the sensitivity-based sceptical problem, this paper will propose a new solution—one which does not reject either closure or sensitivity. Instead, I argue that sceptics’ assumption that one’s ordinary anti-sceptical beliefs are insensitive will give rise to self-contradiction. The orthodox sceptical hypothesis is thus revealed to be incoherent and arbitrary. Given that there is no coherent reason to presuppose our ordinary anti-sceptical beliefs to be insensitive, the argument for sensitivity-based scepticism can thus be blocked at a lower epistemological cost.