In Defense of “Denial”: Difficulty Knowing When Beliefs Are Unrealistic and Whether Unrealistic Beliefs Are Bad

Bioethicists often draw sharp distinctions between hope and states like denial, self-deception, and unrealistic optimism. But what, exactly, is the difference between hope and its more suspect cousins? One common way of drawing the distinction focuses on accuracy of belief about the desired outcome: Hope, though perhaps sometimes misplaced, does not involve inaccuracy in the way that these other states do. Because inaccurate beliefs are thought to compromise informed decision making, bioethicists have considered these states to be ones where intervention is needed either to correct the person’s mental state or to persuade the person to behave differently, or even to deny the person certain options (e.g., another round of chemotherapy). In this article, we argue that it is difficult to determine whether a patient is really in denial, self-deceived, or unrealistically optimistic. Moreover, even when we are confident that beliefs are unrealistic, they are not always as harmful as critics contend. As a result, we need to be more permissive in our approach to patients who we believe are unrealistically optimistic, in denial, or self-deceived—that is, unless patients significantly misunderstand their situation and thus make decisions that are clearly bad for them (especially in light of their own values and goals), we should not intervene by trying to change their mental states or persuade them to behave differently, or by paternalistically denying them certain options (e.g., a risky procedure).     

发展性计算障碍儿童的数量转换缺陷

本研究拟考察发展性计算障碍儿童的认知缺陷成因。实验1要求被试在三种形式(点/点,数/数,点/数)下进行数量比较,实验2仅将点集替换为汉字数字词。结果表明障碍组和正常组在数/数、点/数和汉字/汉字比较任务上的成绩存在显著差异,而在点/点和汉字/汉字比较上没有差异。据此推论,计算障碍儿童符号加工能力受到损伤,符号与非符号数量转换能力存在缺陷,但非符号加工能力和不同符号间数量转换没有缺陷,支持语义提取缺陷假设。     

抑郁个体对社会反馈的加工：研究现状及存在问题

抑郁症伴随着严重的社会功能障碍。本文以“社会反馈”这一重要社会性信息为切入点,综述了抑郁症患者及抑郁倾向人群对社会反馈的体验、期待及情绪调节障碍的研究现状,发现抑郁个体对社会奖赏存在快感缺失,对社会排斥、社会拒绝等负性反馈表现出过敏化,对社会奖赏的期待降低,且可能存在情绪调节困难。目前此领域存在社会与非社会反馈神经机制的异同不清楚、异常脑区与社会反馈加工障碍的因果关系难以确定以及无法排除抑郁症患者和抑郁倾向人群存在不同社会反馈加工模式的可能性等问题。     

The role of personal practice in therapist skill development: a model to guide therapists,educators, supervisors and researchers

Prior to 2000, personal practice (PP) for therapists mostly meant personal therapy. Recently a new landscape of PPs has emerged, with meditation-based programs and therapy self-practice/self-reflection (SP/SR) programs playing an increasing role in training and personal/professional development. The challenge now for practitioners and researchers is to refocus on the role of PPs in training and professional development. Are PPs of value - or not? Do they have a role in therapist development? How might PPs enhance therapist skilfulness? Do different PPs act in similar or different ways? Currently, the PP literature lacks a theoretical framework to guide practitioners in their choice of PPs or researchers in their choice of research questions and measures. The purpose of this article is to provide such a framework, the Personal Practice (PP) model. The PP model proposes primary impacts of PPs in four domains: personal development/wellbeing, self-awareness, interpersonal beliefs/attitudes/skills and reflective skills. The model also suggests a secondary impact on therapists’ conceptual/technical skills when therapists use reflection to consider the implications of their PP for their “therapist self”. We offer some suggestions to enhance the quality of future research, and conclude that PPs may play an important and perhaps unique role in therapist training.     

亲子关系对贫困儿童问题行为的影响

以247名贫困儿童为被试进行问卷调查,构建家庭社会经济地位和亲子关系对贫困儿童问题行为的多重中介模型,得到抑郁、自我控制的中介作用。结果显示,亲子关系和社会经济地位分别通过中介路径影响贫困儿童问题行为,与亲子关系有关的中介路径为91.25%,与抑郁有关的中介效应为57.60%,与自我控制有关的中介效应为57.15%. 结论：良好的亲子关系或成为贫困儿童的保护因子;应关注贫困儿童心理健康,增加有效心理疏导机制;注重培养贫困儿童的自我控制能力。     

不同社会情境对儿童奖惩分配公平性的影响

为探讨社会排斥和社会接纳情境下儿童奖惩分配公平性,研究采用个体-偶然排斥范式和第三方奖惩分配范式,对8~9岁儿童奖惩分配公平性行为和奖惩分配公平性判断进行研究,结果发现：（1）社会排斥组被试的奖惩分配公平性行为显著多于社会接纳组,奖惩分配不公平性行为显著少于社会接纳组。9岁组被试的奖惩分配公平性行为显著多于8岁组,奖惩分配不公平性行为显著少于8岁组;（2）社会排斥组被试的奖惩分配公平性判断显著高于社会接纳组,9岁组被试的奖惩分配公平性判断显著高于8岁组,奖惩分配不公平性判断显著低于8岁组。结论：社会情境影响儿童的奖惩分配公平性,在排斥情境下,8~9岁儿童的奖惩分配公平性明显提升;8~9岁儿童的奖惩分配公平性随年龄增长有上升趋势。     

方言对社会决策及情绪的影响——-来自电生理的证据

方言是心理学本土化研究的新方向,本研究旨在考察语言类型（方言、普通话）对群体和个体社会决策的影响。实验1通过改编的公共物品博弈范式,发现方言条件下信任与合作水平、主观评定积极情绪和心率的变化值更大,皮肤电无显著变化;普通话条件下信任在主观消极情绪评定和合作行为间发挥着完全中介作用。实验2利用改编的最后通牒博弈范式,发现不公平的￥2-￥8分配方案下方言条件的接受率显著高于普通话条件,提议越公平接受率越高。结果表明方言会影响人们认知、情绪和决策行为,研究为语言和决策领域的探索提供了新思路。     

材料生态性和性别因素对理解友好与敌对意图的影响

为考察材料生态性、被试性别和角色性别对理解友好与敌对意图的影响,分析了100名被试观察由2名男性或2名女性表演的三类互动意图的照片或卡通时的正确率和反应时。结果：理解真实人物的正确率高于虚拟角色;女性被试理解虚拟角色的反应时长于真实人物,而男性被试却未出现材料生态性差异;理解男性角色敌对意图的反应时短于女性角色的,而理解友好意图时却未出现角色性别差异。研究为负性偏向等理论提供实证证据,揭示材料生态性、角色性别对理解友好和敌对意图的影响机制。     

羞怯与受欺负:社交回避与被他人容纳的多重中介效应

采用大学生羞怯量表、被他人容纳量表、大学生社交回避及苦恼量表和欺负问卷测量了369名大学生,探讨社交回避和被他人容纳在羞怯与受欺负之间的作用。结果表明:(1)羞怯、社交回避和受欺负三个变量彼此之间均呈显著正相关,这三个变量与被他人容纳均呈显著负相关;(2)羞怯不仅直接影响受欺负,也通过社交回避-被他人容纳的链式中介作用间接影响受欺负。