Sweetheart, you really make me happy: romantic relationship quality and personality as predictors of happiness among emerging adults

Two studies investigated the predictive ability of romantic relationship quality in happiness above and beyond the influence of personality (Big Five) among emerging adults. Study 1 (n = 221) showed that global romantic relationship quality accounted for 3% of the variance in happiness while controlling for personality. Study 2 (n = 187) replicated this finding by assessing happiness and relationship quality with different scales. Second study also extended the first study in two ways. First, emotional security and companionship emerged as the strongest features of romantic relationship quality that predicted happiness. Second, identity formation moderated the relationship between relationship quality and happiness such that emerging adults were happier when they experienced high quality relationships at high levels of identity formation. Findings across the two studies were discussed in the light of the literature and suggestions for future research were made.     

Sensitivity and bias under conditions of equal and unequal academic task difficulty

We conducted an experimental analysis of children's relative problem-completion rates across two workstations under conditions of equal (Experiment 1) and unequal (Experiment 2) problem difficulty. Results were described using the generalized matching equation and were evaluated for degree of schedule versus stimulus control. Experiment 1 involved a symmetrical choice arrangement in which the children could earn points exchangeable for rewards contingent on correct math problem completion. Points were delivered according to signaled variable-interval schedules at each workstation. For 2 children, relative rates of problem completion appeared to have been controlled by the schedule requirements in effect and matched relative rates of reinforcement, with sensitivity values near 1 and bias values near 0. Experiment 2 involved increasing the difficulty of math problems at one of the workstations. Sensitivity values for all 3 participants were near 1, but a substantial increase in bias toward the easier math problems was observed. This bias was possibly associated with responding at the more difficult workstation coming under stimulus control rather than schedule control.     

Relative reinforcer rates and magnitudes do not control concurrent choice independently

One assumption of the matching approach to choice is that different independent variables control choice independently of each other. We tested this assumption for reinforcer rate and magnitude in an extensive parametric experiment. Five pigeons responded for food reinforcement on switching-key concurrent variable-interval variable-interval schedules. Across conditions, the ratios of reinforcer rates and of reinforcer magnitudes on the two alternatives were both manipulated. Control by each independent variable, as measured by generalized-matching sensitivity, changed significantly with the ratio of the other independent variable. Analyses taking the model-comparison approach, which weighs improvement in goodness-of-fit against increasing number of free parameters, were inconclusive. These analyses compared a model assuming constant sensitivity to magnitude across all reinforcer-rate ratios with two alternative models. One of those alternatives allowed sensitivity to magnitude to vary freely across reinforcer-rate ratios, and was less efficient than the common-sensitivity model for all pigeons, according to the Schwarz-Bayes information criterion. The second alternative model constrained sensitivity to magnitude to be equal for pairs of reinforcer-rate ratios that deviated from unity by proportionately equal amounts but in opposite directions. This model was more efficient than the common-magnitude-sensitivity model for 2 of the pigeons, but not for the other 3. An analysis of variance, carried out independently of the generalized-matching analysis, also showed a significant interaction between the effects of reinforcer rate and reinforcer magnitude on choice. On balance, these results suggest that the assumption of independence inherent in the matching approach cannot be maintained. Relative reinforcer rates and magnitudes do not control choice independently.     

SENSITIVITY OF CONDITIONAL-DISCRIMINATION PERFORMANCE TO WITHIN-SESSION VARIATION OF REINFORCER FREQUENCY

The present experiment developed a methodology for assessing sensitivity of conditional-discrimination performance to within-session variation of reinforcer frequency. Four pigeons responded under a multiple schedule of matching-to-sample components in which the ratio of reinforcers for correct S₁ and S₂ responses was varied across components within session. Initially, five components, each arranging a different reinforcer-frequency ratio (from 19 to 91), were presented randomly within a session. Under this condition, sensitivity to reinforcer frequency was low. Sensitivity failed to improve after extended exposure to this condition, and under a condition in which only three reinforcer-frequency ratios were varied within session. In a later condition, three reinforcer-frequency ratios were varied within session, but the reinforcer-frequency ratio in effect was differentially signaled within each component. Under this condition, values of sensitivity were similar to those traditionally obtained when reinforcer-frequency ratios for correct responses are varied across conditions. The effects of signaled vs. unsignaled reinforcer-frequency ratios were replicated in two subsequent conditions. The present procedure could provide a practical alternative to parametric variation of reinforcer frequency across conditions and may be useful in characterizing the effects of a variety of manipulations on steady-state sensitivity to reinforcer frequency.     

基于自我相似面孔的亲缘选择与配偶选择行为

根据广义适合度理论, 自我相似面孔与亲缘选择和配偶选择行为密切相关。自我相似面孔可以促进个体的亲缘利他行为, 影响配偶选择行为。来自“夫妻相”、“性印刻”的描述性研究数据支持自我相似面孔与配偶选择偏好之间的相关关系。来自实验研究的数据, 结论尚不统一。有些证实自我相似面孔可以引发配偶选择偏好, 有些却不支持这一结论。最近的研究从内隐及外显认知上分离择偶过程中对自我相似面孔的偏好：认为偏好是内隐的, 一旦上升到意识层面便会消失。另有研究从性选择策略上对自我相似面孔偏好的原因进行解读。对自我相似面孔偏好的神经机制的研究也有一些新的发现。未来研究可借助fMRI等工具从认知过程及神经机制上对自我相似面孔偏好的现象作进一步探讨。     

Contrast Effects and Approval Voting: An Illustration of a Systematic Violation of the Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives Condition

In approval voting, voters indicate all alternatives acceptable to them, instead of indicating their most preferred alternative. This study sought to examine the hypothesis that, under certain conditions, approval voting systematically violates a rationality condition of social choice: the independence of irrelevant alternatives condition. Given a well-known psychological phenomenon, the contrast effect, it was hypothesized that sets of acceptable alternatives might be changed as a result of changes in unacceptable alternatives. This hypothesis was tested in a sample of undergraduates who were presented with fictional profiles of juvenile delinquents and then were asked whether they should be granted parole. The outcomes of approval voting changed merely as the result of a change in an alternative least preferred by all voters.     

Validity of the decisional process inventory

Empirical research on career indecision has been criticized for lacking theoretical conceptualization. To address this problem we examined the validity of the decisional process inventory (DPI), a measure of career decision making derived from a model based in Gestalt psychotherapy theory. Undergraduate college students (91 women, 110 men) responded to the DPI and criterion measures of career indecision and vocational identity. Results supported hypothesized relations between and among DPI items and subscales, and the ability of the measure to differentiate individuals by expressed career choice status. Significant intercorrelations among DPI subscales and criterion measures supported the concurrent validity of the DPI. Confirmatory maximum likelihood factor analysis of the DPI items did not support the hypothesized structure of the DPI to measure three career decision-making process dimensions: readiness, action, and resistance. Although results supported the basic psychometric properties of the DPI as a brief measure of career decision making, additional research is needed to clarify the underlying factor structure of the instrument.     

How well can the theory of planned behavior account for occupational intentions?

We tested the capacity of an extended version of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to account for intentions to work for the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) as a nurse, physiotherapist or radiographer amongst three groups: professionally unqualified (N = 507), in professional training (N = 244), and professionally qualified (N = 227). We found strong support for the three core TPB variables attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control as predictors of behavioral intention, and limited support for two additional variables: moral obligation and identification. There were some differences in the relative importance of TPB variables between groups. We conclude that the TPB has utility for more complex behaviors as well as simpler ones that are more frequently researched. However, more attention should be paid to differences in people’s circumstances, particularly regarding past vocational decisions and behavior, and to obstacles to implementing an intention.     

恋爱中大学生依恋焦虑与心理健康的关系：恋爱关系质量的中介和调节作用

依恋焦虑与个体心理健康存在密切关联,恋爱关系质量可能在二者关系中发挥着重要作用。本文以595名处于恋爱关系中的大学生为被试,探讨了恋爱关系质量在大学生依恋焦虑与心理健康关系中的作用。结果表明,恋爱关系质量在大学生依恋焦虑与心理健康的关系中既发挥着中介作用,也发挥着调节作用。一方面,依恋焦虑能够通过影响恋爱关系质量对心理健康造成影响,另一方面,高质量的恋爱关系能够缓解依恋焦虑对心理健康的消极影响。     

Educating the Whole Child: Implications of Behaviorism as a Science of Meaning

New conceptions of what constitutes meaning for the organism have recently arisen within the behavioral tradition. These conceptions are a function of reformulations of traditional topics such as reinforcement and verbal behavior. This paper will review these reformulations and discuss their implications for education. It is argued that teachers are in need of a more comprehensive framework for understanding human behavior than the technique-based behaviorism to which they are frequently exposed. The present paper suggests that advances in our understanding of choice behavior and verbal behavior put us within reach of a comprehensive framework for making sense of the interconnectedness of social, self, and academic development.