Adaptation of the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire (AEQ-A): A short version for use among 13-year-olds in Norway

An adaptation of a Norwegian modified short version of Christiansen & Goldman's Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire for Adolescents (AEQ-A) was examined in this survey. Subjects were 924 Norwegian seventh graders, with an average age of 13.3 years. From the original 90 items, 27 items representing all seven original scales were used in this study. Factor analysis did not create any preferred new factor solution compared to Christiansen & Goldman's original factors. Internal consistency of the seven AEQ-A scales ranged from 0.37 to 0.72 on Cronbach's alpha. All seven AEQ-A scales correlated significantly with self-reported alcohol use as was expected, and this study also replicated the relative importance of the social enhancement scale. This was the first study using AEQ-A in a non-English-speaking culture. The generalizability of alcohol outcome expectancies was strongly supported.
The present study indicates that the Norwegian version of AEQ-A possesses a level of concurrent validity and internal reliability that is acceptable compared to the original scales, and can serve as a useful instrument in behavioral research on alcohol use among Norwegian adolescents in the years to come.     

Assessment of the aftermath of rape: Changing patterns of fear

In order to test a social learning theory model which states that fear and anxiety responses are classically conditioned by a terror-inducing rape experience, 46 recent rape victims and 35 nonvictims matched for age, race, and neighborhood of residence were assessed with the 120-item Modified Fear Survey at four postrape intervals: (1) 6–10 days, (2) 1 month, (3) 3 months, and (4) 6 months. Victims were significantly more fearful than nonvictims, and victim fears declined somewhat over time but remained at high levels at the 6-month postrape period. Content analysis of highly feared situations revealed that most fears were rape related in that they were rape cues, rape-precipitated concerns, and/or cues signaling vulnerability to subsequent attack. Patterns of fear appeared to change such that attack vulnerability cues were most feared.This research was supported by NIMH Grant No. 1 RO1 MH29602 from the National Center for Prevention and Control of Rape.An earlier version of this article was presented at the Twelth Annual Convention of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy, Chicago, November 18, 1978.     

社会预警系统与心理学

首先探讨了对社会不稳定因素预警的需要,以及社会预警系统对国家公共政策制定和行政决策的意义。社会预警系统是一种系统的社会态度调查网络,通过对公众对社会事物的态度调查,预见其可能的行为反应,将不稳定事件化解于未然。然后,介绍了国外承担社会预警职能的研究机构的研究实践。最后,讨论了社会预警研究两个重要的方法论问题：态度与行为反应的关系,调查抽样问题。     

Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut, Sometimes You Don't: Citizens' Ambivalence About Abortion

Recent research has recognized that many people simultaneously hold positive and negative attitudes about important political issues. This paper reviews the concept of attitudinal ambivalence and introduces a survey measure of ambivalence adapted from the experimental literature. An analysis of two statewide telephone surveys of Florida voters reveals that (1) a number of voters have ambivalent attitudes about abortion rights; (2) the amount of ambivalence varies according to the circumstances (elective versus traumatic) under which an abortion is obtained; (3) ambivalence about elective abortions is essentially unrelated to ambivalence about traumatic abortions; (4) voters who support abortion rights are more ambivalent about elective abortions than about traumatic abortions, whereas the pattern is reversed for abortion rights opponents; and (5) extreme views in support of or opposition to abortion rights can sometimes mitigate the amount of ambivalence felt by voters.     

Group Attachment and the Reduction of Value-Driven Ambivalence

This article analyzes the effects of value-driven ambivalence and group attachment on response variability in public attitudes toward campaign finance reform. The analysis demonstrates that group attachment, when activated by affective cues, moderates the effects of ambivalence on response variability. By tipping the balance of considerations in one direction or the other, group attachments make it easier for ambivalent respondents to make tradeoffs between competing values during policy choices and, as a result, dampen response variability. Methodologically, the results offer an important cautionary note about the use of linear ambivalence scales by calling into question the assumption that indifference is an intermediate state between preference and ambivalence.     

奖赏性线索启动和调控视觉搜索额顶网络的神经机制

近期关于奖赏性信息与视觉搜索任务的交互作用研究体现在两个层面, 其一是施加外部奖赏能够影响被试的视觉搜索反应时和正确率, 其二是搜索目标本身具有奖赏特性也能够影响行为反应。但是, 奖赏性信息对负责视觉搜索的额顶注意网络的动态启动和调控作用仍不清楚。本研究结合Posner空间预提示范式和视觉搜索范式, 采用快速事件相关功能磁共振成像技术, 分别操纵线索提示阶段的线索奖赏属性(奖赏性vs.非奖赏性)和线索空间注意属性(有效提示目标位置vs.无效提示目标位置), 并操纵目标搜索阶段的目标属性(奖赏性vs.非奖赏性), 探讨以下两个核心问题：(1)在线索提示阶段, 奖赏性线索产生的自上而下注意准备信号的神经基础, 以及该神经基础与传统的空间注意准备信号的异同; (2)在目标搜索阶段, 奖赏性线索对负责视觉搜索的额顶注意网络产生的启动和调控作用, 重点考察对正确的奖赏性信息的定向过程和对错误的奖赏性信息的重新定向过程。     

Toward a Mechanistic Understanding of Human Decision Making: Contributions of Functional Neuroimaging

ABSTRACT— This article considers the contribution of functional neuroimaging toward understanding the computational underpinnings of human decision making. We outline the main processes likely underlying the capacity to make simple choices and describe their associated neural substrates. Relevant processes include the ability to encode a representation of the expected value or utility associated with each option in a decision problem, to learn such expectations through experience, and to modify action selection in order to choose those actions leading to the greatest reward. We provide several examples of how functional neuroimaging data have helped to shape and inform theories of decision making over and above results available from traditional behavioral measures.     

物体位置与空间关系的心理表征

外界环境中物体位置与空间关系在记忆中如何表征,一直是空间认知研究领域探讨和争论的热点问题。该文从空间表征的参照框架、朝向特异性、组织结构和存储内容四个方面,系统回顾了近年来对空间表征形成机制与内在特征的理论探讨。在此基础上,进一步讨论了当前空间表征研究中存在的生态效度问题,以及以后将虚拟环境技术引入到空间认知研究中的发展趋势     

Affective regulation in trichotillomania: Evidence from a large-scale internet survey

Trichotillomania (TTM), a repetitive hair-pulling disorder, is underrepresented in the clinical literature. The current project explores the relationship between affective regulation and disordered hair-pulling. Previous research suggests that cycles of emotional states are correlated with the disorder and may induce, reinforce, or otherwise contribute to hair-pulling behavior. We use anonymous internet survey responses from 1162 self-identified hair-pullers to address four questions about affective regulation in people with TTM: (1) Do hair-pullers experience greater difficulty “snapping out” of affective states than non-pullers? (2) Does difficulty with emotional control correlate with TTM severity? (3) Are subtypes identifiable based on the emotions that trigger hair-pulling behavior? (4) Does difficulty “snapping out” of an emotion predict whether that emotion triggers pulling behavior? The results showed a small-to-moderate relationship between affective regulation and problematic hair-pulling. In addition, individual patterns of emotion regulation were systematically related to emotional cues for hair-pulling as well as overall hair-pulling severity. These findings contribute to an understanding of the phenomenology of TTM and provide empirical support for treatments focused on affect regulation.     

关于地区机构伦理委员会的调研与思考

通过对辽宁地区29家机构伦理委员会的机构设置情况、工作内容、伦理审查工作的管理等状况的调研,为了解我国医学伦理委员会的发展现状,存在的问题及发展方向提供局部的现实依据,为进一步完善我国医学伦理委员会建设提出建议。