科学划界视域下心理学学科焦虑与学科自觉

心理学科学划界是心理学发展史上的根本问题,构成了心理学发展历史研究的出发点和逻辑起点。心理学科学划界观点多样,争论不休,导致心理学处于学科焦虑当中。当前,心理学需要以文化文思促进学科自觉,这其中隐含的不仅仅是对心理学科学化追求道路的深入思考,同时,也是实现心理学话语方式转换以及与科学关系的深刻把握。     

Psychological evidence in the courtroom: critical reflections on the general acceptance standard

The increasing ties between psychology and law have familiarized psychologists with the standards by which law admits scientific evidence into the courtroom. In the USA, these include the general acceptance standard and the Daubert guidelines and, in the UK, the Turner Rule. However, the psychological literature has largely failed to make clear the degree of legal debate that exists concerning the clarity and effectiveness of such standards. This paper will focus on the general acceptance standard, examining key problems of this standard and placing them in a specifically psychological context. Such consideration is important precisely because the standard has become so well known within the psychological literature and because insufficient attention has been given to the way in which it operates implicitly within jurisdictions outside the USA. The authors argue that it is the responsibility of psychologists to become more involved in the debate concerning admissibility standards, given the credibility and authority that law accords to psychology when admitting it into the courtroom. In particular, psychologists need to become more self-reflective about their role in creating and maintaining such standards. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Effects of Extrinsic Motivation on Scientific and Artistic Creativity among Middle School Students

The present study tested the effects of extrinsic motivation on scientific and artistic creativity among Chinese middle school students. In Study 1, a between-groups design was applied to examine the effects of expected rewards on scientific and artistic creativity among 123 students, and in Study 2 the same design was applied to examine the effects of expected evaluation from different raters on scientific and artistic creativity among 120 students. We also considered the effects of grade and gender in both studies. The results of Study 1 indicated that expected material reward had significant negative effects on scientific creativity for 7th graders, while expected social reward had significant positive effects on scientific creativity for 8th graders, and both expected material and social rewards had significant positive effects on artistic creativity. The results of Study 2 indicated that expected evaluation from teachers and classmates had significant negative effects on scientific creativity and significant positive effects on artistic creativity. These results suggest that there is no one-size-fits-all answer to the effects of extrinsic motivation and creativity, Factors such as culture, type of extrinsic motivation, grade, and domains of creativity must be fully considered when cultivating adolescents’ creativity.     

A comparison of sources of baseline data for treatments of problem behavior following a functional analysis

It is common practice in research on the treatment of problem behavior to compare levels of targeted behaviors during treatment to levels when treatment is not in place. Some researchers use data collected as part of a multielement functional analysis as the initial baseline, whereas others collect new baseline data following completion of the functional analysis. We evaluated whether the source of baseline data influences the reliability and efficiency of decision-making. Results suggest that similar decisions are made in regard to treatment efficacy using the different sources of baseline data, but using data from a multielement functional analysis as baseline may save time. Interrater agreement was adequate, but lower for some graphs than has been observed in past studies. Several potential explanations for this discrepancy are discussed.     

Molecular (moment-to-moment) and molar (aggregate) analyses of behavior

Ten meanings or usages of the terms molecular and molar analyses are based on (1) numbers of responses, (2) durations of activities, (3) levels, (4) scales, (5) contiguity versus correlation, (6) behavioral standards, (7) function with or without structure, (8) local versus global phenomena, and (9) control by shaping of sequential moment-to-moment behavior. These usages reveal divisive viewpoints along with ambiguities in the Law of Effect, the definition of an operant, response strength, response probability, random behavior, time allocation, shaping, controlled versus uncontrolled operants, and roles for ordinary language. Usage 10 is less divisive and combines, and in that sense unifies, molecular behavior, defined as shaped moment-to-moment sequential behaving, and molar, defined as averages of aggregates of those shaped responses. It combines shaping, that establishes and changes operant behaviors, and strengthening that changes the amounts of those shaped behaviors. I conclude that general behavioral theory will combine strengthening with such methods as parametric, hybrid, or nonparametric shaping, and will use computational methods to simulate moment-to-moment behavior streams from which any aggregates of theoretical interest may be computed. Such a synthesis may not require different levels, scales, or new scientific paradigms.     

On the Conceptual Overlap between the Fluency Contamination Effect in Divergent Thinking Scores and the Chance View on Scientific Creativity

The equal odds baseline is a parsimonious model that describes the relationship between quantity and quality of output in scientific creativity. Specifically, it is posited that quality is a linear function of quantity, and therefore, strong positive correlations between these two variables are expected. Strong positive correlations also play a crucial role in a recurring issue in divergent thinking research: the fluency contamination effect. This effect refers to the problem that any other summative scoring of divergent thinking tests such as the number of original responses (i.e., quality of responses) is confounded by fluency (i.e., quantity of responses). The current work sheds further light into the conceptual overlap between the equal odds baseline, and the fluency contamination effect by demonstrating that a recent formalization of the fluency contamination effect can be used to derive the equal odds baseline. This result is then utilized within a structural equation modeling approach with simulated datasets to thoroughly examine the equal odds baseline. The findings of the structural equation modeling approach are discussed with respect to their potential to better understand the relationship between quantity and quality of productions in creativity research.     

Looking Back,Looking Forward: ISPP at 40 and Future Directions for Political Psychology

The ISPP Presidential Address typically is an opportunity for the President to outline his or her research contribution and trajectory, and the publication of the Address takes the form of a research article. Given that in 2017, ISPP celebrated its 40th conference and 2018 is its 40th anniversary as an academic society, the 2017 Presidential Address and this article are focused on the state of the Society; What have we achieved? How have we changed? Where are we heading? Looking back, ISPP is a more diverse and international society than in 1978, and it is confidently fulfilling its mission. Looking forward, three areas that warrant further attention are outlined: (1) The issue of a possible decline in scientific rationalism and threat of anti‐liberalism (2) challenges with measurement and prediction of political opinion, political attitudes, and voting behavior, and (3) as a maturing field, the need to establish common theoretical frameworks that integrate current knowledge such as building a case that humans are political animals. Each direction is briefly outlined with the aim of provoking thought and stimulating discussion and debate about the future of political psychology.