心理距离对跨期选择和风险选择的影响

通过考察时间距离、社会距离和概率距离对跨期选择和风险选择的影响, 探究跨期选择和风险选择心理过程的相似性, 并检验不同心理距离影响决策的相似性。结果发现, 无论是时间距离(实验1)、社会距离(实验2)、还是概率距离(实验3), 心理距离越远, 被试在跨期选择中越倾向于延迟选项, 在风险选择中越倾向于风险选项。研究认为, 在跨期选择和风险选择中, 选项的表征结构和选项整体评价时不同选项特征的相对权重具有相似性。随着心理距离增加, 与高识解相联系的金额特征的相对权重增加, 与低识解相联系的时间和概率特征的相对权重降低, 这使得被试更倾向于选择金额较大的延迟和风险选项。同时, 研究发现三类心理距离对两类决策有相似影响, 进一步验证了不同心理距离的本质相似性。     

城乡居民的就医选择差异研究

文章利用利用2008年中国居民医疗服务调查数据, 描述了居民的就医选择模式, 比较了城乡居民就医选择的差异。数据显示, 居民主要选择整体治疗水平高、口碑好, 方便且收费规范的医院和医德、医术兼顾的医生。在城乡差异方面, 城市居民主要选择那些有实力且环境舒适的医院, 村镇居民更希望医院有良好的服务和友好的态度。城市居民对医生的医德要求更高、更喜欢选专家看病, 但对专家有更多的质疑;而村镇居民则倾向于根据病情选医生, 也更为信任专家。     

吃亏是福：择“值”选项而获真利

主流决策理论认为人们当遵从个人利益最大化原则, 基于“价” (value)做选择—— 挑选能直接给自己带来最大获益的选项。但决策者实际上经常会基于“值” (worth)做选择—— 挑选令自己当下吃亏或损失的选项, 并认为“值得”。为探索选择吃亏的选项究竟“值”在何处, 研究1利用情境实验操纵“基于‘值’选择”, 发现选择表面吃亏的“值”选项反而能给个体带来更大的延迟获益。研究2a采用归纳法, 确定了吃亏选项会在“惠、善、义、法” 4个潜在维度上被决策者赋予更大的“值”; 研究2b利用测量4个潜在维度的情境测验, 以销售群体的销售绩效和主观幸福感为真实获益的衡量指标, 验证了“基于‘值’选择”与现实生活中的物质和精神获益间存在正向的线性预测关系。研究首次为中国文化中的“吃亏是福”提供了实证证据的支持, 揭示诱使人们选择吃亏选项的是“后福”—— 赋在潜在维度上的延迟获益。     

未来取向应对的双阶段序列模型及其时间透视机制

最近的研究表明, 未来取向应对对于应激管理起着不可忽视的重要作用。但预先应对和预防应对的关系及其作用机制, 一直是困扰应对研究者的重要问题。我们的前期工作显示, 序列模型比平行模型能更好地表征预先应对和预防应对的内在关系, 时间透视比威胁知觉更能解释预防应对的前因。本项目首次以时间知觉和内隐态度为切入点, 探索未来取向应对机制的理论模型。研究内容拟包括：(1)以大学生就业为情境, 构建未来取向应对的双阶段序列模型; (2)以大学生入学适应为情境, 用内隐认知充实和验证未来取向应对的序列模型; (3)用时间折扣模型的任务范式, 探讨未来取向应对不同阶段的时间透视机制：(4)用威胁性和中性的阈下面孔作情绪启动, 验证未来取向应对不同阶段的时间透视机制。本研究为发掘预先应对和预防应对的关系及其内在机制, 及基于未来取向应对的干预在心理健康和教育领域的应用奠定了基础。     

Effects of preference on performing a self-care skill among children with autism spectrum disorder

In this study, four children with autism were assessed to determine their preference choices for toothbrushes and toothpastes included during self-care skills teaching sessions. For two of the children, the presence of high-preference (HP) materials was associated with improved independent tooth brushing when compared to the presence of low-preference (LP) materials. There was no difference in independent tooth brushing between HP/LP conditions for the other two children. These findings suggest that preference and choice of materials alone can be a helpful instructional strategy for care providers serving children who have neurodevelopmental disorders and skill deficits.     

Flashing the Yellow Traffic Light: Choices Forced Upon Us by Gene Editing Technologies

The 2018 birth of two designer babies in China has sparked an immediate global controversy over the ethics of gene editing. For the longer range future, however, we must assess how CRISPR/Cas9, like so many other new bio-technologies, is forcing choice—moral choice—on a large scale. Gene editing for purposes of medical therapy, human enhancement, engineering of future children, and even creating a posthuman species, confront our society with the inescapable necessity of making moral choices. The task for churches in partnership with universities is not to decide in advance what is right or wrong. Rather, it is to prepare our people to make responsible choices.     

A belief in trend reversal requires access to cognitive resources

There are two research traditions studying people's reactions to random binary events: one concerns serial choice reaction times, the other concerns predictions of events in a series. The present studies focused on comparing expectations between these two approaches. We formed and tested a general hypothesis that, regardless of the type of task, when an individual faces a sequence of events they initially expect trend continuation. Only when people assume that a sequence is random might they override the default and expect trend reversal instead. In a series of experiments we found that limitation of access to cognitive resources enhances expectations of trend continuation. Our interpretation of this finding is that an expectation of trend continuation is the default for the human cognitive system and that a belief in trend reversal requires access to cognitive resources to overcome the tendency to expect trend continuation.     

Selective approach to a male and subsequent receptivity to mounting comprise mate‐choice behavior of female mice1

Abstract: To ensure the effectiveness of the mate‐choice behavior of female house mice (Mus domesticus), we observed them in two different situations that involved restriction of the area of movement of the male mice. In Experiment 1, we observed 12 trios consisting of two male mice and an estrous female placed in a chamber in which none of the animals was restricted during the 6‐h test. It was found that the female was more receptive to the male that had ejaculated with it first. Additionally, when the female initiated the mating event by approaching the male, the lordosis quotient was higher than that when the male initiated the mating event. In Experiment 2, a female was able to visit two males that were prevented from getting out of small boxes. As a result of the 3‐h observation of 10 cases, it was found that the females were more receptive to the dominant male. The intromission ratio of the dominant male was also higher than that of the subordinate male. The behavioral roles of female mice in mating interactions and their adaptive validity are discussed.     

Terrorism and the Uses of Terror

“Terrorism”' is sometimes defined as a “form ofcoercion.” But there are important differences between ordinary coercion and terrorist intimidation. This paper explores some of those differences, particularly the relation between coercion, on the one hand, and terror and terrorization, on the other hand. The paper argues that while terrorism is not necessarily associated with terror in the literal sense, it does often seek to instill a mental state like terror in the populations that it targets. However, the point of instilling this mental state is not necessarily coercive or intimidatory: one can try to instill terror as an act of punishment, or as an expressive or therapeutic act, or because one values the political consequences that might follow, or because one thinks terror is preferable, from an ethical point of view, to the inauthentic complacency that characterizes the targeted population at present. Though this paper asks questions about the definition of “terrorism,” these questions are not asked for their own sake. The quest for a canonical definition of “terrorism” is probably a waste of time. But asking questions which sound like questions of definition is sometimes a fruitful way of focusing our reflections on terrorism and organizing our response. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.