When values matter: Expressing values in behavioral intentions for the near vs. distant future

It was predicted that because of their abstract nature, values will have greater impact on how individuals plan their distant future than their near future. Experiments 1 and 2 found that values better predict behavioral intentions for distant future situations than near future situations. Experiment 3 found that whereas high-level values predict behavioral intentions for more distant future situations, low-level feasibility considerations predict behavioral intentions for more proximate situation. Finally, Experiment 4 found that the temporal changes in the relationship between values and behavioral intentions depended on how the behavior was construed. Higher correspondence is found when behaviors are construed on a higher level and when behavior is planned for the more distant future than when the same behavior is construed on a lower level or is planned for the more proximal future. The implications of these findings for self-consistency and value conflicts are discussed.     

Body dissatisfaction assessed by the Photographic Figure Rating Scale is associated with sociocultural,personality, and media influences

Swami, V., Taylor, R. & Carvalho, C. (2011). Body dissatisfaction assessed by the Photographic Figure Rating Scale is associated with sociocultural, personality, and media influences. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 52, 57–53. This study sought to investigate the convergent validity of a new measure of body dissatisfaction, namely the Photographic Figure Rating Scale (PFRS), in relation to media influence, celebrity worship, the Big Five personality factors, and respondent weight status. A total of 401 female undergraduates completed a battery of scales consisting of the PFRS, the third revision of the Sociocultural Attitudes Toward Appearance Scale (SATAQ‐3), a measure of celebrity worship, a measure of the Big Five personality factors, and provided their demographic details. Results of a multiple regression showed that body dissatisfaction was most strongly predicted by two of the SATAQ‐3 subscales and participant body mass index, although celebrity worship and Emotional Stability added incremental variance. Limitations of the current study are discussed in conclusion.     

Psychometric properties of the Shared Decision-Making Questionnaire (SDM-Q-9) in oncology practicePropiedades psicométricas del Questionnaire Shared Decision-Making (SDM-Q-9) en oncología

Background/Objective: This study sought to assess the psychometric properties of the 9-item Shared Decision-Making Questionnaire (SDM-Q-9) in patients with resected, non-metastatic cancer and eligible for adjuvant chemotherapy. Method: A total of 568 patients were recruited from a multi-institutional, prospective, transversal study. Patients answered the SDM-Q-9 after visiting their medical oncologist who, in turn, completed the SDM-Q–Physician version. Reliability, factorial structures [exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA)], and convergent validity of the SDM-Q-9 scores were explored. Results: SDM-Q-9 showed a clear factorial structure, compatible with a strong and replicable general factor and a secondary group factor, in patients with resected, non-metastatic cancer. Total sum scores derived from the general factor showed good reliability in terms of omega coefficient: .90. The association between patient and physician perception of SDM was weak and failed to reach statistical significance. Males and patients over 60 years of age displayed the greatest satisfaction with SDM. Conclusions: SDM-Q-9 can aid in evaluating SDM from the cancer patients’ perspective. SDM-Q-9 is helpful in studies examining patient perspectives of SDM and as an indicator of the degree of quality and satisfaction with health care and patient-physician relationship.     

MODELING THE COSMOS: TRANSFORMATIVE PEDAGOGY IN SCIENCE AND RELIGION

This article reflects on the classroom pedagogy promoted by Christopher Southgate and its implications for the science–theology conversation. It highlights several important aspects of Southgate's pedagogy. The use of models of God, humanity, and cosmos emphasize relationality while encouraging the synthesizing of ideas. The promotion of holism in theological reflection is vital for nurturing students to become theologians themselves through the active reevaluation of key doctrines and ideas. An emphasis on ethical considerations reinforces synthesis between theology, science, and ethics, and is vital for perspective transformation. These aspects of Southgate's teaching should be recognized as vital for promoting intellectual independence, partnership, and theological transformation, all of which are essential to good science and theology pedagogy.     

INCOMPLETE KNOWLEDGE AND THE CHANCES OF A CONSTRUCTIVE MASTERING

In spite of incomplete knowledge we are permanently forced to act in complex real-life situations. First, a modern concept of information, the non-trivial transition from information to knowledge, patterns of missing knowledge, and the concept of perspective notions are studied. The main sections review some guidelines for action under incomplete information. A modern view of the concepts of holism and wholeness reveals that (in contrast to some critics) general system theory does not require any metaphysical assumption or previously accepted worldview. The concepts of holism and wholeness, as well as general system theory, are well-founded, even under strict criteria.     

儿童心理理论对责任教育的启示

心理理论是指对自己和他人心理状态的认识,并由此对相应行为作出因果性的预测和解释。心理理论的发展不仅是儿童脱离自我中心、建立良好同伴关系的重要条件,而且还通过影响儿童的观点采择等心理机制影响儿童责任意识的形成与发展。这一理论对于当前的责任教育具有重要启示意义。     

Entrevista con Michael Cole

RESUMEN

Michael Cole es profesor en los departamentos de psicología y comunicaciones de la Universidad de California, San Diego (UCSD). Puede considerarse que el profesor Cole es hoy una de las figuras más interesantes en el panorama de la psicología norteamericana y, uno de los responsables más destacados de la difusión y ampliación de la escuela vygotskiana en Estados Unidos. En esta entrevista el profesor Cole reflexiona sobre las premisas de su visión de la psicología de la cultura y la comunicación, las relaciones entre la ciencia y la sociedad y otros problemas fundamentales de la psicología contemporánea, además de hacer un breve recorrido por su historia de formación como psicólogo tanto en Estados Unidos como en su etapa en la Unión Soviética.     

It is about time: Daily relationships between temporal perspective and well-being

This study examined the day-to-day relationships between temporal perspective and well-being. Temporal perspective has predominantly been measured with single-occasion measurement designs, which ignore the potential for within-person variations that may be important in accounting for fluctuations in well-being. A 14-day daily diary design was employed to examine the dimensions of temporal perspective (temporal focus, temporal attitude, and temporal distance) and their dynamic relationships with daily well-being. The results from multilevel analyses indicated that: (a) there is evidence of within-person variability in daily temporal perspective, and (b) this within-person variability in temporal perspective fluctuated systematically with fluctuations in daily well-being. Each temporal perspective dimension was useful in predicting daily well-being. Temporal perspective dimensions interacted with each other such that the daily relationships with well-being depended on both the temporal region (past, present, or future) and the nature of the thoughts (pleasant vs. unpleasant; near vs. far).     

True and intentionally fabricated memories

The aim of the experiment reported here was to investigate the processes underlying the construction of truthful and deliberately fabricated memories. Properties of memories created to be intentionally false (fabricated memories) were compared to properties of memories believed to be true (true memories). Participants recalled and then wrote or spoke true memories and fabricated memories of everyday events. It was found that true memories were reliably more vivid than fabricated memories and were nearly always recalled from a first-person perspective. In contrast, fabricated differed from true memories in that they were judged to be reliably older, were more frequently recalled from a third-person perspective, and linguistic analysis revealed that they required more cognitive effort to generate. No notable differences were found across modality of reporting. Finally, it was found that intentionally fabricated memories were created by recalling and then “editing” true memories. Overall, these findings show that true and fabricated memories systematically differ, despite the fact that both are based on true memories.     

The Biomedical Paradigm and the Nobel Prize: Is It Time for a Change?

An examination of the early history of Nobel Committee deliberations, coupled with a survey of discoveries for which prizes have been awarded to date – and, equally revealing, discoveries for which prizes have not been awarded – reveals a pattern. This pattern suggests that Committee members may have internalized the received, biomedical model and conferred awards in accord with the physicalistic premises that ground this model. I consider the prospect of a paradigm change in medical science and the possible repercussions of such a change on the distribution of Nobel prizes within the domain of physiology or medicine. For expository purposes, I contrast a model based on a science of pathophysiology with one based on a science of pathopsychophysiology. I propose a means whereby members might minimize the potentially blinding effects of model-dependence and come to evaluate medical discoveries from an inter-model rather than an exclusively intra-model perspective. By bringing to light questions rarely asked and proposing answers, I seek to open a dialogue and furnish a vehicle by which the putative delimiting effects of model-dependence might be overcome.