TELEOLOGY IN BIOLOGY: WHO COULD ASK FOR ANYTHING MORE?

Abstract. Teleological thinking permeates biology and is useful in pondering unanswered biological questions. Such thinking differs from the usual sense of teleology in that “purpose” in biology carries no imputation of causation. A few examples are given. The teleological system of biology is every bit as elegant a construct of the human mind as any other teleological system and in no way precludes spirituality. I argue that it provides a firmer foundation for moral guidance than supernatural systems.     

态度强度的维度结构与研究操作

态度强度指态度具有坚持性和抵抗性的程度及其对信息加工过程和行为产生影响的程度,包括可获得性、两面性、确定性、精细加工、极端性、重要性、知识性、个人相关性和结构一致性9个常见维度。文章介绍了态度强度的操纵和测量方法,对探讨态度强度维度结构的已有研究进行了阐述和总结,在此基础上指出态度强度至少包含三重维度结构,并提出将态度强度与群体水平变量和社会预警系统相联系等研究角度     

西医院校中医学教学远期效果的强化途径

根据教学认知结构理论,突出"学科结构"教学,引导学生将所学的知识按照知识结构的形式构建个人的认知结构,有助于今后信息的检索和提取从而获得长期记一忆.突出"医疗特色"教学,使学生明晰中医理论发生发展的脉络本质,并与其它医学相比较凸显中医特色.使学生不仅对中医产生正确的认知和情感,而且记忆长久,从而使教学远期效果的实现成为可能.     

企业员工工作动机的结构研究

本研究利用问卷调查的方法 ,探讨了我国企业员工工作动机的结构及其特征 ,结果发现我国企业员工的工作动机可以概括为追求胜任取向、外在报酬取向、他人评价取向、自我决定取向与良好关系取向五个因素。所得到的五因素模型较内部动机、外部动机两维模型更加具体、全面地反映了工作动机的内容。企业员工工作动机的取向与性别、受教育水平等因素有关。研究得到了《企业员工工作动机取向量表》 ,该量表共 38个项目 ,具有较好的信度与效度。     

Psychological Empowerment Among Urban Youth: Measurement Model and Associations with Youth Outcomes

Empowerment‐based strategies have become widely used method to address health inequities and promote social change. Few researchers, however, have tested theoretical models of empowerment, including multidimensional, higher‐order models. We test empirically a multidimensional, higher‐order model of psychological empowerment (PE), guided by Zimmerman's conceptual framework including three components of PE: intrapersonal, interactional, and behavioral. We also investigate if PE is associated with positive and negative outcomes among youth. The sample included 367 middle school youth aged 11–16 (M = 12.71; SD = 0.91); 60% female, 32% (n = 117) white youth, 46% (n = 170) African‐American youth, and 22% (n = 80) identifying as mixed race, Asian‐American, Latino, Native American, or other ethnic/racial group; schools reported 61–75% free/reduced lunch students. Our results indicated that each of the latent factors for the three PE components demonstrate a good fit with the data. Our results also indicated that these components loaded on to a higher‐order PE factor (X² = 32.68; df: 22; p = .07; RMSEA: 0.04; 95% CI: .00, .06; CFI: 0.99). We found that the second‐order PE factor was negatively associated with aggressive behavior and positively associated with prosocial engagement. Our results suggest that empowerment‐focused programs would benefit from incorporating components addressing how youth think about themselves in relation to their social contexts (intrapersonal), understanding social and material resources needed to achieve specific goals (interactional), and actions taken to influence outcomes (behavioral). Our results also suggest that integrating the three components and promoting PE may help increase likelihood of positive behaviors (e.g., prosocial involvement); we did not find an association between PE and aggressive behavior. Implications and future directions for empowerment research are discussed.     

Sequential learning models for the Wisconsin card sort task: Assessing processes in substance dependent individuals

The Wisconsin card sort task (WCST) is a commonly used neuropsychological test of executive or frontal lobe functioning. Traditional behavioral measures from the task (e.g., perseverative errors) distinguish healthy controls from clinical populations, but such measures can be difficult to interpret. In an attempt to supplement traditional measures, we developed and tested a family of sequential learning models that allowed for estimation of processes at the individual subject level in the WCST. Testing the model with substance dependent individuals and healthy controls, the model parameters significantly predicted group membership, even when controlling for traditional behavioral measures from the task. Substance dependence was associated with (a) slower attention shifting following punished trials and (b) reduced decision consistency. Results suggest that model parameters may offer both incremental content validity and incremental predictive validity.     

The analysis of bridging constructs with hierarchical clustering methods: An application to identity

When analyzing psychometric surveys, some design and sample size limitations challenge existing approaches. Hierarchical clustering, with its graphics (heat maps, dendrograms, means plots), provides a nonparametric method for analyzing factorially-designed survey data, and small samples data. In the present study, we demonstrated the advantages of using hierarchical clustering (HC) for the analysis of non-higher-order measures, comparing the results of HC against those of exploratory factor analysis. As a factorially-designed survey, we used the Identity Labels and Life Contexts Questionnaire (ILLCQ), a novel measure to assess identity as a bridging construct for the intersection of identity domains and life contexts. Results suggest that, when used to validate factorially-designed measures, HC and its graphics are more stable and consistent compared to EFA.     

The comprehensive approach to analyzing multivariate constructs

Many psychological constructs of interest to personality psychologists, such as personality, behavior, and emotions, are made up of many variables. Moreover, similarity metrics, such as self-other agreement, profile similarity, or behavioral consistency, result from calculations conducted across many variables. When analyzed using a comprehensive approach, such multivariate constructs present unique analytic challenges. Such challenges are not well addressed in standard graduate statistics textbooks or presently available in standard commercial software. This article introduces the ‘multicon’ package, freely available in the R statistical package, designed to aid researchers interested in taking a comprehensive approach to analyzing multivariate constructs. Realistic examples from personality psychology are provided to demonstrate the utility of this package.