Habituation contributes to within-session changes in free wheel running.

Three experiments tested the hypothesis that habituation contributes to the regulation of wheel running. Rats ran in a wheel for 30-min sessions. Experiment 1 demonstrated spontaneous recovery. Rats ran more and the within-session decreases in running were smaller after 2 days of wheel deprivation than after 1 day. Experiment 2 demonstrated dishabituation. Running rate increased immediately after the termination of a brief extra event (application of the brake or flashing of the houselight). Experiment 3 demonstrated stimulus specificity. Rats completed the second half of the session in either the same wheel as the first half, or a different wheel. Second-half running was faster in the latter case. Within-session patterns of running were well described by equations that describe data from the habituation, motivation, and operant literatures. These results suggest that habituation contributes to the regulation of running. In fact, habituation provides a better explanation for the termination of wheel running than fatigue, the variable to which this termination is usually attributed. Overall, the present findings are consistent with the proposition that habituation and sensitization contribute to the regulation of several forms of motivated behavior.     

A Selective Impairment in the Processing of Sad and Fearful Expressions in Children with Psychopathic Tendencies

The processing of emotional expressions is fundamental for normal socialisation and interaction. Reduced responsiveness to the expressions of sadness and fear has been implicated in the development of psychopathy (R. J. R. Blair, 1995). The current study investigates the sensitivity of children with psychopathic tendencies to facial expressions. Children with psychopathic tendencies and a comparison group, as defined by the Psychopathy Screening Device (PSD; P. J. Frick & R. D. Hare, in press), were presented with a cinematic display of a standardised set of facial expressions that depicted sadness, happiness, anger, disgust, fear, and surprise. Participants observed as these facial expressions slowly evolved through 20 successive frames of increasing intensity. The children with psychopathic tendencies presented with selective impairments; they needed significantly more stages before they could successfully recognise the sad expressions and even when the fearful expressions were at full intensity were significantly more likely to mistake them for another expression. These results are interpreted with reference to an amygdala and empathy impairment explanation of psychopathy.     

Attention focusing versus distraction during exposure in dental phobia

A survey of the discrepant findings regarding the effects of attention focusing and distraction on exposure suggested that subjective measures of anxiety and avoidance respond better to the latter condition, and heart rate (HR) reaction responds to the former. To test this hypothesis, 63 dental phobics were recruited who had not visited a dentist for a mean of 6.6 (1.5-25) years. Participants received a 1-h exposure session with either attention focusing or distraction. Subjective anxiety and HR to phobia-related pictures were assessed before and after the treatment session and again after 1 week. Avoidance was recorded in terms of adherence to the dental treatment schedule in the following 6 months. Contrary to expectation, state anxiety showed a greater decrease in the attention focusing than the distraction condition after 1 week. Both treatment conditions were similarly effective with regard to HR and avoidance. HR habituated in both groups after exposure and 73% of followed-up patients adhered to the dental treatment schedule. Comparison of the present with previous results suggests that the differences between attentional conditions tend to be more pronounced during shorter exposure sessions than were employed in the present study.     

The Homosexual Tendencies of King James: Should this Matter to Bible Readers Today?

The question whether King James, who commissioned the translation of the Bible into English in 1604, had homosexual tendencies has been under discussion in recent years. We review the arguments presented against this view and conclude that they are largely circular and ad hominem. We then consider the evidence presented by those who argue for this view, including the emotional distance between King James and his wife; his intense affection for three men in the course of his life; contemporary criticism of his public expressions of affection toward two of these men; and contemporary allegations that his reluctance to commit England to war was due to his “effeminate” nature. We discuss his family history and his relationship to one man in particular and conclude that the argument he had homosexual tendencies is compelling. We then take up the associations that his own contemporaries made between homosexual behavior, effeminacy, pacifism, and the scholar, and present our view that in authorizing the translation of the Bible into English, he provided a scholarly model for male cooperation that was inherently superior to the martial model of male enterprise advocated by his opponents. We also suggest that his authorization of a new translation of the Bible was psycho-dynamically related to his loss of his mother in infancy and to his guilt for having failed to come to her aid when she requested his help. Finally, we make a case in behalf of the King James Version of the Bible on the grounds that it functions as a cultural selfobject (Kohut), due mainly to its maternal associations; that King James’s favorite Bible verse was Matthew 5:9—“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God”; and that James had homosexual tendencies.     

前瞻记忆意向后效应的加工机制:来自眼动的证据

基于重复前瞻记忆目标范式和视觉搜索范式,采用多种类型刺激呈现的眼动测量方式考察前瞻记忆意向后效应的加工机制。研究采用2（条件）×5（刺激类型）的混合实验设计,显著条件下前瞻记忆目标为红色,非显著条件下前瞻记忆目标和其他字母的颜色均为白色,背景为黑色。结果显示,显著和非显著条件下前瞻记忆完成阶段中对原前瞻记忆目标的反应时慢于控制条件,而且前瞻记忆目标在进行中任务目标之后的反应时慢于进行中任务目标之前的刺激类型。另外,非显著条件下,前瞻记忆目标在进行中任务目标之前和之后的眼动数据没有差异;显著条件下的注视点数量多于控制条件,前瞻记忆目标在进行中任务目标之后的注视点数量多于进行中任务目标之前的刺激类型。结果说明,前瞻记忆任务完成以后,在随后的阶段中遇到原前瞻记忆目标时被试会投入认知资源对其进行抑制,支持抑制加工。     

特质敬畏对亲社会倾向的正向预测：自我超越和共情的多重中介作用

敬畏对内能影响个体的精神世界,实现自我超越,对外能使个体更多地关注他人;且自我超越也能促进个体对他人的共情关注。但目前还未有实证研究探讨敬畏是否能通过共情以及自我超越-共情的中介预测亲社会倾向。为检验这一假设,本研究招募了1347名大学生并测量了其敬畏特质、自我超越、共情和亲社会倾向。结果显示：（1）敬畏、自我超越、共情和亲社会倾向各维度两两相关显著;（2）敬畏直接预测亲社会倾向各维度,也能通过自我超越和共情的多重中介间接预测,且自我超越的中介效应最大。本研究从内、外因素进一步深化了对敬畏与亲社会倾向关系的认识,频繁的敬畏体验有助于提升个体的自我超越及对他人的共情关注,促进亲社会倾向。     

云南省学生亲社会倾向发展趋势及对学校适应的预测

考察云南省大、中、小学生亲社会倾向的发展趋势、类型特点和亲社会倾向与大中小学生学校适应的关系。采用分层随机取样的方式选取云南省大学生3249名和中小学生9055名,调查了他们的亲社会倾向和学校适应。结果发现:(1)云南省大中小学生的亲社会倾向随年级升高而增加,不同年级段学生之间,以及不同年级段男女生之间在亲社会倾向上均存在显著差异;(2)公开和匿名倾向类型所占比例随年级上升而下降,紧急倾向类型相反,紧急倾向在各个年级段所占比例最大,不同年级段学生和性别之间存在显著差异;(3)云南学生亲社会倾向总得分高于其它地方的学生,但在利他倾向上却显著低于其他地方的学生;(4)亲社会倾向对大中小学生的学校适应有显著的预测作用,但对大学生的预测力较小。应加强云南大中小学生利他倾向的培养,发挥亲社会倾向的作用。     

条件位置范式在疼痛研究领域的应用

在疼痛领域,基础研究传统上主要关注疼痛的感觉维度和诱发痛的机制,对疼痛的情绪维度和临床上更常见的自发痛研究较少,这造成了基础研究和临床应用的脱节.条件位置范式的诞生在一定程度上解决了这一问题.条件位置范式是研究药物奖赏和成瘾的经典范式.近10年来,它开始被应用到疼痛研究领域.本文系统总结了目前条件位置范式在疼痛领域的研究进展,主要包括应用条件位置厌恶范式研究疼痛情绪、应用条件位置偏爱范式探索自发痛机制以及进行镇痛药物筛选.最后,结合已有的研究,提出了未来条件位置范式在疼痛领域的应用方向.     

SPONTANEOUS “CURES”: NORMAN REIDER'S FORGOTTEN PAPER,PART II

Part I of this paper combined an introduction to Norman Reider's original 1955 paper with a republication of the paper itself. Part II is a discussion of the complexities of a comparison of past and present psychoanalytic literature. The concept of enactment is proposed as one of many possible alternative views in considering Reider's notion of spontaneous “cures.” A careful consideration of these spontaneous cures within the ordinary ups and downs of any psychoanalytic treatment sheds important light on our continuing confusion about how we define the term cure, and therefore about the nature of change during psychoanalytic treatment. This alternative perspective is only one of many plausible ones for present‐day readers. The purpose of this republication is not to propose an explanation for “what really happened” with Reider and his patients; rather, it is to reconsider the fallacy of evaluating his paper outside its historical context and thereby failing to appreciate his courage in presenting what at the time were radical views. Questions about the complexity and confusion regarding cure and change require reexamination of the neglect of epistemology on the part of psychoanalysis in prolonging the confusion about distinguishing psychotherapy and psychoanalysis.