Violent video games and anger as predictors of aggression

Considerable research has demonstrated that playing violent video games can increase aggression. The theoretical framework upon which a good deal of this research has rested is known as the General Aggression Model (GAM; [Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2002). Human aggression. Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 27–51]). The current study tested an assumption of the GAM by examining if the dispositional trait of anger moderated the relation between violent video games and aggression. A total of 167 undergraduate students (79 females, 88 males) first completed a measure of anger and were then randomly assigned to play either a non-violent or violent video game. After the video game play period, participants completed ambiguous story stems in order to assess aggression. Consistent with predictions of the GAM, anger significantly moderated the effect of video game violence on aggression. Specifically, participants who were angry were more affected by violent video games than participants who were not angry.     

初中数学优差生注意转换中的线索和准备效应

选取34名初中数学优差生为被试,采用任务转换实验考察其注意转换中的线索效应和准备效应.结果表明:一般转换代价出现了线索效应和准备效应,特定转换代价仅出现了线索效应,优生比差生更善于利用线索和准备间距提高任务转换成绩.     

Empirical evaluation of a model of global psychophysical judgments: IV. Forms for the weighting function

Understanding the psychological interpretation of numerals is of both practical and theoretical interest. In classical magnitude estimation, respondents match numerals to sensations and in magnitude production they select sensations that stand in a prescribed numerical ratio to a given standard. The present work focusses on evaluating several possible, and related, forms for the function W formulating the distortion of numerals. The main form, of which a power function is a special case, is the Prelec exponential/power representation. Behavioral equivalents to power and to Prelec functions are formulated, tested, and rejected. It is argued that either the mathematical form or the assumption W(1)=1 is wrong. Whereas, the axiomatic literature has focussed exclusively on the former inference, we explore the alternate that W(1)≠1. Behavioral axioms are formulated in each case and experimentally tested. We conclude that most respondents satisfy a general power function and that those who do not, satisfy the general Prelec function.     

On being happy but fearing failure: The effects of mood on self-handicapping strategies

Does temporary mood influence people’s tendency to engage in self-handicapping behaviors? Based on past research on self-handicapping and recent work on affect and social behaviors, this experiment predicted and found that positive mood significantly increased the tendency to engage in two kinds of self-handicapping strategies. Participants (N = 94) first received contingent or non-contingent positive feedback about performance on a task of ‘cognitive abilities’, and then underwent a positive, neutral, or negative mood induction using video films. Self-handicapping was assessed in terms of their subsequent preference for (a) drinking a performance-enhancing, or performance-inhibiting herbal tea, and (b) engaging or not engaging in performance-enhancing cognitive practice. As predicted, happy mood and non-contingent feedback significantly increased self-handicapping on both measures. The implications of these results for everyday performance tasks, and for recent affect-cognition theories, are discussed.     

Effects of regulatory focus on endorsement of religious beliefs

Regulatory focus has an impact on different judgments. Specifically, promotion focus is directed at achieving positive outcome whereas prevention focus is directed at preventing negative outcomes. Thus, people in promotion focus endorse positive outcome-framed messages whereas people in prevention focus endorse negative outcome-framed messages. In two experiments, we examined whether this holds true for religious beliefs. In Experiment 1, participants were undergraduate students; we found the expected interaction between regulatory focus and verse frame. In Experiment 2, we replicated this finding with participants from conservative Lutheran communities, demonstrating that there was a transient influence of induced regulatory focus. This finding suggests that regulatory focus either is difficult to discount or is not a peripheral cue that is used in heuristic processing only, but an internal state that has a pervasive impact even if people are highly motivated to process information systematically.     

The camera perspective bias: a case study

In this case study, we examined how variations of the camera perspective affect adults' assessment of veracity in a real‐life high‐stake situation; a masked male confessing to a very serious crime. The interview, conducted by one of Sweden's most awarded journalists, lasted 30 minutes and consisted of over 100 detailed questions about the crime. The interview was videotaped simultaneously by three cameras positioned at different locations, each taking a unique visual perspective. One camera focused on the suspect only, one on the interviewer only, and one equally on the suspect and the interviewer. Each videotape was shown to 32 adult observers (N = 96) who were asked to assess the suspect's veracity and to report subjective cues justifying their veracity assessment. The results confirmed the camera perspective bias, by showing that the observers in the ‘suspect only’ condition assessed the confession as significantly more reliable than did the observers in the ‘interviewer only’ condition. The observers reported that they relied heavily on verbal cues when assessing the confession, and particularly regarding confidence and consistency. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Linda问题：“齐当别”抉择模型的解释

大量有关人类归因判断的研究表明,人类经常违反理性概率公理。Tversky和Kahneman（1983）使用Linda问题等特定场景的研究发现,人们系统性地表现出违反理性推断标准,判断合取事件发生概率大于其组成事件发生概率,称之为合取谬误,并用人们使用代表性启发式判断概率来解释该现象产生的原因。然而使用启发式观点对合取谬误现象进行解释过于模糊不清。该文首先介绍了合取谬误现象及其解释模型,然后应用Li（1994,2004）提出的不确定情形下决策理论——“齐当别”抉择模型对Linda问题中合取谬误产生的原因进行了新的解释     

社会支持与主观幸福感关系研究综述

文章针对社会支持对主观幸福感的影响及其影响机制的研究进行了较为系统的梳理,并分析和探讨了现存的问题和今后的研究方向,旨在为未来的研究提供新的思路和视角。     

Dispositional happiness and college student GPA: Unpacking a null relation

We examined the mechanisms that underlie the null relation between dispositional happiness and college grade point average (GPA) by testing the hypothesis that dispositional happiness has positive and negative indirect links to GPA that offset each other. The sample consisted of 317 first-year students. Using structural equation modeling, we found that dispositional happiness exerted a positive indirect effect on cumulative GPA via commitment to college (p < .01) and a negative indirect effect on cumulative GPA via satisfaction with peer (student) relationships (p < .05). As predicted, the sum of its indirect effects on cumulative GPA was not significant (p = .22).