主观幸福感的结构及其与人格特质的关系

以239名大学生为被试,考察了主观幸福感(SWB)的结构及其与人格特质的关系。分析表明,SWB由生活满意度、积极情感和消极情感三个相关的维度构成,而且它们可以共同负荷于一个高阶因子。外倾和神经质是SWB的重要预测指标,积极情感的主要预测指标是外倾,神经质则是消极情感最有力的预测指标,而外倾和神经质对消极情感和生活满意度有相同的预测力。情感平衡是外倾和神经质影响生活满意度的中介变量。     

主观阶层研究取向的贡献与弊端

近年来社会阶层心理学研究领域对于主观阶层的研究取向高度重视,突出表现为强调社会阶层概念中的主观阶层成分,在理论阐述、概念测量、研究设计和研究问题选择上都倾向于关注主观阶层。这一取向为社会阶层心理学的发展奠定了基础,也扩展了该领域的研究方法及关注问题的视野。但它也造成了部分研究在理论层面与社会现实有所脱节、在概念层面过于忽视客观阶层、在方法层面过于依赖操纵主观阶层,以及在问题层面只关注高低二元阶层划分、对现实阶层多样性关注不足等弊端。未来应进一步深入开展基础研究以厘清客观阶层和主观阶层的关系及其不同的预测效应,在研究设计时对于客观阶层和主观阶层进行更细化的区分,同时可以更多关注于现实中的具体社会问题。     

心理和谐概念辨析

心理和谐是心理要素以及直接影响心理的各要素之间在总体意义上的协调统一、相对稳定的关系,它由个体内部心理和谐、人－事心理和谐、人际心理和谐和身心和谐四个子系统组成,其内涵本质上属于积极心理学的范畴。心理和谐和心理健康、自我和谐、主观幸福感既有显著区别,又存在密切关系。对心理和谐的内涵及其同邻近概念的关系进行全方位的辨析,有助于深化心理和谐的理论研究和实证研究。     

主观幸福感与大三人格特征相关研究的元分析

运用元分析方法对国内有关主观幸福感与大三人格特质的关系问题进行了探讨, 通过文献检索, 纳入文献43篇, 总样本量为16377。结果表明：(1)主观幸福感与外倾性存在正相关, 与神经质、精神质存在负相关。对比国外相关研究, 中国被试群体的外倾性、神经质与主观幸福感的相关更为密切, 人格特质与文化的契合性对主观幸福感与人格特质的相关有较大影响; (2)主观幸福感与大三人格之间的相关不受主观幸福感结构(总体幸福感、生活满意度、积极情感和消极情感)的影响。主观幸福感的结构需要进一步明确; (3)主观幸福感与内外倾人格特质的相关受不同年龄群体的调节, 而主观幸福感与神经质、精神质的关系则不受影响。最后, 对研究结果进行讨论并展望未来研究方向。     

Stimulus control depends on the subjective value of the outcome

Stimuli that provide information about likely future reinforcers tend to shift behavior, provided a reliable relation between the stimulus and the reinforcer can be discriminated. Stimuli that are apparently more reliable exert greater control over behavior. We asked how the subjective value (measured in terms of preference) of reinforcers associated with stimuli influences stimulus control. Five pigeons worked on a concurrent chains procedure in which half of all trials ended in a smaller reinforcer sooner, and the other half in a larger reinforcer later. In Signaled trials, the color and flash duration on the keys in the initial link signaled the outcome of the trial. In Conflicting probe trials, the color and the flash duration signaled conflicting information about the outcome of the trial. Choice in Signaled trials shifted toward the signaled outcome, but was never exclusive. In Conflicting probe trials, control was divided idiosyncratically between the 2 stimulus dimensions, but still favored the outcome with the higher subjective value. Thus, stimulus control depends not only on the perceived reliability of stimuli, but also on the subjective value of the outcome.     

Human coffee drinking: manipulation of concentration and caffeine dose.

In a residential research ward coffee drinking was studied in 9 volunteer human subjects with histories of heavy coffee drinking. A series of five experiments was undertaken to characterize adlibitum coffee consumption and to investigate the effects of manipulating coffee concentration, caffeine dose per cup, and caffeine preloads prior to coffee drinking. Manipulations were double-blind and scheduled in randomized sequences across days. When cups of coffee were freely available, coffee drinking tended to be rather regularly spaced during the day with intercup intervals becoming progressively longer throughout the day; experimental manipulations showed that this lengthening of intercup intervals was not due to accumulating caffeine levels. Number of cups of coffee consumed was an inverted U-shaped function of both coffee concentration and caffeine dose per cup; however, coffee-concentration and dose-per-cup manipulations did not produce similar effects on other measures of coffee drinking (intercup interval, time to drink a cup, within-day distribution of cups). Caffeine preload produced dose-related decreases in number of cups consumed. As a whole, these experiments provide some limited evidence for both the suppressive and the reinforcing effects of caffeine on coffee consumption. Examination of total daily coffee and caffeine intake across experiments, however, provides no evidence for precise regulation (i.e., titration) of coffee or caffeine intake.     

Low-dose caffeine discrimination and self-reported mood effects in normal volunteers.

A caffeine versus placebo discrimination procedure was used to determine the lowest caffeine dose that could produce discrimination and self-reported mood effects in normal volunteers. During daily sessions under double-blind conditions, caffeine-abstinent subjects orally ingested a capsule containing 178 mg caffeine or placebo. Before beginning discrimination training, the compounds were identified to subjects by letter codes. Fifteen, 30, and 45 min after capsule ingestion, subjects guessed the capsule's letter code. Correct guesses at 45 min earned money. After each session, subjects received a supplementary capsule containing caffeine or placebo to ensure that, within each phase of the study, subjects received the same daily dose of caffeine equal to the training dose. Five of the 15 subjects acquired the caffeine versus placebo discrimination within the first 20 sessions (greater than or equal to 75% correct); 6 other subjects acquired the discrimination with additional training. Nine subjects who acquired the discrimination were subsequently trained at progressively lower caffeine doses. In general, the lowest dose to produce discrimination (greater than or equal to 75% correct) was also the lowest dose to produce self-reported mood effects: 4 subjects showed discrimination and self-reported mood effects at 100 mg caffeine, 2 at 56 mg, 1 at 32 mg, and 1 at 18 mg. One of these subjects also showed self-reported mood effects at 10 mg. The present study documents discriminative stimulus and self-reported mood effects of caffeine at doses below those previously shown to affect any behavior in normal volunteers.     

Memory dysfunction in mild aphasics

The effect of mild aphasia ( n = 9), as a result of subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH), was evaluated against one matched (sex, age, and education) control group suffering from SAH of unknown origin without aphasia, and against one matched healthy control group. According to aphasia testing (Reinvang & Engvik, 1980), criteria for a classical diagnosis were not met. Therefore, the patients were characterized as mild aphasics: They generally displayed intact audo-verbal comprehension and repetition abilities, and they demonstrated a fluent, spontaneous speech. However, they showed phonemic and semantic paraphasias, with self-corrections; a few patients displayed alexia and agraphia. Memory performance of these three groups was evaluated by a neuropsychological test battery, designed to tap various components of verbal memory function. From the results it was concluded that: (a) Short-term memory is impaired, as regards the phonological loop and the central executive in working memory, whereas maintenance rehearsal is unaffected, given that the demands on phonological coding is minimized, (b) long-term memory is also generally impaired, whereas long-term learning and forgetting by means of subject-performed tasks proceeds within a normal range. Impairments were hypothesized to reflect less efficient central executive functions of working memory, involving generation of less appropriate semantic codes and phonological representations, (c) mildy aphasic patients are not subjectively aware of their own memory deficits, and (d) aphasia classification by means of standard procedures do not sufficiently characterize the nature of a mildy aphasic patient's memory problems.     

CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE MACHINE

Abstract. We consider only the relationship of consciousness to physical reality, whether physical reality is interpreted as the brain, artificial intelligence, or the universe as a whole. The difficulties with starting the analysis with physical reality on the one hand and with consciousness on the other are delineated. We consider how one may derive from the other. Concepts of universal or pure consciousness versus local or ego consciousness are explored with the possibility that consciousness may be physically creative. We examine whether artificial intelligence can possess consciousness as an extension of the interrelationship between consciousness and the brain or material reality.     

A Mixed-Methodological Evaluation of a Subjective Well-Being Intervention Program With Elementary-Age Students

An embedded mixed-methods design was implemented with 34 elementary-age students (mean age = 10.15 years, SD = 0.65) to evaluate salient experiences and improvements in protective factors and life satisfaction associated with a subjective well-being intervention program (SWIP). Analyses resulted in a model of participant experiences in which thematic experiences with SWIP participation (improved emotional expression, enhanced self-discovery, and increased empathy) promoted the emergence of protective factors (self-concept and self-confidence) that contributed to life satisfaction.