Creativity and Tolerance of Ambiguity: An Empirical Study

This study examines the relationship between creativity and tolerance of ambiguity. Participants were parents and their adolescent children. Three measures of creativity were used: a divergent thinking task, a story‐writing task and self‐evaluation of creative attitudes and behavior. Participants completed two self‐report measures of tolerance of ambiguity: the short version of the “Measurement of Ambiguity Tolerance” (Norton, 1975; Zenasni & Lubart, 2001) and the “Behaviour Scale of Tolerance/Intolerance for Ambiguity” (Stoycheva, 1998, 2003). Tolerance of ambiguity was significantly and positively related to creativity. Creativity of parents was related to their adolescents' creativity. However, parents' tolerance of ambiguity was not related to adolescents' tolerance of ambiguity or creativity.     

Mother nature's tolerant ways: Why non-genetic inheritance has nothing to do with evolution

Recently a number of theorists have suggested that evolution can use non-genetic or environmental inheritance to pass on adaptations (e.g. [Mameli, M. (2004). Nongenetic selection and nongenetic inheritance. British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 55, 35-71]). Furthermore, it has been suggested that non-genetic, or environmental factors, can play a central role in the process of evolution that is not captured by the neo-Darwinian view which places natural selection centre stage (e.g. [Odling-Smee, J. J., Laland, K. N., & Feldman, M. W. (2003). Niche construction: The neglected process in evolution. New Jersey: Princeton University Press]). In this paper we present and clarify neo-Darwinian theory and then take issue with the notions of contemporary gene-centred selection and inheritance that non-genetic inheritance theorists have used. We claim that they have misunderstood the distinction and relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic inheritance and we clarify this with a number of examples from the behavioural and biological sciences. According to this analysis there is no such thing as biologically independent non-genetic inheritance, all extrinsic inheritance is a consequence of traits and dispositions that are intrinsic to an organism and intrinsic design can only be explained through neo-Darwinism. We point to the implications this view has for current conceptions of cultural evolution.     

中国人的人格特点(VI):人际关系

人际关系人格维度包括宽和与热情两个次级因素,反映的是对待人际关系的基本态度。该研究依据本土化的中国人人格量表对中国人的人际关系人格维度及其两个次级因素的特点进行了分析,发现个体的性别、年龄、职业和婚姻状况均对人际关系产生不同程度的影响。总体上看,女性比男性对人更宽和,男性比女性对人更热情;年龄越大,人际关系分数越高;行政管理者比工人农民与和教科文卫人员人际关系分数更高,而婚姻状况也与年龄和性别一起影响个体的人际关系倾向。     

A vicious or auspicious cycle: The reciprocal relation between harsh parental discipline and children’s self-regulation

Children’s ability to exercise self-regulation is a key predictor of academic, behavioural, and life outcomes, but the developmental dynamics of children’s self-regulation are not adequately understood. We investigated how children’s self-regulation skills and harsh parental discipline reciprocally predict each other across 12,474 children at ages three, five, and seven in the U.K. (Millennium Cohort Study). Cross-lagged structural equation models indicated that high initial levels of harsh parental discipline predicted lower subsequent self-regulation, which then reciprocally predicted higher levels of harsh parental discipline. Conversely, high initial levels of child self-regulation predicted lower subsequent harsh parental discipline. Implications for policy and interventions are discussed.     

Lutheran perspectives on interfaith relations: Theological trajectories of study processes in the Lutheran communion

The global Lutheran communion has been engaged in theological reflection on interreligious relations for several decades. In the 1960s, the Lutheran World Federation embarked on theologically reflecting on its relations to the Jewish people. This led to a critical assessment of Luther's writings on Jews. 1984, the LWF established a desk to engage theologically with religious pluralism. Starting off from a theology of religions' approach the engagement of the global communion has become more contextual, dialogical, and collaborative over the years. This has led to a dialogical public theology which affirms dialogue and theology as sisters in a critical‐constructive engagement with one's own and other communities. Raising epistemological and theological questions in dialogue in view of religious actors' public accountability can help to prevent faith from mutating into ideology or manifesting itself as idolatry.     

Open or close the door to the outgroup? Diversity beliefs moderate the impact of group boundary permeability on attitudes toward the outgroup

The present research investigated the moderating role of diversity beliefs with the aim of reconciling inconsistent findings regarding the impact of group boundary permeability on attitudes toward outgroup. In Study 1, all variables were measured with self‐report scales completed by Chinese participants. In Study 2, diversity beliefs were manipulated by randomly assigning Chinese participants to a high or low diversity belief condition. In Study 3, we replicated the moderating model with American participants. Results of all three studies indicated that diversity beliefs moderated the relationship between group boundary permeability and attitudes toward outgroup. Individuals with high diversity beliefs held more positive attitudes toward the outgroup when the group boundary was permeable (vs. impermeable). Conversely, individuals with low diversity beliefs held more negative attitudes toward the outgroup when the group boundary was permeable (vs. impermeable). These findings suggest that when the inflow of the outgroup members is inevitable, attitudes toward the outgroup may be effectively improved by increasing diversity beliefs.     

Derived false memories using a respondent‐type (ReT) procedure

The present investigation used a respondent‐type (ReT) training procedure to generate derived false memories. A one‐to‐many ReT training procedure was implemented in order to establish two stimulus equivalence classes, each consisting of one shape and 24 random words (i.e., Class 1 and Class 2). A partial test for stimulus equivalence with a subset of stimuli from each class followed. Failing an equivalence test resulted in additional ReT training and equivalence testing on new subsets of stimuli. After passing an equivalence test, participants were presented with 12 study‐list words from Class 1 for memorization, followed by a distraction task. Finally, free recall and recognition tests for the study‐list words were implemented. False recall and false recognition were more frequent for nonstudied Class 1 words than for nonstudied Class 2 words. These derived false‐memory effects were more pronounced among those participants exhibiting more training and testing cycles and higher accuracy on stimulus equivalence tests. Furthermore, false recall and false remembering of nonstudied Class 1 words were more frequent for words that had been equivalence‐tested than for words that had not been equivalence‐tested. These results show how responses to contiguous stimuli could produce derived false memories and also highlight the role played by the equivalence test in increasing their emergence.     

On Standardizing Within-Person Effects: Potential Problems of Global Standardization

Person-mean centering has been recommended for disaggregating between-person and within-person effects when modeling time-varying predictors. Multilevel modeling textbooks recommended global standardization for standardizing fixed effects. An aim of this study is to evaluate whether and when person-mean centering followed by global standardization can accurately estimate fixed-effects within-person relations (the estimand of interest in this study) in multilevel modeling. We analytically derived that global standardization generally yields inconsistent (asymptotically biased) estimates for the estimand when between-person differences in within-person standard deviations exist and the average within-person relation is nonzero. Alternatively, a person-mean-SD standardization (P-S) approach yields consistent estimates. Our simulation results further revealed (1) how misleading the results from global standardization were under various circumstances and (2) the P-S approach had accurate estimates and satisfactory coverage rates of fixed-effects within-person relations when the number of occasions is 30 or more (in many conditions, performance was satisfactory with 10 or 20 occasions). A daily diary data example, focused on emotional complexity, was used to empirically illustrate the approaches. Researchers should choose standardization approaches based on theoretical considerations and should clearly describe the purpose and procedure of standardization in research articles.     

不同性质的汉语高熟悉度隐喻意义加工过程——来自ERP研究的证据

采用ERP技术考察不同性质隐喻加工的时间进程与神经机制。以词对方式呈现词源性隐喻、引发性隐喻、一般字面义,被试进行语义相关判断任务。结果发现:从引发性隐喻、一般字面义到词源性隐喻,N400平均波幅呈阶梯状递减,引发性隐喻和词源性隐喻的P600平均波幅大于一般字面义。对于不同类型词对诱发的N400,大脑左半球没有显著差异,但右半球上引发性隐喻显著大于词源性隐喻和字面义词对。并且右半球P600平均波幅更大,但三种词对间没有显著差异。结果表明:(1)日常熟悉隐喻的理解更符合平行假说但需要更多的认知资源;(2)右半球是否参与以及参与程度与隐喻性质和加工阶段有关。