身与身外:儒家的一个未决问题

Fei Xiaotong's thoughts on the Confucian system of interpersonal relationships actually indicated that the Confucian theory of social cooperation leads itself to an unsettled paradox, that is, there is a lack of universal theoretical construction in the Confucian moral system. Confucian theory does not extend beyond practical circumstances. Instead, its universal principles always disappear in specific circumstances. Because of its long established position in mainstream dialogue, Confucianism failed to reflect on its flaws, but this paradox has been revealed in the face of modern challenges. Translated by Yan Xin from Zhongguo Renmin Daxue Xuebao 中国人民大学学报 (Journal of Renmin University of China), 2007, (1): 15–21     

Arbitrarily applicable spatial relational responding

Spatial reasoning, where novel spatial relationships are inferred based on trained relationships, can be conceptualized as arbitrarily applicable spatial relational responding. Here, we conducted two experiments to develop and validate, for the first time, a laboratory procedure to establish arbitrarily applicable spatial relational responding in adult humans. In Experiment 1, participants were trained on nonarbitrary spatial relational tasks designed to establish contextual cues for left of, right of, above, and below. Contextual cues were then used to train a series of arbitrary spatial relations involving four abstract shapes. Following training in a subset of arbitrary relations (A is left of B, B is above C, C is right of D), subsequent testing examined the emergence of untrained spatial relations (B is right of A, C is below B, D is left of C, D is below A and A is above D). When absent in initial tests, spatial relational responding was facilitated by a remedial training procedure incorporating nonarbitrary relational guidance. Participants showed patterns of spatial relational responding consistent with test relations. In Experiment 2, a variant reversal design yielded predictable, reversed spatial relational responses. Overall, the present procedures represent the first empirical demonstration of arbitrarily applicable spatial relational responding and thus, arguably, the first functional analytic model of spatial reasoning.     

Asymmetric peer selections among Blacks,Asians, and Whites in a virtual environment: Preliminary evidence for triangulated threat theory

Black, Asian, and White participants (N = 210) created self-resembling avatars and engaged in peer-selection tasks during social events in the virtual world, Second Life, that were designed to simulate various types of resource competition. Participants in merit-based resource competition settings had less diversity in their peer groups compared to participants in settings where no resource competition was present, and Asian participants had lower preference for Black peers. Furthermore, these relationships were mediated by out-group discomfort. Results are discussed in relation to partial support for triangulated threat theory of group relations among Blacks, Asians, and Whites.     

Chronic stress in the mother-infant dyad: Maternal hair cortisol,infant salivary cortisol and interactional synchrony

Stress physiology is shaped by early experience, with enduring effects on health. The relation of chronic maternal physiological stress, as indexed by hair cortisol, to infants’ stress systems and to mother-infant interaction quality has not been established. We examined maternal hair and salivary cortisol, six-month-old infants’ salivary cortisol, and mother-infant interaction in 121 mother-infant dyads. High maternal hair cortisol was related to higher infant average salivary cortisol concentration. Maternal hair cortisol and bedtime salivary cortisol were both uniquely related to infant bedtime salivary cortisol. Mothers with higher hair cortisol were more intrusive and had lower positive engagement synchrony with their infants. Maternal intrusiveness moderated the association of maternal hair cortisol and infant salivary cortisol, such that maternal hair and infant average salivary cortisol were related only when mothers were more intrusive. Maternal chronic physiological stress may upregulate infants’ developing stress systems, particularly in the context of lower mother-infant interaction quality.     

Explaining the Inexplicable: Differences in Attributions for the Holocaust in Germany,Israel, and Poland

Seventy years have passed since the Holocaust, but this cataclysmic event continues to reverberate in the present. In this research, we examine attributions about the causes of the Holocaust and the influence of such attributions on intergroup relations. Three representative surveys were conducted among Germans, Poles, and Israeli Jews to examine inter‐ and intragroup variations in attributions for the Holocaust and how these attributions influence intergroup attitudes. Results indicated that Germans made more external than internal attributions and were especially low in attributing an evil essence to their ancestors. Israelis and Poles mainly endorsed the obedient essence attribution and were lowest on attribution to coercion. These attributions, however, were related to attitudes towards contemporary Germany primarily among Israeli Jews. The more they endorsed situationist explanations, and the less they endorsed the evil essence explanation, the more positive their attitude to Germany. Among Germans, attributions were related to a higher motivation for historical closure, except for the obedience attribution that was related to low desire for closure. Israelis exhibited a low desire for historical closure especially when attribution for evil essence was high. These findings suggest that lay perceptions of history are essential to understanding contemporary intergroup processes.     

The impact of arbitrarily applicable relational responding on evaluative learning about hypothetical money and shock outcomes

Evaluative learning comprises changes in preferences after co-occurrences between conditioned stimuli (CSs) and an unconditioned stimulus (US) of affective value. Co-occurrences may involve relational responding. Two experiments examined the impact of arbitrary relational responding on evaluative preferences for hypothetical money and shock outcomes. In Experiment 1, participants were trained to make arbitrary relational responses by placing CSs of the same size but different colours into boxes and were then instructed that these CSs represented different intensities of hypothetical USs (money or shock). Liking ratings of the CSs were altered in accordance with the underlying bigger/smaller than relations. A reversal of preference was also observed: the CS associated with the smallest hypothetical shock was rated more positively than the CS associated with the smallest amount of hypothetical money. In Experiment 2, procedures from Relational Frame Theory (RFT) established a relational network of more than/less than relations consisting of five CSs (A-B-C-D-E). Overall, evaluative preferences were altered, but not reversed, depending on (a) how stimuli had been related to one another during the learning phase and (b) whether those stimuli referred to money or shocks. The contribution of RFT to evaluative learning research is discussed.     

Negotiating Muslim–Christian Relations in Kenya through Waqfs, 1900–2010

Waqfs provided socio-economic security for the progeny of endowers and for other social welfare causes. Being thus guaranteed socio-economic well-being, these beneficiaries were antithetical to ruling elites in Muslim dynasties and Christian colonial powers, which led to the establishment of policies and institutions to control waqfs and check their growing influence. This development was not only counter to normative precepts but also set minority Muslims in predominantly Christian societies at odds with non-Muslim states. To what extent did civil policies and judgements influence waqfs? How did Muslims negotiate the secular state constructs vis-à-vis waqf practices? How did secular state control of waqfs influence the dynamics of Christian–Muslim relations? This discussion, based on ethnographic research in Kenyan coastal areas, employs two theoretical frameworks – Asad's ‘Islam as a discursive tradition’ and Scott’s concept of ‘symbolic (ideological) resistance’. The article draws mainly on the perspective of the Muslim minority in Kenya and argues that state control of waqfs in Kenya did not only interfere with normative practices but also partly laid the ground for the present-day economic and political marginalization and exclusion of Muslims, leading to suspicion and ambiguous relations with their Christian compatriots.     

The organisation of spatial and temporal relations in memory

Episodic memories are comprised of details of “where” and “when”; spatial and temporal relations, respectively. However, evidence from behavioural, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging studies has provided mixed interpretations about how memories for spatial and temporal relations are organised—they may be hierarchical, fully interactive, or independent. In the current study, we examined the interaction of memory for spatial and temporal relations. Using explicit reports and eye-tracking, we assessed younger and older adults’ memory for spatial and temporal relations of objects that were presented singly across time in unique spatial locations. Explicit change detection of spatial relations was affected by a change in temporal relations, but explicit change detection of temporal relations was not affected by a change in spatial relations. Younger and older adults showed eye movement evidence of incidental memory for temporal relations, but only younger adults showed eye movement evidence of incidental memory for spatial relations. Together, these findings point towards a hierarchical organisation of relational memory. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of the neural mechanisms that may support such a hierarchical organisation of memory.     

Specificity of peer difficulties to social anxiety in early adolescence: categorical and dimensional analyses with clinical and community samples

Background and Objectives: We investigated the specificity of social difficulties to social anxiety by testing associations of social anxiety and other anxiety presentations with peer acceptance and victimization in community and treatment-seeking samples of adolescents aged 12–14 years.

Design: Cross-sectional, quantitative survey.

Methods: Adolescents from the community (n?=?116) and a clinical setting (n?=?154) completed ratings of anxiety symptoms, perceived social acceptance, and peer victimization. Their parents also completed ratings of the adolescents’ anxiety and social acceptance.

Results: Social acceptance was lowest among adolescents with social anxiety disorder (SAD) and lower among adolescents with other anxiety disorders than in the community sample. Anxiety symptoms were negatively correlated with social acceptance, but these associations were not unique to social anxiety symptoms. Girls in the community sample reported more overt victimization than girls with SAD and with other anxiety diagnoses. Relational victimization was associated with social and nonsocial anxiety symptoms only in the community sample.

Conclusions: Our findings supplement recent laboratory-based observational studies on social functioning among adolescents with SAD and other anxiety disorders. Although social anxiety may be associated with unique social skill deficits and impairment, concerns about peer relations should also be considered among adolescents with other anxiety symptoms.     

Keeping track of where we are: Spatial working memory in navigation

Spatial working memory (WM) seems to include two types of spatial information: locations and relations. However, this distinction has been based on small-scale tasks. Here, we used a virtual navigation paradigm to examine whether WM for locations and relations applies to the large-scale spatial world. We found that navigators who successfully learned two routes and also integrated them were superior at maintaining multiple locations and multiple relations in WM. However, over the entire spectrum of navigators, WM for spatial relations, but not locations, was specifically predictive of route integration performance. These results lend further support to the distinction between these two forms of spatial WM and point to their critical role in individual differences in navigation proficiency.