Functional Impairment as a Variable in Adjustment Post-Combat

This study examined how functional impairment relates to postcombat adjustment over time, controlling for the influence of combat exposure. Analyses used sequential random coefficient models to examine 2 hypotheses: a) combat exposure and functional impairment predict the change in posttraumatic stress, depression, and anger/aggression symptoms during the first year postcombat; and b) combat exposure and functional impairment at reintegration predict symptom scores at 1 year postdeployment. A Brigade Combat Team completed surveys at reintegration, 4 months, and 12 months after a 1-year deployment to Iraq. Soldiers reporting high functional impairment at reintegration had higher symptoms at both follow-up periods, and functional impairment was a significant predictor of symptoms at the last time point, even after accounting for the influence of combat exposure. There was also an interaction effect, such that functional impairment exacerbated the impact of combat exposure on posttraumatic stress and anger/aggression symptoms at 12 months postdeployment.     

Cross-cultural generalizability of the Personality and Role Identity Structural Model (PRISM): Implications for trait and cultural psychology

The cross-cultural generalizability of the Personality and Role Identity Structural Model (PRISM; Wood & Roberts, 2006) was tested in the United States, Mexico, Malaysia, China, and Japan. Participants rated their general and role identities, as defined by the PRISM, using Big Five trait adjectives, then rated their personality states (i.e., role experiences) in various roles in multiple daily interactions for 14 days. Structural predictions based on the PRISM were supported in all five cultures. Cultural differences were limited and did not reflect cultural differences in individualism–collectivism, dialecticism, or cultural tightness. The results supported the cross-cultural generalizability of the PRISM and the merits of contextualized trait measures in the prediction of role experiences. Implications for trait and cultural psychology are discussed.     

Fooled by first impressions? Reexamining the diagnostic value of appearance-based inferences

We often form opinions about the characteristics of others from single, static samples of their appearance - the very first thing we see when, or even before, we meet them. These inferences occur spontaneously, rapidly, and can impact decisions in a variety of important domains. A crucial question, then, is whether appearance-based inferences are accurate. Using a naturalistic data set of more than 1 million appearance-based judgments obtained from a popular website (Study 1) and data from an online experiment involving over a thousand participants (Study 2), we evaluate the ability of human judges to infer the characteristics of others from their appearances. We find that judges are generally less accurate at predicting characteristics than they would be if they ignored appearance cues and instead only relied on their knowledge of characteristic base-rate frequencies. The findings suggest that appearances are overweighed in judgments and can have detrimental effects on accuracy. We conclude that future research should (i) identify the specific visual cues that people use when they draw inferences from appearances, (ii) determine which of these cues promote or hinder accurate social judgments, and (iii) examine how inference goals and contexts moderate the use and diagnostic validity of these cues.     

Aversive potency of urine from dominant and subordinate male laboratory mice (Mus musculus): Resolution of a conflict

The present study assessed the aversive potency of urine collected from male albino mice that had been clearly identified as dominants/winners or subordinates/losers of paired aggression tests and then housed either individually or in a quasi-paired situation in which only a wire-mesh divider separated the two mice. This divider permitted constant visual, olfactory, auditory, and some tactile contact. The responses of individually tested, group-housed males were recorded when half of the substrate in a test box was treated with either water or one of the four urine types; the other half remained untreated. Significant preferences for the untreated half were found when the urine of winners or losers housed in individual metabolism cages or that of pair-housed dominants was used as the test stimulus. On the other hand, neither water nor the urine of cohabiting subordinate males was avoided. The present findings confirmed our earlier reports that the urine of dominant male mice was aversive, whereas that of their cohabiting subordinate partners was not. They also identified Sawyer's [1978] procedure of housing winners and losers in individual cages, with the consequent interruption of social contact as the likely reason for his failure to replicate our reports that subordinate male urine lacked aversive properties. The territorial implications of the aversive factor and other urinary signals are discussed.     

Attack and defensive behaviors in the albino mouse

Attack by dominant male colony mice on intruders included chasing and lateral attack behaviors, while the corresponding intruder behaviors were flight, boxing, and checking. Both of these are similar to the attack and defensive behaviors of colony rats and intruders. However, mice did not show a significant constraint on bites to ventral areas, and the rat defensive behavior of lying on the back, which is effective because of this constraint, was rare; the corresponding “on-top” behavior of attackers was almost absent in mice. These findings strongly support the view that intraspecific attack and defensive behaviors, and target sites for bites, are interrelated factors facilitating effective but nonlethal agonistic interactions in muroid rodents.     

Blood and whole-body androgen levels of male swordtails correlated with aggression measures in a standard-opponent test

The scores of three aggression parameters in a standard-opponent test correlated significantly with individual androgen concentrations measured in tissue as well as in blood samples taken immediately after the test (bites: r = +.62/+.82, threats: r = + 0.75/+.70, latency: r = −.66/−.53). If the test was performed after 28 days of social isolation no correlations were found. There were also no correlations between behavioural measures and corticoids.     

8~12岁儿童同伴信任的发展:特质可信度和面孔可信度的预测作用

研究选取297名8~12岁儿童为被试,考察了特质可信度和面孔可信度对儿童同伴信任的预测作用及其预测力的年龄差异。研究采用同伴互评的方式来测量被试对同伴的信任分数。采用同伴提名的方式测量同伴的特质可信度分数。采用第三方评价的方式,获得同伴的面孔可信度分数。结果发现（1）同伴特质可信度和面孔可信度均能正向预测儿童的同伴信任,同伴的特质可信度和面孔可信度越高,儿童对其信任程度也越高。（2）特质和面孔可信度之间存在显著的交互作用。当同伴的面孔可信度高时,特质可信度对儿童同伴信任的预测作用也更大。（3）特质可信度对同伴信任的预测作用随着年龄增长而变大,而面孔可信度对同伴信任的预测作用不存在年龄差异。     

知觉者与行为者贫富对自发特质推理的影响

本研究采用探测词再认范式,分3个研究考察了知觉者和行为者的贫富对个体自发特质推理的影响。研究1考察了知觉者贫富对自发特质推理的影响,结果表明富裕启动条件下的被试更可能进行自发特质推理。研究2考察了行为者贫富对自发特质推理的影响,结果表明被试更有可能对富人刻板一致的行为句子进行自发特质推理。研究3考察了知觉者和行为者贫富对自发特质推理的交互影响,结果发现仅富裕启动条件下的被试更可能对富人刻板一致句子进行自发特质推理。本研究为自发特质推理发生的灵活性提供了新证据。     

攻击性驾驶行为的综合模型

攻击性驾驶行为的综合模型(a comprehensive model of driver aggression)将“挫折-攻击”模型与一般攻击性模型相结合, 提出个人因素与情境因素对心理过程具有交互作用, 阐明了认知评估、情绪唤醒对攻击性驾驶行为的影响机制。该模型能很好解释在道路冲突中, 驾驶员的攻击性持续升级的原因, 以及为什么在道路攻击性驾驶行为事件中, “肇事者”和“受害者”的角色模糊不清, 这有助于更好地确定攻击性驾驶行为对交通事故和道路安全的影响, 对攻击性驾驶行为的对策研究具有重要价值。     

选择损耗自我控制资源:取舍效应还是信息加工难度效应?

研究以自我控制的资源模型为理论框架,从选择难度特征的视角出发,通过两项实验考察选择损耗自我控制资源的成因。结果发现,高取舍冲突组被试的stroop任务成绩显著低于低取舍冲突组被试,高、低阅读难度组被试的stroop任务成绩差异不显著;为自己做选择组被试的stroop任务成绩显著低于为他人做选择组被试,完成3选项和4选项任务组被试的stroop任务成绩差异不显著。研究表明,选择损耗效应是由选择的取舍难度而非信息加工难度造成。。