睡眠不足对人际交互的影响及其认知神经机制

睡眠不足会对人的认知、情感和人际交互产生诸多影响。这种影响在社会情绪层面表现为个体情绪共情和认知共情的减少,易激惹性与愤怒情绪的增加;在社会行为层面则表现为亲社会行为的减少和攻击行为的增加。在睡眠不足状态下,情绪系统和认知系统功能连接的减弱可能是这些变化的潜在机制。未来应结合生态效度较高的睡眠操作手段,系统考察睡眠不足如何导致各种高级社会情绪的改变,以及这些社会情绪的变化如何导致社会行为的变化。     

Alliance-Outcome Associations in a Community-Based Social Skills Intervention for Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Although the alliance is a consistent predictor of treatment outcomes in psychosocial interventions, few studies have examined this association among youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In particular, youth-therapist alliance has never been examined in social skills interventions (SSIs), a common modality for this population. In this study, thirty-four youth with ASD (M_age = 12.41; 79% male) participated in a community-delivered, group-based SSI in a summer camp format led by eight Head Therapists (M_age = 32.12; 50% male). Early alliance and change in alliance over the course of the treatment were assessed via self- and observer-reported measures. Both self- and observer-rated alliance were associated with positive treatment outcomes as reported by parents (decreased problem behaviors) and other peers in the group (reciprocated friendship and social preference). These results provide the first evidence of the role of the alliance in an SSI for youth with ASD and add to the growing body of literature that demonstrates the importance of assessing and addressing the alliance in treatment for this population.     

Relationship between environmental factors and burnout of psychotherapists: Meta‐analytic approach

The present study aims to extend the scope of understanding on the relationships between environmental factors and burnout symptoms by targeting and including more extensive occupational demanding variables related to therapist burnout. The present study includes not only common occupational stressors (e.g., working hours, role overload and role conflict) but also variables reflecting the quality of relationship with clients (e.g., case load and negative clientele) that have not been dealt with before in meta‐analytic studies. A meta‐analysis was conducted on 27 original studies published from the year 2006 to 2018. The findings showed that, among environmental factors, role overload had the most significant positive correlations with exhaustion. In addition, negative clientele had the most significant positive correlations with depersonalisation and reduced accomplishment. Furthermore, caseload and low income had relatively weak relations with therapist burnout. Based on these results, implications and limitations of the study are discussed.     

Development and validation of an altruism scale for adults

A new self-report scale, the Altruism Scale for Adults, of 28 items was developed. 14 items were from the Altruism subscale of Wrightsman's Philosophies of Human Nature Scale, and the other 14 items were newly constructed. The scale, anchored by 1: true or 2: false, was administered to 592 Korean men and women in eight subgroups. Cronbach alpha internal consistency was .89, and test-retest reliabilities (n = 52) over 1 and 5 wk. were .90 and .80, respectively. Campbell and Fiske's 1959 multitrait-multimethod analysis showed satisfactory convergent and discriminant validities. Overall results were promising for use of the scale in research and for practical purposes.     

Effects of experience on fetal voice recognition

Abstract - The ability of human fetuses to recognize their own mother's voice was examined. Sixty term fetuses were assigned to one of two conditions during which they were exposed to a tape recording of their mother or a female stranger reading a passage. Voice stimuli were delivered through a loudspeaker held approximately 10 cm above the maternal abdomen and played at an average of 95 dB SPL. Each condition consisted of three 2-min periods: no stimulus, voice (mother or stranger), and no stimulus. Fetal heart rate increased in response to the mother's voice and decreased in response to the stranger's; both responses were sustained for 4 min. The finding of differential behavior in response to a familiar versus a novel voice provides evidence that experience influences fetal voice processing. It supports an epigenetic model of speech perception, presuming an interaction between genetic expression of neural development and species-specific experience.     

Decursin from Angelica gigas mitigates amnesia induced by scopolamine in mice

We previously reported that a total methanolic extract of the underground part of Angelica gigas Nakai (Umbelliferae) (here-in-after abbreviated AG) significantly inhibited acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity. We characterized 12 coumarin derivatives including both decursin and decursinol from extracts of AG. In this study, we evaluated the anti-amnestic activity of decursin, a major coumarin constituent isolated from AG, in vivo using ICR mice with amnesia induced by scopolamine (1 mg/kg body weight, s.c.). Decursin, when administered to mice at 1 and 5 mg/kg body weight i.p., significantly ameliorated scopolamine-induced amnesia as measured in both the passive avoidance test and the Morris water maze test. Moreover, decursin significantly inhibited AChE activity by 34% in the hippocampus of treated mice. These results indicate that decursin may exert anti-amnestic activity in vivo through inhibition of AChE activity in the hippocampus.     

Translating the ICAP Theory of Cognitive Engagement Into Practice

ICAP is a theory of active learning that differentiates students’ engagement based on their behaviors. ICAP postulates that I nteractive engagement, demonstrated by co‐generative collaborative behaviors, is superior for learning to C onstructive engagement, indicated by generative behaviors. Both kinds of engagement exceed the benefits of A ctive or P assive engagement, marked by manipulative and attentive behaviors, respectively. This paper discusses a 5‐year project that attempted to translate ICAP into a theory of instruction using five successive measures: (a) teachers’ understanding of ICAP after completing an online module, (b) their success at designing lesson plans using different ICAP modes, (c) fidelity of teachers’ classroom implementation, (d) modes of students’ enacted behaviors, and (e) students’ learning outcomes. Although teachers had minimal success in designing Constructive and Interactive activities, students nevertheless learned significantly more in the context of Constructive than Active activities. We discuss reasons for teachers’ overall difficulty in designing and eliciting Interactive engagement.