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ISSN 1671-3710
CN 11-4766/R

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    Special Column for Decision-making Psychology
    Decision Making in Asymmetric Social Dilemmas: A Dual Mode of Action
    LIU Changjiang; HAO Fang
    2015, 23 (1):  1-10.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2015.00001
    Abstract ( 702 )  

    Interdependence structure and asymmetric relation in social dilemmas come together to cultivate two different but stable modes of social perception. Consequently, individuals behave in two different ways: a vertical mode of action oriented to strength and hierarchy, and a horizontal mode oriented to morality and harmony. When facing asymmetric social dilemmas, those who are relatively strong in their social position are inclined to behave in a vertical mode and thus decide to defect; while those who are relatively weak tend to act in a horizontal mode and thus decide to cooperate. However, individuals’ motives strongly moderate the relationship between asymmetric social structure and decision making in social dilemmas. This view explains well the experimental research done by the authors; however it still needs further development and additional tests.

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    Conceptual Framework
    The Influencing Mechanism of Referral Reward Program on Referral Behavior: From the Perspective of Conflicts between Social Norm and Market Norm
    LI Huifan; FAN Xiucheng; CAO Huarui; DU Jiangang
    2015, 23 (1):  11-21.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2015.00011
    Abstract ( 462 )  

    Referral reward program (RRP) is becoming a powerful weapon of acquiring new customers and retaining old customers. However, the lack of research on RRP, especially with respect to the influences of RRP on consumer referral behavior, is contrary to the practices. Building upon work from marketing, psychology of motivation, psychology of emotion, and behavioral economics, a influencing mechanism model of RRP on referral behavior from the perspective of conflicts between social norm and market norm is presented. The study will be organized as follows. First, the effects of incentive schemes and social norm on the consumers’ referral motivations will be explored. Second, the mediating role of emotion between the congruence of motivations and referral behavior will be investigated. Third, the moderating effects of causality orientation, self-awareness, and cultural values on the above relationships will be clarified. Following this line of reasoning, findings from these studies will provide important theoretical and practical implications.

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    Regular Articles
    Musical Experience Alleviates the Aging in the Speech Perception in Noise
    WANG Mengyuan; NING Ruijing; ZHANG Xueyan
    2015, 23 (1):  22-29.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2015.00022
    Abstract ( 627 )  

    Old adults with normal hearing often suffer from the loss in the ability of speech perception in noisy environment. Alleviation of this type of auditory aging has remarkably psychological and social benefits. Musical training significantly improves the speech perception of old adults in noisy environment. In addition, the timing and precision of auditory brainstem processing of speech signal in old adults are also enhanced if they have musical experience. This enhancement of neural processing appears to play an important role in the speech-perception improvement induced by the musical training.

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    Spatial-temporal Association of Response Codes Effect: Manifestation, Influencing Factors and Its Theories
    Li Jinxing; Wang Zhenhong
    2015, 23 (1):  30-40.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2015.00030
    Abstract ( 604 )  

    The spatial-temporal association of response codes (STEARC) effect indicates that the mental representation of time is associated with space, which is multidirectional and multichannel. Studies demonstrated that people spatialized time in three-dimensional space, including the sagittal (front/back), the transverse (left/right), and the vertical (up/down) axes. Individuals under different cultures prefer different spatial axis when representing time. Four factors can affect STEARC direction: Reading and writing habits, language experience, the spatial reference frame of experimental task, as well as emotion. Researchers explained STEARC effect through the Metaphorical Structuring View, the Embodied Cognition Theory, the Propositional Symbol Theory and the Perceptual Symbol Theory. Future research should improve the research paradigm, integrate the theoretical framework, and discuss the neural physiological mechanism of STEARC effect.

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    The Development and Acquisition of synesthesia
    LI Jiayuan
    2015, 23 (1):  41-50.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2015.00041
    Abstract ( 480 )  

    Synaesthesia seems to have a genetic basis and runs in families, the genetic predisposition play a important role in determining synesthesia, but it doesn’t mean that the gene is the only factor to determine synesthesia. Current studies have showed that the development of synaesthesia in different age groups, and its development follows the inverted U shape curve. A related question with developmental aspects of synesthesia is: synesthesia can be learned? Some researches have been carried out the paired-association training to non-synesthetes, but there are no direct or strong evidences that the paired-association obtained from training is a kind of synesthesia. On the contrary, more and more evidences indicate that non-synesthetes after the paired-association training can not become a true synesthetes.

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    The Training of Inhibition Control: Content, Effect and Mechanism
    ZHAO Xin; CHEN Ling; ZHANG Peng
    2015, 23 (1):  51-60.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2015.00051
    Abstract ( 679 )  

    Recent studies suggest that response inhibition can be modified with training. To study the effects of training, researchers often adopt a double-blind randomized controlled experimental design, in which the subjects are composed of children, adults, and special groups. In the current study, we trained response inhibition ability by utilizing go/no-go and stop-signal tasks. The intervention group received inhibitory control training consisting of 45 to 7200 trials for one to three weeks. Subsequently, the training effects were assessed by measuring behavioral parameters and brain activity using brain imaging techniques. Our study found that response inhibition ability improved after training. The behavioral modifications were accompanied by changes in brain activity. In addition, the training effects of an individual’s response inhibition ability transferred to performance in daily life. These findings are in contrast to previous reports showing that response inhibition training did not have any lasting effects. To explain this discrepancy, we have to consider multiple factors such as type of training and evaluation tasks. Further, subjects likely utilize different response strategies, which in turn influence training effects. The observed changes in behavior and brain activity caused by inhibitory control training can be explained by top-down control of inhibition and bottom-up automatic inhibition. Therefore, future research will focus on the precise comparison of training effects on response inhibition and conflict inhibition, on inhibitory control ability training in children and elderly people, as well as the long-term effects of training.

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    Inhibition of Dominant Cognitive Processing by Negative Affect
    JIN Jing; HU Jinsheng
    2015, 23 (1):  61-71.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2015.00061
    Abstract ( 642 )  

    Dominant cognitive processing is reference to the information process in mind that is most accessible in a particular task. Recent researches on stereotype and counterstereotypic thoughts, global and local processing, relational and item-specific processing, holistic and analytic reasoning and goal pursuing consistently show that negative affect inhibits dominant cognitive processing. The extent of inhibition is contingent upon the clearness of dominant cognitive processing, the type of negative affect and how close dominant cognitive processing is related to negative affect. Studies using experiment or post-experiment process dissociation procedure show that negative affect inhibits dominant cognitive processing by inhibiting automatic processing. The theories that explain inhibition include the affect-as-information theory, the behavior approach-inhibition system view and the embodied affect view, with the first one being widely accepted. The meaning of dominant cognitive processing should be defined more clearly in the future, and the mechanism behind the phenomenon calls for further investigation.

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    Autonomic Nervous System’s Response in Positive and Negative Emotion and the Applications
    YI Xin; GE Liezhong; LIU Hongyan
    2015, 23 (1):  72-84.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2015.00072
    Abstract ( 757 )  

    Positive and negative emotion can activate the autonomic nervous system with a series of physiological changes. Results from basic research found that several autonomic systems were involved, including the cardiovascular system (e.g., heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP) and heart rate variability (HRV)), electrodermal response (e.g., skin conductance level (SCL)), respiratory system (e.g., respiratory resistance (Ros), minute ventilation (Vm)) and other system (e.g., pupil diameter and electrogastrogram (EGG)). The patterns of autonomic nervous response associated with certain kind of emotions have many practical applications, such as measurement of emotional state in user experience, development of human- computer affective interaction system based on physiological signals, and detection of consumers’ attitudes and bias. Regarding the divergences in existing studies, the following three reasons were discussed: the heterogeneity of participants, the inconsistency and reliability of various emotion induction methods, the property diversification of experimental stimuli. Furthermore, some suggestions for future research were proposed.

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    The Disconnected Brain of Major Depression Disorder: Evidence from Graph Theory Analysis
    LIU Wei; Li Haijiang; Qiu Jiang
    2015, 23 (1):  85-92.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2015.00085
    Abstract ( 776 )  

    Complex network analysis, based on graph theory and neuroimaging data, allows investigators to describe the large-scale brain networks using several topological characteristics. This approach overcomes the shortcoming of traditional neuroimaging research that can only focus on a few brain regions either individually or in combination. This review concluded includes the following issues: 1) the concepts of complex brain network analysis; 2) the researches of depression depressive disorder based on graph theory ; 3) weaknesses, conclusions and future directions of brain network research. Convergent evidence shows that Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) patients show small-world architecture in brain networks, but some of their nodal characteristics evolved with the development of disease, and the whole brain network tended to be a random network. Regional abnormality mainly existed within the default mode network (DMN) and prefrontal-limbic circuits. In future studies, construction of whole brain networks in cognitive tasks and Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) may provide more information about the disrupted brain connectome of MDD.

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    Self-Objectification: Effects on Women's Mental Health and Hypothesized Mechanisms
    ZHENG Panpan; LYU Zhenyong; Todd JACKSON
    2015, 23 (1):  93-100.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2015.00093
    Abstract ( 992 )  

    From a socio-cultural perspective, sexual objectification theory implicates experiences of gender-role socialization and sexual objectification as key influences on the development of mental health problems. Self-objectified women come to treat themselves as objects to be looked upon and continually evaluated based on their physical appearance which they perceive to fall short of internalized, culturally- prescribed ideals. This discrepancy results in body shame, anxiety, reduced flow experiences and lower internal bodily awareness, and ultimately leads to mental health problems, such as eating disorders, depression, sexual dysfunction and substance abuse. Recent research has demonstrated robust correlations between self-objectification and mental health problems in women and has generated hypotheses about underlying mechanisms. However, future research is needed to assess generalizability to culturally-diverse samples, assess causal relations via experimental manipulations of central constructs, and investigate neural correlates using neuroimaging technology. In addition, strategies aiming to reduce self-objectification should be evaluated to prevent and treat consequences of sexual objectification.

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    The Methods and Neural Basis of Reducing Decision-making Impulsivity
    WANG Qiang; ZHANG Enmao
    2015, 23 (1):  101-109.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2015.00101
    Abstract ( 704 )  

    A large number of studies have shown that patient including addiction, ADHD, and pathological gamblers are more likely to make impulsive decisions. At present, the experimental paradigm used to investigate decision-making impulsivity is the delay discounting task in which participants should choose from either a small and sooner reward or a larger and later reward. With this task, psychologists have explored the neural mechanism of impulsivity in decision-making and proposed several theories including the single-valuation system theory, dual-valuation system theory, self-control theory and self-referential processing theory. Based on these theories, a variety of methods have been developed to reduce the impulsivity in decision making, including episodic future thinking, pre-commitment, improving the ability of working memory, and increasing the blood glucose levels. The neural basis of reducing the impulsivity of decision-making was generalized by the cognitive-control theory and value-representation theory. Finally, we proposed future research directions and implications of value computation, value system and multi-voxel pattern analysis in the domain of decision-making.

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    The Application and Development of Construal Level Theory
    HUANG Jun; LI Ye; ZHANG Hongwei
    2015, 23 (1):  110-119.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2015.00110
    Abstract ( 1034 )  

    Construal level denotes the different abstract levels of the representation of objects, and this abstract level is of different degree. The highlighting research in the early stage of Construal Level Theory is the exploration of the underlying psychological mechanism, which researches the implication of psychological distance for construal level. In recent years, researchers highlight the applied researches of the Construal Level Theory, which survey its application in the territories of persuasion, negotiation, and consumer behaviors etc. And its application reflects on the researches of marketing and consumer behavior, social cognition, decision making and negotiation, socialization. Besides, the applied researches of Construal Level Theory put forward the research of the underlying psychological mechanism, which improves the development of Construal Level Theory.

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    The Differentiation of Different Types of Collective Actions
    YIN Rong; ZHANG Feifei
    2015, 23 (1):  120-131.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2015.00120
    Abstract ( 527 )  

    Collective action is defined as any action that individuals undertake as psychological group members, and with the subjective goal to improve their group’s conditions. Research on the categorization of collective action is an important trend in this area. According to whether or not it corresponds to social norm, the collective action can be categorized into normative collective action and non-normative collective action. According the difference of the group social status, it can be categorized into disadvantaged group collective action and advantaged group collective action. And according to the achievement of the collective action, it can be divided into success as well as failure. The psychology mechanism, antecedent variable and developing trend can vary for different types of collective action. The further research should explore the relation of different types of collective action, think highly of the cultural context and connect to the results of other subject.

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    Why Are Humans Curious? Concept, Functions and Theories of Interpersonal Curiosity
    LI Tianran; YU Guoliang
    2015, 23 (1):  132-141.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2015.00132
    Abstract ( 1118 )  

    Interpersonal curiosity is the desire for new information about people, including details about others’ life experiences, their public and private activities, and also their thoughts, feelings, and motives. It is influenced by gender, age, personal state, personality and culture values etc. It plays a positive role in building and maintaining social relationship, personality judgment, cultural learning, maintaining social norms. It can be explained by the intrinsic theory, information-gap theory, interest-deprivation theory, and social comparison theory. Presently there is not much research on interpersonal curiosity. Future research can be conducted from life-long development perspective. The interpersonal curiosity in the context of internet also need be studied, and the measurement of interpersonal curiosity need be improved. Empirical research should be strengthened, in which the cultural influence needs to be taken into consideration.

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    The Nature of the Bond between Pets and Owners: A Psychological Analysis
    ZHANG Maoyang; PENG Xiaofan; HU Chaobing; ZHANG Xingyu
    2015, 23 (1):  142-149.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2015.00142
    Abstract ( 1089 )  

    As humans’ loyal friends, pets have a widely acknowledged positive effect on humans’ physical and mental health. The researches on pet personality have revealed that pets, rather than merely a kind of animal, were human-like companions who could interact with their owner like human friends. Pets are one part of the owners’ social support system, but they are neither compensation or competitor against human relationship. They function independently. The behavior evidence implied that the bond between pets and their owners is similar with the parental relationship, where pets elicited the parental behavior and the owners also benefit from caring the pets. This review revealed the limitation of former researches in sample selection and the lack of experimental evidence. Further researches should have more concern on the integrity of research samples, develop the behavioral experiment paradigm and introduce the neural cognition method to examine the inner mechanism by which pets affect the owners.

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    Research Methods
    The Development and Application of Higher-Order Item Response Models
    CHEN Feipeng; ZHAN Peida; WANG Lijun; CHEN Chunxiao; CAO Mao
    2015, 23 (1):  150-157.  doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2015.00150
    Abstract ( 426 )  

    When measuring hierarchical latent trait, the standard IRT models have low efficiency in estimating item parameters and ability parameters. Without considering hierarchical structure, MIRT models have a high efficiency in estimating the first-order latent traits. It is not suitable for dealing with hierarchical latent trait. The HO-IRM not only can produce more accurate item parameter and ability parameters estimates, but also can obtain the first-order and high-order latent traits. The currently-existing HO-IRM includes high-order DINA model, high-order two parameter normal ogive hierarchical model, high-order logistic model, high-order polytomous items model and higher-order testlet model. In the future HO-IRM study, attention must be paid to the multi-level HO-IRM, HO-IRM within an item in the multidimensional situation and high-order cognitive diagnostic models.

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