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2008, Volume 16 Issue 5 Previous Issue    Next Issue

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Basic and Applied Psychology Contribute to A Harmonious Society J. Bruce Overmier 2008, 16 (5):  673-678.  Abstract ( 2635 )   PDF (503KB) ( 2919 )   The role of psychology in contemporary societies for addressing the needs of societies is reviewed. Most of these needs are present in most countries, making psychology a truly trans-national discipline. Psychology does have some general solutions to offer, but there are many challenges to universality that require specific solutions for the particular country. Research done in countries with different systems does not always generalize. This means that additional basic researches on the issues as presented in that country need to be carried forward in that country. Each country needs this indigenization of psychology. Some illustrations are provided of findings that have proved useful as well as challenges that still require research. A structure for research to contribute to a more harmonious society is presented. Related Articles | Metrics

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Models on Object Identification in Real-World Scene BAI Xue-Jun;KANG Ting-Hu;YAN Guo-Li1 2008, 16 (5):  679-686.  Abstract ( 1643 )   PDF (679KB) ( 1813 )   The research on object identification in real-world scene is an essential part in the field of scene perception research. Many studies focused on exploring the relationship between object identification and scene, particularly on whether the scene meaningfulness influenced the object identification or not. According to general progress of object identification, three different models have been developed yet, which was called Perceptual Schema Model, Priming Model, and Functional Isolation Model. In the guide of different research paradigms, these three models were supported by their own experimental research evidences. Meanwhile a new model, Contextual Guidance Model, was improved by these researches. This model supplied a fresh framework for deeply investigating the connections between object identification and scene Related Articles | Metrics

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Sex Differences in Mental Rotation YU Qing-Bao;LU Qi-Lin;TANG Yi-Yuan 2008, 16 (5):  687-691.  Abstract ( 3180 )   PDF (629KB) ( 2905 )   Sex difference is one of important aspects in studies of cognitive psychology. Men usually perform better than women in spatial cognitive tasks especially in mental rotation tasks. Recently, lots of behavioral and neuroimaging studies involving sex differences in mental rotation were executed. By summarizing some of those studies, exhibitions of sex differences during mental rotation and possible causes for it including biological factors and strategic factors were reviewed Related Articles | Metrics

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Emotional Conflict: A New Research Topic HU Zhi-Guo;LIU Hong-Yan;ZHANG Xue-Xin 2008, 16 (5):  692-698.  Abstract ( 2844 )   PDF (660KB) ( 4560 )   Emotional conflict is a new psychological research topic, which is stemmed from the research of cognitive conflict. The article introduced emotional conflict from three aspects: (1) The general research situation of cognitive conflict, since it is the origin of the research of emotional conflict; (2) Behavioral studies on emotional conflict, including studies adopting emotional Stroop paradigm, word-face Stroop paradigm, emotional priming paradigm and emotional Flanker paradigm, et al. (3) Neural imaging studies of emotional conflict, including monitoring and resolution of emotional conflict. For future studies, paradigms in the research of cognitive conflict should be widely adapted, to investigate the remained issues in the research of emotional conflict, such as, when and how emotional conflict happens, influential factors and dynamic changes of emotional conflict, and the corresponding neural substrates. Furthermore, the emotional disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety disorders) should be studied in the research of emotional conflict, so as to translate basic research findings to clinical applications Related Articles | Metrics

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Neural and Physiological Basis of Religious Experience HAN Hui-Juan;LIU Chang 2008, 16 (5):  699-704.  Abstract ( 1973 )   PDF (652KB) ( 2058 )   eligious experience is a process, and it means psychology, realization and the incidental emotion experience of human in the religion activities. The studies of its neural and physiological basis suggest that some certain areas of the human brain and brain wave are activated during the religious experience. These studies go a step further indicating that the relation between religious experience and cognition and emotion, and to a certain extend, that is congruent with the theory of the essential of religious experience, but it do not make clear that there are “GOD modules” in the brain. Since the idea is first proposed, a great deal of relevant neural and physiological basis research has accrued. Here we give a brief review of the studies of religious experience Related Articles | Metrics

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Feedback Related Negativity and its Theoretical Explains LI Peng;LI Hong 2008, 16 (5):  705-711.  Abstract ( 1653 )   PDF (686KB) ( 2268 )   The feedback related negativity (FRN) is an ERP component elicited by feedback stimuli that indicate response errors or monetary losses. This component appeared at about 250-300ms interval after feedback onset and was shown to be generated in anterior cingulate cortex by resource analysis. There are two theories that account for the functional significance of FRN: the reinforcement learning theorists believe that FRN reflects the cognitive processing of the feedback stimulus, whereas the affective-motivational hypothesis argues that FRN mirrors the neural evaluation of emotional and motivational meaning in the feedback stimuli. Despite in-depth insights provided by previous studies into our understanding of FRN, there are still some important questions to be answered, which might be the direction of future studies Related Articles | Metrics

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Meaning and Applications of Lateralized Readiness Potential CHEN Li-Han 2008, 16 (5):  712-720.  Abstract ( 2617 )   PDF (784KB) ( 2290 )   In involuntary movement, Lateralized readiness potential (LRP) refers to negative lateralized readiness potential which occurs to the cerebral cortex contralateral to the response effector. The crux of LRP analysis is to find the appropriate “onset” time. LRP can reveal the different cognitive processing temporal features in the stimulus- response link. Two methods were discussed to validate LRP: the concreteness of the preparedness of response and the movement controlling origins. The broad applications of LRP were illustrated by examples from subliminal perception, movement preparation and Simon Effect in cognitive studies and the on-going study of Brain-Computer Interface (BCI). However, there are some limitations in the applications of LRP, such as interferences from other EEG components, the low signal-to-noise ratio in measurement and the requirement of single lateral response effector, etc Related Articles | Metrics

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Decision Making and Its Underlying Brain Mechanism Based on Rodent Research CHENG Jiu-Qing;LI Yong-Hui;SUI Nan 2008, 16 (5):  721-725.  Abstract ( 1915 )   PDF (633KB) ( 1795 )   The paper reviews recent research about decision making and its underlying brain mechanism based on rodent models. First, the definition of decision making and animal models are introduced. Second, on the basis of these models three common psychological processes and their brain mechanism are summarized: calculating, motivation and memory. Finally, the relationship between decision making and drug addiction is discussed for further thought, which includes the impact of drugs on decision making and the relationship between individual difference on decision making and susceptibility to addiction Related Articles | Metrics

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The Effects of Intervention on Children’s Understanding of Inheritance WANG Xin;ZHANG Li-Jin 2008, 16 (5):  726-732.  Abstract ( 1560 )   PDF (643KB) ( 1631 )   Intervention method is produced to be a new trend in probing into children’s concept of biological inheritance. Based on the recent studies about children’s understanding of inheritance, this article reported the influences of intervention from contents (factual knowledge & conceptual reorganization) and training forms (instruction & interaction) and the discrepant reasons from which was deeply analyzed in the dimension of intervention contents, forms and the propriety of participants-choosing. The future researches are supposed to aim at improving the intervention content, exploring the rapid developmental period in which children acquiring the inheritance concepts, and consolidating the tie between the researches about children’ s understanding of inheritance and illuminative education of scientific biology Related Articles | Metrics

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Effect of Classroom Ecosystem on Children’s Prosocial Behavior CHEN Bin-Bin;LI Dan 2008, 16 (5):  733-739.  Abstract ( 2422 )   PDF (645KB) ( 2914 )   Based on Eco-system theory and recent research on prosocial behaviors in class environment, the article defined and reviewed interaction between children with two groups——peer and teacher——both of them interact with children closely and have an important impact on their prosocial behavior, as two sub-ecosystems under the context of class environment. And it reviewed components which constituted such two sub-ecosystems. Finally, more emphasis should be put on dyadic interaction, the research way of interactional model based on observation as an alternative, and time variables affecting behavioral process Related Articles | Metrics

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Personality and Pathology Gambling LI Xin-Hua;ZHENG Yong 2008, 16 (5):  740-744.  Abstract ( 1337 )   PDF (627KB) ( 2853 )   Personality disorder is one of the final conclusions of pathological gambling. This paper sorts and introduces the personality traits related to pathological gambling such as neuroticism, psychoticism, sensation seeking and mindfulness. Also it provides some evidences in the field of trans-cultural research. At the end, it questions the existing conclusions and puts forward some further researches on the query of typical qualities of samples, relationship between the personality traits and gambling, and the enhancement of indigenous study Related Articles | Metrics

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Review of Foreign Studies on Defensive Pessimism SU Yan-Li;ZHANG Jin-Fu 2008, 16 (5):  745-752.  Abstract ( 2544 )   PDF (640KB) ( 2908 )   Defensive pessimist is a cognitive strategy whereby certain individuals acknowledge prior success in achievement contexts, yet typically enter new achievement situations with unrealistically low expectations and ruminate about possible outcomes. There are two components underpinning defensive pessimism: defensive expectations and reflectivity. Defensive pessimism is mainly compared in relation to optimism, depression, and self-handicapping. The factors which induce individuals to use this strategy include not only affective and motivational constructs but some cultural and family reasons. Future studies should improve on the research subjects, measurement method, the region of the studies and cross-culture comparison Related Articles | Metrics

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A Critical Reviews of Team Task Characteristics Studies LI Feng;WANG Er-Ping 2008, 16 (5):  753-759.  Abstract ( 961 )   PDF (642KB) ( 1640 )   As one important input variable in the team effectiveness model, team task characteristics were the contributions of difference of team performance. This paper summed up several theories on task characteristics, and then pointed out that the core dimensions of team task characteristics should include skill variety, task identity, task significance, task feedback, task autonomy, task interdependence, task complexity. Along with these dimensions, this paper reviewed the studies about task characteristics at both individual level and team level. Based on the reviews, some suggestions for future research were given such as the measurement of team task characteristics, the functional mechanism of team task characteristics and the further studies on the core dimensions Related Articles | Metrics

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The Review of Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Research: Influential Factors and Intervention Measures XU Cun;MA Hong-Yu 2008, 16 (5):  760-766.  Abstract ( 1594 )   PDF (639KB) ( 3426 )   successfully complete tasks necessary to making career decisions. Since Betz and Taylor introduced this construct, it had stimulated numerous theoretical and empirical researches in vocational psychology. This article summarized factors influencing career decision-making self-efficacy, and intervention measures. Influential factors mainly referred to three aspects: individual、familial and scholastic factors. According to different theories, Intervention measures comprised attribution retraining、group counseling、career decision-making skills training、cognitive restructuring、computer assisted career intervention and so on Related Articles | Metrics

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Escalation of Commitment and Its Psychological Mechanisms LI Rui;LING Wen-Quan;FANG Li-Luo 2008, 16 (5):  767-778.  Abstract ( 2267 )   PDF (666KB) ( 2006 )   Escalation of commitment (EOC) refers to the phenomenon whereby, in the face of negative consequences, decision-makers increase resource commitment and risk further losses. There are three influential theories for explaining this special phenomenon, namely prospect theory, self-justification theory, and decision dilemmas theory. The determinants of EOC found in empirical studies can be categorized as project variables, psychological variables, individual differences, and situational variables. In the last part of the paper, it proposed that future research should further probe into the problems such as integrating different explanatory mechanisms, and examining the psychological and behavioral effects of EOC on decision-makers Related Articles | Metrics

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The Influence of Psychological Contract on Organizational Citizenship Behavior LIN Lan;MO Chang-Wei 2008, 16 (5):  779-788.  Abstract ( 1272 )   PDF (658KB) ( 2337 )   This paper supported the casual relationship between psychological contract and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) on the basis of a thorough analysis of their logical link from the perspectives of the definition, context and motive of OCB. It then critically reviewed the empirical studies on how psychological contract influences OCB in both direct and indirect ways, and made comments on the problems in current studies in terms of general situation, theoretical perspective and empirical methodology. Finally, it put forward suggestions on future studies Related Articles | Metrics

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Underlying Mechanism of Impulsive Consumption Behavior: The Influence of Promotion Focus on Impulsive Consumption Behavior JING Feng-Jie;XIONG Su-Hong 2008, 16 (5):  789-795.  Abstract ( 2231 )   PDF (642KB) ( 2842 )   So far, the numerous extant literatures about impulsive consumption behavior can not be unified with a thread which indicates the underlying association. Recently, however, by using the promotion focus theory, researchers have gained a breakthrough on the underlying mechanism of impulsive consumption behavior by which the relevant literatures can be unified. In this article, the authors introduce the process of impulsive consumption behavior first, which makes the underlying mechanism understood better. And then, theories involved in the underlying mechanism are introduced and relevant literatures are reviewed and unified by the authors from the underlying mechanism perspective. In the end, the further research directions are suggested in which the mechanism of impulsive consumption behavior can be studied by drawing on theories related to regulatory focus, especially regulatory fit theory Related Articles | Metrics

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Theory of Reasoned Action and Its Extending Researches YU Dan;DONG Da-Hai;Raymond. LIU;YUAN Yong-Dan 2008, 16 (5):  796-802.  Abstract ( 2290 )   PDF (642KB) ( 4987 )   As a widely adopted authoritative theory, the theory of reasoned action (TRA) has been extended widely by many researchers. In this paper, literatures about theory of reasoned action are reviewed from three perspectives as following: the literatures about TRA deepening, the literatures about TRA applying in different fields，the literatures about of TRA extending. Then, possible future research fields are put ou Related Articles | Metrics

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The Faking of Personality Tests Research in Occupational Selection Situations LUO Fang;LIU Hong-Yun;ZHANG Shan-Shan 2008, 16 (5):  803-809.  Abstract ( 2235 )   PDF (641KB) ( 1972 )   Personality tests are easy to be faked in occupational selection situations, so that their validity is challenged. Many researchers applied themselves to solve the problems of faking and further explored whether or not and how candidates did fake, how faking adversely affected the tests and so on. During several decades, some special research patterns including experimental inducement, pre-group and scale designs gradually came out. Results showed that most of candidates did fake, while faking did not play an important role; faking was not social-desirability but job-desirability response. At present the methods coping with faking is not perfect with lower validity. In a conclusion, faking is a serious problem for personality tests which is difficult to settle, so it is imperative to develop regenerate theories and methods Related Articles | Metrics

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Time Issues in Negotiation WANG Hui;SHI Wei 2008, 16 (5):  810-814.  Abstract ( 1081 )   PDF (642KB) ( 1928 )   Research on the influence of time on negotiation can help us better understand the important role of time on negotiation, use efficient negotiating tactics and realize integrative outcome. Time issues put great influence on the cognition and behavior of negotiators and negotiation outcome. The results suggested that time pressure decreased negotiators’ cognitive motive which brought into reliance on cognitive heuristics; it was dependent on the conflict issue and different mindset whether impasse and break benefited negotiation; enlarging the temporal distance could improve the joint outcome of negotiation, which could be explained from Time Discounting Effect and Temporal Construal Level Theory. The negotiation researches in future will extent from time perspective to spatial perspective Related Articles | Metrics

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Research into Coping with Stigma: Retrospect, Current Theoretical Approaches and Prospect YANG Liu;LIU Li 2008, 16 (5):  815-825.  Abstract ( 2247 )   PDF (662KB) ( 2512 )   Coping with stigma refers to a dynamic process in which the stigmatized make use of diverse coping strategies to manage discounting labels from society. Researches in this field are witnessing a transition from the perspective of the stigmatizer to the perspective of the stigmatized, which highlights the stigmatized as active responders.Currently, there are three influential theoretical approaches in the field: the trading-off approach, the identity threat approach, and the person-environment interaction approach. The implications of such research are discussed in relation to intervening with the mental health of the stigmatized, and to improving regulations and policies towards helping the stigmatized. It is suggested that the researches in this field should pay more attention to the concealable stigmas, to an action-based studies, and to collecting data by combining with quantitative and qualitative methods, as well as to the longitudinal studies. Related Articles | Metrics

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Goal Content Effects and Their Psychological Mechanism HU Xiao-Yong;GUO Yong-Yu 2008, 16 (5):  826-832.  Abstract ( 1898 )   PDF (640KB) ( 2293 )   Based on self-determination theory, the goal content theory maintains that intrinsic goals refer to the goals reflecting the trends of the individual intrinsic growth. Intrinsic goals include those for, self acceptance, affiliation and physical health. In contrast, extrinsic goals are primarily concerned with obtaining some reward or social praise. Financial success, image, and popularity are common extrinsic goals. A great number of studies show that intrinsic goals and extrinsic goals have different effects, and basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness) are the psychological mechanism proved to explain the goals content effects. Future research should be more conducted on the psychological mechanism. What’s more, more studies based on the Chinese culture are needed as they have important practical meaning in China Related Articles | Metrics