National character does not reflect mean personality trait levels in 49 cultures

Most people hold beliefs about personality characteristics typical of members of their own and others' cultures. These perceptions of national character may be generalizations from personal experience, stereotypes with a "kernel of truth," or inaccurate stereotypes. We obtained national character ratings of 3989 people from 49 cultures and compared them with the average personality scores of culture members assessed by observer ratings and self-reports. National character ratings were reliable but did not converge with assessed traits. Perceptions of national character thus appear to be unfounded stereotypes that may serve the function of maintaining a national identity.     

Experimental study of inequality and unpredictability in an artificial cultural market

Hit songs, books, and movies are many times more successful than average, suggesting that "the best" alternatives are qualitatively different from "the rest"; yet experts routinely fail to predict which products will succeed. We investigated this paradox experimentally, by creating an artificial "music market" in which 14,341 participants downloaded previously unknown songs either with or without knowledge of previous participants' choices. Increasing the strength of social influence increased both inequality and unpredictability of success. Success was also only partly determined by quality: The best songs rarely did poorly, and the worst rarely did well, but any other result was possible.     

Food-caching western scrub-jays keep track of who was watching when

Western scrub-jays (Aphelocoma californica) hide food caches for future consumption, steal others' caches, and engage in tactics to minimize the chance that their own caches will be stolen. We show that scrub-jays remember which individual watched them during particular caching events and alter their recaching behavior accordingly. We found no evidence to suggest that a storer's use of cache protection tactics is cued by the observer's behavior.     

How we see ourselves and how we see others

People see themselves differently from how they see others. They are immersed in their own sensations, emotions, and cognitions at the same time that their experience of others is dominated by what can be observed externally. This basic asymmetry has broad consequences. It leads people to judge themselves and their own behavior differently from how they judge others and those others' behavior. Often, those differences produce disagreement and conflict. Understanding the psychological basis of those differences may help mitigate some of their negative effects.     

“拼凑应对”:双重逻辑下基层干部扶贫行为——以豫南G镇为个案的探讨

对豫南G镇的调研发现,基层扶贫中存在"拼凑应对"行为。"拼凑应对"的扶贫行为是基层干部在双重逻辑共生共存、甚至相互冲突下的策略选择,双重逻辑包括压力型体制下完成任务的逻辑、绩效考核制下获得激励的逻辑。"拼凑应对"行为消减了精准扶贫成效,因此必须对此采取措施加以解决。     

Do 15-month-old infants understand false beliefs?

For more than two decades, researchers have argued that young children do not understand mental states such as beliefs. Part of the evidence for this claim comes from preschoolers' failure at verbal tasks that require the understanding that others may hold false beliefs. Here, we used a novel nonverbal task to examine 15-month-old infants' ability to predict an actor's behavior on the basis of her true or false belief about a toy's hiding place. Results were positive, supporting the view that, from a young age, children appeal to mental states--goals, perceptions, and beliefs--to explain the behavior of others.     

A distinct role of the temporal-parietal junction in predicting socially guided decisions

To make adaptive decisions in a social context, humans must identify relevant agents in the environment, infer their underlying strategies and motivations, and predict their upcoming actions. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging, in conjunction with combinatorial multivariate pattern analysis, to predict human participants' subsequent decisions in an incentive-compatible poker game. We found that signals from the temporal-parietal junction provided unique information about the nature of the upcoming decision, and that information was specific to decisions against agents who were both social and relevant for future behavior.     

论危险犯犯罪中止的时间性条件

危险犯的犯罪中比是指在直接故意犯罪过程中,行为人自动停比其犯罪行为,或者自动有效地防比危害结果发生的一种危险犯的犯罪形态,其时间条件是"在犯罪过程中”。对于犯罪过程”有广义和狭义的理解,对于危险犯而言,其中比形态分为三种类型,即:预备阶段的犯罪中;;实行阶段的犯罪中 ;完成实行行为、法定危险状态尚末发生阶段的 犯罪中止。不同类型的危险犯犯罪中比的时空范围不同,即时间性条件不同,应区别对待。必须区分两个界限:即犯罪中比与犯罪末遂的界限,犯罪中比与犯罪既遂的界限,从而准确地把握危险犯犯罪中比的时间性条件,正确地定罪量刑,充分发挥刑罚预防犯罪的社会作用。     

再论珠三角“代耕农”问题的社会工作干预

"代耕农"是珠三角农业流动人口中的特殊弱势群体,其生存状况令人堪忧,并随时可能引发系列社会问题,影响社会稳定。社会工作者作为弱势群体的关注者,能够以其专业技能、专业方法介入代耕农问题,一方面,从优势视角帮助代耕农发挥自身潜能,使其能够"自助",缓解甚至解决代耕农的各种生存、转业困境;另一方面,以中介者、资源联系者等角色去协调社会关系,形成以政府为主导、社会力量广泛参与解决"代耕农"问题的有效干预方式,最终达致解决和预防社会问题,促成社会公正和谐的良好局面。     

Mathematics and complex systems

Contemporary researchers strive to understand complex physical phenomena that involve many constituents, may be influenced by numerous forces, and may exhibit unexpected or emergent behavior. Often such "complex systems" are macroscopic manifestations of other systems that exhibit their own complex behavior and obey more elemental laws. This article proposes that areas of mathematics, even ones based on simple axiomatic foundations, have discernible layers, entirely unexpected "macroscopic" outcomes, and both mathematical and physical ramifications profoundly beyond their historical beginnings. In a larger sense, the study of mathematics itself, which is increasingly surpassing the capacity of researchers to verify "by hand," may be the ultimate complex system.     

Automatic mental associations predict future choices of undecided decision-makers

Common wisdom holds that choice decisions are based on conscious deliberations of the available information about choice options. On the basis of recent insights about unconscious influences on information processing, we tested whether automatic mental associations of undecided individuals bias future choices in a manner such that these choices reflect the evaluations implied by earlier automatic associations. With the use of a computer-based, speeded categorization task to assess automatic mental associations (i.e., associations that are activated unintentionally, difficult to control, and not necessarily endorsed at a conscious level) and self-report measures to assess consciously endorsed beliefs and choice preferences, automatic associations of undecided participants predicted changes in consciously reported beliefs and future choices over a period of 1 week. Conversely, for decided participants, consciously reported beliefs predicted changes in automatic associations and future choices over the same period. These results indicate that decision-makers sometimes have already made up their mind at an unconscious level, even when they consciously indicate that they are still undecided.     

甘肃省陇东地区的农业信仰和崇拜

甘肃省陇东地区的农业信仰和崇拜丰富多彩,其对象大致有山神、土地神、龙神、西王母、祖先、家畜等。随着农业现代化浪潮的冲击,这些农业信仰和崇拜习俗正在日益淡化乃至消亡。对其进行及时的抢救和保护,是民俗学者的重要任务。     

论市场经济进程中的伦理异化

市场经济时代的到来促进了中国社会的快速发展,但同时,在日渐物化的社会中,人们开始以社会道德的丧失为代价来换取自身利益的满足.这种社会道德异化现象的出现严重影响了社会经济的持续发展,扭曲了社会主义制度下发展经济的目的.要改变这种“异化”现象,就得让人们明白“社会道德是衡量社会发展水平的一杆秤,离开社会道德,社会发展就失去了意义”这一道理.人们只有用正确的社会道德观来规范自己的行为,才能更好地促进社会经济的健康发展,才能有助于解决经济发展中出现的种种问题,才能更好地构建社会主义和谐社会.     

高校贫困生的"精神贫困"问题研究

高校贫困生作为大学校园一个特殊的群体,有着自己独特的心理特征和行为倾向。解决贫困生的思想和心理问题,关系到高校的正常秩序乃至社会的稳定。针对贫困生“精神贫困”产生的原因,从加大贫困生资助力度、加强贫困生思想政治教育、加强贫困生心理健康教育和优化校园育人环境4个方面,提出了解决高校贫困生“精神贫困”的途径和办法。     

Altruistic helping in human infants and young chimpanzees

Human beings routinely help others to achieve their goals, even when the helper receives no immediate benefit and the person helped is a stranger. Such altruistic behaviors (toward non-kin) are extremely rare evolutionarily, with some theorists even proposing that they are uniquely human. Here we show that human children as young as 18 months of age (prelinguistic or just-linguistic) quite readily help others to achieve their goals in a variety of different situations. This requires both an understanding of others' goals and an altruistic motivation to help. In addition, we demonstrate similar though less robust skills and motivations in three young chimpanzees.     

近代安徽自然灾害与乡民的习俗信仰

安徽历史上自然灾害极其频繁,近代以降更是连年不断,灾荒过后往往是饥民遍野,疫病肆虐,并使经济凋敝、社会动荡不安,从而导致是民间迷信风气泛滥,近代安徽乡民的习俗信仰主要包括含有许多不科学成分和不合理因素的各种农事民俗,浓郁的祈神求丰的宗教信仰,以及愚昧落后的文化生活,这些习俗信仰正是大灾之后乡民精神上荒芜的体现。     

Beliefs,knowledge, and values held by inner-city youth about gardening,nutrition, and cooking

Changes in the US food system and an interest in changing dietary habits among youth have impelled numerous schools and communities to develop programs such as community gardens. Youth community gardens have the potential to positively influence dietary behaviors and enhance environmental awareness and appreciation. However, actual data supporting youth gardening and its influence are limited. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of community gardens on youth dietary behaviors, values and beliefs, and cooking and gardening behaviors. Focus groups were conducted with inner-city youth living in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota and compared those involved in a youth garden program with those uninvolved in order to investigate whether the gardening program influenced their habits, beliefs, and values. Findings indicate that youth garden program participants were more willing to eat nutritious food and try ethnic and unfamiliar food than those not in the program. Additionally, it was apparent that garden participants had a stronger appreciation for other individuals and cultures and were more likely to cook and garden on their own than youth not involved in a garden program. The findings suggest that garden programs positively impact youth garden habits, food choice, social skills, nutrition knowledge, and cooking skills. Lauren Lautenschlager is currently a graduate student at the University of Minnesota and working toward obtaining her MS in nutrition and becoming a registered dietitian. She is interested in the education of youth on the food system. Chery Smith is an associate professor in the Department of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota. Her research interests include the dietary behavior and nutritional status of low-income and homeless people, community and international nutrition, and food systems.     

Genes and social behavior

What genes and regulatory sequences contribute to the organization and functioning of neural circuits and molecular pathways in the brain that support social behavior? How does social experience interact with information in the genome to modulate brain activity? Here, we address these questions by highlighting progress that has been made in identifying and understanding two key "vectors of influence" that link genes, the brain, and social behavior: (i) Social information alters gene expression in the brain to influence behavior, and (ii) genetic variation influences brain function and social behavior. We also discuss how evolutionary changes in genomic elements influence social behavior and outline prospects for a systems biology of social behavior.     

农业科技企业技术同化能力研究

从我国农业企业技术创新现状和国内外企业创新的历史经验入手,分析了技术同化能力的必要性和重要性。在此基础上论述了我国农业科技企业进行技术同化能力提升的路径选择;讨论了如何提升我国农业科技企业创新能力,加快农业科技化和产业化进程。