Endogenous economic voting: evidence from the 1997 British election

Using panel surveys conducted in Great Britain before and after the 1997 general election, we examine the relationship between voting behavior and post-election economic perceptions. Drawing on psychological theories of attitude formation, we argue that those who voted for Labour and the Liberal Democrats perceived the past state of the British economy under the Tory government more negatively than they had prior to casting their ballot in the 1997 election. Similarly, we posit that Labour supporters would view the future state of the national economy under Labour more positively than they had before the election. This indicates that, contrary to many assumptions in the economic voting literature, voting behavior influences evaluations of the economy as voters seek to reduce inconsistencies between their vote choice and evaluations of the economy by bringing their attitudes in line with the vote they cast in the election. It also means that voters’ post-election economic perceptions are, at least in part, influenced by and thus endogenous to their vote choice. This finding has two major implications: first, cross-sectional models of economic voting are likely to overestimate the effect of economic perceptions on the vote. Second, the endogeneity of economic perceptions may compromise the quality of economic voting as a mechanism for democratic accountability.     

Increasing Cognitive Load to Facilitate Lie Detection: The Benefit of Recalling an Event in Reverse Order

In two experiments, we tested the hypotheses that (a) the difference between liars and truth tellers will be greater when interviewees report their stories in reverse order than in chronological order, and (b) instructing interviewees to recall their stories in reverse order will facilitate detecting deception. In Experiment 1, 80 mock suspects told the truth or lied about a staged event and did or did not report their stories in reverse order. The reverse order interviews contained many more cues to deceit than the control interviews. In Experiment 2, 55 police officers watched a selection of the videotaped interviews of Experiment 1 and made veracity judgements. Requesting suspects to convey their stories in reverse order improved police observers' ability to detect deception and did not result in a response bias.     

Parental Alienation and Misinformation Proliferation

Since parental alienation syndrome (PAS) was identified in the 1980's, there has been a remarkable amount of misinformation regarding both PAS and parental alienation (PA). These falsehoods were published in professional journals, presented at conferences, and distributed through internet websites and blogs. This article summarizes five examples of published misinformation regarding PAS/PA. Each case study includes: the false statements that were published in the medical, psychological, or legal professional literature; the names of the individuals who made the false statements; and the steps taken to refute the falsehoods and correct the record. The writers of the misinformation were from Sweden, Tunisia, Spain, and the United States, which illustrates the international scope of PAS/PA. In one example, the misinformation reached the U.S. House of Representatives and was almost included in a formal resolution adopted by that body. The article discusses various underlying causes of the high level of polarization in PAS/PA scholarship. The article also proposes steps that both mental health and legal writers can adopt to reduce the destructive polarization that has occurred. In general, however, clinicians, forensic practitioners, and legal professionals should remain vigilant when they read articles or listen to presentations about topics that might be considered controversial.     

Wilson病认知功能障碍与肠道菌群的相关性研究

目的 探讨Wilson病(Wilson’s disease, WD)认知功能障碍与肠道菌群的关系,以期为临床治疗WD合并认知功能障碍提供理论基础。方法 选取38例WD伴认知功能障碍的患者作为观察组,同时选取32例WD不伴认知功能障碍的患者为对照组,取大便样品进行16S rRNA基因测序技术分析,通过检测两组患者肠道菌群的组成及其丰度,探讨两者之间的相关性。结果 在门水平上,与对照组比较,观察组拟杆菌门和放线菌门丰度明显升高(P<0.05),厚壁菌门和变形菌门丰度明显降低(P<0.05);在科水平上,与对照组比较,观察组双歧杆菌科、紫单胞菌科、拟杆菌科、产碱杆菌科、理研菌科、乳酸菌科、韦荣氏球菌科丰度明显升高(P<0.05),梭菌科、科里杆菌科、未分类拟杆菌、肠杆菌科、毛螺菌科、乳球菌科、普氏菌科、链球菌科丰度明显降低(P<0.05);在属水平上,与对照组比较,观察组乳酸菌属、小杆菌属、乳球菌属、柯林斯氏菌属、另枝菌属、拟杆菌属、双歧杆菌属、帕拉斯氏菌属丰度明显升高(P<0.05),直肠真杆菌属、布劳特氏菌属、克雷伯氏菌属、栖粪杆菌属、普雷沃氏菌属、链球菌属...     

桃红四物汤对糖尿病脑病大鼠认知功能的保护作用

目的 观察桃红四物汤对糖尿病脑病（diabetic encephalopathy,DE）模型大鼠脑神经细胞的保护作用及机制。方法 采用高糖、高脂饲料喂养以及链脲佐菌素诱导复制DE模型大鼠。选取成功建立的DE模型大鼠,随机分为模型组（蒸馏水）,桃红四物汤低剂量（4.5 g/kg,相当于临床等效剂量１倍）、中剂量（9 g/kg）、高剂量（18 g/kg）组,二甲双胍组（0.2 g/kg）,多奈哌齐组（1 mg/kg）,每组10只,另取正常雄性大鼠10只作为对照组,每天灌胃给药1次,连续5周。观察各组大鼠血糖与体质量的变化,采用Morris水迷宫实验观察各组大鼠学习和空间记忆能力,采用试剂盒检测各组大鼠血清三酰甘油（triglycerides,TG）、总胆固醇（total cholesterol,TC）、低密度脂蛋白胆固醇（low-density lipoprotein cholesterol,LDL-C）、高密度脂蛋白胆固醇（high-density lipoprotein cholesterol,HDL-C）和脑组织过氧化脂质（lipid peroxide, LPO）含量和一氧化氮合酶（nitric oxide synthase,NOS）的活性,苏木精-伊红染色观察各组大鼠海马组织神经细胞形态学变化,实时定量聚合酶链反应检测各组大鼠脑组织淀粉样前体蛋白（amyloid precursor protein,APP）、β-分泌酶（β-secretase,BACE1）、β-淀粉样蛋白（amyloid-β,Aβ）mRNA表达水平。结果 桃红四物汤能显著降低DE模型大鼠血糖水平（P＜0.05）,显著改善DE模型大鼠的学习记忆能力（P＜0.05）,能显著降低DE模型大鼠体内TG、TC、LDL-C水平（P＜0.05）,升高体内HDL-C水平（P＜0.05）,能显著减少DE模型大鼠海马组织神经细胞的损伤,降低脑组织内LPO含量、NOS活性（P＜0.05）,能显著抑制DE模型大鼠海马组织中APP、BACE1、Aβ1-40、Aβ1-42的表达水平（P＜0.05）。结论 桃红四物汤能够降低DE模型大鼠脑内氧化应激反应,通过抑制APP和BACE1的表达,减少Aβ的积聚,发挥神经细胞保护作用,改善DE模型大鼠的学习记忆能力。     

通督调神针刺法对血管性轻度认知障碍患者血清脑源性神经营养因子和血浆同型半胱氨酸的影响

目的观察通督调神针刺法对血管性轻度认知障碍患者的疗效,以及对血清脑源性神经营养因子(brain derived neural nutrition factor,BDNF)、血浆同型半胱氨酸(homocysteine,Hcy)水平的影响。方法将61例血管性轻度认知障碍患者随机分为治疗组(31例)和对照组(30例),对照组患者口服药物多奈哌齐治疗2个月,治疗组除口服多奈哌齐外还予通督调神针刺法治疗4个疗程。采用简易智力状态检查(mini-mental state examination,MMSE)量表、蒙特利尔认知评估(Montreal cognitive assessment,MoCA)量表评价患者治疗前后认知水平变化,采用酶联免疫吸附法检测血清BDNF水平,循环酶法检测血浆Hcy水平。结果与治疗前比较,治疗后两组患者MMSE评分、MoCA评分均明显增加(P<0.05);治疗组与对照组MMSE和MoCA评分差值比较,差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05)。与治疗前比较,两组患者治疗后血清BDNF水平显著升高,血浆Hcy水平显著降低,差异均有统计学意义(P<0.05);治疗组血清BDNF水平升高程度、血浆Hcy水平降低程度均显著大于对照组(P<0.05)。两组基于MMSE评分的疗效比较,治疗组优于对照组(P<0.05)。结论通督调神针刺能够提升血管性轻度认知功能障碍患者的认知功能评分,提高相关细胞因子的表达水平,降低相关危险因素的影响。     

针刺联合首乌益智汤治疗脑卒中后认知功能障碍30例

目的 观察针刺联合首乌益智汤治疗脑卒中后认知功能障碍的疗效。方法 将60例脑卒中后认知功能障碍患者随机分为研究组和对照组,每组30例。两组在常规治疗的同时,对照组给予盐酸多奈哌齐,研究组患者给予针刺联合首乌益智汤治疗。治疗前后分别采用蒙特利尔认知评估量表（montreal cognitive assessment,MoCA）、修订Barthel指数（modified Barthel index,BI）、简易精神状态量表（mini-mental state examination,MMSE）对两组患者认知能力和日常生活活动能力进行评估。结果 治疗后两组患者MoCA、BI、MMSE评分均较治疗前显著升高（P＜0.05）,研究组患者MoCA、BI、MMSE评分升高程度显著大于对照组（P＜0.05）;研究组患者治疗后认知功能障碍的疗效显著优于对照组（P＜0.05）。结论 针刺联合首乌益智汤能够显著改善脑卒中后认知功能障碍患者的认知功能和日常生活活动能力。     

认知心理学视野中的道德灌输反思

道德灌输在当今中国道德教育中几乎成为众矢之的,不少人利用西方的＂反灌输论＂来批判我国的道德灌输。而认知心理学恰恰为重申道德灌输的必要性提供了一个全新的视角：从皮亚杰认知发展理论的角度看,道德灌输是道德认知与学习过程的基础与动力,同时儿童认知阶段的发展也决定了道德灌输的必要性;从信息加工理论的角度看,知识类型的递进关系以及记忆的结构都说明了道德灌输的重要性。     

Cognitive biases in the peer review of bullet and cartridge case comparison casework: A field study

ObjectiveForensic judgments and their peer review are often the result of human assessment and are thus subjective and prone to bias. This study examined whether bias affects forensic peer review.HypothesesWe hypothesized that the probability of disagreement between two forensic examiners about the proposed conclusion would be higher with “blind” peer review (reviewer saw only the first examiner’s comparison photos) than with “non-blind” peer review (reviewer also saw the first examiner’s interpretation and proposed conclusion). We also hypothesized that examiners with a higher perceived professional status would have a larger effect on the reported conclusion than examiners with a lower status.MethodWe acquired data during a non-blind and a blind peer review procedure in a naturalistic, covert study with eight examiners (3–26 years of experience). We acquired 97 conclusions of bullet and cartridge case comparisons in the blind and 471 in the non-blind peer review procedure.ResultsThe odds of disagreement between examiners about the evidential strength of a comparison were approximately five times larger (95%-CI [3.06, 8.50]) in the blind than in the non-blind procedure, with disagreement about 42.3% and 12.5% of the proposed conclusions, respectively. Also, the odds that their proposed conclusion was reported as the final conclusion were approximately 2.5 higher for the higher-status examiners than for lower-status examiners.ConclusionsOur results support both the hypothesis that bias occurs during non-blind forensic peer review and the hypothesis that higher-status examiners determine the outcome of a discussion more than lower-status examiners. We conclude that blind peer review may reduce the probability of bias and that status effects have an impact on the peer reviewing process.     

Intérêts spécifiques et formation de l'opinion politique des Suissesses (1999-2005)

L'existence “d'intérêts spécifiques” qu'on pourrait naturellement attribuer à la catégorie des femmes est amplement débattue dans la littérature contemporaine. Ainsi, selon certains, les femmes en tant que catégorie sociodémographique seraient traditionnellement plus portées à s'intéresser à certains sujets (l'enfance, la parité entre les sexes, l'avortement, etc.) qu'à d'autres. Or, bien que la littérature sur la définition des intérêts des femmes soit assez étoffée, peu d'études essaient, de mesurer leurs effets sur le comportement politique des citoyennes. Ainsi, aucune analyse n'a été proposée jusqu'à maintenant pour mesurer si la présence d'enjeux particulièrement parlants pour les citoyennes augmente leur engagement intellectuel (notamment dans des enjeux de démocratie directe). A travers l'analyse des votations populaires pour la période 1999-2005 (VOX), nous nous proposons de voir dans quelle mesure le niveau d'intérêt spécifique qui caractérise l'objet soumis au vote influence les stratégies cognitives que les femmes activent lors du processus de formation de l'opinion. En partant de modèles dualistes développés en psychologie cognitive, nos analyses montrent que les citoyennes sont davantage prêtes que les hommes à activer des stratégies cognitives plus exigeantes d'un point de vue intellectuel lorsque le projet soumis au vote les touche de près.