Aquatic landscape change,extirpations, and introductions in the Chicago Region

Urban Ecosystems - Prior to European settlement, swamps, marshes, lakes, and streams were the major landscape features of the Chicago region. Much of this has been altered or lost in the past...     

Meta-cognition and resistance to political persuasion: evidence from a three-wave panel study

ABSTRACT

We investigate the temporal course of meta-cognition and resistance processes following exposure to counter-attitudinal information in the 2012 Presidential election. Using a unique 3-wave survey panel design, we tracked eligible voters during the last months of the 2012 campaign and experimentally manipulated exposure to negative political messages targeting Barack Obama and Mitt Romney on an online platform. As predicted, we found that politically unengaged (vs. engaged) individuals were less likely to counter-argue a message attacking their favored candidate. Resistance, in turn, led to increased attitudinal certainty, polarization, and correspondence with actual voting behavior over the course of the campaign. These findings provide the first analysis of the longitudinal effects of meta-cognitive processes underlying persuasion for real-world attitude change and behavior.     

Clients' Attributions of the Presenting Problem and the Therapeutic Alliance in Couple Therapy: Systemic Versus Intrapersonal Perspectives

The therapeutic alliance is central to couples' therapy success. The current study examined associations between couples' initial agreement and causal attributions of the presenting problem and changes in the therapeutic alliance. To test study hypotheses, 85 couples were recruited from a university training clinic focused on couple and family therapy. Couples completed an intake questionnaire concerning their attribution of the presenting problem, either as systemic or individual, and therapeutic alliance was assessed at the end of sessions 2–8. A dyadic multilevel model revealed that a disagreement in the couple's attributions of the problem (with one viewing it as systemic, the other as individual) was associated with a larger initial discrepancy in the couple's therapeutic alliance, as well as a decline in the discrepancy over time. Findings were discussed in the context of systemic family theory, with implications for improving assessment, treatment, and psychoeducation aimed toward couples in distress.     

Psychometric validation of the PERMA-profiler as a well-being measure for student veterans

Abstract

Objective: The current study aims to validate the PERMA-Profiler, a well-known well-being measure, among a sample of student veterans. Participants: A sample of 205 student veterans were recruited from universities across the United States. Method: Cross-sectional research design was used in this study. Measurement structure of the PERMA-Profiler was evaluated using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Convergent, divergent, and criterion-related validity was tested using Pearson correlation coefficients and Kruskal-Wallis test. Results: The EFA results yielded a two-factor solution for student veterans. Factors are named as emotional character strengths and performance character strengths. Conclusions: The PERMA-Profiler is a multidimensional scale with good reliability and acceptable levels of convergent, divergent, and criterion-related validity. The PERMA-Profiler can help researchers and practitioners better gauge well-being in student veterans. Implications will be discussed.     

Twitter,incivility, and presidential communication: A theoretical incursion into spectacle and power

ABSTRACT

By approaching civility as an operational logic for democracy, we ask how incivility is a strategy related to power and domination, particularly from the president of the United States. We propose that Twitter is part of an infrastructure of incivility, through which structures and discursive mechanisms contribute to a devaluation of normative democratic discourses. Spectacle provides a theoretical framework to contextualize the forces at play in mediating our relations. Using President Trump’s Twitter use as a case study, we offer four propositions that together formulate a framework for theorizing the strategic use and deployment of incivility as an increasingly legitimate, yet problematic tool for democratic governance.     

Optimal asset allocation for participating contracts with mortality risk under minimum guarantee

Abstract

We investigate an optimal investment problem of participating insurance contracts with mortality risk under minimum guarantee. The insurer aims to maximize the expected utility of the terminal payoff. Due to its piecewise payoff structure, this optimization problem is a non-concave utility maximization problem. We adopt a concavification technique and a Lagrange dual method to solve the problem and derive the representations of the optimal wealth process and trading strategies. We also carry out some numerical analysis to show how the portfolio insurance constraint impacts the optimal terminal wealth.     

客观化创造力测量工具:《中文远距联想测验》编制

依循Mednick远距联想测验(RAT)思路和我国台湾学者任纯慧等编制的中文远距联想测验(CRAT)的观点,并依据北京语言大学《汉语常用词词频表》,编制了符合中国大陆学生语言习惯的《中文远距联想测验》。通过预测验,对题库题目进行难度、区分度分析,选出优质题项与吴静吉等人(1999)编制的《新编创造思考测验》一起对筛选样本进行施测。施测结果表明,《中文远距联想测验》的内部一致性信度较高,Cronbach’α系数为0.734;其效标效度也较好,与《新编创造思考测验》的流畅性、变通性和独创性分数相关非常显著。该测验已被应用于大学自主招生考试,效果良好。     

新时代青年劳动教育的逻辑、特征与发展进路

新时代青年劳动教育是有着鲜明的内在逻辑的,它体现在以世界各国青年劳动教育经验为历史之镜,以马克思主义劳动观为理论指导,以几千年来形成的我国优秀劳动文化为深厚底蕴,以新时代青年劳动教育的现实问题和历史重任为实践源头.新时代青年劳动教育是把劳动价值观教育作为核心内容,其价值旨归是促进人的全面发展,而全社会的协同共育是坚实的机制保障.在开展新时代青年劳动教育的过程中,应当进一步推动劳动教育的本土化发展、专业化发展以及制度化发展,充分发挥劳动教育在立德树人方面的重要作用.