Subjects: Psychology >> Educational Psychology submitted time 2024-04-09
Abstract： Academic procrastination is a common phenomenon in the learning process across various student groups, which has been proven to affect individual’s academic achievement as well as mental health. Notably, academic procrastination has been further categorized into two types—passive procrastination and active procrastination. The former refers to forced delays to avoid unpleasant tasks and is considered “negative” procrastination, while the latter refers to the intentional postponing of tasks in order to achieve better results and is considered “positive” procrastination, both of which have significant psychological and behavioral impacts on individuals. Therefore, the present research aimed to test an internal cognitive-level antecedent—social mobility beliefs—of academic procrastination (i.e., passive procrastination and active procrastination). In particular, based on the cognitive-behavioral model, this research investigated whether social mobility beliefs could influence academic procrastination and, more specifically, whether they would reduce passive procrastination whereas promoting active procrastination. In addition, this research examined whether future time focus could act as a mediator in this relationship./t/nTo test the hypotheses, four studies were conducted in a mixed-method approach and using multi-source samples. In particular, using a sample of high school students, Study 1 was to provide initial correlational evidence for the association between social mobility beliefs and passive procrastination, as well as the mediating role of future time focus. Study 2 was still a survey study, aiming to extend Study 1 by using a college student sample and including a measure of active procrastination. Study 3 aimed to take one step further to provide causal evidence for the effect of social mobility beliefs on future time focus, active procrastination and passive procrastination. Following the experimental-chain-mediation approach, Study 4 aimed to further demonstrate the causal relationship between future time focus and active procrastination as well as passive procrastination by manipulating future time focus./t/nThe main findings of the present research are as follows. First, social mobility beliefs negatively predict and decrease passive procrastination. On the other hand, social mobility beliefs positively predict and increase active procrastination. Furthermore, the focus of future time plays a mediating role in the social mobility beliefs−passive procrastination association and social mobility beliefs−active procrastination association. These findings are observed among both high school students and college students./t/nThe present research contributes to the existing literature in the following ways, while also providing some practical implications. First, it innovatively investigates both passive procrastination and active procrastination and compare them, which has been relatively understudied. Second, it extends the consequences of social mobility beliefs in the academic realm, revealing that strong social mobility beliefs can weaken the tendency of passive procrastination but encourage active procrastination. Third, it discovers an internal cognitive factor that might account for academic procrastination, suggesting that social mobility beliefs can motivate students to avoid passive procrastination and engage in active procrastination. Moreover, it identifies the mediating role of future time focus underlying the effect of social mobility beliefs on passive procrastination and active procrastination. Practically, this research provides targeted recommendations for reducing passive procrastination among students and improving their academic motivations in the future.
Peer Review Status:
Awaiting Review
Subjects: Psychology >> Developmental Psychology submitted time 2023-03-28 Cooperative journals: 《心理科学进展》
Abstract： Dropout in psychotherapy refers to the phenomenon of the client discontinuing psychotherapy prior to recovering from the problems or distress that led him or her to seek help. Although researchers have come to a consensus as to the connotation of dropout, there are a variety of operational definitions of dropout, each of which has advantages and disadvantages. Dropout is a widespread problem in clinic practice. However, the dropout percentages, which are strongly influenced by operational definitions of dropout and types of study designs, vary widely across studies. There are limitations for the traditional static predictors of dropout, so researchers gradually place greater importance to the process-oriented predictors of dropout (e.g., therapeutic alliance), which provide a good deal of insight into dropout. In order to reduce dropout from therapy, researchers suggest clinicians offer proper pre-therapy preparation for clients, assess important variables throughout the course of therapy, and tailor strategies according to situation. Future research should improve the operational definitions of dropout and further research also should be conducted in natural treatment settings. At the same time, predictors should be explored thoroughly and more. And more attention should be paid to the effects of critical events outside therapy as well as the cultural background of clients.
Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology submitted time 2023-03-28 Cooperative journals: 《心理科学进展》
Abstract： Cultural change has gradually become the focus of psychologists’ attention, and related studies have addressed core issues such as the content, causes, and mechanisms of cultural change. Cultural evolution, a way of studying cultural change from an evolutionary perspective, explores the issue of the mechanism of cultural change. Cumulative Cultural Evolution (CCE) is a subset of cultural evolution. It refers to the adaptive changes in efficiency, function, and complexity of human culture over time through multiple social transmissions and innovation among individuals or groups. CCE plays a vital role in understanding the mechanisms of the emergence of human cultural uniqueness and sociocultural change.Throughout the research in this area, single-subject experiments, “microsocieties” designs, and computer simulations have often been used to explore the underlying mechanisms. Based on the evidence from these three types of laboratory studies, it is possible to sort out the mechanisms of occurrence and influence of CCE. In terms of the mechanisms by which CCE occurs, the transmission and modification of cultural information are the two core processes of CCE. Numerous empirical studies have found that copying and teaching ensure high-fidelity transmission of cultural information. Copying includes both results-oriented and action-oriented copying, and teaching can be defined as the act of facilitating the learning of others. These two are considered two representative social learning mechanisms in information transmission. The modification of cultural information is reflected in innovation. Empirical evidence shows that innovation can make modified cultural information more adaptive. The high-fidelity transmission prepares the ground for cultural innovation, and culture achieves sequential improvement through repeated cycles of high-fidelity transmission and modification, promoting the cumulative development of culture. Thus, copying, teaching, and innovation are three crucial foundations for CCE.In addition, CCE is a complex dynamic process in which behavior and environment interact. In this process, various factors influence information transmission and modification that originate from the environment where the information is transmitted and from the subject who transmits the information. Therefore, the influence mechanism of CCE can be understood in terms of environmental and subjective factors. The former mainly involves task difficulty, environmental uncertainty, group size, and social interaction; the latter mainly involves technical reasoning, cognitive flexibility, innovation ability, and social identity. The generalization of these factors can help explain the boundary conditions under which CCE occurs and, in particular, clarify inconsistent findings that have emerged from previous studies. Overall, these factors affect how information is processed in the transmission process, such as identification, collection, and use, which affects the rate of cultural accumulation and the probability of innovation.CCE explains the uniqueness of human culture from the perspective of accumulated modifications of culture over time, while laboratory studies in this field specifically describe how cultural information is transmitted from person to person to produce change. Future research can advance the field in terms of research methods, research areas, and research mechanisms. Specifically, first, the new paradigm (single subject multi-task design) is proposed considering the operationalization of task characteristics, and the feasibility of this new paradigm needs more empirical evidence to verify. Second, the current research on CCE has accumulated rich empirical evidence in the technical domain, and future research can consider conducting more laboratory studies in non-technical domains. Finally, the upward transmission of cultural information has been neglected in previous studies of CCE. Future research could consider exploring the value and significance of this process in CCE in the context of the current phenomenon of “cultural feedback” in China.
submitted time 2023-03-25 Cooperative journals: 《心理科学进展》
Abstract： Cultural change has gradually become the focus of psychologists’ attention, and related studies have addressed core issues such as the content, causes, and mechanisms of cultural change. Cultural evolution, a way of studying cultural change from an evolutionary perspective, explores the issue of the mechanism of cultural change. Cumulative Cultural Evolution (CCE) is a subset of cultural evolution. It refers to the adaptive changes in efficiency, function, and complexity of human culture over time through multiple social transmissions and innovation among individuals or groups. CCE plays a vital role in understanding the mechanisms of the emergence of human cultural uniqueness and sociocultural change.Throughout the research in this area, single-subject experiments, “microsocieties” designs, and computer simulations have often been used to explore the underlying mechanisms. Based on the evidence from these three types of laboratory studies, it is possible to sort out the mechanisms of occurrence and influence of CCE. In terms of the mechanisms by which CCE occurs, the transmission and modification of cultural information are the two core processes of CCE. Numerous empirical studies have found that copying and teaching ensure high-fidelity transmission of cultural information. Copying includes both results-oriented and action-oriented copying, and teaching can be defined as the act of facilitating the learning of others. These two are considered two representative social learning mechanisms in information transmission. The modification of cultural information is reflected in innovation. Empirical evidence shows that innovation can make modified cultural information more adaptive. The high-fidelity transmission prepares the ground for cultural innovation, and culture achieves sequential improvement through repeated cycles of high-fidelity transmission and modification, promoting the cumulative development of culture. Thus, copying, teaching, and innovation are three crucial foundations for CCE.In addition, CCE is a complex dynamic process in which behavior and environment interact. In this process, various factors influence information transmission and modification that originate from the environment where the information is transmitted and from the subject who transmits the information. Therefore, the influence mechanism of CCE can be understood in terms of environmental and subjective factors. The former mainly involves task difficulty, environmental uncertainty, group size, and social interaction; the latter mainly involves technical reasoning, cognitive flexibility, innovation ability, and social identity. The generalization of these factors can help explain the boundary conditions under which CCE occurs and, in particular, clarify inconsistent findings that have emerged from previous studies. Overall, these factors affect how information is processed in the transmission process, such as identification, collection, and use, which affects the rate of cultural accumulation and the probability of innovation.CCE explains the uniqueness of human culture from the perspective of accumulated modifications of culture over time, while laboratory studies in this field specifically describe how cultural information is transmitted from person to person to produce change. Future research can advance the field in terms of research methods, research areas, and research mechanisms. Specifically, first, the new paradigm (single subject multi-task design) is proposed considering the operationalization of task characteristics, and the feasibility of this new paradigm needs more empirical evidence to verify. Second, the current research on CCE has accumulated rich empirical evidence in the technical domain, and future research can consider conducting more laboratory studies in non-technical domains. Finally, the upward transmission of cultural information has been neglected in previous studies of CCE. Future research could consider exploring the value and significance of this process in CCE in the context of the current phenomenon of “cultural feedback” in China.
Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology submitted time 2022-12-16
Abstract：
Cumulative Cultural Evolution (CCE) refers to the adaptive changes in efficiency, function, and complexity of human culture over time through multiple social transmissions and innovation among individuals or groups. A large number of studies have been conducted to explore the underlying mechanism of CCE in the laboratory through single-subject experiments, “microcultures” or “microsocieties” designs, and computer simulations. Copying, teaching, and innovation are three important foundations for CCE. Copying and teaching ensure that cultural information is transmitted with high fidelity. Innovation makes modified cultural information more adaptable. Cultural information is gradually accumulated in the repeated high-fidelity transmission and modification cycle. In general, the boundary conditions of CCE can be summarized into two aspects: environmental factors and subjective factors. The former mainly involves task difficulty, environmental uncertainty, group size, and social interaction; the latter mainly involves technical reasoning, cognitive flexibility, innovation ability, and social identity. Future research can verify the feasibility of the new paradigm (single subject multi-task design), conduct laboratory research on non-technological cultural evolution, and explore the value and significance of upward transmissions of cultural information in CCE in the context of the current phenomenon of “cultural feedback” in China.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Subjects: Psychology >> Clinical and Counseling Psychology submitted time 2020-03-03
Abstract： " Dropout in psychotherapy refers to the phenomenon of the client discontinuing psychotherapy prior to recovering from the problems or distress that led him or her to seek help. Although researchers have come to a consensus as to the connotation of dropout, there are a variety of operational definitions of dropout, each of which has advantages and disadvantages. Dropout is a widespread problem in clinic practice. However, the dropout percentages, which are strongly influenced by operational definitions of dropout and types of study designs, vary widely across studies. There are limitations for the traditional static predictors of dropout, so researchers gradually place greater importance to the process-oriented predictors of dropout (e.g., therapeutic alliance), which provide a good deal of insight into dropout. In order to reduce dropout from therapy, researchers suggest clinicians offer proper pre-therapy preparation for clients, assess important variables throughout the course of therapy, and tailor strategies according to situation. Future research should improve the operational definitions of dropout and further research also should be conducted in natural treatment settings. At the same time, predictors should be explored thoroughly and more. And more attention should be paid to the effects of critical events outside therapy as well as the cultural background of clients.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
Hits
Hits
Downloads
Comment