Violence and aggression continue to be both public health and economic concerns. The field of violence prediction has undergone a series of changes in an attempt to best assess risk including using unstructured clinical judgment, actuarial measures, and structured professional judgment. Although prediction has become more accurate with improved measures, a new generation has recently emerged with an emphasis on understanding violence, as opposed to merely predicting it, to shift the focus towards violence prevention. In addition to the creation of measures, researchers have sought to identify specific risk factors for aggression and violence including static and dynamic risk factors. Despite research demonstrating associations between neuropsychological and social-cognitive factors, violence risk measures continue to omit these variables. The current study developed a multi-faceted, theoretical model of aggression including social-cognitive, neuropsychological, personality, and psychiatric factors. A community, male sample (N = 1,192) collected through Amazon's MTurk responded to a series of self-report measures and neuropsychological tasks. Utilizing structural equation modeling (SEM), I created a model predicting aggression. Several important paths were significant including from entity theory to aggression, mediated by hostile attribution bias, schizotypy to aggression, mediated by both hostile attribution bias and disinhibition, substance use to aggression mediated by disinhibition, and psychopathy to aggression directly. This model provides a framework for future research that focuses on process factors of violence and aggression.

Using a multimethod-multimodal approach, this study compared the contributions of executive function (EF) abilities (Go No-Go, Visual Search, 2-Back task, and Task Switching) to narrative comprehension tasks (False Belief, Strange Stories, Self-Reported Theory of Mind Inventory [TOMI-SR]) and a narrative production task (interpersonal decentering) in a sample of young adults. Separate regression models were conducted for each theory of mind (ToM) measure with EF measures as predictor variables and empirically selected demographic variables controlled. As expected, in this college student sample (N = 110), False Belief demonstrated a ceiling effect and was not associated with any EF ability. Task Switching and 2-Back accounted for significant variance in Strange Stories. No EF task significantly predicted performance on TOMI-SR or interpersonal decentering. Both story comprehension tasks (False Belief and Strange Stories) were significantly associated, but these tasks were not correlated with either self-reported ToM or interpersonal decentering. Several unanticipated demographic associations were found; having more siblings and English proficiency accounted for significant variability in Strange Stories; education, presence or absence of self-disclosed autism diagnosis and mental health diagnosis explained a large portion of variance in TOMI-SR; interpersonal decentering maturity differed significantly between cisgender men and cisgender women. Lastly, interpersonal decentering number of interactions demonstrated an advantage for individuals without diagnosed or suspected autism diagnosis. This study raises critical concerns regarding measurement method error variance and variability of task demands in explaining cognitive mechanisms relevant to social cognitive processes.

<p>I investigated the understanding of human communicative motives in domestic dogs. Dogs use human communicative cues, like the pointing gesture when searching for hidden food, but it is uncertain how dogs interpret human communication. 32 dogs were presented with two communicative contexts in an object choice task experimental design. In a cooperative context the experimenter informed the subject where food was hidden by pointing and giving a verbal indication. In a competitive context the experimenter held out her arm towards the correct location in a stop gesture and firmly said no. To be successful in the competitive context the subject had to understand the experimenters communicative motive and make an inference from the prohibition (i.e. she would only prohibit it if there was something good there). The average correct choices were compared between the conditions. The dogs successfully followed the cooperative communication. They showed a trend towards choosing the baited cup in the competitive condition. A second study tested if the stop gesture affected the dogs’ choice, since it is not known how dogs interpret gestures. The pointing cue was now presented with the prohibiting command and the stop gesture was presented with the cooperative verbal cue. The dogs used the cooperative communication but did not understand the competitive context. A difference between the contexts was found. The dogs did not differentiate between the gestures. In conclusion dogs do not make inferences from competitive communication or prohibition but are specialized in utilizing cooperative communication</p>

I investigated the understanding of human communicative motives in domestic dogs. Dogs use human communicative cues, like the pointing gesture when searching for hidden food, but it is uncertain how dogs interpret human communication. 32 dogs were presented with two communicative contexts in an object choice task experimental design. In a cooperative context the experimenter informed the subject where food was hidden by pointing and giving a verbal indication. In a competitive context the experimenter held out her arm towards the correct location in a stop gesture and firmly said no. To be successful in the competitive context the subject had to understand the experimenters communicative motive and make an inference from the prohibition (i.e. she would only prohibit it if there was something good there). The average correct choices were compared between the conditions. The dogs successfully followed the cooperative communication. They showed a trend towards choosing the baited cup in the competitive condition. A second study tested if the stop gesture affected the dogs’ choice, since it is not known how dogs interpret gestures. The pointing cue was now presented with the prohibiting command and the stop gesture was presented with the cooperative verbal cue. The dogs used the cooperative communication but did not understand the competitive context. A difference between the contexts was found. The dogs did not differentiate between the gestures. In conclusion dogs do not make inferences from competitive communication or prohibition but are specialized in utilizing cooperative communication

Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) have deficits across many cognitive, behaviour and social domains. However, despite social difficulty being proposed as a main deficit following prenatal alcohol exposure, the nature of their deficient social behaviour is largely unknown. One process that may underlie difficulties in social functioning is poor social cognition, which refers to one’s understanding of the self, others and social world. The primary goal of this dissertation was to determine whether social cognitive deficits represent a core disability underlying the socio-behavioural problems of FASD using a bottom-up approach. The first level of this approach is represented by face processing. Global and independent face feature processing was compared between FASD and normal controls (NC) using experimental and clinical measures. Eye gaze processing was investigated next using experimental and clinical tasks. At the highest level of the bottom-up approach, social perspective taking, including theory of mind and empathy were examined, along with how these abilities related to parent-rated behaviour. Finally, the lowest level consisted of specific aspects of the social neural network. White matter in three limbic pathways was investigated using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Results generally supported the bottom-up approach of social cognition in FASD. These children showed impaired processing of face features, when matching mouth shapes and partially occluded identity, compared with NC. The FASD group was slower to process gaze and arrow cues, suggesting impaired attention shifting. Children with FASD also showed impairments in social perspective taking, including understanding false beliefs and empathy, and these impairments were related to parent-rated attention and social problems, and autistic-like traits. Deficits in theory of mind got worse with age in FASD and empathy showed distinct sex-related differences. Although no group differences were observed on DTI indices, groups did show different age-related changes in white matter. In conclusion, deficits at each level of the current bottom-up approach may underlie the social impairments in FASD and may contribute to their broader social behavioural phenotype. The results from this dissertation have potential to inform clinical practice and lead to more effective diagnostic and treatment approaches in FASD.

Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) have deficits across many cognitive, behaviour and social domains. However, despite social difficulty being proposed as a main deficit following prenatal alcohol exposure, the nature of their deficient social behaviour is largely unknown. One process that may underlie difficulties in social functioning is poor social cognition, which refers to one’s understanding of the self, others and social world. The primary goal of this dissertation was to determine whether social cognitive deficits represent a core disability underlying the socio-behavioural problems of FASD using a bottom-up approach. The first level of this approach is represented by face processing. Global and independent face feature processing was compared between FASD and normal controls (NC) using experimental and clinical measures. Eye gaze processing was investigated next using experimental and clinical tasks. At the highest level of the bottom-up approach, social perspective taking, including theory of mind and empathy were examined, along with how these abilities related to parent-rated behaviour. Finally, the lowest level consisted of specific aspects of the social neural network. White matter in three limbic pathways was investigated using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Results generally supported the bottom-up approach of social cognition in FASD. These children showed impaired processing of face features, when matching mouth shapes and partially occluded identity, compared with NC. The FASD group was slower to process gaze and arrow cues, suggesting impaired attention shifting. Children with FASD also showed impairments in social perspective taking, including understanding false beliefs and empathy, and these impairments were related to parent-rated attention and social problems, and autistic-like traits. Deficits in theory of mind got worse with age in FASD and empathy showed distinct sex-related differences. Although no group differences were observed on DTI indices, groups did show different age-related changes in white matter. In conclusion, deficits at each level of the current bottom-up approach may underlie the social impairments in FASD and may contribute to their broader social behavioural phenotype. The results from this dissertation have potential to inform clinical practice and lead to more effective diagnostic and treatment approaches in FASD.

Social cognition is a fundamental aspect of human experience that enables us to have relationships with and understanding of other people. Social relationships have been shown to mitigate cognitive decline in old age and benefit cognitive functioning, and the social interaction on which these relationships rely requires an extensive network of cognitive processes, and by extension neural systems, that have not, as of yet, been widely studied in older adults. Nor has the function of these systems been tied to social relationships in the real world. Here, I will compare self-reports of real-world quality and extent of social networks with behavioral and neural measures of other-regard in the laboratory. It is hoped that by so doing we will be able to link social neuroscientific measures in the laboratory with persons’ perceptions of the quality and extent of their social relationships. In this study, other-regard in older adults was operationalized with a reaction-time measure in an implicit turn-taking task, neural measures were provided by dense array EEG, and all participants also completed self-report measures of empathy subscales and of the quality and extent of their social networks. I found that measures of empathic personal distress decreased with increased other-regard (r = -0.36, p = 0.01, beta = 0.47), while increased quality and extent of social networks associated marginally with increased other-regard (r = 0.20, p = 0.11, beta = 0.39). Neural analyses are ongoing and are expected to show differential activation consistent with cognitive processes such as theory of mind, empathy, joint attention, and executive control.

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Syftet med denna pilotstudie var att skapa hypoteser om och hur utmattningssyndrom påverkar förmågan att känna igen emotioner i ansiktsuttryck. En grupp patienter med utmattningssyndrom jämfördes med en matchad frisk kontrollgrupp (N=14). Grupperna undersöktes med ett datorbaserat test beståendes av färgbilder av autentiska ansiktsuttryck som gradvis i steg om 10% förändrades från ett neutralt ansiktsuttryck till någon av de fem grundemotionerna ilska, avsky, rädsla, glädje och ledsenhet. Mätningarna gjordes i termer av igenkänningsprecision och responshastighet. Resultatet visade att patientgruppen responderade signifikant långsammare än kontrollgruppen sett över samtliga emotioner i testet. Inga emotionsspecifika skillnader såväl som skillnader i igenkänningsprecision kunde påvisas mellan grupperna. Orsakerna till diskrepansen i responshastighet diskuterades utifrån fyra tänkbara förklaringsområden: ansiktsperceptuell funktion, visuell uppmärksamhet, självfokuserad uppmärksamhet samt noggrannhet/oro. Rekommendationer gjordes till framtida forskning om att utforska dessa områden närmare.

These decades in the past, the progress of science and technology brought the human happiness; it is exhausted to also bring the serious environmental pollution, ecological disruption, resource day by day. So go over the faith that ' man is the master of his own fate ' begin to shake changing into and becoming gradually ' people are a natural part, mankind must with getting along naturally ', sustainable development become key concept of new paradigm. In 1978 Dunlap & Van Liere thought that the dominant social paradigm at that time was to demonstrate the inside out ecological image, only consider the social one's own demand, and get rid of the mankind outside the nature, ignore the environmental impact on society, so call this kind of view ' Human Exceptionalism Paradigm, HEP ' . Dunlap & Van Liere propose a kind of ' New Environmental Paradigm, NEP ¡¥, the reason why they call that ' New Environmental Paradigm ' because with mankind at that time for to model very different dominant social paradigm. It can be with the change of faith , attitude and values that the appearance of NEP mainly hopes, enable mankind to make a thorough review on people and naturally real relation, change mankind's attitude immoderate to the natural demand. Environmental sustainable planning deeply international while paying attention to , Taiwan environmental planning professional person, body in environmental front most of planning, in the face of new environmental paradigm arrival of times, how much deep understanding about the concept of the environmental sustainable ? The impact that is changed fast by the whole external environment condition, plan also the revolutionary transformation is taking place in the planning paradigm, the professional personnel of urban planning get along with during the process of adapting to. Has planned the contention in theory to extend all the time constantly in the last hundred years, and planning paradigm to replace constantly, so the related one influences planners to public interests cognition and treatment method . In the face of the arrival of the era of knowledge-driven economy, the city is in global economy and ripe democratic politics day by day competed for day by day, plan to need marching toward the new model badly. So face the transitions of the paradigm of planning and ideological trend, does the environmental planning professional person in Taiwan do a good job of due adjustment? Over a long period of time, the urban growth and renovation in Taiwan have been spinning out of control and falling into disorder. The same problems have arisen time and again. For instance, deforestation and overexploitation of hillside lead to landslide; urban sprawl resulted in the shortage of public facilities; the developers were unable to internalize the externalities. If learning is deemed as a process of accumulating and readjusting life experience, then what¡¦s the problem with our society, which has failed to learn from the repeated urban issues and create new models for practice. What are the factors impeding this society¡¦s potential to remold the past experience? Traditional planning, overweight the human space and satisfaction of the demand, so that often neglect the carrying capacity of the ecological environment , and the inspiration that the whole social people's train of thought link and giving a new lease of life to. ' the Environmental planning ' which the advanced country emphasizes at present, its idea is conversely; The planning of the environment, is a kind of new idea, the ones that emphasized from ecological environment carrying capacity, or the potentiality , chance or limiting conditions of the supply, have priority to suitability analysis, but not meet the human demand simply . Namely the planner must respect the resource and environmental supply, mediate the human demand. This kind of planning could make the balance between development and preserve. So this research one is in the face of new environmental paradigm appears, such as transition of ideological trend and public interests, etc. to describing of person who understands environmental planning professional, practice crisis of urban planning of Taiwan , the emerging in an endless stream of environmental planning problem of Taiwan, influence its to be cognitive with the behavior further? To present domestic environmental planning professional education and training is enough to deal with the changes like this of the environment? Possibility which the professional person practice community produces? So this research is probed into from it by this: 1. Planner personal basic attribute with and its environmental view (new environmental paradigm), environmental behavior (responsible environmental behavior) and what is relation to learning style? 2. Planners face the environment (Environmental view, action approach, practice crisis), person (self-regulatory, self-efficacy) and with to influence each other what is relation to behavior (environmental behavior, production of practice community)? Through the distinguishing of above-mentioned problems relation, achieve the following research purposes: 1. Probe into environmental planners of Taiwan and present the environmental paradigm shift. 2. Probe into the social cognition model of planners under the new environmental planning discussion. 3. Probe into the possible change and meaning of environmental planning specialized education of Taiwan. This research is mainly studying social learning and cognitive social cognition view of the theory of society of society proposed through Bandura, as the key structure of this research, this theory thinks that the behavior is to emerge via the reciprocal function of person and environment, instead of be determined by any dimensions among them. This view transform environment (E ) , person (P ) and behavior (B ) into three interrelated dimensions and acts on to some extent, namely ' the social learning theory ' and ' the social cognitive theory ' with Bandura - Probe into the self- regulation system among the person cognition, behavior and environment. Retrospect via relevant theory documents of this study, put it in order out under the social cognitive theory, professional person's influence way of environmental program among the three of ' the environment ,person , behavior ', and planner's personal learning style way is set up. With the new environmental paradigm concept, action approach of planning , planning practice crisis of the whole , planner personal self-efficiency and self-regulatory, responsible environmental behavior, and plan practice relevant parameter that community produce influence, and then build the intact model which construct out a environmental planner's social cognitive theory, and then concern the analytical method of the way (LISREL ) to verify this theory model with Joreskog & Sorbom linear structure of development. This study attempts to set up a planner's social cognitive theory way from the retrospect of theory documents, offer the school, the department is carrying on environmental planning education public and private, knowledge and action are being linked etc. The result of study of this study can be summed up as follows on policy implications: 1. To test and verify of the social cognitive theory - Have proved on one's to the environmental planning professional person that among the three of ' the environment , person , behavior ' hand in the relation influenced in social cognitive theory, environmental influences person; Individual influences the behavior; The behavior influences the environment. 2. To indicate and verify the new arrival of times of environmental planning paradigm - So no matter in the school, public department or private consultant firm is in the future in planning educational course design and arrange, environmental draft, implementation of planning of policy, etc., should change to some extent. 3. To Assert and introduce of the learning style of the persons who plan the professional roles - The educational professional of environmental planning that this research is thought to be domestic, arrange with the design in course of professional training, real should make relevant adjustment and plan, there can be chance of balanced study in the training course of letting the profession form, pay attention to ' concrete experience ' and 'active experimentation ' more with the planning.