三、教研优势
1.概况
A member of the Russell Group, we are committed to strengthening our position as one of the world’s premier institutions for inspirational and life-changing research.Our research is focused around seven themes which align our academic strengths to best meet the grand scientific, social and environmental challenges of our time.
作为罗素集团的一员，我们致力于加强我们作为世界一流机构的地位，以鼓舞人心、改变生活的研究。我们的研究集中在七个主题上，这些主题使我们的学术优势与我们的时代的重大科学、社会和环境挑战相一致。
2.七大领域纵览
领域一：创造力及研究成果介绍
Creativity Creativity is a key driver of modern, dynamic societies and is at the centre of our research excellence.Our work considers the nature of creativity and the creative process across linguistic, cultural, aesthetic and cognitive dimensions. Research at the convergence of technology, digital games and interactive media, together with leading partners in the creative economy, enables us to deliver new experiences to provoke, inform and entertain for the wider benefit of society.
创意是现代和充满活力的社会的主要驱动因素是我们卓越研究的核心。我们的工作考虑到语言、文化、美学和认知方面的创造力和创造性过程的本质。技术、数字游戏和互动媒体融合的研究与创意经济领域的领先合作伙伴一起，为我们提供新的经验为社会的更广泛的利益提供挑战、觉知和娱乐。
How a magnet can change your belief in God
Our psychologists have discovered that it’s possible to change people’s views on religion and immigration simply by directing magnetic energy into their brains.The research by Dr Keise Izuma and a team from the University of California (UCLA) used a process known as transcranial magnetic stimulation, a safe way of temporarily shutting down specific regions of the brain.Those who took part in the study reported that their belief in God dropped by a third. At the same time, their feelings towards immigrants became more positive.Frontal cortex,The researchers targeted the posterior media frontal cortex, a part of the brain located near the forehead which is associated with detecting problems and triggering responses to address them. The participants were asked to think about death and were asked questions about their religious beliefs. They were also asked about their feelings about immigrants who criticised their country.Dr Izuma from our Department of Psychology says: We decided to remind people of death because previous research has shown that people turn to religion for comfort in the face of death. As expected, we found that when we experimentally turned down the posterior medial frontal cortex, people were less inclined to reach for comforting religious ideas despite having been reminded of death.Ideology,He adds: People often turn to ideology when they are confronted by problems. We wanted to find out whether a brain region that is linked with solving concrete problems, like deciding how to move one’s body to overcome an obstacle, is also involved in solving abstract problems addressed by ideology.The researchers explored attitudes towards the Devil, demons and Hell. They also asked about God, angels and heaven. The participants read two essays ostensibly written by recent immigrants, one essay was complimentary towards the United States, while the other extremely critical. Magnetic stimulation had the greatest effect on reader’s reactions to the critical author.When we disrupted the brain region that usually helps detect and respond to threats, we saw a less negative, less ideologically motivated reaction to the critical author and his opinions, says Dr Izuma..Mental machineryThe researchers say that whether we’re trying to clamber over a fallen tree that we find in our path, find solace in religion or resolve issues related to immigration, our brains are using the same basic mental machinery.Dr Colin Holbrook, from UCLA and the lead author of the paper, adds: These findings are very striking, and consistent with the idea that brain mechanisms that evolved for relatively basic threat-response functions are repurposed to also produce ideological reactions. However, more research is needed to understand exactly how and why religious beliefs and ethnocentric attitudes were reduced in this experiment.
我们的心理学家发现，仅仅通过将磁能量引导到他们的大脑就可以改变人们对宗教和移民的看法。Keise Izuma博士和加州大学(加州大学洛杉矶分校)的研究小组使用了一种被称为经颅磁刺激的过程，这是一种暂时关闭大脑特定区域的安全方式。参与研究的人报告说，他们对上帝的信仰下降了三分之一。与此同时，他们对移民的感觉也变得更加积极。额叶皮质：研究人员将前额叶皮层作为大脑的一部分，它位于前额附近与发现问题有关并触发相应的反应来解决这些问题。参与者被要求思考死亡，并被问及他们的宗教信仰。他们还被问及他们对那些批评他们国家的移民的感受。来自我们心理学系的Izuma博士说：我们决定提醒人们死亡，因为之前的研究表明，人们在面对死亡时求助于宗教。正如我们所预期的那样，我们发现当我们实验性地关闭后内侧额叶皮质时，人们不太愿意去寻求安慰的宗教思想，尽管他们被提醒了死亡。意识形态：他补充说:当人们面对问题时，往往会转向意识形态。我们想要找出一个与解决具体问题有关的大脑区域，比如决定如何移动身体来克服障碍，也涉及到解决意识形态所涉及的抽象问题。研究人员探索了对魔鬼、魔鬼和地狱的态度。他们也询问了上帝、天使和天堂。与会者阅读了两篇由最近移民撰写的文章，其中一篇是对美国的赞美，另一篇则是对美国的批评。磁刺激对读者对关键作者的反应产生了最大的影响。Izuma博士说:当我们破坏了通常有助于发现和应对威胁的大脑区域时，我们看到了对关键作者和他的观点的更少的负面、更少的意识形态的反应。精神上的机械：研究人员说，无论我们是在试图爬上我们在道路上找到的一棵倒下的树，在宗教中找到慰藉，还是解决与移民有关的问题，我们的大脑都在使用同样的基本心智机制。来自加州大学洛杉矶分校的Colin Holbrook博士和该论文的主要作者补充道:这些发现非常引人注目，与此观点一致，即进化为相对基本的威胁反应功能的大脑机制也被重新设计，以产生意识形态的反应。然而，我们需要更多的研究来确切地了解为什么在这个实验中，宗教信仰和种族主义的态度是如何被削弱的。
领域二：文化交流及研究成果介绍
Working on all periods from prehistory to the present and on places across the globe, York researchers explore every kind of cultural activity, product and practice from poetry to pollution, alongside every aspect of communications from syntax to cyberspace.They are advancing and challenging how we understand the world, and developing new intellectual tools to make sense of human thought, human behaviour and our relation to the natural world.文化交流
约克研究人员从史前到现在以及全球各地的各个时期工作，探索从诗歌到污染的各种文化活动、产品和实践以及从语法到网络空间的各个方面。他们正在推进和挑战我们如何理解世界，开发新的智力工具。使人类思想、人类行为和我们与自然世界的关系变得有意义。
Learning to read your baby's mind can help their social skills in later life
When Professor Elizabeth Meins was a PhD student studying developmental psychology, she wanted to assess the complexity of parents’ speech. To get the parents to talk, she asked them to describe their three-year-old children.Some parents described their children in purely physical ways: He’s very tall. She’s got long dark hair. Others didn’t mention their children’s physical appearance at all and focused instead on their emotions and psychological states: She’s got a great imagination. He’s really curious.The variety in their descriptions triggered a whole new area of research.We checked to see if the difference was related to the parent’s educational level or their social class: it wasn’t. It just seemed that some parents automatically thought of children in terms of what made them tick, explains Professor Meins.Mind-mindedness,She called this ability mind-mindedness. Like many interesting discoveries, it was kind of accidental. If I hadn’t asked parents to describe their children to get them talking, I might never have thought about the importance of parents referring to their children’s thoughts and feelings.Subsequent research has shown that differences in mind-mindedness exist from the moment the child is born but parents vary widely in how well they can ‘read’ their babies’ mindsSo what kind of comment shows a parent is being mind-minded?If a baby could speak, it would be what the baby would say, says Dr Fionnuala Larkin, a clinical psychologist and the leading postdoctoral researcher on Professor Meins’ team in our Department of Psychology.Interpreting baby behaviour,For parents, it’s about being able to ‘tune in’ to the baby’s thoughts and feelings. The parents are giving a commentary on what the baby is doing – and they are interpreting their behaviour with reference to the desires, intentions or emotions driving it.So if the baby points or gestures at something, the parent might say: ‘Oh, I can see you want that’ or if a toddler holds onto something, stands up and smiles at the parent, the parent might say: ‘Oh you’re really proud of yourself – you’re standing up’.Mind-minded parenting recognises and acknowledges emotions and feelings: you’re excited, you’re happy. It is particularly relevant for babies and toddlers, but older children and adults can also benefit from a mind-minded approach.It’s about validating other people’s perspectives and that can be helpful for everyone including peers, partners, and work colleagues. I’ve also had nursing staff say to me that it’s the way we should be caring for elderly people, says Professor Meins. If you can think about another person’s perspective, then that has the potential to improve how sensitive and sympathetic you are towards people throughout life.Over the last two decades, extensive international research has demonstrated that parental mind-mindedness is good for children’s development. Mind-mindedness predicts children’s language and play abilities at age two, and their understanding of other people’s thoughts and feelings throughout the preschool and early school years.Children with more mind-minded parents also experience fewer behavioural difficulties and are more likely to be securely attached to their parents. As a result, mind-mindedness is catching the attention of growing numbers of health professionals, teachers, social workers, children’s charities – and parents.With the help of a Professorial Fellowship from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Professor Meins is now converting her scientific research into practical applications to boost parents’ mind-mindedness.As a scientist, I’ve waited until we have a good body of evidence to show that mind-mindedness is useful and helpful before taking the step to intervene and try to teach parents.Smartphone app,As part of York’s Mind-mindedness in Research and Practice programme, she is working with researchers on a range of projects. These include the development of an animated film and smartphone app which offer communication tips and techniques to boost mind-mindedness in new parents. A study into mind-mindedness in adoptive families is underway and the team’s work has helped shape a new NSPCC parenting programme.The team is also working in a London mother and baby unit where mothers undergoing treatment for severe mental illness are being encouraged to think about their baby’s thoughts and feelings and become more mind-minded. Early results are very positive.Autism,Looking to the future, they would like to develop programmes for children with communication difficulties, including autism. Professor Meins also thinks antenatal classes are a missed opportunity – and she is keen to deliver more professional training courses to key groups including midwives, health visitors, educational psychologists and social workers.I’m lucky enough to have found something that has the potential to be beneficial for families across all social classes and income groups. So I feel it’s my duty to make sure our academic research translates into something useful for parents and children in the real world, says Professor Meins.
学会阅读宝宝的思想可以帮助他们在以后的生活中学会社交技巧
文化与沟通健康与幸福，我们的心理学家的研究表明，能够对孩子的思想和情感进行调整是多么的重要。当Elizabeth Meins教授是一个研究发展心理学的博士生时，她想要评估父母的演讲的复杂性。为了让父母说话，她让他们描述他们三岁的孩子。一些父母用纯物理的方式描述他们的孩子:他很高。她长着一头乌黑的长发。其他人没有提到他们孩子的外表，而是把注意力集中在他们的情绪和心理状态上:她有很大的想象力。他真的很好奇。他们描述的多样性引发了一个全新的研究领域。我们检查了这一差异是否与父母的教育水平或他们的社会阶层有关:不是。Meins教授解释说:似乎有些父母会自动地考虑孩子的问题。她称这种能力为思维。就像许多有趣的发现一样，这是偶然的。如果我没有让父母描述他们的孩子让他们说话，我可能永远不会想到父母对孩子的想法和感受的重要性。随后的研究表明，在孩子出生的那一刻，思维的不同就存在着差异，但父母在阅读孩子的思想方面差异很大。那么，什么样的评论表明父母是有思想的呢?如果一个婴儿能说话，那就会是婴儿会说的，Fionnuala Larkin博士说，他是临床心理学家，也是我们心理学系的首席博士后研究员，解释孩子的行为，对父母来说，这是关于能够调节宝宝的想法和感受。父母对孩子的行为做了评论，他们在解释他们的行为，并参照他们的欲望、意图或情感。所以，如果孩子在某件事上做了什么或做了什么动作，父母可能会说，哦，我能看到你想要那个，或者如果一个蹒跚学步的孩子拿着什么东西，站起来对着父母微笑，他的父母可能会说噢，你真为自己感到骄傲——你站起来了。思想意识的父母承认并承认情感和情感:你很兴奋，你很快乐。这对婴幼儿来说尤其重要，但年龄较大的儿童和成年人也可以从思维方式中受益。这是为了验证其他人的观点，这对包括同事、合作伙伴和同事在内的所有人都有帮助。我也有护理人员对我说，这是我们应该照顾老年人的方式。Meins教授说。如果你能思考他人的观点，那就有可能改善你对人生的敏感和同情。在过去的二十年里，广泛的国际研究表明父母的思想观念对孩子的成长是有好处的。在幼儿时期，他们就能预测孩子的语言能力和玩耍能力，以及他们对他人思想和情感的理解。有思想的父母的孩子也会经历较少的行为困难，并且更有可能安全地依附于他们的父母。因此，思想意识正在引起越来越多的卫生专业人士、教师、社会工作者、儿童慈善机构和家长的关注。在经济和社会研究委员会(ESRC)的教授奖学金的帮助下，Meins教授现在正在将她的科学研究转化为实际应用，以提高父母的思维能力。作为一名科学家，我一直在等待，直到我们有了大量的证据表明，在采取干预措施并试图教导父母之前，思维的思维是有用的和有益的。智能手机应用，作为约克在研究和实践计划中的一部分，她正在和研究人员一起研究一系列项目。其中包括开发动画电影和智能手机应用程序，提供沟通技巧和技巧，以提高新父母的思维能力。一项关于收养家庭的思想的研究正在进行中，该团队的工作已经帮助塑造了一个新的NSPCC育儿计划。该研究小组还在伦敦的一个母亲和婴儿小组工作，在那里，接受治疗严重精神疾病的母亲们正被鼓励去思考他们孩子的想法和感受，并变得更有头脑。早期的结果是非常积极的。自闭症：展望未来，他们希望为患有沟通困难的儿童开发项目，包括自闭症。Meins教授还认为，产前课程是一个错失的机会——她热衷于向包括助产士、卫生人员、教育心理学家和社会工作者在内的关键群体提供更多的专业培训课程。我很幸运，找到了一种对所有社会阶层和收入群体都有好处的东西。因此，我觉得我的职责是确保我们的学术研究转化为现实世界的父母和孩子们的有用的东西，Meins教授说。
领域三：环境可持续性和韧性及研究成果介绍
Environmental sustainability and resilience Whether it is food scarcity and energy security, or climate change and pollution, our interdisciplinary research is providing the evidence base for policy makers to address the key global challenges facing ourselves and our planet, and so shape a more sustainable future for us all.
无论是粮食短缺和能源安全，还是气候变化和污染，我们的跨学科研究为政策制定者提供了证据基础，以应对我们自己和地球面临的关键全球性挑战，从而为我们所有人塑造一个更可持续的未来。
Sharing food could be the key to successful ant colonies,Rush hour: a nest of hairy northern wood ants. Credit: Duncan Procter.Research by our biologists into the UK's largest indigenous ant has shed extraordinary new light on their complex world of mutual aid. The hairy northern wood ant lives in dome-shape nests – often over two metres high and made of woodland debris like pine needles.One site can have hundreds or even thousands of nests. But how do they relate to each other?.Dr Elva Robinson, from our Department of Biology, has been working at the National Trust's magnificent Longshaw Estate on the edge of the Peak District, where 1,000 nests have been identified, to probe the fascinating world of ant co-operation.She wanted to understand how ants divide up their workload, with some individuals foraging while others stay put to defend the nest.Complex co-operation,There were hints in the literature that co-operation might be even more complex, she explained. So with my team I wanted to use modern tools of network analysis, not available to previous researchers, to unpick what was going on.Received wisdom indicated that at best, different nests would mutually tolerate each other.But the researchers made a startling finding. Ants could be seen moving food between different nests, giving away their hard-won supplies. What could explain this baffling behaviour?The answer shed entirely new light on the speciesWe could see that successful nests were sending out ants to build other nests, which remained part of one super-network, said Dr Robinson. Essentially one colony was occupying multiple sites. The biological term for this is polydomy.If an outpost was short of food, supplies were donated by another, better off nest. Roadways were visible running between the nests, created by ants excreting formic acid to burn off vegetation. These routes helped us delineate how many nests were in one network.Although anecdotally we knew that the hairy northern wood ant used polydomy, food sharing was an entirely new insight, together with the structure and function of the cooperative networks.Hairy northern wood ant nests. Credit: Sam Ellis,Ant city: a colony of hairy northern wood ants. Credit: Sam EllisPaint-marking revealed that ants stuck to one nest, rather than flitting between locations and they also worked the same roadways, rather than venturing further afield. Additionally, tiny harmless radio transmitters fitted to some ants tracked their interactions and different roles within the colony.The advantage of this kind of super-network organisation is clear.It makes the colony far more resilient to habitat changes, said Dr Robinson. If a nest loses a source of food then other ants can step in to donate supplies.But the ants are realists. They will stick with a nest for a while, but at some point it may be deemed non-viable, abandoned and another started elsewhere. Ants make mistakes, but they learn the lesson and move on.All the ants in these networks are related and share at least some DNA – so in a sense they are a huge extended family. This explains why they altruistically subsume their own interests to the collective. Sterile ants cannot pass on their genes, but they can work to transmit the DNA they share with their queens. Creating multiple nests makes this likelier to happen.Survival strategy,It's a fascinating and magnificent survival strategy. It is relevant to note that all the new invasive ant species coming into the UK practice polydomy – it accounts for their success, Dr Robinson concluded.If ant organisation wasn’t already impressive enough, research also shows that during cooler, but sunny days, workers will move the brood and queens higher in the nest to benefit from the heat. If it gets too hot they move them lower down in the nest and open ventilation channels.But intriguingly the northern wood ant has a more self-centred southern cousin that lacks its 'community spirit' and does not create the same kind of co-operative networks.Understanding what kind of command and control structure ants use to co-ordinate their actions is a key question. After all, one nest probed by the York team in Scotland contained 66,000 individuals – a medium-sized town in human terms.Our work suggests ants don't have the ‘big picture’ and know how much food the colony needs. It seems they are triggered by their own body fat levels and when they get too lean they go out foraging.
共享食物可能是蚁群成功的关键
根据我们生物学家的一项最新研究，蚂蚁与它们的邻居分享食物以帮助他们度过艰难时期。尖峰时刻：一窝毛茸茸的北方木蚁。信贷:邓肯宝洁公司。我们的生物学家对英国最大的本土蚂蚁的研究，为他们复杂的互助世界提供了非凡的新视角。这只毛茸茸的北方木蚁生活在多形的蚁巢中，通常超过两米高，由林地的碎片组成，就像松针一样。一个站点可以有几百甚至几千个鸟巢。但是它们是如何相互联系的呢?来自我们的生物学部门的Elva Robinson博士一直在国家信托公司位于山顶边缘的壮观的朗肖庄园工作，在那里，有1000个巢穴被识别，以探索蚂蚁合作的迷人世界。她想要了解蚂蚁是如何分工的，有些人在觅食，而另一些人则是为了保护蚁巢。复杂的合作，有迹象表明，合作可能会更加复杂，她解释说。因此，在我的团队中，我希望使用现代的网络分析工具，而不是以前的研究人员，来解开正在发生的事情。接受的智慧表明，在最好的情况下，不同的巢会互相包容。但是研究人员做出了一个惊人的发现。人们可以看到蚂蚁在不同的巢穴之间移动食物，把来之不易的食物送走。有什么能解释这种令人困惑的行为呢?这个答案对这个物种有着全新的认识。，罗宾逊博士说:我们可以看到，成功的蚁巢正在派出蚂蚁去筑巢，它们仍然是一个超级网络的一部分。本质上，一个群体占据了多个地点。生物学上的术语是多元的。如果一个前哨站缺少食物，那么供给就会被另一个人捐赠，这是一个更好的巢。在蚁巢之间可以看到道路，蚂蚁通过蚁群排出的蚁酸来燃烧植物。这些路线帮助我们描绘了一个网络中有多少个巢。虽然有趣的是，我们知道多毛的北方木蚁使用聚多聚，食物共享是一种全新的见解，以及合作网络的结构和功能。多毛的北方木蚁巢。信贷:山姆埃利斯蚁城:一群多毛的北方木蚁。油漆标记显示蚂蚁卡在一个蚁穴中，而不是在不同的地点之间飞来飞去，它们也在相同的道路上工作，而不是冒险去更远的地方。此外，一些蚂蚁的微型无害无线电发射器跟踪它们在蚁群内的相互作用和不同的作用。这种超级网络组织的优势是显而易见的。这使得蜂群对栖息地的变化更有弹性，罗宾逊博士说。如果一个巢穴失去了食物来源，那么其他蚂蚁就可以介入，捐赠物资。但蚂蚁是现实主义者。他们会在一段时间里坚持住一个窝，但在某个时候，它可能会被认为是不可行的，被遗弃了，另一个在别处开始了。蚂蚁会犯错，但他们会吸取教训，继续前进。所有这些网络中的蚂蚁都是相关的，并且至少有一些DNA——所以从某种意义上说，它们是一个大家庭。这就解释了为什么他们将自己的利益包含在集体中。无菌蚂蚁无法传递它们的基因，但它们可以传播它们与女王共享的DNA。创建多个巢使这种情况更有可能发生。生存策略：这是一种迷人而又宏伟的生存策略。值得注意的是，所有进入英国的新侵入性蚁种都是它们的成功，罗宾逊博士总结道。如果蚂蚁组织还不够强大，研究还表明，在凉爽、阳光充足的日子里，工人们会把巢里的蚂蚁和蚁巢移到蚁穴中，以从高温中获益。如果天气太热，它们就会把它们移到蚁穴中，并打开通风管道。但有趣的是，北方木蚁有一个更以自我为中心的南方表亲，它缺乏社区精神，也没有创造出同样的合作网络。了解蚂蚁使用何种命令和控制结构来协调它们的行动是一个关键问题。毕竟，由约克团队在苏格兰调查的一个巢中，有6万6千个人——一个以人类为标准的中型城市。需要进一步的研究，但罗宾逊博士提供了一个线索：我们的研究表明，蚂蚁并没有大蓝图，也不知道蚁群需要多少食物。看起来它们是由自身的脂肪水平触发的，当它们变得太瘦时，它们就会出去觅食。