Toddlers’ cognition of adding and subtracting objects in action and in perception

A first experiment tested infants’ perceptual discrimination between correct and incorrect adding and subtracting objects with a standardized violation-of-expectation procedure. Eleven-, 16- and 21-month-olds did not look longer at incorrect (one object) than at correct (two objects) results of adding one object to another, nor at incorrect (two objects) than at correct (one object) results of subtracting one object from two. A second experiment tested 21-month-olds’ sensorimotor production of addition and subtraction results using a search-for-objects procedure. They already searched correctly for two objects when one object is added to another and for one object when one is subtracted from two objects. These findings support the constructivist hypothesis that infants’ active sensorimotor production may develop before their reactive perceptual discrimination of adding and subtracting objects.     

Precariousness and Quality of Life—a Qualitative Perspective on Quality of Life of Households in Precarious Prosperity in Switzerland and Spain

Households’ resources and constraints are key components of quality of life (QOL). QOL also depends on how these are evaluated. In times of crisis one expects subjective wellbeing and quality of life to decline. We argue that the quality of life depends on objective living conditions, their subjective evaluation and the ability to maintain or improve the situation of “embedded individuals”. This ability, in turn, depends on the opportunities provided by the state, labour markets, families and communities. We analyse qualitative interviews (2008–2010) with around 25 households in precarious prosperity in two cities (Pamplona, Spain and Lausanne, Switzerland) to elaborate their QOL. Few sampled Swiss households witnessed a decline in socio-economic status, contrary to the Spanish. Domains important to these households for QOL varied according to the opportunity structures: in the Spanish sample QOL was related to the opportunities for income, work, and security to plan ahead; in the Swiss sample to health, work-life balance and loneliness. In both samples, QOL varied according to scope of agency, people’s position within the life course, the households’ past experiences, current situation and future perspectives. Lack of future perspectives and opportunities lowered QOL; reframing, adaption and accepting the situation sometimes moderated QOL. We conclude that apart from living conditions and/or subjective wellbeing, households’ agency within opportunity structures is a promising direction for further research in QOL.     

Do monkeys think in metaphors? Representations of space and time in monkeys and humans

Research on the relationship between the representation of space and time has produced two contrasting proposals. ATOM posits that space and time are represented via a common magnitude system, suggesting a symmetrical relationship between space and time. According to metaphor theory, however, representations of time depend on representations of space asymmetrically. Previous findings in humans have supported metaphor theory. Here, we investigate the relationship between time and space in a nonverbal species, by testing whether non-human primates show space–time interactions consistent with metaphor theory or with ATOM. We tested two rhesus monkeys and 16 adult humans in a nonverbal task that assessed the influence of an irrelevant dimension (time or space) on a relevant dimension (space or time). In humans, spatial extent had a large effect on time judgments whereas time had a small effect on spatial judgments. In monkeys, both spatial and temporal manipulations showed large bi-directional effects on judgments. In contrast to humans, spatial manipulations in monkeys did not produce a larger effect on temporal judgments than the reverse. Thus, consistent with previous findings, human adults showed asymmetrical space–time interactions that were predicted by metaphor theory. In contrast, monkeys showed patterns that were more consistent with ATOM.     

Discussion of “time and timekeeping in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy”

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -     

Infants’ representations of same and different in match- and non-match-to-sample

Three experiments investigated the representations that underlie 14-month-old infants’ and adults’ success at match-to-sample (MTS) and non-match-to-sample (NMTS) tasks. In Experiment 1, 14-month-old infants were able to learn rules based on abstract representations of sameness and/or difference. When presented with one of eighteen sample stimuli (A) and a choice between a stimulus that was the same as the sample (A) and a different stimulus (B), infants learned to choose A in MTS and B in NMTS. In Experiments 2 and 3, we began to explore the nature of the representations at play in these paradigms. Experiment 2 confirmed that abstract representations were at play, as infants generalized the MTS and NMTS rules to stimuli unseen during familiarization. Experiment 2 also showed that infants tested in MTS learned to seek the stimulus that was the same as the sample, whereas infants tested in NMTS did not learn to seek the different stimulus, but instead learned to avoid the stimulus that was the same as the sample. Infants appeared to only use an abstract representation of the relation same in these experiments. Experiment 3 showed that adult participants, despite knowing the words “same” and “different”, also relied on representations of sameness in both MTS and NMTS in a paradigm modeled on that of Experiment 2. We conclude with a discussion of how young infants may possibly represent the abstract relation same.     

Reading in Spanish and Italian: Effects of age of acquisition in transparent orthographies?

Despite the similar transparency of their orthographies, reading in Italian has been found to be affected by frequency but not age of acquisition (AoA) [Barca, L., Burani, C., & Arduino, L. S. (2002). Word naming times and psycholinguistic norms for Italian nouns. Behaviour Research Methods, Instruments and Computers, 34, 424–434] while reading in Spanish is affected by AoA but not frequency [Cuetos, F., & Barbón, A. (2006). Word naming in Spanish. European Journal of Cognitive Psychology, 18, 415–436]. We examined this cross-linguistic difference, firstly, through a reanalysis of the Italian and Spanish reading latencies. After eliminating several between-experiment differences, we replicated the AoA effect in Spanish but not in Italian and the frequency effect in Italian but not in Spanish. The cross-linguistic comparison could not equate stimulus imageability; therefore, secondly, we compared the Italian reading latencies with new Spanish reading latencies for imageability-matched words. We found frequency effects but neither an AoA effect nor a language by AoA interaction. We argue that the previously reported cross-linguistic difference in the AoA effect resulted from a between-study difference in stimulus imageability. More imageable words induced more semantic involvement in reading, yielding an AoA effect in Spanish.     

Differences in adult and adolescent listeners’ ratings of valence and arousal in emotional prosody

ABSTRACT

Judgments of emotional stimuli’s valence and arousal can differ based on the perceiver’s age. With most of the existing literature on age-related changes in such ratings based on perceptions of visually-presented pictures or words, less is known about how youth and adults perceive and rate the affective information contained in auditory emotional stimuli. The current study examined age-related differences in adolescent (n?=?31; 45% female; aged 12–17, M?=?14.35, SD?=?1.68) and adult listeners’ (n?=?30; 53% female; aged 21–30, M?=?26.20 years, SD?=?2.98) ratings of the valence and arousal of spoken words conveying happiness, anger, and a neutral expression. We also fitted closed curves to the average ratings for each emotional expression to determine their relative position on the valence-arousal plane of an affective circumplex. Compared to adults, adolescents’ ratings of emotional prosody were generally higher in valence, but more constricted in range for both valence and arousal. This pattern of ratings is suggestive of lesser differentiation amongst emotional categories’ holistic properties, which may have implications for the successful recognition and appropriate response to vocal emotional cues in adolescents’ social environments.     

Forgive and Forget? Antecedents and Consequences of Intergroup Forgiveness in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The present study examines the effects of contact and common-ingroup identification on intergroup forgiveness and outgroup behavioral tendencies. A sample of Bosnian Muslims (N  =  180) were asked to report their readiness to forgive the misdeeds committed by Bosnian Serbs during the 1992–95 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A path analysis of the presumed antecedents and consequences of forgiveness revealed that frequent and good quality contact with members from the perpetrator group predicted forgiveness (positively) and desire for social distance (negatively). Moreover, the positive relationship between contact and forgiveness was mediated by empathy and trust towards the outgroup and by perceived outgroup heterogeneity. Common-ingroup identification was also found to be positively associated with forgiveness and negatively with social distance towards the outgroup. Finally, intergroup forgiveness also predicted social distance from the outgroup. The theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed.     

Faith in community and communities of faith? government rhetoric and religious identity in Urban Britain

This paper examines the concept of community and the discourse around it in the context of the religious diversity in urban areas in England. Sociology has a long history of working with, deconstructing, and at times rejecting the usefulness of the term ‘community’ and many scholars have in the context of postmodernity preferred to talk about processes of identity formation and networking. Constructions of identity in which faith affiliation plays a salient role are probably becoming more common and more politically significant. However, an integrated theory of the relationship between religion, community, ethnicity, and identity remains to be developed and this paper attempts some tentative first steps.

In their search for ‘feel good’ terminology, politicians in democracies such as the UK have often turned to the language of community and continue to do so. Faced with the task of managing local conflicts and delivering services which are responsive to the demands of users, contemporary governments have increasingly adopted communitarian positions and the language of social capital. In recent years in the UK, religion has moved up the political agenda and an official discourse and policy initiatives structured around the notion of ‘faith communities’ have emerged.

The New Labour government has indeed put its faith in community and sought to co‐opt communities of faith into its ‘project’. However, it is far from clear that there is a coherent understanding of the notion of faith community or of the two words that make up the phrase. One may question whether the government discourse resonates with the understandings of community and identity in the major faith traditions found in the contemporary city. An examination of some of the official discourse set alongside the changing and conflicting identities of some ‘faith communities’ in London and other British cities suggests that the British State's current simplistic approach to engaging with religious diversity is an inadequate basis for policy development.     

The doubled movement of infinity in Kierkegaard and in Sūfism

S?ren Kierkegaard was a very rigorous critic of traditional philosophical thinking and speculative systems. According to his theory it is possible that there is a logic system, but not a system of life. If such a system exists, it can be known only to God. Man can attain the meaning of life only by his own relationship to God. However, this relationship cannot be explained by philosophy because it has to do with a transcendent ‘double movement of infinity’ which takes place between God and the individual. Like philosophy, mysticism cannot explain one's relationship to God. The difference is that philosophy neglects God as the absolute starting point, while mysticism forgets that an individual—after he has experienced divinity—may return to the real world. The self need not disappear in divinity. The dialectic of the relationship between God and man implies that both poles (God and man) are present, thus ‘the infinite difference between God and man’ does not disappear. Since Sūfism is a type of Islamic mysticism, it may be said that a Sūfi cannot witness God's truth if he remains in his union with God. It is therefore relevant to draw some parallels between Kierkegaard's view and a comparable Sūfi view about the human relationship to God.     

The dual role of ‘emergence’ in the philosophy of mind and in cognitive science

The concept of emergence is widely used in both the philosophy of mind and in cognitive science. In the philosophy of mind it serves to refer to seemingly irreducible phenomena, in cognitive science it is often used to refer to phenomena not explicitly programmed. There is no unique concept of emergence available that serves both purposes.     

Petition and contemplation in Maimonides’ conception of prayer

Maimonides’ statements on prayer pose considerable challenges to interpreters who seek to find his work a unified and coherent philosophy of religion. It is especially difficult to see how his advocacy of a silent meditation that follows intellectual comprehension of divine matters can be harmonized with his thoroughly ritualized approach to the daily supplicatory prayer of Jewish liturgy. Yet, it is the purpose of the following pages to outline an interpretation of Maimonides’ philosophy of religion according to which supplicatory prayer and intellectual meditation are not disparate spiritual phenomena, but complementary dimensions of a distinctive form of ethical‐intellectual worship.     

Children’s understanding of depreciation in scenarios of envy and modesty

The aim of this study was to explore children’s understanding of depreciation when being presented with scenarios of envious or modest behavior. 123 Spanish children, six to eight years of age, decided how a character should respond when faced with a situation of envy or modesty. These situations were described in vignettes. The children chose between a response of either depreciation or admiration in the case of envy and between a response of either modesty or immodesty when faced with modest behavior. They were then asked to explain the reasons for their choices. Generally speaking, the results indicated that children rated self-depreciation in scenarios of modesty more highly than they did depreciation of another in situations of envy. An interaction effect showed that eight-year-old chose modest responses more than immodest ones, in contrast to the six-year-old. Conversely, age differences were not observed for the scenarios of envy. We discuss these results in light of the children’s explanations. Furthermore, the acquisition of emotional display rules is discussed, as well as the ability to manage emotions. Also, we discuss the truths and falsehoods of expression within the framework of social pragmatism in the selection of responses in both scenarios.     

Levels and change in autonomous and controlled work motivation in older workers—The role of proximity to retirement and sense of community at work

Previous studies suggest a preretirement disengagement process from work, which includes reduced work motivation. In this study, we investigated changes in autonomous and controlled work motivation over two years among participants of the Health, Aging and Retirement Transition in Sweden (HEARTS) study. We found stability in both types of motivation; however, those who retired after the study period showed more distinct declines in autonomous motivation. A stronger sense of community at work was related to level, but not change in autonomous motivation. Intra-individual fluctuations in the expected retirement age did not predict work motivation or vice versa. Future studies are needed to better understand the antecedents and consequences of preretirement declines in autonomous work motivation.     

The effect of experience and of dots’ density and duration on the detection of coherent motion in dogs

Knowledge about the mechanisms underlying canine vision is far from being exhaustive, especially that concerning post-retinal elaboration. One aspect that has received little attention is motion perception, and in spite of the common belief that dogs are extremely apt at detecting moving stimuli, there is no scientific support for such an assumption. In fact, we recently showed that dogs have higher thresholds than humans for coherent motion detection (Kanizsar et al. in Sci Rep UK 7:11259, 2017). This term refers to the ability of the visual system to perceive several units moving in the same direction, as one coherently moving global unit. Coherent motion perception is commonly investigated using random dot displays, containing variable proportions of coherently moving dots. Here, we investigated the relative contribution of local and global integration mechanisms for coherent motion perception, and changes in detection thresholds as a result of repeated exposure to the experimental stimuli. Dogs who had been involved in the previous study were given a conditioned discrimination task, in which we systematically manipulated dot density and duration and, eventually, re-assessed our subjects’ threshold after extensive exposure to the stimuli. Decreasing dot duration impacted on dogs’ accuracy in detecting coherent motion only at very low duration values, revealing the efficacy of local integration mechanisms. Density impacted on dogs’ accuracy in a linear fashion, indicating less efficient global integration. There was limited evidence of improvement in the re-assessment but, with an average threshold at re-assessment of 29%, dogs’ ability to detect coherent motion remains much poorer than that of humans.     

Psychology and democracy in the name of God? The invocation of modern and secular discourses on parenting in the service of conservative religious aims

This article analyses an insular religious community's guidance literature on parenting which adopts aspects of the democratic and the psychological discourses commonly accepted to be Western, modern and secular in character. I argue here that due to its social structure as a religious enclave, the Haredi community stresses the equality of its members. When the surrounding community becomes more egalitarian the Haredi community is forced to increase its internal equality in order to prevent defection of its members and as part of this effort it incorporates democratic discourses and practices from the outside. Some of these relate to the relations between children and their parents and educators. As I will show, the loss of authority of elders, as part of this process, forces Haredi rabbis and educators to incorporate Western psychological discourse as an alternative means of social control. Through this examination of Haredi guidance literature on parenting, the article explores which aspects of those discourses are rejected and which are adopted and why. It also considers the broader meanings and implications of this process.     

Prophetic models in Islamic and Christian spirituality in the thought of Ibn Arabī and Meister Eckhart

A comparative study of Moses, Jesus and Muhammad in Christianity and Islam reveals common background, basic similarities, and differences. Ibn Arabī (d. 1240) and Meister Eckhart (d. 1327) regard Moses and Jesus not only as prophetic models but also as mystical examples for the Mūsāwī type of saints and ‘Jesus‐like’ (‘īsāwī) saints in both traditions. However, the two experts understandably differ with regard to the divine nature of Jesus. Eckhart considers Christ as the image of God (imago Dei), ‘the Only‐Begotten Son of God’, while Ibn Arabī perceives Jesus as having both a human nature (nāsūt) and a divine nature (lāhūt). Eckhart sees Jesus as the best model, but Ibn Arabī sees the best model as Muhammad. Eckhart regards Jesus as the source of existence, whereas Ibn Arabī perceives Muhammad as the source of the chain of prophecy and sainthood, wihc derives from the Muhammadan reality (aqīqa Muammadiyya).     

Rigidity in Parent—Child Interactions and the Development of Externalizing and Internalizing Behavior in Early Childhood

Behavioral rigidity is a common feature of many psychopathologies, yet the association between rigidity and the development of childhood psychopathology has not been studied. State space grids (a dynamic systems [DS] method) were used to examine the relation between rigidity in parent-child interactions and childhood externalizing and internalizing problems. High-risk kindergarten children (n = 240) and their parents were observed for 2 hr engaging in a variety of tasks that were expected to elicit a range of affect. State space grid analysis of the observational data revealed an association between rigidity in parent-child interactions and child externalizing behavior problems in the fall and spring of kindergarten and 1st grade, and with growth in those problems over time. Rigidity was associated with concurrent levels and with chronic high-level internalizing problems. Strengths and limitations of the new DS methodology in relation to understanding child psychopathology are discussed.