Brain dynamics associated with face-naming and the tip-of-the-tongue state

Active brain areas and their temporal sequence of activation during the successful retrieval and naming of famous faces (KNOW) and during the tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) state were studied by means of low resolution electromagnetic tomographic analysis (LORETA) applied to event-related potentials. The results provide evidence that adequate activation of a neural network during the first 500 ms following presentation of the photograph--mainly involving the posterior temporal region, the insula, lateral and medial prefrontal areas and the medial temporal lobe--is associated with successful retrieval of lexical-phonological information about the person's name. Significant differences between conditions were observed in the 538-698-ms interval; specifically there was greater activation of the anterior cingulate gyrus (ACC) towards the supplementary motor area (SMA) in the KNOW than in the TOT condition, possibly in relation to the motor response and as a consequence of the successful retrieval of lexical-phonological information about the person.     

Economic inequality enhances inferences that the normative climate is individualistic and competitive

In addition to the negative effects of economic inequality on a range of health and social outcomes, we propose that inequality should also affect how people perceive the broader normative climate in society. We predicted that people living in a more unequal (vs. equal) society are more likely to appraise the social context as one where individualism determines people's behavior. We tested this idea in three experiments by manipulating the degree of economic inequality in a fictional society. We showed that, compared to the low-inequality condition, participants in the high-inequality condition were more likely to project individualistic norms onto society. Furthermore, Experiments 2 and 3 showed that in the high- (vs. low-) economic-inequality condition, participants inferred more competition and less cooperation between people. Our results are discussed in light of the importance of the perception of a broader normative climate to explain the consequences of economic inequality.     

Time and Matter: Historicity,Facticity and the Question of Phenomenological Realism

This paper deals with the question of historical facticity in the phenomenological tradition. I argue that taking historicity into consideration in its factical constitution means transgressing the realm of the primordial or existential temporality. Following Ricoeur’s discussion of the idea of the “referential status of the past,” the question of the material foundation of historical meaning-formation, i.e., relation between temporality and materiality will be brought into the forefront of phenomenological investigations. It is with this context in mind that I argue that exploring the conditions of historicity with regard to its factical and material determinations should assume a realist position in phenomenology.     

Positive and negative intergroup contact: Interaction not asymmetry

This research reports a novel investigation into the comparative effects of positive and negative direct and extended intergroup contact on intergroup orientations. It tested the generality of the positive–negative asymmetry effect among majority (N = 357) and minority (N = 101) group members in Iceland. Little evidence of asymmetry was observed: the beneficial effects of positive contact were mostly as strong as the detrimental effects of negative contact, for both direct and extended contact. However, evidence was found for alternative interaction models in which positive contact buffers the negative effects of negative contact, and negative contact enhances the benefits of positive contact. These interaction effects were found only for direct contact and principally in the majority group, but were also found for the minority group, though more weakly. No interaction was observed for extended contact. It appeared that differential group salience elicited by positive and negative contact could partly contribute to the explanation of the observed effects, at least in the majority sample.     

Long‐term partners' relationship satisfaction and their perceptions of each other's attachment insecurities

In this research, we examined actors' and partners' perceptions of each other's attachment insecurities and the associations of these perceptions with relationship satisfaction. A sample of 148 heterosexual couples completed measures of self and partner attachment insecurities and relationship satisfaction. Results indicate that partners agree in their perceptions of their own and each other's attachment insecurities (anxiety and avoidance). Based on the actor–partner interdependence model (APIM), we also found that both actors' scores on avoidance and their perceptions of their partner's degree of avoidanc are associated with lower relationship satisfaction. Finally, we found that the way an actor perceives his or her partner's avoidance plays a mediational role in the association between partner's self‐reported avoidance and actor's relationship satisfaction.     

The development of the first symbolic uses in Mexican children from the pragmatics of object / Desarrollo de los primeros usos simbólicos en niños mexicanos desde la pragmática del objeto

This paper longitudinally studies the emergence and evolution of the first symbolic uses of objects in Mexican children. We observed eight children in triadic interaction with one of their parents and 10 objects in a semi-structured situation at nine, 12, 15 and 18 months old. The children began to use objects symbolically at 12 months, and the duration and frequency increased with age. The highest percentage of the total frequency of symbolic uses, of the four levels identified, was level 1. The frequency of level 4, where two or more symbolic actions occur one after the other, giving rise to ‘symbolic narratives’, increased according to age. These data confirm that knowledge of the rules of canonical uses of objects are the meanings which first symbols base themselves on and that children use the symbolic uses that they are aware of to create ‘symbolic narratives’.     

The relation between emotional intelligence and subjective well-being: A meta-analytic investigation

This meta-analysis includes studies concerning the relationships between emotional intelligence (EI) and subjective well-being (SWB). A total of 25 studies with 77 effect sizes and a combined sample of 8520 participants were found. The results provided evidence of a positive significant relationship between EI and SWB (? = 0.32). This relationship was found to be higher in studies using self-report mixed EI instruments (? = 0.38), than with in studies using self-report ability EI instruments (? = 0.32) and performance-based ability EI instruments (? = 0.22). When examining EI measures, there was a larger association between EI and the cognitive component of SWB (? = 0.35) than with the affective component (? = 0.29). There is a need for further research with other evaluation methods to achieve a better understanding of the relationship between EI and SWB.     

Independent and additive repetition priming of motion direction and color in visual search

Priming of visual search for Gabor patch stimuli, varying in color and local drift direction, was investigated. The task relevance of each feature varied between the different experimental conditions compared. When the target defining dimension was color, a large effect of color repetition was seen as well as a smaller effect of the repetition of motion direction. The opposite priming pattern was seen when motion direction defined the target—the effect of motion direction repetition was this time larger than for color repetition. Finally, when neither was task relevant, and the target defining dimension was the spatial frequency of the Gabor patch, priming was seen for repetition of both color and motion direction, but the effects were smaller than in the previous two conditions. These results show that features do not necessarily have to be task relevant for priming to occur. There is little interaction between priming following repetition of color and motion, these two features show independent and additive priming effects, most likely reflecting that the two features are processed at separate processing sites in the nervous system, consistent with previous findings from neuropsychology & neurophysiology. The implications of the findings for theoretical accounts of priming in visual search are discussed.

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