Recognition of complex object-centred spatial configurations in early infancy

In a series of experiments we tested 4- and 8-month-olds’ ability to represent the spatial layout of an object across changes in its orientation with respect to egocentric spatial coordinates. A fixed-trial familiarization procedure based on visual habituation behaviour shows that both age groups are able to discriminate between different object-centred spatial configurations. Furthermore, both age groups demonstrate the ability to make discriminations of object-centred spatial coordinates that require simultaneous reference to at least two spatial axes of the object. We discuss these findings in relation to theories of the early development of object recognition and spatial reference skills.     

A meta‐mood model of rumination and depression: Preliminary test in a non‐clinical population

Depressive rumination and trait meta‐mood (emotional attention, emotional clarity and emotional repair) have been suggested as vulnerability factors leading to depression, but less is known about the associations among them. In this study, we examined the relationships between trait meta‐mood, rumination and depressive symptomatology. Using structural equation analysis in a large sample of a non‐clinical population we found a preliminary test of the role of trait meta‐mood dimensions in rumination and depressive symptomatology. Results indicated that attention to feelings has two pathways in its relation with rumination and depressive mood. On the one hand, emotional attention was associated with emotional clarity, and emotional clarity with emotional repair, which was related to lower depressive symptomatology, in part, by reducing rumination. On the other hand, emotional attention was directly associated with ruminative thoughts which, in turn, were related to higher depressive mood. Findings are discussed in terms of the implications of beliefs about emotions in the treatment of depression.     

Der verborgene Gott in der Theologie Werner Elerts

The re-formulation of conflicts, it has been claimed, is an important step towards reaching reconciliation in countries torn by conflicts. In this article I shall discuss reconciliation on the basis of my analysis of the nationalist theology of Sr. Pinochet and the alternative theological canons of people living in poverty in post-dictatorial Chile.1 1. Lene Sj?rup, Pinochets gud – og de fattiges teologiske modstand (K?benhavn: Museum Tusculanum, 2008); Lene Sj?rup, “Pinochets stedfortrædende lidelse og forsoning,” in Vendepunkter: Religion mellem konflikt og forsoning (ed. Lene Sj?rup; Odense: Syddansk Universitetsforlag, 2007); Lene Sj?rup, ”Pinochet as protector of and martyr for Christianity in Chile,” Nordic Journal of Religion and Society 19/2 (2006), 43-55. Reconciliation in the classical theological sense, my analysis indicates, is in itself part of these canons and therefore also of national conflicts. Religion does, however, play a major global, national, local and individual role in conflict resolution. This, I argue, indicates that there is more to conflict resolution than different canons of reconciliation. Conflicts are perceived as not only rupturing horizontal relationships between humans, but also vertical relationships with the divine. Conflict resolution, therefore, also involves the reparation of this relation. This paper discusses, using Chile as an example, the theological importance of memory work, the redefinition of space, and ritual as a means of repairing horizontal, as well as vertical, relations.     

Hippocampal structure and human cognition: Key role of spatial processing and evidence supporting the efficiency hypothesis in females

Here we apply a method for automated segmentation of the hippocampus in 3D high-resolution structural brain MRI scans. One hundred and four healthy young adults completed twenty one tasks measuring abstract, verbal, and spatial intelligence, along with working memory, executive control, attention, and processing speed. After permutation tests corrected for multiple comparisons across vertices (p < .05), significant relationships were found for spatial intelligence, spatial working memory, and spatial executive control. Interactions with sex revealed significant relationships with the general factor of intelligence (g), along with abstract and spatial intelligence. These correlations were mainly positive for males but negative for females, which might support the efficiency hypothesis in women. Verbal intelligence, attention, and processing speed were not related to hippocampal structural differences.     

Psychological effects of deep-breathing: the impact of expectancy-priming

Outcome expectancy could mediate the psychological effects of exercise-related interventions, which implies that part of the psychological benefits of physical activity could be ascribed to placebo effects. In this framed field-experiment, 89 healthy participants were studied in three groups, (1) breathing-primed (deep-breathing with an exercise-related expectancy), (2) breathing-unprimed (deep-breathing with no exercise-related expectancy), and (3) control (no intervention). Deep-breathing lasted for three minutes. Before and after deep-breathing, or sitting quietly in the control group, participants completed two questionnaires assessing their positive- and negative affect (NA) and subjective well-being (WB). In contrast to the control group, both the breathing-primed and breathing-unprimed groups showed decreased NA and increased subjective WB. The breathing-primed group reported larger changes in WB than the breathing-unprimed group, in addition to also exhibiting significant increases in positive affect. These findings support the hypothesis of the work that expectations mediate the psychological effects of deep-breathing beyond the intervention’s specific effects. Therefore, future research should control for expectations related to an intervention when gauging psychological changes.     

The Gettier Intuition from South America to Asia

Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research - This article examines whether people share the Gettier intuition (viz. that someone who has a true justified belief that p may nonetheless fail...     

Tolerance and Perception of Abuse in Youth Dating Relationships

A cross-sectional study of pre-university and university students of both genders was carried out in Spain (N = 4,919) to determine the levels of tolerance of partner violence per gender and the perception of abuse. Of the students, 26.3% were in a situation of unperceived abuse, especially the males (29.6%), but the level of tolerance of abusive behavior was significantly lower in females. The group of youths who did not perceive themselves as abused had higher levels of tolerance. In contrast, non-abused students presented low tolerance of violent behavior. Tolerance of dating violence is more strongly determined by gender than by the perception of abuse in young people.     

DOES THE SUPERVENIENCE ARGUMENT GENERALIZE?

We evaluate the scope of Jaegwon Kim's “supervenience argument” for reduction. Does its conclusion apply only to psychology, or does it generalize to all the special sciences? The claim that the supervenience argument generalizes to all the special sciences if it goes through for psychology is often raised as an objection to the supervenience argument. We argue that this objection is ambiguous. We distinguish three readings of it and suggest that some of them make it a plausible claim, whereas other readings make it implausible. We suggest that this ambiguity is the result of picturing the world as being hierarchically organized in levels, with the domain of physics at the bottom and the domains of the social sciences at the top. The plausibility of the objection depends on how we think of this picture. This popular picture, we suggest, involves three different dimensions along which reduction may occur.     

Derived control by compound and single stimuli in a matching-to-sample task in children

A matching-to-sample procedure was used to investigate whether 9-year-old children would demonstrate the emergence of a derived compound-sample conditional discrimination following training in four interrelated single-sample conditional discriminations and vice versa, as adults did in previous studies. In Experiment 1, three out of three children demonstrated the emergence of a compound-sample conditional discrimination following training in four single-sample conditional discriminations. In Experiment 2, two out of three children acquired a compound-sample conditional discrimination and they demonstrated the emergence of four single-sample conditional discriminations; one of them did so only after being exposed to a remediation training and testing procedure. Training variables that facilitated discrimination emergence in both directions are discussed. In general, results showed that the sophisticated learning skills that are supposedly possessed by adults are not required to demonstrate the two types of derived control under study.