Sex differences in unfamiliar face identification: evidence from matching tasks

Research on sex differences in face recognition has reported mixed results, on balance suggesting an advantage for female observers. However, it is not clear whether this advantage is specific to face processing or reflects a more general superiority effect in episodic memory. The current study therefore examined sex differences with a face-matching task that eliminates memory demands. Across two experiments, female but not male observers showed an own-sex advantage on match trials, in which two pictures have to be identified as the same person. This advantage was present for whole faces and when only the internal or external facial features were shown. Female observers were also more accurate in these three conditions on mismatch encounters, in which two photographs have to be identified as different people, but this reflects a more general effect that is present for male and female faces. These findings converge with claims of a female advantage in face recognition and demonstrate that this effect persists when memory demands are eliminated.     

Anxiety and Depression in Cancer Patients: The Association with Religiosity and Religious Coping

There is a lack of studies looking into religiosity and religious coping in cancer patient. In this cross-sectional study, we examined the religiosity using Duke University Religion Index, religious coping using Brief Religious Coping Scale, anxiety and depression based on Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale among 200 cancer patients. The association between religiosity and religious coping with anxiety and depression was studied. The findings showed that subjects with anxiety or depression used more negative religious coping and had lower non-organization religiosity. Hence, measurements in reducing negative religious coping and encouraging religious activities could help to reduce psychological distress in cancer patients.     

The theory of multiple stupidities: education,technology and organisation in Arabia

Traditional perspectives have envisaged intelligence as one entity dominated by a single set of abilities (i.e. cognitive abilities), whereas modern perspectives have defined intelligence in various shapes (e.g. linguistic, musical and interpersonal intelligences). By the same token, traditional perspectives have examined stupidity as one set of inabilities (i.e. cognitive inabilities). However, it is not clear whether modern perspectives have discussed whether stupidity exists in various forms—in the same way as they have envisaged intelligence. To address this limitation, 257 university members were asked to share what they perceived as being stupid educational and technological practices in their institutions. Analysis of the data suggested three concepts were important to the members: moral, spatial and administrative stupidities. That is, stupidity is perceived to come in the form of failing to meet certain moral, spatial and administrative values. This implies that modern perspectives may conceptualise stupidity differently from traditional perspectives, seeing it as going beyond cognitive inabilities and viewing it as existing in various forms (e.g. moral, spatial and administrative stupidities). Thus, there are multiple stupidities as there are multiple forms of intelligence. A strength of this research is that it views stupidity through an organisational and qualitative lens, although some may traditionally expect such a topic to be examined quantitatively through psychometric and biological approaches.     

Automatic priming of grip force following action observation

Research shows that action observation can prime execution. Evidence for this comes from experiments that show that action observation influenced temporal (e.g., speed) or spatial (e.g., peak grasp aperture or trajectory) aspects of executed movement. In the paper presented here, we for the first time show that observation can also prime executed action force. Following observation of force actions, participants executed grip-force responses using a dynamometer, and the data showed that their force was modulated by the condition observed. The findings of the study are discussed in terms of a likely cause of the force modulation effect and potential uses that the effect may have for strength rehabilitation.     

Continuance commitment and turnover: Examining the moderating role of negative affectivity and risk aversion

This paper examines the moderating role of negative affectivity and risk aversion in the relationships of two bases of continuance organizational commitment (continuance–sacrifices and continuance–alternatives) to turnover, within a stress–coping perspective. More specifically, we propose that (a) the perspective of leaving is a source of stress for those who stay due to the fear of losing valued advantages (i.e. high continuance–sacrifices commitment) and (b) staying is perceived to be stressful by individuals who remain based on a lack of employment alternatives (i.e. high continuance–alternatives commitment). We argue that these perceptions are magnified by negative affectivity and risk aversion, resulting in individuals who present these traits to use avoidance–withdrawal strategies in coping with these situations. Accordingly, based on a sample of 509 human resource management professionals, we found (a) negative affectivity and risk aversion to strengthen the negative relationship of continuance–sacrifices commitment to turnover and (b) continuance–alternatives commitment to relate positively to turnover among individuals with high negative affectivity. We discuss the implications of these findings for our understanding of how commitment mindsets and personality traits affect turnover decisions.     

Wives’ career progression among dual-career ethno-cultural couples: Husbands’ perspectives

This study explored the perspectives of husbands regarding the participation of their wives in professional occupations. The participants included nine South African Indian men in dual-career marriages (ages ranging from 25 to 54 years old). The completed semi-structured, life-story interviews focused on the socio-historic and contemporary influences on marital and familial dynamics with working spouses. Thematic analysis of the data revealed the husbands to be supportive of their spouses across familial and occupational roles. The findings contradict the stereotype that South African Indian husbands are unsupportive of their working spouses.     

Rorschach variables related to blood glucose control in insulin-dependent diabetes patients

In this article, we explored relations between selected Rorschach variables and blood glucose control in Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (IDDM) patients. Three domains of psychological functioning are taken into consideration: emotional distress, coping and problem solving, and cognitive efficiency. Seventy-one IDDM patients (38 men, 33 women; mean age 42.2 +/- 14.9 years) from an outpatient unit took the Rorschach Comprehensive System (Exner, 1986). Nine variables were selected as independent variables. Blood glucose, a dependent variable, was measured by the proportion of glycated hemoglobin. Results of 2 regression analyses show that Y and C' correlate to higher blood glucose. WSum C and the absence of texture related to lower levels of blood glucose. A confounding effect of complications was observed. The findings suggest that emotional factors should be accorded greater attention in behavioral self-regulations in diabetes.     

Parkinson's disease protects against smoking?

Our aim was to estimate the pooled risk of current and former smoking for Parkinson's disease (PD). We have reviewed all observational studies that evaluated the association between PD risk and smoking habit. Twenty six studies were identified: 21 case-control, 4 cohort and 1 cross-sectional. The cross-sectional study did not compare former with never smokers. These studies were carried out between 1968 and 2000. There was an obvious protective effect of current smoking in the pooled estimate [risk estimate 0.37 (95% confidence interval 0.33 to 0.41)]. Former versus never smokers had pooled risk estimate of 0.84 (95% confidence interval 0.76 to 0.92). Current and former smoking do not, therefore, exert the same protective effect against PD so that it is unnecessary to postulate a biological mechanism through which smoking protects against PD. The results show that the reverse direction of causation is a more probable explanation, i.e. movement disorders of PD protect against smoking. Another explanation is that failure to develop strong smoking habits in early adult life might be a prodromal symptom of the disease and could perhaps be its first clinical manifestation.     

Martin's Axiom,Omitting Types,and Complete Representations in Algebraic Logic

We give a new characterization of the class of completely representable cylindric algebras of dimension 2 #lt; n w via special neat embeddings. We prove an independence result connecting cylindric algebra to Martin's axiom. Finally we apply our results to finite-variable first order logic showing that Henkin and Orey's omitting types theorem fails for L _n, the first order logic restricted to the first n variables when 2 #lt; n#lt;w. L _n has been recently (and quite extensively) studied as a many-dimensional modal logic.