Lexical studies of Filipino person descriptors: adding personality‐relevant social and physical attributes

Lexical studies have focused on traits. In the Filipino language, we investigated whether additional dimensions can be identified when personality‐relevant terms for social roles, statuses and effects, plus physical attributes, are included. Filipino students (N = 496) rated themselves on 268 such terms, plus 253 markers of trait and evaluative dimensions. We identified 10 dimensions of social and physical attributes—Prominence, Uselessness, Attractiveness, Respectability, Uniqueness, Destructiveness, Presentableness, Strength, Dangerousness and Charisma. Most of these dimensions did not correspond in a one‐to‐one manner to Filipino or alternative trait models (Big Five, HEXACO, ML7). However, considerable redundancy was observed between the social and physical attribute dimensions and trait and evaluative dimensions. Thus, social and physical attributes communicate information about personality traits, and vice versa. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Judgements of Deontic Relevance in Reasoning: A Reply to Jackson and Griggs

Facilitation on abstract versions of the selection task can be produced by deontic content. Jackson and Griggs (1990) claimed that this finding depends on the presence of an explicit negative on the not-q card. We hypothesized that the removal of the explicit negative from this card made its deontic status ambiguous. Experiment 1 demonstrated that a not-q card presenting implicit negative is not selected, and most subjects select the only card that appears to be relevant from a deontic point of view (i.e. the p card). Experiments 2 and 3 showed that the presence of the explicit negative on the not-q card is not necessary for producing facilitation, provided that the form of this card makes it clear that the not-q individual is a potential violator. Experiment 4 showed that a high success rate can be obtained even with a not-q card presenting an implicit negative. The results are discussed in terms of the specificity of reasoning in the deontic domain.     

Sensori-motor integration during stance: Time adaptation of control mechanisms on adding or removing vision

Sudden addition or removal of visual information can be particularly critical to balance control. The promptness of adaptation of stance control mechanisms is quantified by the latency at which body oscillation and postural muscle activity vary after a shift in visual condition. In the present study, volunteers stood on a force platform with feet parallel or in tandem. Shifts in visual condition were produced by electronic spectacles. Ground reaction force (center of foot pressure, CoP) and EMG of leg postural muscles were acquired, and latency of CoP and EMG changes estimated by t-tests on the averaged traces. Time-to-reach steady-state was estimated by means of an exponential model. On allowing or occluding vision, decrements and increments in CoP position and oscillation occurred within about 2 s. These were preceded by changes in muscle activity, regardless of visual-shift direction, foot position or front or rear leg in tandem. These time intervals were longer than simple reaction-time responses. The time course of recovery to steady-state was about 3 s, shorter for oscillation than position. The capacity of modifying balance control at very short intervals both during quiet standing and under more critical balance conditions speaks in favor of a necessary coupling between vision, postural reference, and postural muscle activity, and of the swiftness of this sensory reweighing process.     

Jews in the diaspora with <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sepharad</Emphasis> in the mirror: ruptures,relations, and forms of identity: a theme examined through three cases

Recent historiography has led to a reevaluation of the diachronic paradigm that undergirds the classic story of Iberian Jews and conversos. In line with that reevaluation, this article investigates what motivated diasporic Sephardim, especially ones with cultural and other ties to Portugal, to conserve elements of an identity that pointed to their Iberian past, such as the Portuguese and Castilian languages, as well as what one might call “Ibero-conscious” forms of self-identification. What benefits, beyond expressing a nostalgic and otherwise emotive sensibility, could accrue from the retention of these forms? How did they and similar forms facilitate the building internal, group cohesion on the basis of shared connections to a common past? How did the forms articulate the relations of New Christians to the Iberian countries and to the Iberian Empires? To reflect on these and related questions, which focus on the continuity of ties between diasporic Jews and the Iberian Peninsula, we analyze here various temporally and geographically distinct cases: The case of the converso financier and politican Joseph Nasi (formerly João Micas); the case of the Sephardi convert and anti-Jewish polemicist, João Baptista D’Este (formerly Abraham Bendanan Serfatim); and the case of Portuguese Jews in Salé, Morocco, whose wide-ranging relations with the Portuguese Jews Community of Amsterdam and with Christian Dutchmen made for complex phenomena of identity-construction.     

Effect of visual field presentation on action planning (estimating reach) in children

In this article, the authors examined the effects of target information presented in different visual fields (lower, upper, central) on estimates of reach via use of motor imagery in children (5-11 years old) and young adults. Results indicated an advantage for estimating reach movements for targets placed in lower visual field (LoVF), with all groups having greater difficulty in the upper visual field (UpVF) condition, especially 5- and 7-year-olds. Complementing these results was an overall age-related increase in accuracy. Based in part on the equivalence hypothesis suggesting that motor imagery and motor planning and execution are similar, the findings support previous work of executed behaviors showing that there is a LoVF bias for motor skill actions of the hand. Given that previous research hints that the UpVF may be bias for visuospatial (perceptual) qualities, research in that area and its association with visuomotor processing (LoVF) should be considered.     

Sublexical and Lexico-Syntactic Factors in Gender Access in Spanish

The influence of sublexical and lexico-syntactic factors during the grammatical gender assignment process in Spanish was studied in two experiments using the gender decision task. In Experiment 1, the regularity of the ending of gender-marked nouns (masculine nouns ended in $-o$ and feminine nouns ended in $-a$ ) and of nouns with gender-correlated but unmarked word-endings (e.g., $-ad$ ) was manipulated. The results showed that regularity affected reaction times and error rates only in the case of gender-marked nouns, suggesting that the mere statistical distribution of a word-ending across genders is not responsible for the regularity effect. In Experiment 2, gender-marked nouns and gender-unmarked nouns were preceded by a masked prime which could be a definite article (which provides information about the gender of the noun) or a possessive pronoun (which does not contain gender information). The presentation of the definite article led to shorter reaction times and less errors only when the word-ending was different from $-o$ or $-a$ . Taken together, these results indicate that gender assignment in Spanish is carried out through different processes depending on the noun ending: gender decisions for gender-marked nouns are based on the gender-to-ending distribution. Meanwhile, gender decisions for unmarked nouns seem to require the retrieval of the corresponding definite grammatical article, regardless of the statistical distribution of the noun ending across genders.     

Perversion: a clinical possibility

Abstract

Clinical work with perverse patients presents numerous difficulties to psychoanalysis, be that due to the characteristics typical of the perverse structure, which is founded on the mechanism of disavowal, or to the inefficiency of neutrality and free association in this kind of practice. A study of existing literature on the subject and a thorough examination of their own clinical findings led the authors to propose a different kind of strategy for dealing with transference that would make clinical work with these patients plausible and indicate options for the paralyzing position that is imposed on the analyst by the perverse patient in order to derange the analytic process. By proposing an alternative for the “semblance subject-supposed-knowledge,” the authors defend the idea that clinical work with perverse patients is possible, resulting in a subject less captive of the phantasmagoric scene.

Drummond S et al. Perversion: eine klinische Möglichkeit

Klinische Arbeit mit perversen Patienten bildet zahlreiche Schwierigkeiten für die Psychoanalyse, sei es wegen der Eigenart der perversen Struktur, welche durch den Mechanismus der Verleugnung begründet wird oder sei es wegen der Ineffektivität der Neutralität und freien Assoziation bei dieser Art von Praxis. Ein Studium der vorhandenen Literatur über das Thema und eine gründliche Überprüfung eigener klinischer Befunde führte die Autoren dazu, eine unterschiedliche Art von Strategie des Umgangs mit Übertragung vorzuschlagen. Das würde klinische Arbeit mit diesen Patienten plausibel machen und auf Optionen für die paralysierende Position hinweisen, die dem Analytiker durch den perversen Patienten aufgebürdet wird, um den analytischen Prozess zu stören. Ein Alternative für das “semblance subject-supposed knowledge” vorschlagend, verteidigen die Autoren die Idee, daß klinische Arbeit mit perversen Patienten möglich ist, mit dem Ergebnis eines Subjekts, welches weniger durch die phantasmagorische Szene gefesselt ist.

Drummond S et al. perversión: una posibilidad clínica.

El trabajo clínico con pacientes perversos presenta numerosas dificultades para el psicoanálisis, puede ser debido a las características típicas de la estructura perversa, fundamentado en le mecanismo de repudio, o debido a la ineficacia de la neutralidad y asociación libre en este tipo de práctica. Un estudio de la literatura existente sobre el tema y un examen completo de los hallazgos clínicos, llevó a los autores a proponer un tipo diferente de estrategia para el manejo de la transferencia, que pudiera hacer posible el trabajo clínico con estos pacientes, también indicar opciones para la situación de paralización que estos pacientes imponen al analista para desorganizar el proceso analítico. Con la proposición de una alternativa para la “semblance-subject-supposed knowledge(apariencia del sujeto-supuesto saber),” el autor defiende la idea de que el trabajo clínico con pacientes perversos es posible, resultando un asunto menos cautivo de la escena fantasmagórica.     

How much does the human medial gastrocnemius muscle contribute to ankle torques outside the sagittal plane?

Ankle movements in the frontal plane are less prominent though not less relevant than movements in the plantar or dorsal flexion direction. Walking on uneven terrains and standing on narrow stances are examples of circumstances likely imposing marked demands on the ankle medio-lateral stabilization. Following our previous evidence associating lateral bodily sways in quiet standing to activation of the medial gastrocnemius (MG) muscle, in this study we ask: how large is the MG contribution to ankle torque in the frontal plane? By arranging stimulation electrodes in a selective configuration, current pulses were applied primarily to the MG nerve branch of ten subjects. The contribution of populations of MG motor units of progressively smaller recruitment threshold to ankle torque was evaluated by increasing the stimulation amplitude by fixed amounts. From smallest intensities (12–32 mA) leading to the firstly observable MG twitches in force-plate recordings, current pulses reached intensities (56–90 mA) below which twitches in other muscles could not be observed from the skin. Key results showed a substantial MG torque contribution tending to rotate upward the foot medial aspect (ankle inversion). Nerve stimulation further revealed a linear relationship between the peak torque of ankle plantar flexion and inversion, across participants (Pearson R > .81, p < .01). Specifically, regardless of the current intensity applied, the peak torque of ankle inversion amounted to about 13% of plantar flexion peak torque. Physiologically, these results provide experimental evidence that MG activation may contribute to stabilize the body in the frontal plane, especially under situations of challenged stability.     

Within-individual variability in self-concepts and personality states: Applying density distribution and situation-behavior approaches across cultures

Within-individual variability in self-concepts and everyday personality states and affects was investigated in two experience sampling studies using density distribution and situation-behavior approaches. In all seven cultures sampled, within-individual variability was substantial and self-concept and personality state variability exhibited moderate convergence. Variability in personality and affect states was moderately predicted by perceived need satisfaction in the situations. The density distribution and situation-behavior approaches were moderately convergent in identifying the most variable individuals, but the pattern of cultural differences differed in the two methods. Contrary to cultural psychology perspectives, cultural differences in within-individual variability did not consistently correspond to cultural differences in individualism–collectivism, dialecticism, or tightness.     

It's never too late for ‘us’ to meet ‘them’: Prior intergroup friendships moderate the impact of later intergroup friendships in educational settings

Background. In this paper, we focused on mixing in educational settings between members of Catholic and Protestant ethnoreligious groups in Northern Ireland. Aims. In Study 1, we examined whether opportunities for contact at home and at university were associated with greater actual out‐group friendships, and whether this friendship was associated with a reduction in prejudice. We also assessed whether the impact of out‐group friendships at university was moderated by experience of out‐group friendships outside university, such that the prejudice‐reducing effect of university friendships was stronger for those with fewer friendships at home. In Study 2, we assessed opportunities for contact and actual out‐group friendships at prior stages of the educational system and their relationship with prejudice. Sample(s). In both studies, our participants were students at universities in Northern Ireland (Study 1 N= 304 and Study 2 N= 157). Methods. We analysed the data using multiple regression and structural equation modelling. Results. First, opportunities for contact were positively associated with self‐reported out‐group friendships in all domains and stages of the educational system. Second, having more out‐group friends was associated with reduced prejudice. Finally, the relationship between out‐group friendships and current levels of prejudice was moderated by prior levels of out‐group friendships (at home in Study 1; and at secondary and primary school in Study 2). Conclusions. Contact, in the form of out‐group friendships, was more powerful when it was a novel feature in a person's life. We discuss these findings in terms of the impact of mixing in educational contexts, especially in Northern Ireland, and outline suggestions for future research.