Putting the “We” Into Well‐being: Using Collectivism‐Themed Measures of Well‐Being Attenuates Well‐being's Association With Individualism

Studies repeatedly have documented that societal well‐being is associated with individualism. Most of these studies, however, have conceptualized/measured well‐being as individual life satisfaction—a type of well‐being that originates in Western research traditions. Drawing from the latest research on interdependent happiness and on family well‐being, we posit that people across cultures pursue different types of well‐being, and test whether more collectivism‐themed types of well‐being that originate in Confucian traditions also are associated with individualism. Based on data collected from 2,036 participants across 12 countries, we find support for the association between individual life satisfaction and individualism at the societal level, but show that well‐being's association with individualism is attenuated when some collectivism‐themed measures of well‐being are considered. Our article advances knowledge on the flourishing of societies by suggesting that individualism may not always be strongly linked with societal well‐being. Implications for public policies are signaled.     

From Pathological Merger to a Reflective,Triangular Space: Parent-Infant Psychotherapy with a Mother with Borderline Personality Disorder

This article looks at Parent-Infant Psychotherapy work with a mother with Borderline Personality Disorder and her infant son. Mother had suffered a traumatic childhood and, when her son was born, withdrew into a delusion of merger with him, avoiding what she experienced as a violent, threatening and confusing world. Drawing on psychoanalytic and attachment-mentalization theories and neuroscientific and developmental research, this article explores mother’s difficulties in acknowledging her baby as a separate being, and the impact this had on baby, who was slowly turning toward an autistic way of functioning. The article discusses the therapeutic challenges in creating a reflective, triangular space where both mother’s and baby’s experiences could be thought about and understood. Finally, the author considers an interpretative stance that includes both mother’s and baby’s shared and their separate experiences.     

Shared Sovereignty over Migratory Natural Resources

With growing vigor, political philosophers have started questioning the Westphalian system of states as the main actors in the international arena and, within it, the doctrine of Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources. In this article I add to these questionings by showing that, when it comes to migratory natural resources, i.e., migratory species, a plausible theory of territorial rights should advocate a regime of shared sovereignty among states. This means that one single entity should represent their interests and maybe also those of third parties, managing and making decisions over the resource as a whole. Although such a regime might be the tacit goal of existing international conventions regarding wildlife, it remains untheorized in political philosophy and largely under-theorized in international law. By presenting the critical situation of the monarch butterfly in North America, I point to the inadequacy of the compartmentalized current regime, which generates injustice in migration; namely, the phenomenon whereby range states of a given species may neglect or over-exploit it while in their territory, to the detriment of others. I suggest that more flexible and imaginative governance arrangements are needed to deal in a better way with these and similar natural resources.     

Syntactic development in Chilean students’ narrative and expository discourse throughout schooling: different measures of syntactic complexity / Desarrollo sintáctico en narraciones y exposiciones orales de estudiantes chilenos a través de la escolaridad: diferentes mediciones de complejidad sintáctica

While there are studies that describe early syntactic development, less research has focused on oral syntactic development in Spanish throughout schooling according to text structure. This article describes syntactic patterns in Chilean school age students and compares the differences between narrative and expository discourse. The oral production of 462 students aged 5–18 years old from eight schools in a central Chilean region was analysed. Their oral productions were transcribed and segmented at clause and clause package levels; clause package length, clause package density and the clause density were calculated. Results show that students are more productive and construct more complex syntactical discourse as they advance through their education. The results also suggest that syntactic development patterns function differently in narrative and expository discourses. This indicates that students firstly master their syntactic resources before producing narratives. In addition, the implications of using different syntactic measures to describe syntactic development by text structure are explored.     

Psychosocial stress evoked by a virtual audience: relation to neuroendocrine activity.

A modified version of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) was employed to determine whether exposure to a virtual audience using virtual reality (VR) technology would prompt an increase of neuroendocrine activity comparable to that prompted by a real audience. Following an anticipatory period, participants completed a speech or a speech-plus-math challenge in front of either a virtual audience, a panel of judges they were led to believe was behind a one-way mirror, or an audience comprised of confederates. An additional group that had prepared a speech was simply directed to observe the virtual audience but did not deliver the speech. Finally, a control group completed questionnaires for the duration of the experiment. Cortisol samples were obtained upon arrival to the laboratory, just before the challenge, and 15 and 30 minutes after the task. Participants also completed a measure assessing stressor appraisals of the task before and after the challenge. Anticipation of the task was associated with a modest increase of cortisol levels, and a further rise of cortisol was evident in response to the challenge. The neuroendocrine changes evoked by the virtual audience were comparable to those elicited by the imagined audience (behind the one-way mirror) but less than changes evoked by the panel of confederates. Stressor appraisals were higher post-challenge compared to those reported prior to the task; however, appraisals were similar across each group. These data suggest that VR technology may be amenable to evaluating the impact of psychosocial stressors such as the TSST.     

A Novel Approach to Enhancing Upper Extremity Coordination in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Recent studies examining children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have revealed kinematic markers highlighting deficits in the preparatory and online phases of upper extremity movements. In the following study, 12 children with high functioning ASD were first assessed (pre-test) on 15 trials of a reciprocal upper extremity Fitts Law target task by flexing and extending their right arm in the horizontal plane between two targets as fast and accurately as possible. Following the initial assessment, the children either continued with 30 additional trials of the target task (control) or were asked to track a sine wave template (experimental). All participants were then assessed on 15 trials of the target test (post-test). Results reveal that tracking the sine wave template during training not only produced faster movements compared to the control but also produced these movements in a more harmonic way.     

Using Baby Books to Increase New Mothers' Self‐Efficacy and Improve Toddler Language Development

Maternal self‐efficacy (MSE) has been shown to be important, yet little is known about how it develops over time and whether increasing knowledge about child development and parenting results in feeling more efficacious, especially for first‐time mothers. Furthermore, research is lacking about whether increased maternal self‐efficacy results in better child outcomes such as more receptive and expressive language. Using a randomized three‐group design, this study explores whether educational books, embedded with information about typical child development and optimal parenting, increase MSE for women over the first year and a half of motherhood and whether these increases result in better language skills for children at 18 months of age. Hierarchical linear model analyses show that MSE starts high and remains high and that providing educational books further increases the development of MSE. Increases in MSE have a positive impact on children's language skills, as does providing books, irrespective of educational content. These findings support the importance of MSE and demonstrate an inexpensive way to increase MSE and improve child outcomes. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Words translated in sentence contexts produce repetition priming in visual word comprehension and spoken word production

Previous research with words read in context at encoding showed little if any long-term repetition priming. In Experiment 1, 96 Spanish–English bilinguals translated words in isolation or in sentence contexts at encoding. At test, they translated words or named pictures corresponding to words produced at encoding and control words not previously presented. Repetition priming was reliable in all conditions, but priming effects were generally smaller for contextualized than for isolated words. Repetition priming in picture naming indicated priming from production in context. A componential analysis indicated priming from comprehension in context, but only in the less fluent language. Experiment 2 was a replication of Experiment 1 with auditory presentation of the words and sentences to be translated. Repetition priming was reliable in all conditions, but priming effects were again smaller for contextualized than for isolated words. Priming in picture naming indicated priming from production in context, but the componential analysis indicated no detectable priming for auditory comprehension. The results of the two experiments taken together suggest that repetition priming reflects the long-term learning that occurs with comprehension and production exposures to words in the context of natural language.     

Stimulus Equivalence Using a Respondent Matching-to-Sample Procedure with Verification Trials

The Psychological Record - Despite systematic demonstrations of the effectiveness of the respondent-type procedure in producing relational responding, matching-to-sample continues to be the...