Subjective Situations and Logical Omniscience

The beliefs of the agents in a multi-agent system have been formally modelled in the last decades using doxastic logics. The possible worlds model and its associated Kripke semantics provide an intuitive semantics for these logics, but they commit us to model agents that are logically omniscient. We propose a way of avoiding this problem, using a new kind of entities called subjective situations. We define a new doxastic logic based on these entities and we show how the belief operators have some desirable properties, while avoiding logical omniscience. A comparison with two well-known proposals (Levesque's logic of explicit and implicit beliefs and Thijsse's hybrid sieve systems) is also provided.     

Depressed mothers' newborns show longer habituation and fail to show face/voice preference

Twenty neonates of depressed and nondepressed mothers failed to show an initial visual preference for their mother's versus a female stranger's face/voice. Subsequently, infants were habituated to their mother's face and voice. Infants of depressed mothers required 1/3 more trials and almost twice as long to habituate. A posthabituation test with their mother and a different female stranger revealed a preference for the stranger's face for 9 out of the 10 newborns of the nondepressed mothers. Again, the infants of depressed mothers displayed no visual preference. These findings reveal differences in depressed mothers newborns' speed of habituation and face/voice preferences. ©2002 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

The European Early Promotion Project: A new primary health care service to promote children's mental health

The number of children in Europe with significant psychologic and social problems is large and increasing. This article describes an innovative crosscultural method of working with families to promote the psychosocial well being of children and prevent the development of psychologic and social problems. A study designed to evaluate the effects of the service is also presented. Primary health care workers in five European countries have been trained to conduct promotional interviews with all prospective mothers in their area one month before and one month after birth. They have also been taught to work with mothers identified as in need of support as a parent by using a specific counselling model to try to prevent the onset of child mental health difficulties. Effects of the intervention on children's psychologic development and family adaptation are being evaluated at two years in comparison with matched groups not receiving the intervention. ©2002 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

A Comparison of Fathers' and Mothers' Involvement in Childcare and Stimulation Behaviors During Free-Play with Their Infants at 9 and 15 Months

Fathers and mothers of 87 firstborn infants completed a parental responsibility questionnaire; recorded accessibility and direct interaction time in caregiving, play, and outings; and were videotaped in a free-play session with their infants at 9 and 15 months of age. Analyses compared fathers' and mothers' involvement and interactive behaviors, and examined age-of-infant and gender-of-infant effects. At both times, fathers reported being less accessible to their infants and spending less time in direct interaction with them than did mothers. During times when both parents were available to the infant, fathers were less likely to provide basic care, but spent an equivalent amount of time in play and outings. Fathers in dual-earner families spent less time in accessibility, caregiving, and outings, but they engaged in as much play as mothers. Responsibility for disciplining the infant was rated as being equally shared amongst parents. During play, parents did not differ in the amount of physical contact, conventional play, nonconventional play, and attempts to direct the infant's attention. However, fathers vocalized less and made fewer requests than mothers. Differences between paternal and maternal involvement in childcare and stimulation behaviors are discussed with respect to infant age and infant gender.     

The Transracial Adoption Debate: Counseling and Legal Implications

Over the last 30 years, the practice of White American parents adopting African American children has been the focus of much deliberation and commentary. In this article, the authors illuminate relevant literature and research regarding transracial adoption. Counseling and legal implications are also discussed.     

Inhibiting children's memory of an interactive event: the effectiveness of a cover‐up

Children are generally more susceptible than adults to suggestive interview techniques. Children's memories of an event can be altered and added to by presenting post‐event information (PEI). What is not known is whether embedding silence about a particular scene within the PEI makes that scene less likely to be reported. Children aged 5–6 years made cakes with an agent ‘Mrs Flour’. The following day they received PEI in which a target scene from the original event was omitted, resulting in children reporting the target scene significantly less often than did controls (control= 57% and omit= 23% correct responses). There was direct evidence from the children's language that the omission led to a detriment in memory for the original scene itself. Allowing children to draw during the interview did not reduce the effect. Implications are discussed in terms of child victims and witnesses particularly regarding child sexual abuse. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How quickly do children forget events? A systematic study of children's event reports as a function of delay

Sixty‐six children aged between 5 and 7 years participated in the event, ‘Visiting the Pirate’, and were interviewed about it at one of five delays, namely, no delay (immediate interview), or at a 1‐week, 1‐day, 1‐month or 6‐month delay. For open‐ended recall, a significant decrease in the amount of information reported was detected only at the 6‐month delay, although forgetting functions indicated forgetting was most rapid at the shorter delays. Accuracy of open‐ended recall was maintained over all delays. In contrast, in response to specific, leading and misleading questions, accuracy had decreased significantly by the 6‐month delay. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings regarding the effects of delays on children's event reports are discussed. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Neuropsychological findings in two children diagnosed with hamartoses: evidence of a NLD phenotypic profile.

Hamartoses (HM) are defined as disorders involving nonneoplastic tissue overgrowth. Studies have examined the neuropsychological profiles of children with common HM, such as neurofibromatosis type 1. Limited information is known regarding neuropsychological profiles of rare HM such as Osteochondromatosis Syndrome (OS) and Klippel-Trenaunay Syndrome (KTS). The current investigation is, to our knowledge, the first attempt to define the cognitive phenotypes in two boys with OS and KTS. Results revealed significantly greater impairments involving sensorimotor and visuospatial skills, while verbal memory and language skills appeared relatively preserved. Significant neurobehavioral problems and marked social difficulties were evident. These findings suggest that these syndromes are on a Nonverbal Learning Disorder (NLD) continuum, with varying degrees of severity.     

The Catholic Diocese: A Transversalized Institution

The Catholic Church is built, on the one hand, upon a hierarchical structure and vertical relationships, with stratified duties, centered around an organizational culture which is based on strict obedience to institutional directives and which has a monopoly on the administration of the goods and resources concerning salvation. On the other hand, since the Second Vatican Council, the Church has proposed to incorporate lay people into God's Kingdom, a development which represents an opening to the active participation of diverse groups and a redistribution of access to the goods of salvation. Analysts may take a position one way or the other regarding their definition of the Church, and some even state the existence of a dominant church and a people's church. In contrast to both these perspectives, this paper looks at a methodological and theoretical model for studying diversity within Catholic unity. The model is based on the concept of the 'transversalized institution' as it is applied to the way in which Guadalajara's diocese functions.