Co‐occurrence statistics as a language‐dependent cue for speech segmentation

To what extent can language acquisition be explained in terms of different associative learning mechanisms? It has been hypothesized that distributional regularities in spoken languages are strong enough to elicit statistical learning about dependencies among speech units. Distributional regularities could be a useful cue for word learning even without rich language‐specific knowledge. However, it is not clear how strong and reliable the distributional cues are that humans might use to segment speech. We investigate cross‐linguistic viability of different statistical learning strategies by analyzing child‐directed speech corpora from nine languages and by modeling possible statistics‐based speech segmentations. We show that languages vary as to which statistical segmentation strategies are most successful. The variability of the results can be partially explained by systematic differences between languages, such as rhythmical differences. The results confirm previous findings that different statistical learning strategies are successful in different languages and suggest that infants may have to primarily rely on non‐statistical cues when they begin their process of speech segmentation.     

Extending Traditional Psychological Disciplines to Positive Psychology: A View from Subjective Well-being

This article reviews how research from traditional psychological disciplines has been extended and applied to the area of positive psychology (PP), specifically in the area of subjective well-being (SWB). Moving from a universal to cultural perspective, then to a group, and finally an individual perspective, this article draws theories from evolutionary, cultural, social, and personality psychology. The evolutionary perspective that negative emotions (i.e. evolved psychological mechanisms) are an impediment to positive psychology’s goal of building positive experiences has been extended and modified. Research in PP now recognizes the pitfalls of excessive positive emotions and happiness, and how negative emotions can contribute to optimal human functioning. The cultural approach investigates cultural variations in conceptualizations of SWB and highlights that the benefits and detrimental effects of positive and negative emotions are not universal. Theories on social dynamics further our understanding of how evaluative judgments influence well-being, and address a fundamental question in PP: Is the goal of increasing people’s well-being viable? Finally, personality theories explain individual differences in well-being and the practice of PP. In sum, the recognition that PP encapsulates the negative, and growing awareness of the importance of culture, social context, and the individual, heralds the evolving conceptualization of PP.     

Element repetition rates encode functionally distinct information in pied babbler ‘clucks’ and ‘purrs’

Human language is a recombinant system that achieves its productivity through the combination of a limited set of sounds. Research investigating the evolutionary origin of this generative capacity has generally focused on the capacity of non-human animals to combine different types of discrete sounds to encode new meaning, with less emphasis on meaning-differentiating mechanisms achieved through potentially simpler temporal modifications within a sequence of repeated sounds. Here we show that pied babblers (Turdoides bicolor) generate two functionally distinct vocalisations composed of the same sound type, which can only be distinguished by the number of repeated elements. Specifically, babblers produce extended ‘purrs’ composed of, on average, around 17 element repetitions when drawing young offspring to a food source and truncated ‘clucks’ composed of a fixed number of 2–3 elements when collectively mediating imminent changes in foraging site. We propose that meaning-differentiating temporal structuring might be a much more widespread combinatorial mechanism than currently recognised and is likely of particular value for species with limited vocal repertoires in order to increase their communicative output.     

Supporting Counselors After a Client Suicide: Creative Supervision Techniques

Many professional counselors will experience the loss of a client to suicide. The effects of this loss are explored in this article. The supervisor’s role in supporting a supervisee after a client’s suicide is presented. Additionally, creative interventions that can be used by supervisors to support supervisees after the loss of a client are provided. These creative techniques are theoretically grounded within the cognitive behavioral, solution-focused, and narrative paradigms.     

Associations between lower order anxiety sensitivity dimensions and DSM-5 posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms

Anxiety sensitivity (AS), a well-established individual difference variable reflecting a tendency to fear bodily sensations associated with arousal, has been implicated in the development and maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite these associations, little research has examined the relations between AS subfactors (eg physical, cognitive, and social) and PTSD symptoms and none have examined these associations in the context of DSM-5 (Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition) PTSD clusters (ie intrusion, avoidance, negative alterations in cognitions/mood, and arousal). Participants included 50 veterans presenting to an outpatient Veteran Affairs Clinic for psychological services. Upon intake, veterans completed a brief battery of self-report questionnaires to assist with differential diagnosis and treatment planning. Results revealed unique associations between lower order AS dimensions, in particular the cognitive concerns dimension, and all four DSM-5 PTSD symptom clusters. Given the malleable nature of AS cognitive concerns, as well as the growing number of veterans in need of care, future research should determine the extent to which targeting this cognitive risk factor reduces PTSD symptom severity among veterans.     

Development of cross-linguistic variation in speech and gesture: motion events in English and Turkish

The way adults express manner and path components of a motion event varies across typologically different languages both in speech and cospeech gestures, showing that language specificity in event encoding influences gesture. The authors tracked when and how this multimodal cross-linguistic variation develops in children learning Turkish and English, 2 typologically distinct languages. They found that children learn to speak in language-specific ways from age 3 onward (i.e., English speakers used 1 clause and Turkish speakers used 2 clauses to express manner and path). In contrast, English- and Turkish-speaking children's gestures looked similar at ages 3 and 5 (i.e., separate gestures for manner and path), differing from each other only at age 9 and in adulthood (i.e., English speakers used 1 gesture, but Turkish speakers used separate gestures for manner and path). The authors argue that this pattern of the development of cospeech gestures reflects a gradual shift to language-specific representations during speaking and shows that looking at speech alone may not be sufficient to understand the full process of language acquisition.     

Incorporating family therapy into asthma group intervention: a randomized waitlist-controlled trial

Asthma psychoeducational programs have been found to be effective in terms of symptom-related outcome. They are mostly illness-focused, and pay minimal attention to systemic/familial factors. This study evaluated a novel asthma psychoeducation program that adopted a parallel group design and incorporated family therapy. A randomized waitlist-controlled crossover clinical trial design was adopted. Children with stable asthma and their parents were recruited from a pediatric chest clinic. Outcome measures included, for the patients: exhaled nitric oxide (eNO), spirometry, and adjustment to asthma; and for the parents: perceived efficacy in asthma management, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale anxiety subscale, Body Mind Spirit Well-being Inventory emotion subscale, and Short Form 12 health-related quality of life scale. Forty-six patients participated in the study. Attrition rates were 13.0% and 26.0% for the active and control groups, respectively. Repeated-measures ANOVA revealed a significant decrease in airway inflammation, as indicated by eNO levels, and an increase in patient's adjustment to asthma and parents' perceived efficacy in asthma management. Serial trend analysis revealed that most psychosocial measures continued to progress steadily after intervention. Significant improvements in both symptom-related measures and mental health and relationship measures were observed. The findings supported the value of incorporating family therapy into asthma psychoeducation programs.     

How young children judge whether a word is one they know: a dual criterion account

Word familiarity judgment may be important for word learning, yet little is known about how children make this judgment. We hypothesized that preschool-age children differ in the judgment criteria that they use and that this difference derives from individual differences in basic memory processes. Those who have superior phonological working memory, but who retrieve less semantic information than their peers, base the judgment on whether they recognize a word’s sound form. Those who show the opposite memory profile base the judgment on whether they retrieve a word’s meaning. The results of two studies of 3- and 4-year-olds were consistent with these claims. Among those performing poorly on one memory measure, judgment accuracy was directly related to performance on the other memory measure. These memory-judgment relations were also found to be highly specific. This is the first investigation to demonstrate the usefulness of an individual differences approach for identifying relations between linguistic judgment processes and basic memory processes during early childhood.     

Clarifying the linguistic signature: measuring personality from natural speech

In this study, we examined the viability of measuring personality using computerized lexical analysis of natural speech. Two well-validated models of personality were measured, one involving trait positive affectivity (PA) and negative affectivity (NA) dimensions and the other involving a separate behavioral inhibition motivational system (BIS) and a behavioral activation motivational system (BAS). Individuals with high levels of trait PA and sensitive BAS expressed high levels of positive emotion in their natural speech, whereas individuals with high levels of trait NA and sensitive BIS tended to express high levels of negative emotion. The personality variables accounted for almost a quarter of the variance in emotional expressivity.     

Two ways to be complex and why they matter: implications for attitude strength and lying

Integrative complexity broadly measures the structural complexity of statements. This breadth, although beneficial in multiple ways, can potentially hamper the development of specific theories. In response, the authors developed a model of complex thinking, focusing on 2 different ways that people can be complex within the integrative complexity system and subsequently developed measurements of each of these 2 routes: Dialectical complexity focuses on a dialectical tension between 2 or more competing perspectives, whereas elaborative complexity focuses on complexly elaborating on 1 singular perspective. The authors posit that many variables have different effects on these 2 forms of complexity and subsequently test this idea in 2 different theoretical domains. In Studies 1a, 1b, and 2, the authors demonstrate that variables related to attitude strength (e.g., domain importance, extremism, domain accessibility) decrease dialectical complexity but increase elaborative complexity. In Study 3, the authors show that counterattitudinal lying decreases dialectical complexity but increases elaborative complexity, implicating a strategic (as opposed to a cognitive strain) view of the lying-complexity relationship. The authors argue that this dual demonstration across 2 different theoretical domains helps establish the utility of the new model and measurements as well as offer the potential to reconcile apparent conflicts in the area of cognitive complexity.