Grammar overrides frequency: evidence from the online processing of flexible word order

We show that online processing difficulties induced by word order variations in German cannot be attributed to the relative infrequency of the constructions in question, but rather appear to reflect the application of grammatical principles during parsing. Event-related brain potentials revealed that dative-marked objects in the initial position of an embedded sentence do not elicit a neurophysiologically distinct response from subjects, whereas accusative-marked objects do. These differences are predictable on the basis of grammatical distinctions (i.e. underlying linguistic properties), but not on the basis of frequency information (i.e. a superficial linguistic property). We therefore conclude that the former, but not the latter, guides syntactic integration during online parsing.     

To speak in tongues: language,diversity and psychoanalysis

After reviewing the different psychoanalytical approaches to language of authors such as Freud, Lacan, Kristeva, Jung and Nicolas Abraham, the author examines the problem of 'analytical listening', of the attitude that every analyst must assume towards the words of the analysand, words that must be heard not just in terms of their content but above all in terms of their sound. We live in a culture in which visual images predominate over acoustic images and all too often this cultural trend is repeated in analysis, but it is only when we can hear the 'poetry' of the analysand's discourse that we are able to provide an 'echo', an analytical response that can co-symbolize with, that can offer to the analysand a word or a metaphor that will unlock the symbol hidden behind his or her words. The author then turns to the problem of bilinguism and its role in analysis. In her view, bilingual analysts are facilitated in their task of listening and of translation, because bilinguism facilitates the rapidity and fluidity of the analyst's associations, and at the same time sharpens his or her awareness of how the sound of a word can subtly change its meaning. The paper ends with a clinical vignette which illustrates the role that language can play in hysteria. In hysteria the dissociation between body and psyche is accompanied by a dissociation inside language itself, between verbalization and vocalization. These dissociations can be linked to the traumatic impact of the encounter between the 'language of tenderness' and the 'language of passion', between the child's attachment needs and parental sexuality. In such cases the failure of communication can be resolved principally through the use the analyst makes of the countertransference.     

Color naming and the phototoxic effects of sunlight on the eye

Many languages have no basic color term for "blue." Instead, they call short–wavelength stimuli "green" or "dark." We show that this cultural, linguistic phenomenon could result from accelerated aging of the eye because of high, chronic exposure to ultraviolet–B (UV–B) in sunlight (e.g., phototoxic lens brunescence). Reviewing 203 world languages, we found a significant relationship between UV dosage and color naming: In low–UV localities, languages generally have the word "blue"; in high–UV areas, languages without "blue" prevail. Furthermore, speakers of these non–"blue" languages often show blue–yellow color vision deficiency. We tested our phototoxicity hypothesis in a color–naming experiment, using computerized, colorimetric simulations of Munsell colors as viewed through clear and brunescent lenses. As predicted, our young subjects used "blue" as in English when the simulated lens was clear, but named colors as in tropical languages when the lens was dense. Our within–subjects design precludes a cultural explanation for this result.     

Molding the Past: Biased Assimilation of Historical Information1

The present study examined whether individuals' current political worldviews would bias perceptions of historical information gathered over the course of their lifetime. Kent State University students from 1995 and 2000 reported their political ideologies (e.g., conservative, liberal) and responded to items assessing their culpability and global attributions about the shooting of demonstrators by the National Guard at Kent State in 1970. The 1995 data revealed consistent support for biased responding to culpability and global attribution items. The 2000 data replicated the political ideology differences of the 1995 data. However, by including knowledge of the incident as an independent variable, the 2000 data revealed that the political ideology bias was strongest among people reporting high knowledge about the event.     

Relationships Between Future Orientation, Impulsive Sensation Seeking, and Risk Behavior Among Adjudicated Adolescents

Because of high levels of risk behavior, adjudicated adolescents are at high risk for negative health outcomes such as nicotine and drug addiction and sexually transmitted diseases. The goal of this article is to examine relationships between future orientation and impulsive-sensation-seeking personality constructs to risk behaviors among 300 adjudicated adolescents. Significant relationships between impulsive sensation seeking and future orientation were found for several risk behaviors. Individuals with more positive future orientation were less likely to use marijuana, hard drugs, alcohol during sex, had fewer alcohol problems, had lower levels of alcohol frequency and quantity of use, and perceived greater risks associated with such behaviors. Higher impulsivity reliably predicted alcohol problems, alcohol use, condom use, and cigarette smoking.     

The ‘I’ and the ‘Me’ in self-referential awareness: a neurocognitive hypothesis

The nature of the ‘self’ and self-referential awareness has been one of the most debated issues in philosophy, psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Understanding the neurocognitive bases of self-related representation and processing is also crucial to research on the neural correlates of consciousness. The distinction between an ‘I’, corresponding to a subjective sense of the self as a thinker and causal agent, and a ‘Me’, as the objective sense of the self with the unique and identifiable features constituting one’s self-image or self-concept, suggested by William James, has been re-elaborated by authors from different theoretical perspectives. In this article, empirical studies and theories about the ‘I’ and the ‘Me’ in cognition and self-related awareness are reviewed, including the relationships between self and perception, self and memory, the development of the self, self-referential stimulus processing, as well as related neuroimaging studies. Subsequently, the relations between self and different aspects of consciousness are considered. On the basis of the reviewed literature and with reference to Block’s distinction between phenomenal and access consciousness, a neurocognitive hypothesis is formulated about ‘I’-related and ‘Me’-related self-referential awareness. This hypothesis is extended to metacognitive awareness and a form of non-transitive consciousness, characteristic of meditation experiences and studies, with particular reference to the notion of mindfulness and other Buddhist constructs.     

Part perception in infancy: Sensitivity to the short-cut rule

Research indicates that object perception involves the decomposition of images into parts. A critical principle that governs part decomposition by adults is the short-cut rule, which states that, all else being equal, the visual system parses objects using the shortest possible cuts. We examined whether 6.5-month-olds’ parsing of images also follows the short-cut rule. Infants in the experimental conditions were habituated to cross shapes and then tested for their preference between segregated patterns produced using long cuts versus short cuts. Infants in the control conditions were directly tested with the segregated patterns. Infants in the experimental conditions exhibited a greater novelty preference for the long-cut over the short-cut patterns than did those in the control conditions, thereby indicating that they are more likely to segregate cross shapes using short cuts rather than long cuts. This sensitivity to the short-cut rule was evident when two alternative parameters, part area and protrusion, were controlled in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively. Thus, a critical principle that governs part segregation in adulthood is operational by 6.5 months of age.