The binomial distribution of right, mixed and left handedness

Right, mixed and left handers are found in binomial proportions in seven samples of varied subjects whose lateral prefernces were ascertained by several methods. These proportions have been obtained in previous studies of humans and animals when the performance of several actions has been recorded in complete samples and when consistent right and left subjects have been separated from those of mixed usage.     

CROSS-CULTURAL SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES IN DYNAMIC STEREOTYPES: A COMPARISON BETWEEN GERMANY AND THE UNITED STATES

This study examined cross-cultural similarities and differences in beliefs about men and women of the past, present, and future. These dynamic stereotypes , or beliefs that a group's present characteristics differ from its past or future characteristics, correspond to the actual role change experienced by the group ( Diekman & Eagly, 2000 ). Participants in Germany and the United States perceived that women were increasing in their masculine characteristics from the past to the future, whereas they perceived comparatively more stability in men's characteristics. The largest cross-cultural difference stemmed from beliefs about 1950s women, who were perceived as possessing greater positive masculine personality, negative feminine personality, and less feminine physical traits in Germany than in the United States. This greater nontraditionalism of postwar German women reflects their assumption of stereotypically male-dominated roles immediately after World War II. Consistent with social role theory, perceived role nontraditionalism mediated the relationship between time period and levels of gender-stereotypic characteristics.     

Learning a pressure under conditions of immediate and delayed knowledge of results

The results of a series of experiments on learning to reproduce a precise pressure are described and discussed in relation to a tentative hypothesis about the importance of timing of feedback signals. The evidence supports the contention that a careful analysis of the perceptual aspects of performance is necessary to account for the acquisition and retention of a precise motor response. Whilst the original hypothesis is sustained, other factors leading to the same result are clearly important. New evidence is produced which strongly suggests that cues presented simultaneously in two modalities interact. A possible distinction between sensory feedback which is used to control a response and feedback which cannot so be used, and the relation of this distinction to the learning of the response is also discussed.     

Challenge me! Communicating in multicultural classrooms

The current study investigated the value of Socratic classroom communication (e.g., critical debate and challenging each other on content matters) among students from various cultures (clustered into Western Europeans, Eastern Europeans and Non-Europeans) and from members of faculty at an international university in Germany. Students from Western cultures where Socratic communication had been valued in the school systems reported a greater ease of engaging in the respective communication style than did Eastern European and Non-European students. Furthermore, we assessed how strongly the faculty valued the respective kinds of behavior. The results show that overall students underestimated the extent to which Socratic communication behavior was esteemed by members of faculty. In addition, faculty members perceived themselves to be more explicit about their pedagogical principles than they were perceived by students. Finally, the easier it was for students to show Socratic classroom communication, the more academically satisfied they were and the better their grades. The results are discussed with regard to practical implications and the internationalization of universities.     

The right touch: Stroking of CT-innervated skin promotes vocal emotion processing

Research has revealed a special mechanoreceptor, called C-tactile (CT) afferent, that is situated in hairy skin and that seems relevant for the processing of social touch. We pursued a possible role of this receptor in the perception of other social signals such as a person’s voice. Participants completed three sessions in which they heard surprised and neutral vocal and nonvocal sounds and detected rare sound repetitions. In a given session, participants received no touch or soft brushstrokes to the arm (CT innervated) or palm (CT free). Event-related potentials elicited to sounds revealed that stroking to the arm facilitated the integration of vocal and emotional information. The late positive potential was greater for surprised vocal relative to neutral vocal and nonvocal sounds, and this effect was greater for arm touch relative to both palm touch and no touch. Together, these results indicate that stroking to the arm facilitates the allocation of processing resources to emotional voices, thus supporting the possibility that CT stimulation benefits social perception cross-modally.     

Aleksej Losevs Philosophie des Mythos als Kritik an der sowjetischen Moderne

Die Philosophie des Mythos, imwesentlichen eine Aktualisierung deraltrussisch-byzantinischen Seinsauffassung undeines Verständnisses von Philosophie alsTheologie, spielt im Kontext sowjetischerKultur die Rolle eines sowohlmodernekritischen, als auch antimodernenDenkansatzes. Durch ihn wird kulturkritischnicht bloß die sowjetische Moderne, sonderndie gesamte europäisch-neuzeitlicheEntwicklung, als deren Quintessenz diesowjetische Moderne aufgefaßt und als derenAusgangspunkt die Renaissance angenommen wird,prinzipiell in Frage gestellt.     

Patterns of hand preference for pairs of actions and the classification of handedness

Pairs of actions such as write × throw and throw × racquet were examined for items of the Annett hand preference questionnaire (AHPQ). Right (R) and left (L) responses were described for frequencies of RR, RL, LR, and LL pairings (write × throw etc.) in a large representative combined sample with the aim of discovering the distribution over the population as a whole. The frequencies of RL pairings varied significantly over the different item pairs but the frequencies of LR pairings were fairly constant. An important difference was found between primary actions (originally write, throw, racquet, match, toothbrush, hammer with the later addition of scissors for right‐handers) and non‐primary actions (needle and thread, broom, spade, dealing playing cards, and unscrewing the lid of a jar). For primary actions, there were similar numbers of right and left writers using the ‘other’ hand. For non‐primary actions more right‐handers used the left hand than for primary actions but more left‐handers did not use the right hand. That is, different frequencies of response to primary versus non‐primary actions were found for right‐handers but not for left‐handers. The pattern of findings was repeated for a corresponding analysis of left‐handed throwing × AHPQ actions. The findings have implications for the classification of hand preferences and for analyses of the nature of hand skill.