Cognition in action: testing a model of limb apraxia

Assessment of limb apraxia is still suffering from Liepmann's legacy and performance in gesture-processing tests is generally rendered by classifying patients' profile according to the classic clinical labels of ideomotor and ideational apraxia. At odds with other cognitive functions, interpretation of apraxia has suffered from a lack of a reliable model which does justice to its complexity. Recently such a model has been proposed (Rothi et al., 1991, 1997). In this article a modified version of this model is presented and predictions are made according to its functional architecture. Five different patterns of impairment of gesture processing are postulated. To validate the predicted performance profiles, 19 left-hemisphere-damaged patients were assessed by means of an ad hoc battery of four praxis tests. Four of the five predicted apraxia patterns were observed, the fifth being more equivocal. These results support the need to overcome the simplistic dichotomous view of apraxia and confirm the fruitfulness of a model of normal gesture processing in order to understand dissociations in apraxia.     

Superexplanations for counterfactual knowledge

Philosophical Studies - I discuss several problems for Williamson’s counterfactual-theory of modal knowledge and argue that they have a common source, in that the theory neglects to elucidate...     

The Validity of the Child Problematic Trait Inventory in 6–12 Year Old Italian Children: Further Support and Issues of Consistency Across Different Sources of Information and Different Samples

In the present study, teacher’s ratings, mother’s ratings, and father’s ratings on the Child Problematic Trait Inventory (CPTI) were obtained on two independent samples (N?=?381 and N?=?406, respectively) of Italian school age children (age range: 6–12 years). Cronbach alpha values greater than 0.80 were observed for all CPTI scale scores based on teacher’s ratings, mother’s ratings, and father’s ratings respectively. Although intraclass correlation values suggested poor parent-teacher agreement, robust weighted least square Confirmatory Factor Analyses (WLSMV CFAs) suggested that the three-factor model of the CPTI was consistently replicated as the best fitting model across all informants. Logistic regression analysis conducted in one of the samples showed that teacher’s ratings and mother’s ratings of the CPTI, but not CPTI father’s ratings, significantly predicted child’s problem behavior at school. Multiple regression analyses showed that CPTI scores were significantly predicted by selected temperament dimensions, but with different relationships for different sources of information. Overall, our findings suggest that the CPTI is a reliable and valid measure of problematic traits with a three-factor structure, although this study indicates that multiple sources of information may prove necessary when assessing psychopathy in school-age children with the CPTI.     

Adolescence and the Changing Context of Optimal Experience in Time: Italy 1986–2000

This study focused on the daily activities and related quality of experience of two distinct groups of Italian high school students analyzed in 1986 and 2000. Altogether, 120 participants, aged between 15 and 18, were administered the experience sampling method, a procedure providing on-line repeated samplings of daily time budget and associated quality of experience. In particular, attention was paid to optimal experience, characterized by a balance between environmental challenges and personal skills, intrinsic motivation, involvement, and well-being. In spite of the time gap, no major differences in the daily activity distribution were detected. Adolescents in both groups spent most of their time studying at school and at home, interacting, watching TV, carrying out maintenance, and engaging in structured leisure activities. The use of new technologies (computers, internet, mobile phones) emerged in the data gathered in 2000. As concerns the quality of experience, each daily activity showed a specific experiential profile recurring in both groups. Studying at home and engaging in structured leisure activities were primarily associated with optimal experience, as was using new technologies in 2000. These results shed light on students' preferential engagement in specific domains and allowed us to explore the active role of adolescents in shaping their future. Findings also highlighted the importance of providing adolescents with meaningful activities in order to foster their personal growth, well-being, and social integration.     

Well-being vocabulary in media language: An analysis of changing word usage in Norwegian newspapers

Well-being is a widely discussed topic in research, policy, and media. This study was aimed at examining usage patterns of core terminology related to well-being in Norwegian newspapers during the past two decades. Specifically, we investigated occurrence across time of 39 words describing well-being facets from four theoretical perspectives: affective approaches, cognitive or life satisfaction approaches, eudaimonic and humanistic approaches, and character strengths. Four major newspapers were selected in order to capture sociocultural and regional variation. Evidence of significant changes in usage frequency was detected for about half of the search terms. Affective words showed variable trends, while usage of words referring to satisfaction declined. The most notable magnitude of change concerned the increase in eudaimonic words related to mastery, motivation, and self-development. Findings suggest that core vocabulary of well-being belongs to a changeable field of linguistic practice. Implications for positive psychology are proposed.     

Group processes in food choices: The role of ethnic identity and perceived ethnic norms upon intentions to purchase ethnical food products

A study tested an extended Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) model, inclusive of measures of ethnical identification and perceived ethnic group norms, in the ethnical food purchasing domain. One hundred and thirty‐five Jamaicans, living in the Brixton neighbourhood, London, were administered a self‐reported questionnaire measuring the classical TPB components (attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, behavioural intentions) plus three additional components: identification with the Jamaican group, perceived norms of the Jamaican group and past behaviour. Results of hierarchical multiple regressions showed that past behaviour, ethnical identification and perceived group norms explain an additional proportion of variance in intentions, independently of attitudes, subjective norms and perceived control. A two‐way interaction, between ethnical identification and perceived group norms, was detected. A stronger relation between group norms and intentions emerged among high ethnical identifiers. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.