No own-age bias in 3-year-old children: More evidence for the role of early experience in building face-processing biases

This study aimed to investigate the presence of an own-age bias in young children who accumulated different amounts of early experience with child faces. Discrimination abilities for upright and inverted adult and child faces were tested using a delayed two-alternative, forced-choice matching-to-sample task in two groups of 3-year-old children, one composed of first-born children and the other composed of children who, from the time of their birth, had daily exposure to a child face through the presence of an older sibling in their home. Children without an older sibling were better at differentiating among adult faces than among child faces and showed an inversion effect that was selective for adult faces. Children with an older sibling were equally skilled at differentiating upright adult and child faces and showed inversion effects of comparable magnitude for both face types. Results support the notion that face representational space of younger children is tuned to adult faces and suggest that age biases during early childhood are dependent on the effects of early experience.     

Optimal experience and self-determination at school: Joining perspectives

This study aimed at investigating optimal experience during schoolwork in relation to SDT concepts of autonomy and locus of causality. Data were gathered from 268 high-school students using Experience Sampling Method for 1?week. Three levels of self-determination were identified: high (corresponding to autonomous regulation), moderate (mixed autonomous and controlled regulation), and low (controlled regulation). Consistently with the literature, the relationship between participants?? challenges and skills values was used to recognize occasions for optimal experience, and multilevel modeling was applied in data analysis. Findings showed that during schoolwork as optimal activity (high challenges and high skills) students mostly reported low levels of self-determination. However, the quality of their experience was better in situations of high and moderate self-determination. At the theoretical level, findings allow for a more articulated understanding of the characteristics of optimal experience in academic activities. Practical implications are discussed for enhancing well-being and committed learning at school.     

Adopting Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy to Treat Narcissistic Personality Disorder with Somatization

Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is characterized by an intellectualizing narrative style, poor metacognition, maladaptive interpersonal schemas, a restricted set of states of mind, impaired agency and perfectionism. Metacognitive Interpersonal therapy targets these dysfunctions with a series of formalized procedures aimed at first forming a shared formulation of functioning which patients and therapists can then use to plan change. We describe here the core NPD pathology and illustrate the therapy process of a patient with NPD and a somatization disorder. Implications for treatment of NPD are discussed together with a call for empirical testing of therapies for this severe condition.     

Meaning as inter-connectedness: theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence

Researchers interested in the study of eudaimonic well-being have devoted increasing efforts in the attempt to define and understand meaning as a core resource fostering human development and successful adaptation to environmental demands. Conceptual models and empirical findings highlighted the pivotal role of relationships and connectedness in the construction and enhancement of meaning throughout life. In this paper connectedness is discussed from an interdisciplinary perspective, encompassing theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence developed within the natural and social sciences. The cross-disciplinary emphasis on the substantial role of inter-connectedness in shaping living systems and human communities will be highlighted. Taking into account these interdisciplinary convergences and empirical evidence obtained from the psychological investigation of the sources and structure of meaning, three levels of connectedness will be identified, namely proximal, distal and symbolic. A comprehensive framework will be proposed, in which inter-connectedness is considered a crucial aspect of the prominent sources of meaning in daily life, as well as the core essence of meaning itself. This approach offers the possibility to explore meaning from a unifying perspective, overcoming disciplinary boundaries and opening new research avenues.     

Quality of Life,Anxiety and Depression in Soft Tissue Sarcomas as Compared to More Common Tumours: An Observational Study

The aim of this study is to compare the quality of life and the levels of anxiety and depression in a relatively large group of subjects undergoing chemotherapy for soft tissue sarcoma and a control group of subjects undergoing chemotherapy for the most common types of cancer. 56 soft tissue sarcoma affected patients and 56 patients with common tumours, homogeneous in regards to stages of disease and sociodemographic characteristics, were enrolled in two oncological centres in Turin, Italy. Quality of life was assessed by Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General and anxiety and depression by Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. All patients had ongoing chemotherapy. The comparison between the two groups shows no difference in either quality of life or in anxiety and depression. There are instead gender differences, since females in the group of common tumours show higher levels of anxiety in comparison to those affected by sarcomas, while males show, at a lower degree, the opposite trend. This study suggest that levels of Quality of Life, anxiety and depression are similar in rare and common tumours. The majority of patients are able to cope with the disease in an adaptive manner. However, for some patients the disease poses a threat to their physical and mental integrity; psychological support of these patients may reduce the development of significant morbidity and help patients to better manage the course of the disease and the effects of the treatment.     

Bibliographical note

Notices and Announcements

Bibliographical note     

Measurement of External Shame: An Inside View

The aims of this study were to investigate the construct validity of the Other as Shamer scale (OAS) using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and to examine the psychometric properties of its Italian version in a sample of 687 nonclinical individuals. The CFA results indicated that the hypothesized hierarchical model (with 1 higher order factor and 3 first-order factors) was the best fitting solution. Cronbach's alpha indexes, as well as test–retest stability, provided satisfactory results. Correlations of the OAS total score and its subscales with the Beck Depression Inventory–II (rs = .30–.48) and the Teate Depression Inventory (rs = .32–.45) were both substantial and significant (p < .01). Receiver operating characteristic curves were constructed to indicate sensitivity and specificity of the OAS and its subscales when determining those nonclinical subjects who met clinical thresholds for depression symptoms. A series of cutoff scores for the OAS scale and its subscales was developed, with sensitivity values between .70 and .62, and specificity values between .71 and .62, indicating good to fair discrimination between the 2 groups (depressed vs. nondepressed). The theoretical and practical implications of these results were discussed.