Impact of a training program in full consciousness (mindfulness) in the measure of growth and personal self-realization

This research focused on the impact of a full awareness (mindfulness) program on the sense of growth and personal self-realization in a sample of secondary school students. A randomized controlled design with an experimental group and waiting-list group was implemented. The Self-concept and Self-actualization Questionnaire (AURE) was used as dependent variable and was administrated before and after running the mindfulness program. The results show a statistically significant difference between pre-test and post-test scores on all factors and subfactors of the AURE. It is concluded that a program of meditation, focused on mindfulness training, may be a valid and appropriate instrument to improve a personal sense of self-realization and growth. It is also suggested that the use of such a program could be complementary with the Instructional-Emotive Program for Personal Growth and Self-realization (PIECAP) psycho-educational program.     

College Women��s Feminist Identity: A Multidimensional Analysis with Implications for Coping with Sexism

This study examined components of women's feminist identity and possible relations to their reported coping responses to sexism. A sample of 169 undergraduate women (M?=?19.4?y, SD?=?1.2) from diverse ethnic backgrounds completed surveys assessing their experiences and gender-related views. The first set of analyses revealed that women's social gender identity, exposure to feminism, and gender-egalitarian attitudes independently contributed to feminist identification; moreover, non-stereotyping of feminists further predicted feminist self-identification. A second set of analyses tested the relative contribution of feminist identity components to women's cognitive appraisals of coping responses to sexual harassment. Seeking social support was predicted by self-identification as a feminist (for White European American women only). Confronting was predicted by social gender identity, non-stereotyping of feminists, and public identification as a feminist. Findings highlight possible components of women's feminist identity and their possible impact on coping responses to sexism.     

The intergenerational transmission of social exclusion and its detection in early childhood education

In this paper we analyse the relationship between the self-confidence manifested by 3-6 year old in the internal working model (evaluated by interview) and their adaptation to nursery environment observed by their teacher, along with the relationship between these variables and the social-economic disadvantage encountered by the families of the children. The study was carried out with 128 children (64 from families in deprived circumstances and 64 in the contrast group). The results show that children from families with serious problems of exclusion exhibit adaptation deficiencies in all of the assessed factors: competence and empathy, passiveness/isolation and antisocial behavior; in the interview, they also show less frequency of the secure model, and higher frequency in the destructured and avoidant models than in the contrast group. These differences can be interpreted as the origin of the exclusion and destructurisation that characterises the families in question.     

Boston Naming Test: problems with administration and scoring

The poorly written administration and scoring instructions for the Boston Naming Test allow too wide a range of interpretations. Three different, seemingly correct interpretations of the scoring methods were compared. The results show that these methods can produce large differences in the total score.     

Long-term exposure to environmental enrichment since youth prevents recognition memory decline and increases synaptic plasticity markers in aging

Aging-associated brain changes include functional alterations that are usually related with memory decline. Epidemiological reports show that a physically and intellectually active life provides a protective effect on this decline and delays the onset of several neurodegenerative diseases. The cellular mechanisms behind the behavioral-based therapies, such as environmental enrichment (EE) exposure, as a method for alleviating age-related memory impairments, are still unknown. Although some reports have shown the benefits of EE exposure in cognitive outcomes in old mice and in animals with experimental neurodegenerative conditions, the effects of lifelong animal exposure to EE have not been explored in detail. In the present work we tested in a rat model the effects of intermittent lifelong exposure since youth to EE on behavioral performance, object recognition memory and anxiety level, as well as on some morphological and biochemical markers of brain plasticity such as hippocampal neurogenesis, synaptophysin content and synaptic morphology. We found that environmental factors have a positive impact on short-memory preservation, as well as on the maintenance of synapses and in the increase in number of new generated neurons within the hippocampus during aging.     

PSYCHOLOGICAL ABUSE, SELF-ESTEEM, AND WOMEN'S DATING RELATIONSHIP OUTCOMES

Self-verification theory implies that people with negative self-views may be drawn to abusive partners who mistreat them. However, abusive partner behavior differs from the types of partner feedback typically examined within a self-verification framework, which could render generalization to abuse problematic. We propose that self-enhancement theory better accounts for the effects of abuse on relationship outcomes. Self-enhancement theory suggests that people are drawn to others who treat them favorably, regardless of people's own self-views. We investigated the effects of abusive feedback from dating partners, relative to women's Self-esteem levels, on relationship intimacy and stability. Predictions based on both self-verification and self-enhancement theories were tested cross-sectionally and with a subsample of women 6 weeks after the initial assessment. Results were most consistent with self-enhancement theory; partner abuse was related to lesser relationship stability and intimacy. More limited support was obtained for self-verification theory. Importantly, women with lower self-esteem did not endorse greater stability or intimacy as a function of receiving psychological abuse. We conclude that self-enhancement theory better explains the link between psychological abuse and relationship outcomes, although self-verification theory may account for reactions to other types of partner behavior.     

Atypical shape bias and categorization in autism: Evidence from children and computational simulations

The shape bias, a preference for mapping new word labels onto the shape rather than the color or texture of referents, has been postulated as a word‐learning mechanism. Previous research has shown deficits in the shape bias in children with autism even though they acquire sizeable lexicons. While previous explanations have suggested the atypical use of color for label extension in individuals with autism, we hypothesize an atypical mapping of novel labels to novel objects, regardless of the physical properties of the objects. In Experiment 1, we demonstrate this phenomenon in some individuals with autism, but the novelty of objects only partially explains their lack of shape bias. In a second experiment, we present a computational model that provides a developmental account of the shape bias in typically developing children and in those with autism. This model is based on theories of neurological dysfunctions in autism, and it integrates theoretical and empirical findings in the literature of categorization, word learning, and the shape bias. The model replicates the pattern of results of our first experiment and shows how individuals with autism are more likely to categorize experimental objects together on the basis of their novelty. It also provides insights into possible mechanisms by which children with autism learn new words, and why their word referents may be idiosyncratic. Our model highlights a developmental approach to autism that emphasizes deficient representations of categories underlying an impaired shape bias.     

The Effect of Education on Age-Related Functional Activation During Working Memory

Education has been suggested to play a protective role against the development of age-related dementias. Accordingly, we examined modulation of functional activation during working memory by age and education. Eight older individuals with a college education, six older individuals with a high school education, and eight younger individuals with a college education performed a working memory task during O¹⁵ [water] PET scanning. In a voxel-by-voxel whole brain search, older participants with less education demonstrated greater left frontal activation relative to older participants with more education. Older participants with more education demonstrated greater right precuneus activation relative to older participants with less education. This suggests that older less educated participants may have used additional frontal resources to compensate for dysfunctional parietal cortex. These results occurred in the context of similar activation in well-educated younger and older participants. Younger participants had one unique area of activation in the left posterior parietal cortex and no differences in frontal activation were observed between these two groups. The results of this study indicate the need to consider education in age-related neuroimaging studies.