Utilities in the 2-4-6 task

The Wason 2-4-6 task was embedded in a practical reasoning scenario where number sequences had well-defined utilities in the process of achieving a goal. Reasoners' hypothesis-testing behavior was clearly goal-driven and was significantly influenced by whether the utilities favored positive or negative sequences. In the version of the scenario where generating positive sequences had greater benefits than generating negative ones, participants performed poorly at the task as measured by their ability to guess the correct rule and by the nature and number of triples tested before making an announcement. In contrast, the scenario that assigned a greater utility to the production of negative sequences fostered significantly more diligent and creative hypothesis-testing behavior, and participants were significantly more likely to discover the rule. These results suggest that the poor performance observed in Wason's traditional 2-4-6 task reflects a hypothesis-testing process that by default assigns greater utility to the production of sequences that conform to the initial triple, and hence receive positive feedback. However, reasoners are not averse to producing negative sequences, and understand their implication, if their utility is made relevant in the process of achieving goals.     

The Effect of Rehabilitation on Positive Interpretations of Illness

Postoperative patients received one of the three, alternative pain-management treatments: patient-controlled analgesia (PCA); perceived PCA (PPCA without actual control) and continuous intravenous infusion of analgesics (CII). Pain reports, morphine consumption and satisfaction of the groups were compared, and influences of individual differences in preferences for control and trait anxiety were tested. The main findings were: (1) PCA patients consumed less morphine and reported more pain and somewhat higher satisfaction; (2) PPCA patients were intermediate between the other two groups in pain reports and morphine consumption and lowest in satisfaction and (3) individual differences did not moderate the effects of PCA. The findings were interpreted as indicating that the main effect of PCA is increased pain tolerance, and that a bio-psycho-social framework is most appropriate to explain these effects.     

Desana mythology: Oral indigenous literature

Abstract

Mythic narrative in an indigenous community is not only an end in itself. It elaborates an interpretive discourse about the world, a shared past, and a common pattern of behavior. Among the Desana of the Brazilian Amazon, mythology serves two purposes: It is a basis for reinforcing a lifestyle and a means of resisting encroachments on the tribe's identity. The author worked with two members of the Desana tribe, rewriting the final draft of their anthology of tribal myths, a book that attempts to preserve the Desana mythology and ethnic heritage.     

Building a Successful University Program: Key and Common Elements of Expert Coaches

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to determine how expert university coaches of team sports built their successful programs. In particular, key and common elements that enabled these coaches to achieve success were identified. Five expert Canadian female university coaches were interviewed individually. The results of the analysis revealed four elements for developing successful programs. First, coaches possessed a variety of personal attributes that enabled them to display appropriate leadership behaviors depending on the situation they faced. Second, coaches had a personal desire to foster their players' individual growth. Third, coaches possessed thorough organizational skills from which they planned the season and prepared their team for games. Finally, these elements were linked together by the coaches' vision, which involved the athletes buying into the coaches' goals, philosophy, and personality in order to achieve success. These results are discussed in relation to literature on coaching psychology and leadership.     

« Contexte évaluatif,règles d’équité et d’égalité. Une approche stratégique de la justice distributive. »

This article must be considered within the framework of research on distributive justice in the organisational context (Adams, 1965; Deutsch, 1975; Colquitt and Jackson, 2002). The aim is to propose an analysis from a political point of view of the orientation towards equity and equality rules. We take as a starting point the model of political decision in the organisational context by Murphy and Cleveland (1995). The political approach postulates that one cannot pertinently give an account of the managers’ decision modes without locating them in their daily context of human relations management, and their management strategy. We will examine the links between the context of immediate management and the managers’ choices for equity or equality. The results of two studies will be presented. They tend to legitimate the relevance of this approach.     

Implantation des messageries électroniques en Gendarmerie Nationale : quelles incidences sur la communication et l’information ?

This research is conduced a full year after the implementation of numerous instant messaging services within National Gendarmerie. The objective is to study their use and impact on communication and information management, considering the specificities of this military institution. Our methodology confronts semi-directive interviews with gendarmes and commanders, with observations of real-life, work situations. Results show a rapid integration of messaging systems by those agents. They facilitate a quick circulation of information that can sometimes be seen as too dense, easier communication with colleagues and civilians, a more accessible and much relied-upon command, and eventually transparency that is sometimes perceived as a feeling of control.     

Apodemus sylvaticus (LOXT) is a suitable mouse strain for testing spatial memory retention in the Morris water maze

Information on the difference in cognitive function between laboratory and wild-caught mice is anecdotal and this question has not been systematically studied. Moreover, studying a wild-caught mouse strain per se may add information to the repertoire of mouse strains available. We aimed to study spatial memory in a wild mouse strain (Apodemus sylvaticus, AS) as compared to two individual laboratory mouse strains.Male AS (n = 20), CD1 (n = 19) and C57BL/6J mice (n = 19), 12–14 weeks old, were used in the experiments. The Morris water maze (MWM) was used for determination of spatial memory and time spent in the target quadrant at time points 5 (D5) and 12 days (D12) was evaluated. During the acquisition phase latency to reach the platform and path length to reach the platform was evaluated.Following four training days on day 5 (D5), time spent in the target quadrant was highest in AS > CD1 > C57BL/6J (P < 0.006). On day 12 (D12), time spent in the target quadrant was significantly higher in AS than in both other strains (P < 0.001).All animals learned the task and during the acquisition phase, latency to reach the platform as well as path length decreased significantly in AS.It is concluded that the AS is the most suitable strain for the evaluation of spatial memory in the MWM and is presenting with memory retention superior to laboratory mouse strains CD1 and C57BL/6J.     

Aggressive behavior as a function of Taekwondo ranking

This study examined the effect taekwondo training has on the level of aggression of children between the ages of 6 and 11 yr. 68 students (boys and girls) were tested using a behavior checklist designed to measure children's aggression. Analysis indicated a significant inverse relationship between the children's taekwondo rank and their aggression.     

Maternal attachment representations and the development of very low birth weight premature infants at two years of age

There is a consensus that prematurity could increase the risk of attachment impairment. We studied 90 premature children with very low birth weights (<1,500 g) and 96 healthy children born at term with similar age and sociodemographic characteristics. Our objective was to assess maternal stress and attachment representations, and compare development indices on both groups at 2 years of age. Premature infants had a medium‐to‐severe degree of immaturity and biological risk (M gestational age = 29.98 weeks; birth weight = 1,159.76 g), with 57% staying in the ICU ≥1 week. These children born prematurely had lower scores on the development indices within the normal range. Mothers of premature infants (n = 74) reported higher levels of stress during their first year of life (59%) than did controls (41%), but no significant differences were detected in maternal attachment discourse between the two groups. The findings confirm that premature birth has a great influence on maternal emotional responses and the health and development of children in the first years of life, and indicate that stress responses in parents and warning signs for attachment problems should be assessed as early as possible.     

TWO FACES OF THE CULTURE OF DEATH: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GRIEF WORK AND HUNGARIAN PEASANT SOUL BELIEFS

This article aims to demonstrate that peasant death culture–as a part of the social construction of reality–does not only support the grief work of survivors, but sometimes also interferes with and encumbers it. This destructive aspect of death culture is rooted in its this-worldly normative and order preservative role. If the deceased pursued a norm-following life course, peasant culture offers him or her a positive otherworldly perspective of existence, and supports the reorganization of the survivors in various ways. On the other hand, certain infringements of norms (e .g., suicide) are associated with deterrent otherworldly perspectives and are penalized with sanctions falling on the survivors. These sanctions increase survivors' bitterness and shelterlessness and make more difficult the finding of meaning, as well as a comforting closing of the relation to the deceased and its transition into an inner representation.