Self as verb and the metaphor of dance: An explanation of the self discovery experience within a constructivist framework

The concept of self discovery within a constructivist framework is difficult to explain given the central assumption of constructivism that self is a created construct rather than an entity to be discovered. Two problems are identified as impediments to constructivist accounts of the self discovery experience: first, their failure to adequately account for the embodied experience of self, and second, the difficulties inherent in using self as a noun to express a process.
It is proposed that if self is considered as a verb, as the action of a body-subject, the verbal contortionism of referring to self as a process in a language that places self as an entity may be overcome. The notion of self as verb places the individual firmly in the role of active embodied participant in the experience of self. The metaphor of "self'" as "dance" is explored to emphasize the materiality of the human animal that is argued to be central to the experience of self discovery.     

The interaction of pronunciation rules and lexical representations in reading aloud

Two experiments examined the role of pronunciation rules and of lexical information in pronouncing letter strings. In Experiment 1, subjects pronounced pseudowords varying in the strength of the rules needed to pronounce them, as well as in the availability of a lexical model. In Experiment 2, the stimuli were words varying in rule strength and in usage frequency. The pronunciation times from both experiments displayed an interaction between rules and lexical information: When the rules necessary were strong, the relative availability of lexical information was less important than when the rules were weak. The results were discussed with respect to both traditional dual-process models of pronunciation and models proposing the use of lexical analogies.     

Neural correlates of intertemporal choice in aggressive behavior

People often have to make decisions between immediate rewards and more long-term goals. Such intertemporal judgments are often investigated in the context of monetary choice or drug use, yet not in regard to aggressive behavior. We combined a novel intertemporal aggression paradigm with functional neuroimaging to examine the role of temporal delay in aggressive behavior and the neural correlates thereof. Sixty-one participants (aged 18–22 years; 37 females) exhibited substantial variability in the extent to which they selected immediate acts of lesser aggression versus delayed acts of greater aggression against a same-sex opponent. Choosing delayed-yet-more-severe aggression was increased by provocation and associated with greater self-control. Preferences for delayed aggression were associated with greater activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) during such choices, and reduced functional connectivity between the VMPFC and brain regions implicated in motor impulsivity. Preferences for immediate aggression were associated with reduced functional connectivity between the VMPFC and the frontoparietal control network. Dispositionally aggressive participants exhibited reduced VMPFC activity, which partially explained and suppressed their preferences for delayed aggression. Blunted VMPFC activity may thus be a neural mechanism that promotes reactive aggression towards provocateurs among dispositionally aggressive individuals. These findings demonstrate the utility of an intertemporal framework for investigating aggression and provide further evidence for the similar underlying neurobiology between aggression and other rewarding behaviors.     

Relations of Parenting and Negative Life Events to Cognitive Diatheses for Depression in Children

In a sample of 299 children (grades 2, 4, and 6), we examined parenting and negative life events as predictors of depressive cognitions, specifically low self-perceived competence, depressive cognitive schemas, and depressogenic attributional style. We also examined developmental trends in these relations. Children completed measures of parenting, negative life events, and depressive cognitions. Parents also completed measures of parenting and negative life events. Consistent with our hypotheses, negative parenting and negative life events corresponded with higher levels of depressive cognitions, whereas positive parenting corresponded with lower levels of depressive cognitions. The relations between negative parenting and negative automatic thoughts were stronger for older children. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Healing and Harming

As part of a volunteering program, a medical student learns the story of a sick infant whose survival was wholly dependent on modern medicine. The family was pacified by believing, during pregnancy, that the fetus would be healthy. Poor counseling and unethical physician behavior led to the trauma of the family's struggle to keep its baby alive, happy, and as healthy as possible. The need for adequate, thorough, and individualized counseling is a critical and still unfulfilled need in patient care.     

Learning new vocabulary in German: the effects of inferring word meanings,type of feedback,and time of test

In the present study, introductory-level German students read a simplified story and learned the meanings of new German words by reading English translations in marginal glosses versus trying to infer (i.e., guess) their translations. Students who inferred translations were given feedback in English or in German, or no feedback at all. Although immediate retention of new vocabulary was better for students who used marginal glosses, students who inferred word meanings and then received English feedback forgot fewer translations over time. Plausible but inaccurate inferences (i.e., those that made sense in the context) were more likely to be corrected by students who received English feedback as compared with German feedback, providing support for the beneficial effects of mediating information. Implausible inaccurate inferences, however, were more likely to be corrected on the delayed vocabulary test by students who received German feedback as compared with English feedback, possibly because of the additional contextual support provided by German feedback.     

Impact of Location and Availability of Behavioral Health Services for Children

Literature suggests advantages for co-locating behavioral health care in primary care. We compared the impact of location of services on attendance at behavioral health appointments when access to care was assured for externalizing behavior problems with referral as usual. Two primary care pediatric practices had an evidence-based parenting program co-located in the practice for parents of children aged 2?C12 years and two practices had the program available using an enhanced-referral procedure for locations external to the practices. The program was available at the regional children??s hospital (referral as usual). During an 8-month period, the rate of attendance at first appointments was significantly higher in the co-located than the enhanced referral condition (.38 and .12 % of patient visits, respectively; ??² = 13.32; p < .0003; OR = 3.10; 95 % CI: 1.63, 5.89). These outcomes, while low, were better than the near 0 rate of attendance to referral as usual. Availability of behavioral health services in both conditions increased rates of attended appointments. However, the low rates of attendance indicate increasing availability of services, alone, is not sufficient to decrease the unmet need of children with behavioral problems. Factors other than availability must be addressed in order to improve outcomes for children.     

Thinking Outside the Clocks: The Effect of Layered‐Task Time on the Creative Climate of Meetings

The turbulence of the new economy puts demands on organizations to respond rapidly, flexibly and creatively to changing environments. Meetings are one of the organizational sites in which organizational actors “do” creativity; interaction in groups can be an important site for generating creative ideas and brainstorming. Additionally, Blount (2004) demonstrated the importance of organizational temporalities for group performance. We draw on both of these literatures and examine how temporal structures influence the climate for creativity, or the extent to which creativity is fostered, within groups. Specifically, we develop a hypothesis linking organization‐ and job‐level temporal structures to the extent to which managers structure meetings with a climate supportive of creativity. Our results demonstrate that a nuanced relationship exists between temporal structures and creative climate such that certain temporal structures appear to either enhance or decrease the creative climate of meetings. We end with a discussion of the implications of the findings for management.     

Is Low Anxiety Part of the Psychopathy Construct?

Low anxiety has traditionally been considered a feature of psychopathy, but there has been mixed research support for this conceptualization. We investigated the PPI-R-SF Stress Immunity subscale (a measure of low anxiety) in relation to 2 widely used self-report psychopathy scales in a sample of 346 undergraduate students. Results indicated that PPI-R-SF Stress Immunity was nearly unrelated to other indicators of psychopathy, showing a near-zero loading on the common psychopathy factor defined jointly by the scales of the PPI-R-SF and SRP-III. Stress Immunity also showed a pattern of personality and temperament correlates much different from those of other psychopathy subscales. Finally, Stress Immunity had a slight negative correlation with self-reports of diverse antisocial acts. These results suggest that despite its historical importance in the conceptualization of psychopathy, low anxiety is likely not a core feature of psychopathy.