What Is Sexual Empowerment? A Multidimensional and Process-Oriented Approach to Adolescent Girls’ Sexual Empowerment

Theorists disagree about how to define the concept of empowerment. This disagreement extends to discussions of adolescent girls’ sexual empowerment. Feminists struggle with whether sexual empowerment should be conceptualized as a subjective internal feeling of power and agency or an objective measure of power and control. Defining sexual empowerment as a subjective state may mistakenly equate feelings of agency with cultural and institutional power. Yet, a subjective definition of sexual empowerment is advantageous in that it validates girls’ own experiences and perceptions. This commentary argues that sexual empowerment might best be conceptualized as a continuous and multidimensional construct. This would allow for the recognition of sexual empowerment as a developmental process, and it would allow for the acknowledgement of ambivalent empowerment.     

明清道教伦理的新特征及传播

这篇文章通过比较研究的方法,以道教经典和通俗文学作品为依据研究和总结了明清时期道教在伦理观念方面的新特征以及这一时期道教在宗教伦理的传播方面的新局面。同时,文章也结合明清时期的社会经济背景和宗教背景分析了道教在这一时期的发展趋势以及与民众,特别是下层民众间的互动关系。     

Mimicry in social interaction: Benefits for mimickers,mimickees, and their interaction

Mimicry has benefits for people in social interactions. However, evidence regarding the consequences of mimicry is incomplete. First, research on mimicry has particularly focused on effects of being mimicked. Secondly, on the side of the mimicker evidence is correlational or lacks real interaction data. The present study investigated effects for mimickers and mimickees in face‐to‐face interaction. Feelings towards the immediate interaction partner and the interaction in which mimicry takes place were measured after an interaction between two participants in which mimicry did or did not occur. Results revealed that mimickers and mimickees became more affectively attuned to each other due to bidirectional influences of mimicry. Additionally, both mimickers and mimickees reported more feelings of having bonded with each other and rated the interaction as smoother.     

Conceptual and perceptual priming and dissociation in chronic posttraumatic stress disorder

Cognitive models of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) assert that memory processes play a significant role in PTSD (see e.g., Ehlers & Clark, 2000). Intrusive reexperiencing in PTSD has been linked to perceptual processing of trauma-related material with a corresponding hypothesized lack of conceptual processing. In an experimental study that included clinical participants with and without PTSD (N = 50), perceptual priming and conceptual priming for trauma-related, general threat, and neutral words were investigated in a population with chronic trauma-induced complaints as a result of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The study used a new version of the word-stem completion task (Michael, Ehlers, & Halligan, 2005) and a word-cue association task. It also assessed the role of dissociation in threat processing. Further evidence of enhanced perceptual priming in PTSD for trauma stimuli was found, along with evidence of lack of conceptual priming for such stimuli. Furthermore, this pattern of priming for trauma-related words was associated with PTSD severity, and state dissociation and PTSD group made significant contributions to predicting perceptual priming for trauma words. The findings shed light on the importance of state dissociation in trauma-related information processing and posttraumatic symptoms.     

The performance of rooks in a cooperative task depends on their temperament

In recent years, an increasing number of studies demonstrated the existence of consistent individual differences in behaviour, often referred to as differences in temperament or personality, in a wide range of animal species. There notably is a growing body of evidence showing that individuals differ in their propensity for risk taking or reacting to stressful situations. This variation has been related to differences in learning abilities or performance in cognitive tasks. In the present study, we examined the consequences of inter-individual variation in boldness on performance in a cooperative task in rooks (Corvus frugilegus). Birds were tested individually to measure a number of behavioural parameters related to boldness. The level of a stress-related hormone, corticosterone, in the faeces of each bird was measured under control conditions and after a stress-provoking event. In parallel, we conducted a cooperative string pulling task in which birds were tested in dyads. Successful cooperation depended to a large extent on the temperament of the two partners involved. Temperament, in turn, correlated well with corticosterone levels under stress. Bolder individuals appeared to be more willing to participate in the task, whereas shyer individuals were more influenced by the behaviour of their partner. These findings suggest that a rook’s temperament can limit its options of forming successfully cooperating partnerships under stressful conditions.     

Impact of Handedness Consistency on Bimanual and Unimanual Continuous Movements

Bimanual coordination is an essential human function requiring efficient interhemispheric communication to produce coordinated movements. Previous research suggests a “bimanual advantage” phenomenon, where completing synchronized bimanual tasks results in less variability than unimanual tasks. Additionally, of hand dominance has been shown to influence coordinated performance. The present study examined the bimanual advantage in individuals with consistent and inconsistent handedness. It was predicted that participants with consistent handedness would not display a bimanual advantage unlike those with inconsistent handedness. Fifty-six young adults completed a finger-tapping paradigm in five conditions: unimanual tapping with either left or right hand, in-phase bimanual tapping, and out-of phase bimanual tapping led by either left or right hand. Results were not consistent with the hypothesis that participants with consistent handedness displayed the “bimanual advantage”. However, the “bimanual advantage” was not evident for the inconsistent handers when the temporal consistency was measured with either the left or right hand only. Overall, the “bimanual advantage” may be dependent upon consistency of hand preference, as well as the direction of hand dominance.     

Psychopathy in a forensic sample – the factor structure of the PCL:SV in a Danish forensic sample

The research literature reveals an ongoing debate regarding the most appropriate conceptualization of psychopathic personality disorder. Specifically, it is discussed to what degree antisocial behavior is part of the conceptualization of the psychopathy construct and what constitutes the best factor model of the Psychopathy Checklist scales. The aim of the present study is to consider the underlying factor structure of the PCL:SV (Psychopathy Checklist Screening Version) in a Danish sample as well as considering the role of antisocial behavior in the psychopathy construct. Data from a Danish forensic patient sample (N = 225) was used and item response theory (IRT), aonfirmatory factor analyses (CFA) and structural equations model (SEM) analyses were carried out. Overall, the findings suggest appropriate item and model fit for the PCL:SV as well as superiority of the three‐factor model over the four‐factor model. The results are discussed in relation to the broader concept of personality disorder as well as clinical practice in regards to violence risk assessments and treatment of psychopathy.     

On the neurobiological redefinition of psychiatric symptoms: elimination,reduction, or what?

Synthese - Because biologization of psychiatric constructs does not involve derivation of laws, or reduce the number of entities involved, the traditional term of ‘reduction’ should be...     

大学生日常问题解决能力的特点及相关因素研究

运用自我评价与他人评价相结合的方法 ,对 664名大学生日常问题解决能力进行调查分析。结果表明 ,大学生日常问题解决能力有较强的领域特性和对象特性 ;人际能力、自我调控能力及自我管理能力是构成大学生日常问题解决能力的三大因子 ;在不同因子上存在年级或性别差异 ,且与身体健康、经济状况等因素具有显著的相关性。     

有氧运动对记忆的影响及其神经生物学机制

有氧运动是氧气充足时运用大型肌肉群进行有节奏的持续运动。有氧运动可以加快工作记忆任务中的反应速度;在记忆编码前和记忆巩固阶段进行高强度有氧运动有助于提升情景记忆;高强度有氧运动可以促进内隐记忆。有氧运动可以促进神经营养因子的产生,引起长时程增强,激活海马等与记忆相关的脑区并促进神经元再生。未来可探究有氧运动开始和持续时间的影响、有氧运动强度和认知参与的影响、有氧运动对不同年龄性别群体的影响以及脑源性神经营养因子的中介作用,从而深入揭示有氧运动对记忆的影响及其神经生物学机制。