Processing prefixes and suffixes in handwriting production

Previous research showed that handwriting production is mediated by linguistically oriented processing units such as syllables and graphemes. The goal of this study was to investigate whether French adults also activate another kind of unit that is more related to semantics than phonology, namely morphemes. Experiment 1 revealed that letter duration and inter-letter intervals were longer for suffixed words than for pseudo-suffixed words. These results suggest that the handwriting production system chunks the letter components of the root and suffix into morpheme-sized units. Experiment 2 compared the production of prefixed and pseudo-prefixed words. The results did not yield significant differences. This asymmetry between suffix and prefix processing has also been observed in other linguistic tasks. In suffixed words, the suffix would be processed on-line during the production of the root, in an analytic fashion. Prefixed words, in contrast, seem to be processed without decomposition, as pseudo-affixed words.     

Parental and Secondary School Teachers’ Perceptions of ICT Professionals, Gender Differences and their Role in the Choice of Studies

The influence of parents and teachers in the decisions made by adolescents regarding study options has not been widely documented in Spain. The main aim of this qualitative study consisted of analyzing the opinions of parents and secondary school teachers about their role in the different academic and professional choices boys and girls make. Seven focus groups (4 with 27 parents and 3 with 22 secondary school teachers) from 5 schools located in urban and rural areas of Catalonia (Spain) were carried out in order to explore how both groups perceive Information and Communication Technology (ICT) professionals, gender differences in study options and their own role in adolescents’ choice of study options. Our findings show that parents and teachers hold stereotypes about ICTs and consider that gender does not condition adolescents’ study choices. Both groups saw themselves as playing a secondary role in adolescents’ academic and professional choices. Some gender differences among parents and teachers emerged regarding their perception of the ICT professionals and their own role and of others in shaping adolescents’ study choices.?The findings and their practical implications are discussed.     

Influence of background on precision of 3D depth judgment tasks in a real environment

Presently, little is known about the effect of curved backgrounds against which the target stimulus is presented on precision in stereoacuity. The experiment analyzed the influence of stimulus orientation and 3D background configuration on stereoscopic vision. Participants were instructed to perform 3D visual alignment tasks on a modified version of the Howard-Dolman apparatus, whereupon precision in depth perception for different curved backgrounds (flat, black, concave, and convex) was evaluated. In addition, the influence of stimulus orientation (0 degrees, 45 degrees, and 90 degrees) on precision was examined. The findings revealed an underestimation in the perceived depth in all background configurations, indicating highest and lowest precision outcomes for convex and concave backgrounds, respectively. In addition, a significant interaction of background and orientation was found. It was concluded that, in a real environment, background local depth cues are integrated with target stimuli to contribute to depth perception.     

A review of time-motion analysis and combat development in mixed martial arts matches at regional level tournaments

Mixed martial arts (MMA) have become a fast-growing worldwide expansion of martial arts competition, requiring high level of skill, physical conditioning, and strategy, and involving a synthesis of combat while standing or on the ground. This study quantified the effort-pause ratio (EP), and classified effort segments of stand-up or groundwork development to identify the number of actions performed per round in MMA matches. 52 MMA athletes participated in the study (M age = 24 yr., SD = 5; average experience in MMA = 5 yr., SD = 3). A one-way analysis of variance with repeated measurements was conducted to compare the type of action across the rounds. A chi-squared test was applied across the percentages to compare proportions of different events. Only one significant difference (p < .05) was observed among rounds: time in groundwork of low intensity was longer in the second compared to the third round. When the interval between rounds was not considered, the EP ratio (between high-intensity effort to low-intensity effort plus pauses) was 1:2 to 1:4. This ratio is between ratios typical for judo, wrestling, karate, and taekwondo and reflects the combination of ground and standup techniques. Most of the matches ended in the third round, involving high-intensity actions, predominantly executed during groundwork combat.     

Work-family and family-work conflict: does intrinsic-extrinsic satisfaction mediate the prediction of general job satisfaction?

The objective of this study is to analyze the mediating role of intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction in the relationship between the 2 dimensions of work-family conflict-family interfering with work (FIW) and work interfering with family (WIF)-and general job satisfaction. Step-by-step hierarchical regression analyses were carried out on a sample of 151 men and women from a Spanish public organization. The results confirmed the mediating role of intrinsic job satisfaction in the case of FIW. This highlights the importance of taking into account the level of satisfaction with the intrinsic facets of one's job as a measure for understanding why FIW has a negative impact on general job satisfaction.     

Generalization gradients in human predictive learning: Effects of discrimination training and within-subjects testing

Generalization gradients have been investigated widely in animal conditioning experiments, but much less so in human predictive learning tasks. Here, we apply the experimental design of a recent study on conditioned fear generalization in humans (Lissek et al., 2008) to a predictive learning task, and examine the effects of a number of relevant procedural parameters drawn from the generalization literature in animal conditioning. Experiment 1 shows that prior discrimination learning and steady-state testing procedures sharpen the gradient; Experiment 2 shows that within-subjects testing of the range of generalization stimuli also sharpens the gradient. In addition, Experiment 2 shows that, in case of very flat initial generalization, an orderly gradient can reveal itself through differential rates of extinction learning. Finally, Experiment 2 also evidenced an orderly gradient of generalization-of-extinction. These results suggest that discrimination processes have an important effect on the generalization of predictive learning in humans, and highlight behavioral analogies between animal conditioning and human predictive learning.     

The distance effect in numerical memory-updating tasks

Two experiments examined the role of numerical distance in updating numerical information in working memory. In the first experiment, participants had to memorize a new number only when it was smaller than a previously memorized number. In the second experiment, updating was based on an external signal, which removed the need to perform any numerical comparison. In both experiments, distance between the memorized number and the new one was manipulated. The results showed that smaller distances between the new and the old information led to shorter updating times. This graded facilitation suggests that the process by which information is substituted in the focus of attention involves maintaining the shared features between the new and the old number activated and selecting other new features to be activated. Thus, the updating cost may be related to amount of new features to be activated in the focus of attention.     

A Liberation Psychology Approach to Acculturative Integration of Migrant Populations

This paper describes an acculturative integration approach that stresses the contribution of liberation psychology. Immigrant integration is a challenge for receiving countries in the Western world due to the frequent asymmetrical and oppressive conditions suffered by newcomers in their new settlements. The cross-cultural perspective connects integration with psychological acculturation, emphasizing harmony between acquisitions of the new culture while maintaining cultural heritage, and creating opportunities for intergroup relationships. In turn, liberation psychology permits an understanding of the acculturative transition as an empowerment and self-construction process by which immigrants acquire a new vision of the world and of themselves, transforming both structural conditions and themselves. From this perspective we conceptualize acculturative integration as the process by which newcomers become an accepted part of the new society through a reflexive and evaluative process, changing their social references and position, rebuilding their social and personal resources, and achieving a new agency in coherence with their new challenges and goals. In this process, they acquire critical thinking about unequal conditions, gain capacities to respond to the inequalities, and take effective actions to confront them. We illustrate this process using the narratives of nine Moroccan women who are living in asymmetrical and oppressive local contexts in Andalusia, the southern-most region of Spain.     

No postnatal maternal effect on male aggressiveness in wild-derived strains of house mice

Male aggressiveness is a complex behavior influenced by a number of genetic and non-genetic factors. Traditionally, the contribution of each of these factors has been established from experiments using artificially selected strains for high/low aggressive phenotypes. However, little is known about the factors underlying aggressive behavior in natural populations. In this study, we assess the influence of genetic background vs. postnatal maternal environment using a set of cross-fostering experiments between two wild-derived inbred strains, displaying high (STRA, derived from Mus musculus domesticus) and low (BUSNA, derived from Mus musculus musculus) levels of aggressiveness. The role of maternal environment was tested in males with the same genetic background (i.e. strain origin) reared under three different conditions: unfostered (weaned by mother), infostered (weaned by an unfamiliar dam from the same strain), and cross-fostered (weaned by a dam from a different strain). All males were tested against non-aggressive opponents from the A/J inbred strain. Resource-holding potential was assessed through body weight gains and territory ownership. The STRA males were shown to be aggressive in both neutral cage and resident-intruder tests. On the contrary, the BUSNA males were less aggressive in all tests. We did not find a significant effect of postnatal maternal environment; however, we detected significant maternal effect on body weight with differences between the strains, fostering type and interactions between these factors. We conclude that the aggressiveness preserved in the two strains has significant genetic component whose genetic basis can be dissected by quantitative trait loci analysis.