The development of infants' preference for motherese

Generally, infants prefer infant-directed (ID) to adult-directed (AD) speech. Mostly, researchers have used unfamiliar female voices in these studies. We investigated preferences for maternal ID speech in 1- and 4-month-olds. Using a procedure in which infants controlled access to voices by fixating a visual display, infants listened to recordings of natural female ID and AD speech. In Experiment 1, 1-month-olds heard recordings of maternal ID and AD speech, but these infants showed no preference for maternal ID speech. In Experiment 2, 1-month-olds heard the same ID and AD speech tapes but were not familiar with the speakers. Contrary to Experiment 1, these infants preferred ID speech. In Experiment 3, 4-month-olds heard recordings of maternal ID and AD speech and showed a significant preference for ID speech. Collectively, these results suggest that infant attention to ID speech depends on both speaker-general and speaker-specific characteristics, with interesting developmental changes occuring during early infancy.     

Language: Definition and Metaphor

This paper argues that there is an urgent need for philosophers to convince educationalists of the practical value and the necessity of the philosophical task, particularly analysis. The nature of philosophical analysis is outlined in terms of the criteria of clarity, coherence, completeness and compatibility, which, it is argued, in turn lead to a degree of commonality. The tendency to substitute metaphor or analogy for analysis in argument is then considered, with illustrative reference to the idea of teaching as a craft. In the final section, it is suggested that resort to analogy is merely one example of a more general tendency to distance ourselves from the task of coming to grips with what is actually our field of interest, namely education.     

Book Reviews: The Contemporary Kleinians of London,edited by Roy Schafer,International Universities Press, 1995, 441 ps.

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -     

Theological Education: A Theological Framework for Renewed Mission and Models

Abstract : This essay explores renewed ways to reimagine theological education. Incarnation is used as a theological lens that engages anew “the transmission of Christian memory, the education for God's peace and justice, and the formation of church and community leadership.” Attention is given to apprenticeship, project‐based learning, distributed learning, and global learning, and concludes with implications for governance and faculty.     

On Traits and Temperament: General and Specific Factors of Emotional Experience and Their Relation to the Five-Factor Model

In this article we investigate relations between general and specific measures of self-rated affect and markers of Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. Replicating previous research, we found strong and pervasive associations between Neuroticism, its facets, and the various negative affects; and between Extraversion, its facets, and the positive affects. Conscientiousness also had a significant, independent relation with general positive affect, but this effect was entirely due to the specific affect of attentiveness, which was more strongly related to Conscientiousness than Extraversion. Conversely, only the achievement facet of Conscientiousness correlated broadly with the positive affects. Finally, hostility had a strong independent association with (low) Agreeableness. The results for Neuroticism and Extraversion further clarify the temperamental basis of these higher order trait dimensions; whereas those obtained for Agreeableness and Conscientiousness illustrate the importance of examining personality-affect relations at the lower order level.     

Social support and patient adherence to medical treatment: a meta-analysis.

In a review of the literature from 1948 to 2001, 122 studies were found that correlated structural or functional social support with patient adherence to medical regimens. Meta-analyses establish significant average r-effect sizes between adherence and practical, emotional, and unidimensional social support; family cohesiveness and conflict; marital status; and living arrangement of adults. Substantive and methodological variables moderate these effects. Practical support bears the highest correlation with adherence. Adherence is 1.74 times higher in patients from cohesive families and 1.53 times lower in patients from families in conflict. Marital status and living with another person (for adults) increase adherence modestly. A research agenda is recommended to further examine mediators of the relationship between social support and health.     

Self-presentations of happiness: sincere, polite, or cautious?

Two studies addressed the meaning of expressed happiness in social relationships. In the first study, men expected to interact with a socially desirable or a socially undesirable woman. It was predicted that (a) when about to meet a socially undesirable woman, men would display more happiness publicly than is felt privately and (b) when about to meet a socially desirable woman, men would display less happiness publicly than felt privately. Results supported the former and tended to support the latter prediction. In the second study, the authors predicted that women would mistrust men's expressions of happiness upon meeting them such that (a) unattractive women would suspect men of inflating happiness and (b) attractive women would suspect men of suppressing happiness. Results supported the former but not the latter hypothesis. Taking relationship-specific goals into account appears to be important in determining whether emotion will be accurately conveyed and can be trusted.     

Reconstructing psychopathy: clarifying the significance of antisocial and socially deviant behavior in the diagnosis of psychopathic personality disorder

A survey of clinical views suggests that the significance of antisocial and socially deviant behavior in the diagnosis of psychopathic personality disorder is unclear. To investigate this issue, we evaluated Psychopathy Checklist-Revised ratings (PCL-R; Hare, 1991) using structural equation modeling. One model, referred to as the measurement model, included PCL-R ratings related to antisocial behavior as primary symptoms of psychopathy; a second, referred to as the causal model, included the same PCL-R ratings as secondary symptoms or consequences. Compared to the measurement models, the causal model included more PCL-R items, was more parsimonious, and had equal or superior fit indices. These findings suggest that antisocial behavior is best viewed as a secondary symptom or consequence of psychopathy, In addition, the findings have important implications for future research and clinical-forensic practice, especially concerning the assessment of risk for criminality and violence.