The turple effect is modulated by base word frequency: Implications for models of lexical and semantic access

People who are asked to classify whether words presented visually belong to the category of animals respond to nonwords derived from animal names more slowly than they do to nonwords derived from nonanimal names. This is known as the turple effect (Forster, 2006; Forster & Hector, 2002). In the present article, we show that the turple effect is modulated by the frequency of the animal names from which the nonwords are derived: In particular, we show that nonwords derived from high-frequency animal names are rejected faster than those derived from low-frequency animal names. We discuss the implications of this result for two approaches to lexical and semantic access modeling. 2008 Psychonomic Society, Inc.     

Categories and Facets in Integrative Levels

Facets and general categories used in bibliographic classification have been based on a disciplinary organization of knowledge. However, facets and categories of phenomena independent from disciplines can be identified similarly. Phenomena can be classified according to a series of integrative levels (layers), which in turn can be grouped into the major strata of form, matter, life, mind, society and culture, agreeing with Nicolai Hartmann’s ontology. Unlike a layer, a stratum is not constituted of elements of the lower ones; rather, it represents the formal pattern of the lower ones, like the horse hoof represents the shape of the steppe. Bibliographic categories can now be seen in the light of level theory: some categories are truly general, while others only appear at a given level, being the realization of a general category in the specific context of the level: these are the facets of that level. In the notation of the Integrative Level Classification project, categories and facets are represented by digits, and displayed in a Web interface with the help of colours.     

Teachers' self-efficacy beliefs as determinants of job satisfaction and students' academic achievement: A study at the school level

Teachers' self-efficacy beliefs were examined as determinants of their job satisfaction and students' academic achievement. Over 2000 teachers in 75 Italian junior high schools were administered self-report questionnaires to assess self-efficacy beliefs and their job satisfaction Students' average final grades at the end of junior high school were collected in two subsequent scholastic years. Structural equation modeling analyses corroborated a conceptual model in which teachers' personal efficacy beliefs affected their job satisfaction and students' academic achievement, controlling for previous levels of achievement.     

Neuroanatomical correlates of handedness for tool use in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes): implication for theories on the evolution of language

It has been hypothesized that cognitive mechanisms underlying lateralized complex motor actions associated with tool use in chimpanzees may have set the stage for the evolution of left-hemisphere specialization for language and speech in humans. Here we report evidence that asymmetries in the homologues to Broca's and Wernicke's areas are associated with handedness for tool use in chimpanzees. These results suggest that the neural substrates of tool use may have served as a preadaptation for the evolution of language and speech in modern humans.     

Dysfunctional attitudes and episodes of major depression: Predictive validity and temporal stability in never-depressed, depressed, and recovered women

In a large, community-based sample of women (N = 750), the authors examined the nature of associations between dysfunctional attitudes and depression. Dysfunctional attitudes were evaluated both as a vulnerability factor for depression and as a consequence of depression. A link was found between past depression and baseline elevations in dysfunctional attitudes that was independent of current subsyndromal symptoms, but intensification of dysfunctional attitudes following prospectively evaluated episodes of depression (depressive "scarring") was not observed. Although baseline dysfunctional attitudes predicted an episode of major depression over 3 years of prospective study, this prediction, considered alone or in interaction with negative life events, was redundant with that offered by history of past depression. Further, no significant prediction was evident for the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale (A. N. Weissman & A. T. Beck, 1978) when the formerly depressed and never-depressed cohorts were considered separately. Implications for cognitive theories are discussed.     

Factorial invariance of the theory of planned behavior applied to physical activity across gender,age, and ethnic groups

Objectives:The present study assessed the generalizability of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) applied to physical activity and to examine if the TPB operates equivalently across gender, age, and ethnic sub-groups.Design/Methods:Measurement equivalence was evaluated for gender (male/female), age (19–34/35–54/55+) and ethnicity (Japanese/Hawaiian or part Hawaiian/Filipino/White) in a random sample (n = 3533) using Multisample Structural Equation Modeling.Results:Measurement equivalence was found for all variables and for their intercorrelations. Of the 100 possible TPB variable relationships between groups, only 6 were significant. The differences were found in explained variances of physical activity.Conclusions:The findings indicate that TPB measures apply over a range of population sub-groups, and should be considered comprehensively when designing interventions.     

Catching up with wonderful women: The women‐are‐wonderful effect is smaller in more gender egalitarian societies

Inequalities between men and women are common and well‐documented. Objective indexes show that men are better positioned than women in societal hierarchies—there is no single country in the world without a gender gap. In contrast, researchers have found that the women‐are‐wonderful effect—that women are evaluated more positively than men overall—is also common. Cross‐cultural studies on gender equality reveal that the more gender egalitarian the society is, the less prevalent explicit gender stereotypes are. Yet, because self‐reported gender stereotypes may differ from implicit attitudes towards each gender, we reanalysed data collected across 44 cultures, and (a) confirmed that societal gender egalitarianism reduces the women‐are‐wonderful effect when it is measured more implicitly (i.e. rating the personality of men and women presented in images) and (b) documented that the social perception of men benefits more from gender egalitarianism than that of women.     

Quantum monism: an assessment

Monism is roughly the view that there is only one fundamental entity. One of the most powerful argument in its favor comes from quantum mechanics. Extant discussions of quantum monism are framed independently of any interpretation of the quantum theory. In contrast, this paper argues that matters of interpretation play a crucial role when assessing the viability of monism in the quantum realm. I consider four different interpretations: modal interpretations, Bohmian mechanics, many worlds interpretations, and wavefunction realism. In particular, I extensively argue for the following claim: several interpretations of QM do not support monism at a more serious scrutiny, or do so only with further problematic assumptions, or even support different versions of it.     

Considerations in Francisco Varela for Psychotherapy of Sense

Under the influence of dialogic and narrative models, relational systemic psychotherapy has shifted its attention towards understanding the relational self, its agency and off-centered nature. In order to substantiate its new clinical positions, it has reached for other disciplines such as philosophy and literature. Francisco Varela’s approach regarding the ontological aporia between the individual and the relationship may provide conceptual foundations to propose a clinical understanding where identity and sense play a key role. By considering intentionality as the engine of everything that’s living, Varela generates a difference between the extensive environment in which individuals unfold, and the singular investiture of significance through which people seek relationships to recognize their identity. A model for a relational psychotherapy of sense is proposed, based in Francisco Varela’s conceptual influences.     

The Patriarchal Mind as the Ignored Root of Interpersonal and Social Pathologies

The article begins with an integrative theory of neurosis and with the notion of the “patriarchal mind,” which I conceive as the psycho-social foundation of what we call “civilisation” and proceed to characterize as a despotic and repressive activity of the father on the mother and on the child in the family, and also of an analogous relation between the intellect on the emotional and on the instinctual sub-selves in the individual mind. Next, I propose that patriarchy entails four interrelated problems: (1) violent authority; (2) the eclipse of caring; (3) the repression of instinct; and (4) the invalidation of intuition; and point out that since these are evident in our well-recognized social problems, these may be traced down to the “patriarchal complex” that in turn defines patriarchal society. Finally, I develop the idea that not only is the patriarchal mind is embodied in each of the known interpersonal or character pathologies, but that each of these pathologies contributes to the systemic and cultural presence of the patriarchal mind. The corollary of this analysis is that the healing of both our interpersonal and social pathologies will depend on the healing of the patriarchal mind, which is conceivably possible to bring about through a specially designed education oriented to the balanced development of “three-brained beings,” in whom a balance has been achieved between the intellectual, emotional, and instinctive sub-selves that constitute our mind.