Understanding the Subjective Point of View: Methodological Implications of the Schutz-Parsons Debate

The bone of contention that divides Alfred Schutz and Talcott Parsons in their 1940–1941 debate is that Schutz acknowledges an ontological break between the commonsense and scientific worlds whereas Parsons only considers it “a matter of refinement.” Schutz’s ontological distancing that disconnects the “world of consociates” where social reality is directly experienced in face-to-face contacts, and the “world of contemporaries” where the Other is experienced in terms of “types” has been crucial to social scientists. Implicated in the break is that all intellectual attempts to understand experiences of Others must be based on the “models” constructed in the “world of contemporaries” (or “predecessors”); hence, epistemologically, to grasp the subjective point of view with a here-and-now understanding is an outright impossibility. Based on a Schutzian perspective, the author suggests that the sociologist must objectivize the Thou-orientations involved in his/her analysis in order that s/he can possibility grasp the subjective point of view in objective terms.

The effects of rumination and negative cognitive styles on depression: a mediation analysis

Research on cognitive models of depression has identified negative cognitive styles and rumination as risk factors for depression. The present study examined the hypothesis that rumination mediates the effect of negative cognitive styles on depression. Specifically, we evaluated the differential effects of two aspects of rumination, characterized by brooding and reflection, on the relationship between negative cognitive styles and level of depressive symptoms. A total of 115 college students and 38 patients suffering from depressive disorders completed a battery of questionnaires measuring levels of depressive symptoms, brooding, reflection, and negative cognitive styles. The results support the notion that there exist two distinct dimensions of rumination and that, of the two, it is brooding and not reflection that mediates the relationship between negative cognitive styles and depression and contributes to its negative outcomes.     

Body dissatisfaction, maternal appraisal, and depressive symptoms in Hong Kong adolescents

Body dissatisfaction, its risk factors and association with depressed mood have been well investigated in the West. However, more studies are needed to examine further the relation between body dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms and the factors influencing body dissatisfaction in non-Western cultures. The present study examined in a sample of Hong Kong Chinese adolescents the relation between body dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms, and the relation of maternal appraisal of their adolescent's figure to the adolescent's body dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms. We obtained information from 379 boys and 254 girls about their body dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms. Their mothers provided information about their appraisal of their adolescent's body shape and size compared to ideal. Body dissatisfaction was related to depressive symptoms in girls (B = 2.58, p <.01), but not in boys (B = -0.08, p >.10). Negative maternal appraisal did not have direct effects on adolescents' depressive symptoms (B = 0.14, p =.75), but the association between negative maternal appraisal and body dissatisfaction was significantly stronger in adolescents whose ideal was smaller than they perceived themselves to be (B = 0.32, p <.01) than those whose ideal was larger than their own perception (B = 0.14, p < .01). Our findings suggest that maternal appraisal had indirect effects on mood, acting through adolescents' body dissatisfaction, and that body dissatisfaction may be a sex-specific risk factor for depression. This study points to the need for testing and adapting programs to reduce body dissatisfaction particularly in girls at risk for depression, and to raise mothers' awareness of the link between their negative appraisals and their adolescents' body dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms.     

An examination of predictor variables for child compliance and noncompliance

The purpose of this study was to examine the antecedents of child compliance and noncompliance. Both maternal and child behaviors served as predictors. Fifty-six clinic-referred children and their mothers served as subjects. Data were collected in the home setting by independent observers. Four multiple regression analyses were performed. The results indicated that the behavior immediately preceding child compliance or noncompliance typically was the best predictor. Furthermore, the antecedents for child compliance and noncompliance differed. For maternal antecedents, the type of command that served as the best predictor for child compliance and noncompliance differed; however, the final predictor equation was similar for the two types of child behaviors. For child antecedents, compliance was best predicted by compliance and noncompliance was best predicted by noncompliance. The results are discussed in terms of Patterson's coercion hypothesis.     

Prism adaptation in schizophrenia

The prism adaptation test examines procedural learning (PL) in which performance facilitation occurs with practice on tasks without the need for conscious awareness. Dynamic interactions between frontostriatal cortices, basal ganglia, and the cerebellum have been shown to play key roles in PL. Disruptions within these neural networks have also been implicated in schizophrenia, and such disruptions may manifest as impairment in prism adaptation test performance in schizophrenia patients. This study examined prism adaptation in a sample of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia (N=91) and healthy normal controls (N=58). Quantitative indices of performance during prism adaptation conditions with and without visual feedback were studied. Schizophrenia patients were significantly more impaired in adapting to prism distortion and demonstrated poorer quality of PL. Patients did not differ from healthy controls on aftereffects when the prisms were removed, but they had significantly greater difficulties in reorientation. Deficits in prism adaptation among schizophrenia patients may be due to abnormalities in motor programming arising from the disruptions within the neural networks that subserve PL.     

Inference vs control sentences: are readers able to detect our intended differences?

The reliance of comprehension processes on knowledge to form explanatory inferences has been well established (Grasser, Singer, & Trabasso, 1994), yet the evidence that supports these studies is derived from sentence pairs that are largely unexamined. While some recent studies have suggested that the stimulus sentences utilized in comprehension research need further specification (Shears & Chiarello, 2004), there has been little 'normal reading' data provided that examines what readers are able to detect from traditional inference-requiring vs control sentence pairs. The current study utilized stimuli sentences that have historically been used to support inference research (Singer, 1995) as well as some newly developed sentences, to examine whether readers detect differences between control vs inference conditions, and to further examine whether readers could discern when inference sentences achieved an outcome or goal vs when these sentences did not achieve an outcome or goal.     

Fragile X mental retardation protein levels increase following complex environment exposure in rat brain regions undergoing active synaptogenesis

Fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP), which is absent in fragile X syndrome, is synthesized in vitro in response to neurotransmitter activation. Humans and mice lacking FMRP exhibit abnormal dendritic spine development, suggesting that this protein plays an important role in synaptic plasticity. Previously, our laboratory demonstrated increased FMRP immunoreactivity in visual cortex of rats exposed to complex environments (EC) and in motor cortex of rats trained on motor-skill tasks compared with animals reared individually in standard laboratory housing (IC). Here, we use immunohistochemistry to extend those findings by investigating FMRP levels in visual cortex and hippocampal dentate gyrus of animals exposed to EC or IC. Rats exposed to EC for 20 days exhibited increased FMRP immunoreactivity in visual cortex compared with animals housed in standard laboratory caging. In the dentate gyrus, animals exposed to EC for 20 days had higher FMRP levels than animals exposed to EC for 5 or 10 days. In light of possible antibody crossreactivity with closely related proteins FXR1P and FXR2P, FMRP immunoreactivity in the posterior-dorsal one-third of cerebral cortex was also examined by Western blotting following 20 days of EC exposure. FMRP levels were greater in EC animals, whereas levels of FXR1P and FXR2P were unaffected by experience. These results provide further evidence for behaviorally induced alteration of FMRP expression in contrast to its homologues, extend previous findings suggesting regulation of its expression by synaptic activity, and support the theories associating FMRP expression with alteration of synaptic structure both in development and later in the life-cycle.     

Strategy development and learning to spell new words: generalization of a process

The authors used microgenetic methods in 2 experiments to examine children's and adults' progress from initial attempts at spelling nonwords to later direct memory retrieval of the spellings. Participants repeatedly spelled nonwords presented in computerized, dictated-word spelling tests over several weeks. Following each spelling, participants provided retrospective strategy reports. Half of the children showed a gradual shift from spelling words with effortful backup strategies to fast retrieval; half of the children continued using backup strategies that were fast and effective for them. Relatively more adults shifted from backup strategies to retrieval, but otherwise their patterns of spelling development were quite similar to those of the children. This research provides support for the generalizability of the overlapping waves model to nonalgorithmic domains. It also demonstrates parallels between children and adults in learning to spell new words.