Correlations Between Handshape and Movement in Sign Languages

Sign language phonological parameters are somewhat analogous to phonemes in spoken language. Unlike phonemes, however, there is little linguistic literature arguing that these parameters interact at the sublexical level. This situation raises the question of whether such interaction in spoken language phonology is an artifact of the modality or whether sign language phonology has not been approached in a way that allows one to recognize sublexical parameter interaction. We present three studies in favor of the latter alternative: a shape-drawing study with deaf signers from six countries, an online dictionary study of American Sign Language, and a study of selected lexical items across 34 sign languages. These studies show that, once iconicity is considered, handshape and movement parameters interact at the sublexical level. Thus, consideration of iconicity makes transparent similarities in grammar across both modalities, allowing us to maintain certain key findings of phonological theory as evidence of cognitive architecture.     

THE WRITTEN LANGUAGE BEHAVIOR OF TWO SOCIO‐ECONOMIC GROUPS OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

Written language knowledge that lower SES children have acquired from their environment before formal instruction was investigated. Complete data were collected from four and five year old children enrolled in a headstart program. Data concerning each child's knowledge of written language were individually collected through the use of interview techniques as well as informal and standardized assessments including: Book Handling Knowledge (Goodman, 1981), Sand Test (Clay, 1976), Preschool Children's Concept of Reading (Goodman, 1981) and Preschool Children's Concept of Writing (Goodman, 1981).

The results were compared with the results from an earlier study (Robeck & Wiseman, in press) conducted with a middle SES group of children enrolled in a day care center. Demon strated behaviors indicated that the two groups of preschool children were acquiring reading and writing knowledge. The children from the headstart group were learning the same things as the children from the private day care center, however there were differences between the two groups of children in the range and number of behaviors observed. The study suggests that children from not only different socio‐economic groups but children from the same socio‐economic group enter school with wide differences in their written language knowledge.     

Increased chronic stress predicts greater emotional negativity bias and poorer social skills but not cognitive functioning in healthy adults

Background and Objectives: Chronically stressed individuals report deficits spanning cognitive and emotional functioning. However, limitations to clinical populations and measures of stress have impeded the generalisability and scope of results. This study investigated whether chronic stress predicted cognitive and emotional functioning, and whether these relationships differed between males and females, in a large representative sample of healthy participants.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Method: 1883 healthy adults sampled from the Brain Resource International Database reported stress using the 21-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scales. Participants then completed a cognitive and emotional assessment battery (IntegNeuro), as well as questionnaires related to sleep, emotional functioning, and self-regulation.

Results: In contrast to previously reported results, chronic stress did not predict cognitive functioning. However, higher stress predicted a greater negativity bias and poorer social skills, confirming previous research identifying these links.

Conclusions: Cognitive deficits related to stress are absent in healthy participants when stress is measured using the 21-items Depression Anxiety Stress Scales. Identifying how chronic stress is associated with aspects of emotional functioning can lead to personalized interventions for individuals to better manage the negative outcomes resulting from stress.     

Rethinking Traumatic Brain Injury from Intimate Partner Violence: A Theoretical Model of the Cycle of Transmission

ABSTRACT

Despite growing evidence of the repeated nature of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV), there is no theoretical model depicting TBIs as a cyclical process throughout a lifetime. Situational analysis methodology was used on interviews with 10 women who self-reported passing out from being hit in the head during an episode of IPV to create a theoretical model depicting the cycle of transmission of TBI. We define the cycle of transmission of TBI as the way that women experience multiple TBIs over the course of their lifetime and how TBI can be perpetuated in a family or community. The cycle begins in childhood or adolescence, when women receive a TBI from abuse, sports, or motor vehicle accident. They enter into abusive relationships with men who are also described as living with a TBI and the women receive other TBIs during this relationship. With repeating head trauma, women described increasing TBI symptoms: problems with memory, cognition, executive functioning, depression, and concentration. If they do seek help, they must choose between healthcare and protective shelter. With either choice, the element of instability could be introduced and the cycle of transmission continues. This theoretical model shows that it is necessary to move beyond individual behaviors to think about how TBIs are transmitted through communities and how untreated symptoms can impact help-seeking behavior and perpetuate other risk factors for receiving a TBI.