Événements vécus et sens de la vie : vers une différenciation des composantes de sens

Meaning in life (MIL) is a multidimensional concept defined as the way individuals understand themselves and understand their relationships with their external environment. Life events play a critical role in the meaning-making process. The purpose of our study was to examine the links between the MIL's components and the life events through three experiential indicators: normative value, subjective value, and locus of control. A questionnaire assessing a large panel of life events and each component of MIL (direction, sensation, signification) was completed by 117 adults. Analysis of intra-individual and inter-individual differences showed strong links between the experiential indicators although they were not completely redundant. Positive life events perceived as a choice with positive effect and negative life events not perceived as a choice with negative effect were significantly correlated with signification. The relevance of looking at life event through a multivariate and phenomenological approach and at the distinctive role of each component of MIL was discussed in terms of research and practice.     

The Notion of Pseudo-Argument in Perelman’s Thought

According to Perelman (Rhétoriques, Presses Universitaires de Bruxelles, 1989: 80), a pseudo-argument is an argument that is supposed to be convincing from a given audience viewpoint, while it is not from another audience viewpoint. Such a claim raises the traditional problem of the boundaries between the well known “convince versus persuade” dichotomy. This paper aims at investigating it from a contemporary rhetorical and argumentative perspective which will take into account the fictional dimension of persuasion. In this perspective, it will be claimed that the notion of an “as if” argument better fits to some rhetorical phenomena.

The construction of spatial situation models during reading

Psycholinguistic research faces a major challenge in describing the mental representations readers construct from a text. It is now widely accepted that readers end with a representation of the situation described in the text. However, it is unclear whether this representation allows the activation of elements in accordance with their situation proximity. To answer this question, two experiments were conducted. Participants read texts, sentence by sentence, which gave them instructions about how to arrange items in a layout; they then performed a recognition task. By manipulating the spatial proximity between prime and probe items, this task allowed the measurement of a spatial priming effect. In the first experiment, a larger priming effect was observed for closer items on the spatial layout. The second experiment replicated these findings and showed that the priming effects are better explained by categorical distance than by Euclidean distance.     

Depressive affect among health care seekers: how it is related to attachment style, emotional disclosure, and health complaints

The present cross-sectional questionnaire survey investigated depressive affect among persons visiting their general practitioner (GP). It examined the impact of a number of factors likely to be associated with depressive affect, including demographic variables, severity of medical condition, and personal factors such as ease in disclosing personal information, and attachment style. Results showed that among the sample of patients (N = 198) visiting their GP, depressive affect was generally quite high. In particular, those reporting more depressive affect were the elderly, those with more severe health problems, more psychological problems, and a lower level of emotional disclosure frequency. As expected, attachment style was also related to lack of well-being among patients: those with a less avoidant but more anxious attachment style reported higher levels of depressive affect. In total, 38% of the variance of depressive affect was predicted by this model. Security of attachment was also related to reasons why patients consulted their GP, with avoidant attachment related to physical problems and anxious attachment to mental problems. Theoretical relevance of the findings and implications for medical help-seeking are discussed.     

Dissociations between categorization and similarity judgments as a result of learning feature distributions

A dissociation between categorization and similarity was found by Rips (1989). In one experiment, Rips found that a stimulus halfway between a pizza and a quarter was categorized as a pizza but was rated as more similar to a quarter. Smith and Sloman (1994) discussed these results in terms of the role of necessary and characteristic features. In two experiments, participants had to learn to categorize novel artificial shapes composed of a nonsalient necessary feature combined with a salient characteristic feature. Participants categorized stimuli on the basis of a necessary feature, whereas their similarity judgments relied on characteristic features. The role of deep (essential) features in dissociations is considered. Results are discussed in terms of the differences between requirements of categorization and similarity judgments.     

Factor analyses of the DIB-R in adolescents

The goal of this study was to examine the factor structure of the Revised Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines (DIB-R; Zanarini, Gunderson, Franckenburg, & Chauncey, 1989) in a nonpatient sample of 118 adolescents. A principal components factor analysis with a Varimax rotation extracted three factors. A confirmatory factor analysis showed that this three-factor model provided an adequate fit. The first factor, which included depression, anxiety, helplessness/hopelessness, loneliness/emptiness, and also encompassed odd thinking/unusual perceptive experiences and quasi-psychotic experiences, appeared to be centered on painful feelings and dissociative defense. The second factor, labeled "impulsivity," consisted of impulse action patterns, counterdependency, and stormy relationships. This factor seemed to be centered on defensive acting-out. The third factor, called "aggressiveness," consisted of anger, hypomania, devaluation/manipulation/sadism, and demand/entitlement, and might express manic/narcissistic defenses. These analyses suggest that there may be homogeneous components of borderline symptomatology in adolescents that may reflect affective disturbances and defensive mechanisms.     

RPE responses during arm and leg exercises: effect of variations in spontaneously chosen crank rate

The aim of this study was two-fold. First, the rating of perceived exertion (RPE) was compared between two different upper and lower body exercises. Subjects (n = 12) performed with spontaneously chosen crank or pedal rates: (i) incremental maximum power tests (Test 1), with an initial work rate of 50% of maximal power followed by increases of 10% at each 120-sec. work stage and (ii) tests (Test 2) with exercise bouts set at 20, 40, 60, and 80% of maximal power separated by passive recovery periods. Second, the effects of variations in spontaneously chosen crank rate on RPE was analysed using the second test performed only with upper body. Subjects performed Test 2 three times with crank rates spontaneously chosen by the subjects, set at plus or minus 20% of spontaneously chosen crank rate. During both Tests 1 and 2 for upper or lower body, RPE increased linearly (p<.01) with power output. No significant difference was noticed between upper and lower body tests; however, RPE was significantly different (p<.05) between Test 1 results for upper and lower body at 70, 80, 90, and 100% of maximal power. The greater RPE at high power output could be linked to the important effect of fatigue during upper body exercise. Among the three crank-rate conditions, no significant difference in RPE was noticed. The choice of crank rate does not seem to influence the perception of exertion in upper body cycling exercise.