Aging and perceived event structure as a function of modality

The majority of research on situation model processing in older adults has focused on narrative texts. Much of this research has shown that many important aspects of constructing a situation model for a text are preserved and may even improve with age. However, narratives need not be text-based, and little is known as to whether these findings generalize to visually-based narratives. The present study assessed the impact of story modality on event segmentation, which is a basic component of event comprehension. Older and younger adults viewed picture stories or read text versions of them and segmented them into events. There was comparable alignment between the segmentation judgments and a theoretically guided analysis of shifts in situational features across modalities for both populations. These results suggest that situation models provide older adults with a stable basis for event comprehension across different modalities of expereinces.     

Ant Colony Optimization and Local Weighted Structural Equation Modeling. A Tutorial on Novel Item and Person Sampling Procedures for Personality Research

Measurement in personality development faces many psychometric problems. First, theory‐based measurement models do not fit the empirical data in terms of traditional confirmatory factor analysis. Second, measurement invariance across age, which is necessary for a meaningful interpretation of age‐associated personality differences, is rarely accomplished. Finally, continuous moderator variables, such as age, are often artificially categorized. This categorization leads to bias when interpreting differences in personality across age. In this tutorial, we introduce methods to remedy these problems. We illustrate how Ant Colony Optimization can be used to sample indicators that meet prespecified demands such as model fit. Further, we use Local Structural Equation Modeling to resample and weight subjects to study differences in the measurement model across age as a continuous moderator variable. We also provide a detailed illustration for both tools with the Neuroticism scale of the openly available International Personality Item Pool – NEO inventory using data from the UK sample (N = 15 827). Combined, both tools can remedy persistent problems in research on personality and its development. In addition to a step‐by‐step illustration, we provide commented syntax for both tools. © 2019 European Association of Personality Psychology     

The structure of analog representation

This paper develops a theory of analog representation. We first argue that the mark of the analog is to be found in the nature of a representational system's interpretation function, rather than in its vehicles or contents alone. We then develop the rulebound structure theory of analog representation, according to which analog systems use interpretive rules that map syntactic structural features onto semantic structural features. The theory involves three degree-theoretic measures that capture three independent ways in which a system can be more or less analog. We explain how our theory improves upon prior accounts of analog representation, provides plausible diagnoses for novel challenge cases, extends to hybrid systems that are partially analog and partially symbolic, and accounts for some of the advantages and disadvantages of representing analogically versus symbolically.     

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.     

SPIRITUALITY AND TECHNOLOGY: A THREEFOLD PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTION

Despite the prominent role that technology plays in twenty-first-century societies, the intersections between spirituality and technology have been poorly analyzed. This article develops a cross-reflection between these two key anthropological aspects, using a philosophical approach that structures the analysis along three classical categories: transcendence, immanence, and relationality. Drawing from ideas of philosophers, such as Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty, the article sheds light on problematic aspects of technology that spirituality helps identify and for which it suggests solutions. Symmetrically, the analysis shows commonly inadvertent aspects of spirituality that technology brings to the fore. All in all, spirituality appears as an essential dimension to cultivate in technological societies, while technology might reveal spirituality as richer and deeper than has been apparent in traditional settings.