FOXP2 in focus: what can genes tell us about speech and language?

The human capacity for acquiring speech and language must derive, at least in part, from the genome. In 2001, a study described the first case of a gene, FOXP2, which is thought to be implicated in our ability to acquire spoken language. In the present article, we discuss how this gene was discovered, what it might do, how it relates to other genes, and what it could tell us about the nature of speech and language development. We explain how FOXP2 could, without being specific to the brain or to our own species, still provide an invaluable entry-point into understanding the genetic cascades and neural pathways that contribute to our capacity for speech and language.     

The Early Lives of Highly Creative Persons: The Influence of the Complex Family

Over the last 50 years, theoretical, speculative, and empirical scholarship has examined the influence of early family context on subsequent accomplishments in children of high ability. Building upon 40 years of creativity literature focusing on optimal experience, this exploratory study applied the Complex Family Framework in a systematic analysis of creative adults' recollections of their early family lives. The study identifies evidence of the interplay of Integration and Differentiation, a catalyst for individual optimal experience, in the families of 9 creative exemplars who have made significant contributions to contemporary culture. Five participants represented the Arts and Humanities, three the Social Sciences, and one the Physical Sciences. The study demonstrates the utility of the Complex Family Framework in understanding families' contributions to children's later creative achievement.     

Including others in the self

We propose that to some extent, people treat the resources, perspectives, and identities of close others as their own. This proposal is supported by allocation, attribution, response time, and memory experiments. Recently, we have applied this idea to deepening understanding of feeling “too close” (including too much of the other in the self leading to feeling controlled or a loss of identity), the effects of relationship loss (it is distressing to the extent that the former partner was included in the self, liberating to the extent that the former partner was preventing self-expansion), ingroup identification (including ingroup in the self), and the effect of outgroup friendships on outgroup attitudes (including outgroup member in the self entails including outgroup member's identity in the self).     

The Relationship Between the Constructs of Religiousness and Prejudice: A Structural Equation Model Analysis

Research examining the connection between religiousness and prejudice has used scales exclusively as proxies for the underlying constructs. Scholars in the psychology of religion, however, are ultimately concerned about the nature of religious constructs and their relationships with other variables, and the use of scales provides only indirect information concerning these constructs. To overcome this limitation, structural equation modeling (SEM) allows researchers to gather information about the relationship among constructs directly. The present study used SEM to examine the relationship between religion and prejudice using four of the most important and heavily researched constructs in the psychology of religion: religious commitment, orthodoxy, fundamentalism, and openness, as well as their relationships with three types of prejudice: racial, sexual orientation, and religious. The strongest results revealed that religious commitment, orthodoxy, and fundamentalism were linked positively with sexual orientation prejudice, whereas religious openness was linked negatively with that type of prejudice. Other religiousness–prejudice relationships were weaker and also more complex.     

Recidivism and dependency in a psychiatric population: An investigation with kelly's dependency grid

Over the years there have been varied attempts to explain or predict recidivism, which is a phenomenon whereby psychiatric patients are hospitalized repeatedly. Recent efforts to predict relapse have used specific symptoms (Harris, Bergman, & Bachrach, 1986), diagnoses (Kastrup, 1987; Lally, 1989), postdischarge treatment compliance (Caton, Koh, Fleiss, Barrow, & Goldstein, 1985), and the level of emotional expression in the family environment (Doane, Goldstein, Miklowitz, & Falloon, 1986) as relapse predictors. Despite progress, many unanswered questions remain. The present study examined recidivism from the perspective of personal construct psychology (Kelly, 1955). The Dependency Grid was administered to 33 first-admission patients, 39 recidivists, and 26 controls. As hypothesized, recidivists identified the smallest social network and the fewest people on whom they believed they actually could rely in a crisis. In contrast, patients experiencing their first admission offered an extensive array of individuals to whom they felt they could turn in a crisis. Controls reported the greatest number of social resources potentially available to them, but then selectively chose a sample of them as individuals on whom they would be comfortable relying. Results are discussed in terms of support for Kelly's personal construct theory.     

Software Description Form

Abstract

Data for analyzing disagreement can be obtained by asking the parties concerned to make short lists of simple statements expressing their own opinions on the topic in dispute. These short lists are combined into a collective list, and the parties are asked to compare each statement in it with every other one in turn, and rate horn far the two agree or disagree. Such tables of ratings, called logical equivalence matrixes (LEMs) can be analyzed by a computer program applying principal coordinate analysis. The results measure both the total amount of disagreement and the relative amounts over the separate issues found to be involved. Repertory grids were found to be unsuitable for the purpose except within narrow limits. The technique is illustrated by analysis of a dispute concerning legalizing abortion.     

Children's Selective Use of Peer Informants: Criteria for Making Information-Seeking Decisions

Children from preschool, first-grade, and fourth-grade classrooms (N = 60) were randomly assigned to two different instructional conditions to assess (a) their recognition of the significance of knowledge versus physical (age or gender) criteria for making information-seeking decisions and (b) their reliance on these criteria in actual need-for-information situations. The results suggest that older children are more likely than younger children to recognize the salience of a peer's knowledge for making information-seeking decisions. Depending on the context, however, even young children may be able to view a peer's knowledge of a particular task as a dimension that takes precedence over such competing cues as gender or age. Age differences in children's tendencies to recognize and apply these criteria are also discussed.     

Violence: Incidence and Frequency of Physical and Psychological Assaults Affecting Mental Health Providers in Georgia

Threats to the physical safety and psychological well-being of mental health professionals present serious problems, according to 1,131 licensed mental health professionals in the state of Georgia. The professionals included clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists, professional counselors, psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers. From a total of 6,431 surveys sent out, 1,131 (18%) were returned. The results revealed 2,696 separate accounts of 14,120 acts of physical or psychological assaults committed by 8,292 perpetrators. The results also showed that 61% of the respondents had been victimized in violent acts of a psychological or physical nature and that 29% had feared for their lives at least once during their professional careers. These data are consistent with other research that indicates that 6 out of 10 professionals will be assaulted during their professional careers.