Creating semantics in tool use

This article presents the first evidence for a functional link between tool use and the processing of abstract symbols like Arabic numbers. Participants were required to perform a tool-use task after the processing of an Arabic number. These numbers represented either a small (2 or 3) or a large magnitude (8 or 9). The tool-use task consisted in using inverse pliers for gripping either a small or a large object. The inverse pliers enable to dissociate the hand action from the tool action in relation to the object (i.e., closing the hand led to an opening of the tool and vice versa). The number/tool hypothesis predicts that the quantity representation associated with Arabic numbers will interact with the action of the tool toward the object. Conversely, the number/hand hypothesis predicts that the quantity associated with numbers will interact with the action of the hand toward the tool. Results confirmed the first hypothesis and rejected the second. Indeed, large numbers interacted with the action of the tool, such that participants were longer to perform an “opening-hand/closing-tool” action after the processing of large numbers. Moreover, no effect was detected for small numbers, confirming previous studies which used only finger movements. Altogether, our finding suggests that the well-known finger/number interaction can be reversed with tool use.     

Psychological well-being: its relation to work personality, vocational identity, and career thoughts

The authors examined the impact of the 6 dimensions of psychological well-being on participants' career thoughts, vocational identity, and developmental work personality. Undergraduates (N = 91) completed 4 measures: (a) C. D. Ryff's (1989, 1995) Scales of Psychological Well-Being (SPWB), (b) J. P. Sampson, G. W. Peterson, J. G. Lenz, R. C. Reardon, and D. E. Saunders's (1996) Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI), (c) the Vocational Identity (VI) subscale of J. L. Holland, D. C. Daiger, and G. Power's (1980) My Vocational Situation, and (d) D. R. Strauser and J. M. Keim's (2002) Developmental Work Personality Scale (DWPS). The authors then conducted multiple regression analyses to examine the relations between psychological well-being and the 3 career variables. Results indicated the following: (a) Psychological well-being accounted for a significant portion of the variance in all 3 career variables; (b) scores on the Purpose in Life subscale of the SPWB made a unique contribution to scores on the Commitment Anxiety subscale of the CTI (CTI-CA) and to VI; (c) scores on the Personal Growth subscale of the SPWB made a unique contribution to CTI-CA scores; and (d) scores on the Self-Acceptance and Environmental Mastery subscales of the SPWB each made a unique contribution to DWPS scores.     

Social Interactions at Work and Psychological Health: The Role of Leader–Member Exchange and Work Group Integration1

The objectives of this study are to test the effects that the quality of leader–member exchange (LMX) and work group integration (WGI) may have on psychological health, as well as their interaction effect. Psychological health is defined both in terms of subjective well‐being and psychological distress. Data were gathered from a sample of 249 employees working in a prison setting. Results indicated that LMX and WGI are positively related to subjective well‐being and are negatively related to psychological distress. In addition, LMX and WGI exert a synergistic interaction effect on both dimensions of psychological health. Overall, the results show that the quality of the social environment may greatly enhance psychological health in a high‐risk workplace.     

Mental models and the suppositional account of conditionals

The mental model theory of conditional reasoning presented by P. N. Johnson-Laird and R. M. J. Byrne (2002) has recently been the subject of criticisms (e.g., J. St. B. T. Evans, D. E. Over, & S. J. Handley, 2005). The authors argue that the theoretical conflict can be resolved by differentiating 2 kinds of reasoning, reasoning about possibilities given the truth of assertions and reasoning about the truth of assertions given possibilities. The standard mental model theory accounts for the former kind of reasoning but does not adequately account for the latter, contrary to the suppositional approach favored by J. St. B. T. Evans et al. (2005). The authors thus propose a modified mental model theory of conditionals that reconciles the 2 theoretical approaches. It is demonstrated that this theory is able to explain the key findings that have been opposed to the standard theory by J. St. B. T. Evans et al. and makes new predictions that are empirically verified.     

Conflict adaptation depends on task structure

The dependence of the Simon effect on the correspondence of the previous trial can be explained by the conflict-monitoring theory, which holds that a control system adjusts automatic activation from irrelevant stimulus information (conflict adaptation) on the basis of the congruency of the previous trial. The authors report on 4 experiments showing that conflict adaptation is mediated by task structure as well as previous congruency. Experiment 1 showed that for 2 completely segregated sets of stimulus-response pairs there was no conflict adaptation across sets. However, if the stimulus sets overlapped for 2 separate response sets, conflict adaptation could be observed across the response sets. Experiment 2 showed that this effect was not due to the use of stimulus-response sets lateralized to 1 hemisphere each. Experiment 3 showed that if response sets are common for 2 separate stimulus sets, then conflict adaptation can again be observed across sets. Finally, Experiment 4 showed local control effects in the absence of confounding feature-overlap effects. These results indicate that deployment of control as evidenced by conflict adaptation reflects task structure.     

Memory abilities in Williams syndrome: Dissociation or developmental delay hypothesis?

Williams syndrome (WS) is a neurodevelopmental genetic disorder often described as being characterized by a dissociative cognitive architecture, in which profound impairments of visuo-spatial cognition contrast with relative preservation of linguistic, face recognition and auditory short-memory abilities. This asymmetric and dissociative cognition has been also proposed to characterize WS memory ability, with sparing of auditory short-term memory and impairment of spatial and long-term memory abilities. In this study, we explored the possibility of a double memory dissociation in WS (short- versus long-term memory; verbal versus visual memory). Thus, verbal memory abilities were assessed using California Verbal Learning Test and Digit Span and Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure and Corsi Blocks was used to assess visual-spatial memory abilities. Overall, WS subjects were found to present a generalized significant impairment in verbal and visuo-spatial components either in short- or long-term memory. In sum, data from this study brings support for a developmental delay hypothesis, rather than a double dissociation within memory systems in WS.     

Farewell to the world: suicide notes from Turkey

There has been limited study of suicide in Islamic countries. This paper marks the first study of suicide notes in Turkey, an Islamic country. Using a classification scheme, 49 suicide notes (a rate of 34.5%) were studied. The results show that note writers do not differ greatly from other suicides. Further analysis of younger (<40) and older (>40) suicide note writers reveal few significant differences. Our results, together with the results of classification studies in different countries, suggest that caution is in order in transposing findings from one country to other countries. Future study of suicide notes should, in fact, focus on cross-cultural investigation.     

Notes on the beating fantasy1

This theoretical paper revisits the beating fantasy, which constitutes a crossroads of the psychic economy in that it condenses three primal phantasies, namely the primal scene, castration and seduction. Two forms of the phantasy have been distinguished: a ‘fixed’ form, apparently associated with the masochistic perversion, and a ‘transitory’ form, probably bound up with libidinal development. In Freud ’s (1919) paper these two aspects are intertwined. The present contribution confines itself to the transitory form of the phantasy and its significance in the libidinal development of the girl, notably in the organization of passivity. With this in mind, particular attention is paid to the phantasy’s third phase in this context, and an attempt made to show how this phase epitomizes the transformation of the instinctual pressure and might therefore be looked upon in this connection as the intermediate phase of the phantasy.