Memory for Textual Conflicts Predicts Sourcing When Adolescents Read Multiple Expository Texts

This study investigated whether memory for conflicting information predicted mental representation of source-content links (i.e., who said what) in a sample of 86 Norwegian adolescent readers. Participants read four texts presenting conflicting claims about sun exposure and health. With differences in gender, prior knowledge, and interest controlled for, and with self-reported critical reading strategies also included in a multiple regression analysis, it was found that the better participants remembered that the texts presented conflicting claims on the issue, the more likely they were to include source-content links in their mental representations of the texts.     

Maternal ratings of infant regulatory competence from 6 to 12 months: influence of perceived stress, birth-weight, and intervention: a randomized controlled trial

Mothers’ reports of preterm and term infants’ temperament from 6 to 12 months of age were studied, with intervention and stress as predictors. Preterm infants with a birth weight <2000 g were randomized to an intervention (71) or a control (69) group. A control group of healthy term infants (74) was also established. The intervention was a modified version of the “Mother–Infant Transaction Program”, aimed at sensitizing caregivers to the infants’ individual characteristics. Temperament was measured with the Infant Behavior Questionnaire, and stress with the Parenting Stress Index. There were no group differences in temperament at 6 or 12 months or in change during the same period. There was a strong association between stress and negative reactivity in the preterm control group at 12 months. In the preterm intervention group, there were strong negative correlations between stress and regulatory competence at 6 months. The intervention seemed to change the relationship between stress and temperament. The strength of this association indicates that the intervention sensitized mothers to the temperamental regulatory competence of their preterm infants.     

Affect consciousness or mentalization? A comparison of two concepts with regard to affect development and affect regulation

Affect consciousness refers to the ability to adequately perceive, reflect upon and express affect. The concept is used in clinical work with adults, but lacks an equivalent for children's experience of affect. This paper examines the developmental prerequisites for affect consciousness, as well as the concept's applicability to work with children. The main focus is on the development of affect regulation throughout the first 6 years of life. Special emphasis is put on the role of attachment and the unfolding of mentalization ability in this development. The role of play as an organizing factor for affective experience is discussed. Observation of play is highlighted as a strong indicator of affect consciousness in children.     

Recognition of Inflected Words in a Morphologically Limited Language: Frequency Effects in Monolinguals and Bilinguals

The effect of word frequency on the processing of monomorphemic vs. inflected words was investigated in a morphologically relatively limited language, Swedish, with two participant groups: early Finnish–Swedish bilinguals and Swedish monolinguals. The visual lexical decision results of the monolinguals suggest morphological decomposition with low-frequency inflected nouns, while with medium- and high-frequency inflections, full-form processing was apparently employed. The bilinguals demonstrated a similar pattern. The results suggest that morpheme-based recognition is employed even in a morphologically limited language when the inflectional forms occur rarely. With more frequent inflectional forms, full-form representations have developed for both mono- and bilingual speakers. In a comparable study employing a morphologically rich language, Finnish, Lehtonen and Laine (2003, Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 6, 213–225) observed full-form access only at the high-frequency range and only for monolinguals. These differences suggest that besides word frequency and language background, the morphological richness of a language affects the processing mode employed with polymorphemic wordsThis study was financially supported by a grant (#20010) from the Joint Committee of the Nordic Social Science Research Councils (NOS-S). We are grateful for Jonna Kortelahti- Brunnsteiner for recruitment and testing of part of the bilingual participants     

Effects of Personal Epistemology on the Understanding of Multiple Texts

We examined whether the text understanding of students holding naïve and sophisticated epistemological beliefs was differentially affected by text format, also controlling for effects of gender, word decoding, and prior knowledge on understanding. The participants were 39 Norwegian first-year teacher students, and the topic of reading was attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It was found that only readers holding sophisticated epistemological beliefs displayed adequate understanding when reading multiple, partly conflicting, texts about ADHD, whereas students holding naïve epistemological beliefs gained better understanding when reading a single textbook-like source with identical content. This finding, however, depended on the level of understanding being measured by the criterial task, with only the task measuring deeper situational text understanding showing an interaction between epistemological beliefs and text format. This study provides evidence that not only knowledge itself, but also personal beliefs about knowledge, may enhance or constrain deeper understanding of multiple texts.     

Relationship between heart rate variability and cognitive function during threat of shock

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between resting heart rate variability (HRV) and cognitive functions during threat of shock. A Continuous Performance Task and a Working Memory Task were used to measure cognitive functions. Sixty-five male participants from the Royal Norwegian Navy participated. HRV was measured during baseline, test conditions and recovery. Participants were randomly assigned into non-threat and threat groups. Based on the median split of the high frequency (HF) spectral power, groups were divided into two additional groups. Overall, the high HRV participants showed superior performance on cognitive tasks independent of non-threat or threat conditions. During threat condition the low HRV group showed improved performance. Thus, individuals with high HRV were more stress tolerant and resilient in the face of environmental changes. The results from the study might have implications with regard to performance in operational settings, but also for other fields of psychological research such as individual differences, anxiety and coping.     

Analogical Reasoning in Handling Emerging Technologies: The Case of Umbilical Cord Blood Biobanking

How are we individually and as a society to handle new and emerging technologies? This challenging question underlies much of the bioethical debates of modern times. To address this question we need suitable conceptions of the new technology and ways of identifying its proper management and regulation. To establish conceptions and to find ways to handle emerging technologies we tend to use analogies extensively. The aim of this article is to investigate the role that analogies play or may play in the processes of understanding and managing new technology. More precisely we aim to unveil the role of analogies as analytical devices in exploring the “being” of the new technology as well the normative function of analogies in conceptualizing the characteristics and applications of new technology. Umbilical cord blood biobanking will be used as a case to investigate these roles and functions.     

Sources of influence on the professional development of psychologists and psychiatrists in Norway and Germany

Background: There are many professional psychotherapists, but no psychotherapy profession. The psychotherapists’ professions vary between countries, the most frequent being psychiatry and clinical psychology.

Aim: As these professions have different basic training and also may be impacted differently by other factors, we wanted to study potential differences as to perceived influences on their development as psychotherapists across career level, theoretical orientation, and gender.

Methods: More than 2500 Norwegian and German psychiatrists and psychologists reported data on their professional development in the DPCCQ/2000, a lengthy multi-part survey instrument developed within the ‘Collaborative Research Network’ of the Society for Psychotherapy Research. The four groups were compared for differences, and a series of multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the impact of profession on a variety of aspects of therapist experiences.

Results: Although a few therapist experiences (e.g. teaching, treating patients, institutional conditions) had a significantly different impact between the two professions, as a main effect, they only accounted for less than 1% or the variance.

Conclusion: Profession seems to have little influence on perceived development as a psychotherapist, and it is reasonable to conclude that other therapist qualities, often personal qualities, are more important for therapeutic processes and outcomes.     

Communication and Performance in Co-Located and Distributed Teams: An Issue of Shared Mental Models of Team Members?

The aim of the present study was to test whether the shared mental models of team members have an effect on team performance, communication, and physical arousal in two distributed teams in pursuit of a common goal. A sample (N = 15) of newly formed navy teams was compared with a sample (N = 13) of seasoned navy teams. The results showed that familiar teams displayed higher performance levels, faster reaction times, more accuracy, and greater mission success compared to unfamiliar teams. A significant shift in communication strategy and physiological response (heart rate) was observed between the teams and from baseline to low workload. Implications for team training are discussed.