Bullying: the consequences of interparental discord and child's self-concept

The objective of this research is to explore how the relationship between interparental discord and child's self-concept shapes participation in bullying behavior by elementary and middle-school children. The main finding is that child's self-concept mediates the effects of interparental discord on bullying behavior. Further, the results of the study support a symbolic interactionist view of child self-development, in which children internalize the environment provided by parents. This internalization gives way to self-concept, which guides behavior. This study adds to the growing body of literature that seeks to understand whether and how characteristics of children mediate the effects of parental attributes on behavioral outcomes. The proposed implications for the prevention of bullying include building children's self-concept, intervening in parental conflict, and involving the entire family system in the intervention process.     

Inhibition and working memory: effect of acute sleep deprivation on a random letter generation task]

The literature contains inconsistent data on the effects of acute sleep deprivation on the superior cognitive functions. The primary purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of inhibition, one of the functions of the working memory executive centre (EC), over an extended, 36-hour waking period. Inhibition is a cognitive mechanism whereby individuals ignore non-relevant information recorded in their working memory. We also tested the effects of a 36-hour period of acute sleep deprivation on simple reaction time. Twelve young, healthy volunteers (M = 21.5 years, sigma = 2.3) performed a random generation task involving letters and a simple reaction time psychomotor test over four sessions held at 10-hour intervals. Each participant was assigned a "constant routine." Participants were kept awake in a prone position within a room whose environment was held strictly constant (light, noise, temperature, meals, etc.). This control procedure provided assurance that any variation in participant performance was solely caused by sleep deprivation. The random generation task, nearly two minutes in length, consisted in verbally producing a sequence of 100 letters in a random fashion (i.e. by inhibiting, for example, alphabetical order) and by keeping to a set rhythm. Our assumption was that capacity for inhibition diminished as the number of hours of sleep deprivation increased. The simple reaction test, 10 minutes in length, involved pressing a button as swiftly as possible to cause a black square to disappear from a screen. In this case our assumption was that acute sleep deprivation alters simple reaction time. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) through repeated measures using the "sessions" factor as an intra-subject variable showed no significant changes in randomization indices of the random generation task, contrary to analysis of average simple reaction times. Participants' reaction times deteriorated over the first two minutes of the test during the night they were deprived of sleep. It would seem that the contradictory results of previous studies of the effects of acute sleep deprivation on the inhibition function would be due to errors in factor identification. In conclusion, the inhibition function, as measured during the performance of a brief task, seems to remain intact during an extended, 36-hour waking period. Simple reaction time assessed by means of a brief psychomotor test is affected during a night of sleep deprivation. The working-memory inhibition executive function shows greater resistance to acute sleep deprivation than does psychomotor reaction time for the performance of short tasks.     

The experience of spirituality in the psycho-social adaptation of cancer survivors

This article presents the results of a retrospective, phenomenological study of the experience of spirituality in the psychosocial adaptation of cancer survivors. The experience of illness for the participants in the study is one which promotes greater personal and spiritual growth. The study demonstrates that illness provokes personal growth and transformation in the individual. While making use of pre-existing coping resources, the person with cancer reevaluates and restructures her or his life, integrating new values, priorities, and perspectives which lead the patient to invest her or his life in something meaningful and beneficial to others.     

Verifying simple arithmetic sums and products: Are the phonological loop and the central executive involved?

In two experiments, we investigated the role of the phonological loop and the central executive in the verification of the complete set of one-digit addition (Experiment 1) and multiplication (Experiment 2) problems. The focus of the present study was on the contradictory results concerning the contribution of the phonological loop in the verification of true problems (e.g., 8 + 4 = 12 or 4 x 6 = 24) reported until now. The results revealed that this slave system is not involved in verifying simple arithmetic problems, in contrast to the central executive. Furthermore, our results indicated that the split effect is due to the use of two different arithmetic strategies.     

When Hyperpropositions Meet ...

With each proposition P we associate a set of proposition (a hyperproposition) which determines the order in which one may retreat from accepting P, if one cannot fully hold on to P. We first describe the structure of hyperpropositions. Then we describe two operations on propositions, subtraction and merge, which can be modelled in terms of hyperpropositions. Subtraction is an operation that takes away part of the content of a proposition. Merge is an operation that determines the maximal consistent content of two propositions considered jointly. The merge operation gives rise to an inference relation which is, in a certain sense, optimally paraconsistent.     

Ontogeny of classical and operant learning behaviors in zebrafish

The performance of developing zebrafish in both classical and operant conditioning assays was tested with a particular focus on the emergence of these learning behaviors during development. Strategically positioned visual cues paired with electroshocks were used in two fully automated assays to investigate both learning paradigms. These allow the evaluation of the behavioral performance of zebrafish continuously throughout development, from larva to adult. We found that learning improves throughout development, starts reliably around week 3, and reaches adult performance levels at week 6. Adult fish quickly learned to perform perfectly, and the expression of the learned behavior is manifestly controlled by vision. The memory is behaviorally expressed in adults for at least 6 h and retrievable for at least 12 h.     

Cross-cultural confirmatory factor analysis of the CES-D in Spanish and Mexican dementia caregivers

The Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) is the most frequently used scale for measuring depressive symptomatology in caregiving research. The aim of this study is to test its construct structure and measurement equivalence between caregivers from two Spanish-speaking countries. Face-to-face interviews were carried out with 595 female dementia caregivers from Madrid, Spain, and from Coahuila, Mexico. The structure of the CES-D was analyzed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (EFA and CFA, respectively). Measurement invariance across samples was analyzed comparing a baseline model with a more restrictive model. Significant differences between means were found for 7 items. The results of the EFA clearly supported a four-factor solution. The CFA for the whole sample with the four factors revealed high and statistically significant loading coefficients for all items (except item number 4). When equality constraints were imposed to test for the invariance between countries, the change in chi-square was significant, indicating that complete invariance could not be assumed. Significant between-countries differences were found for three of the four latent factor mean scores. Although the results provide general support for the original four-factor structure, caution should be exercised on reporting comparisons of depression scores between Spanish-speaking countries.     

Congruent visual information improves traffic signage

In the last five decades, cognitive scientists and the psychologists of reasoning have dedicated a lot of effort designing usable traffic signs. This study investigated the interference effect produced by the position of the sign elements in traffic signage on response accuracy and reaction time. Sixteen drivers performed a flanker interference reaction time task. Incongruent graphical/space solutions, actually used for the airport stack-type sign, lead to increased reaction time and a reduction in the proportion of correct answers. These results suggest that incongruent visual information should be avoided, as this might impair drivers’ performance. These findings provide important information for the specification of future signage design guidelines and for improving road safety.     

Evaluating ritual efficacy: evidence from the supernatural

Rituals pose a cognitive paradox: although widely used to treat problems, rituals are causally opaque (i.e., they lack a causal explanation for their effects). How is the efficacy of ritual action evaluated in the absence of causal information? To examine this question using ecologically valid content, three studies (N = 162) were conducted in Brazil, a cultural context in which rituals called simpatias are used to treat a great variety of problems ranging from asthma to infidelity. Using content from existing simpatias, experimental simpatias were designed to manipulate the kinds of information that influences perceptions of efficacy. A fourth study (N = 68) with identical stimuli was conducted with a US sample to assess the generalizability of the findings across two different cultural contexts. The results provide evidence that information reflecting intuitive causal principles (i.e., repetition of procedures, number of procedural steps) and transcendental influence (i.e., presence of religious icons) affects how people evaluate ritual efficacy.     

“Which Palestine Should We Teach?” Signatures,Palimpsests, and Struggles over School Textbooks

The present paper offers a reflection on school textbooks produced and introduced by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Gaza Strip from the year 2000 onward. The aim is to examine the debates over these textbooks, by situating them over the backdrop of larger geopolitical dynamics and intra-Palestinian social and political struggles.