Visual variability affects early verb learning

Research demonstrates that within‐category visual variability facilitates noun learning; however, the effect of visual variability on verb learning is unknown. We habituated 24‐month‐old children to a novel verb paired with an animated star‐shaped actor. Across multiple trials, children saw either a single action from an action category (identical actions condition, for example, travelling while repeatedly changing into a circle shape) or multiple actions from that action category (variable actions condition, for example, travelling while changing into a circle shape, then a square shape, then a triangle shape). Four test trials followed habituation. One paired the habituated verb with a new action from the habituated category (e.g., ‘dacking’ + pentagon shape) and one with a completely novel action (e.g., ‘dacking’ + leg movement). The others paired a new verb with a new same‐category action (e.g., ‘keefing’ + pentagon shape), or a completely novel category action (e.g., ‘keefing’ + leg movement). Although all children discriminated novel verb/action pairs, children in the identical actions condition discriminated trials that included the completely novel verb, while children in the variable actions condition discriminated the out‐of‐category action. These data suggest that – as in noun learning – visual variability affects verb learning and children's ability to form action categories.     

“Mindful helpers”: Experiential avoidance,meta-emotions,and emotion regulation in paramedics

Three facets of the mindfulness/acceptance spectrum have been investigated in 134 experienced paramedics exposed to a number of potentially traumatic events. The contribution of (1) experiential avoidance, (2) mindful awareness and (3) meta-emotions in psychological well-being and satisfaction with life was analysed. Changes in these variables due to experiencing highly stressful incidents were explored by comparing experts with 105 novices. With accumulating experience, experiential avoidance remained stable, mindful awareness markedly increased at first and declined thereafter. Both positive and negative meta-emotions decreased with the number of stressful incidents. Experiential avoidance and meta-emotions explained 62% of the variance in psychological well-being, and patterns indicate that non-acceptance of thoughts and emotions might not be generally detrimental in this sample. Being stern and contemptuous about one’s own feelings and having little self-compassion has been found to be beneficial for psychological well-being in these experts. Although this is contrary to contemporary theorizing it might perfectly reflect the role of paramedics and their need for control.     

Haptic curvature comparison of convex and concave shapes

A sculpture and the mould in which it was formed are typical examples of objects with an identical, but opponent, surface shape: each convex (ie outward pointing) surface part of a sculpture has a concave counterpart in the mould. The question arises whether the object features of opponent shapes can be compared by touch. Therefore, we investigated whether human observers were able to discriminate the curvatures of convex and concave shapes, irrespective of whether the shape was convex or concave. Using a 2AFC procedure, subjects had to compare the curvature of a convex shape to the curvature of a concave shape. In addition, results were also obtained for congruent shapes, when the curvature of either only convex shapes or only concave shapes had to be compared. Psychometric curves were fitted to the data to obtain threshold and bias results. When subjects explored the stimuli with a single index finger, significantly higher thresholds were obtained for the opponent shapes than for the congruent shapes. However, when the stimuli were touched by two index fingers, one finger per surface, we found similar thresholds. Systematic biases were found when the curvature of opponent shapes was compared: the curvature of a more curved convex surface was judged equal to the curvature of a less curved concave surface. We conclude that human observers had the ability to compare the curvature of shapes with an opposite direction, but that their performance decreased when they sensed the opponent surfaces with the same finger. Moreover, they systematically underestimated the curvature of convex shapes compared to the curvature of concave shapes.     

Judgment and action knowledge in speed adjustment tasks: experiments in a virtual environment

Two experiments were conducted to investigate children's and adults’ knowledge of time and speed in action and judgment tasks. Participants had to set the speed of a moving car to a new speed so that it would reach a target line at the same time as a reference car moving at a higher speed and disappearing in a tunnel at the midway point. In Experiment 1 (24 10‐year‐olds, 24 adults), children's and adults’ speed adjustments followed the normative pattern when responses had to be graded linearly as a function of the car's initial speed. In a non‐linear condition, only adults’ action responses corresponded with the normative function. Simplifying the task by shortening the tunnel systematically in Experiment 2 (24 10‐year‐olds, 24 adults) enabled children to grade the speeds adequately in the action conditions only. Adults now produced normative response patterns in both judgment and action. Whether people show linearization biases was thus shown to depend on the interaction of age, task demands and response mode.     

Learning What to Remember: Vocabulary Knowledge and Children's Memory for Object Names and Features

Although young children can map a novel name to a novel object, it remains unclear what they actually remember about objects when they initially make such a name–object association. In the current study we investigated (1) what children remembered after they were initially introduced to name–object associations and (2) how their vocabulary size and vocabulary structure influenced what they remembered. As a group, children had difficulty remembering each of the features of the original novel objects. Further analyses revealed that differences in vocabulary structure predicted children's ability to remember object features. Specifically, children who produced many names for categories organized by similarity in shape (e.g. ball, cup) had the best memory for newly‐learned objects' features—especially their shapes. In addition, the more features children remembered, the more likely they were to retain the newly learned name–object associations. Vocabulary size, however, was not predictive of children's feature memory or retention. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that children's existing vocabulary structure, rather than simply vocabulary size, influences what they attend to when encountering a new object and subsequently their ability to remember new name–object associations. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Die Begutachtung im Betreuungsrecht unter besonderer Berücksichtung der Voraussetzungen für eine freiheitsentziehende Unterbringung nach § 1906 BGB

This article addresses the demands on forensic-psychiatric assessments within legal guardianship. Discussing in particular the medical and normative requirements for an involuntary commitment in accordance with section 1906 of the German Cilvil code.     

PHILOSOPHY AS EMPIRICAL EXPLORATION OF LIVING

This essay describes an approach to designing a course in philosophy as a way of life (PWOL) around a set of immersive “spiritual exercises” through which students might examine their desires, engaging students in a process of testing their own experience against philosophical theories and theories against their own experience. These are used to tie together the units of a course covering classical Western and Eastern philosophical traditions, and to supplement traditional philosophical analysis of texts and arguments with ways of exploring what it might be like to live as a Platonist, Stoic, or Confucian. The essay details several exercises, engages perspectives on PWOL from Pierre Hadot and John Cooper, and addresses the question of how to assess immersive exercises.