Extension of the Job Demands-Resources model in the prediction of burnout and engagement among teachers over time

Our purpose was to extend the Job Demand-Resources Model (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004) by including personal resources, job demands and job resources to predict burnout (exhaustion, cynicism, depersonalization) and work engagement (vigour and dedication). The sample comprised 274 teachers from 23 secondary schools of the Valencian Community (Spain). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses have revealed: (1) the predictor effect of quantitative overload on exhaustion and dedication at T2, (2) role conflict on cynicism and (3) role ambiguity on dedication. Lastly, the mediating role of burnout and engagement at T2. Practical implications and directions of future research are discussed.     

Spanish adaptation of the Stepparent Role Strain Index

Stepparent role strain refers to the fragile position of these family members in stepfamilies due to the lack of clear social expectations about their roles. This ambiguity facilitates family conflict and a lack of stepparents' integration into the family system. The aim of this paper is to adapt a pioneer measure of stepparent role strain--the Stepparent Role Strain Index of Whitsett and Land (1992)--in a Spanish sample and to analyze its construct validity. The final instrument is made up of 26 items which have good internal consistency (alpha = .89) and an underlying six-factor structure, explaining 64.50% of the total variance.     

The ‘Flexible’ Immigrant? Human Capital Discourse, the Family Household and Labour Market Strategies

As Canadian immigration policy increasingly selects ‘flexible’ immigrants based on their human capital, it correspondingly problematises immigrant families. In drawing on interviews, conducted over a 5-year period in two different neighbourhoods in the Greater Vancouver area, we followed the paths of family households that recently immigrated to Canada. We argue that households not only provide fundamental support in the migration process, but also enable immigrants to adopt flexible strategies to deal with precarious circumstances and thereby begin the process of integration. Rather than being a ‘problem’, immigrant households, and particularly women’s support roles within them, may be a critical lynchpin to successful integration.     

Affective ratings of sound stimuli

This article present the Spanish assessments of the 111 sounds included in the International Affective Digitized Sounds (IADS; Bradley &; Lang, 1999b). The sounds were evaluated by 159 participants in the dimensions of valence, arousal, and dominance, using a computer version of the Self-Assessment Manikin (Bradley &; Lang, 1994). Results are compared with those obtained in the American version of the IADS, as well as in the Spanish adaptations of the International Affective Picture System (P. J. Lang, Bradley, &; Cuthbert, 1999; Moltó et al., 1999) and the Affective Norms for English Words (Bradley &; Lang, 1999a; Redondo, Fraga, Padrón, &; Comesaña, 2007).     

Major Challenges for African Women Theologians in Theological Education (1989–2008)

The paper reflects on the major challenges for African women theologians in theological education as presented and experienced in the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians (“Circle”) which was launched in Ghana in 1989 as a community of African women theologians who come together to reflect on what it means to them to be women of faith within their experiences of religion, culture, politics and social‐economic structures in Africa. Four major challenges are identified that African women theologians have had to contend with and which are still present, namely (1) re‐defining the identity of African women theologians; (2) promoting more women to study theology and be on permanent staff; (3) inclusion of African women's theology in the theological curriculum; and (4) collaboration with male theologians.     

Vocabulary teaching strategies and conceptual representations of words in L2 in children: Evidence with novice learners

A controversial issue in bilingual research is whether in the early stages of L2 learning, access to the conceptual system involves mediation of L1 lexical representations [Kroll, J. F., & Stewart, E. (1994). Category interference in translation and picture naming: Evidence for asymmetric connections between bilingual memory representations. Journal of Memory and Language, 33, 149-174] or a direct route from the L2 word [Altarriba, J., & Mathis, K. M. (1997). Conceptual and lexical development in second language acquisition. Journal of Memory and Language, 36, 550-568; Finkbeiner, M., & Nicol, J. (2003). Semantic category effects in second language word learning. Applied Psycholinguistics, 24, 369-383]. The main goal of this paper is to study, in a child population, whether the creation of conceptual representations for L2 words is possible, even after only one session of learning of the L2 vocabulary. Furthermore, we do so by examining the efficacy of two different L2 learning methods: L2-L1 association learning vs. L2-picture association learning. A translation recognition task was employed to test whether there was a difference between a semantically related pair and an unrelated pair across conditions (i.e., a semantic interference effect). Results showed a significant semantic interference effect—a conceptual effect—in children after just one vocabulary learning session. Importantly, the L2-picture method produced a greater semantic interference effect than the L2-L1 method. The implications of these findings for models of bilingual memory are examined.     

Conditions for Facelike Expertise With Objects: Becoming a Ziggerin Expert—but Which Type?

ABSTRACT— Compared with other objects, faces are processed more holistically and with a larger reliance on configural information. Such hallmarks of face processing can also be found for nonface objects as people develop expertise with them. Is this specifically a result of expertise individuating objects, or would any type of prolonged intensive experience with objects be sufficient? Two groups of participants were trained with artificial objects (Ziggerins). One group learned to rapidly individuate Ziggerins (i.e., subordinate-level training). The other group learned rapid, sequential categorizations at the basic level. Individuation experts showed a selective improvement at the subordinate level and an increase in holistic processing. Categorization experts improved only at the basic level, showing no changes in holistic processing. Attentive exposure to objects in a difficult training regimen is not sufficient to produce facelike expertise. Rather, qualitatively different types of expertise with objects of a given geometry can arise depending on the type of training.     

HIV, Sex, and Social Change: Applying ESID Principles to HIV Prevention Research

The HIV epidemic has been the most significant public health crisis of the last 2 decades. Although Experimental Social Innovation and Dissemination (ESID) principles have been used by many HIV prevention researchers, the clearest application is the series of model-building and replication experiments conducted by Kelly and colleagues. The model mobilized, trained, and engaged key opinion leaders to serve as behavior change and safe-sex endorsers in their social networks. This paper illustrates how ESID principles were used to develop, test, and disseminate an innovative social model and discusses the challenges of applying ESID methodology in the midst of a public health emergency.     

The role of cortical cholinergic pre- and post-synaptic receptors in taste memory formation

A number of studies have implicated cholinergic activity in the mediation of learning and memory processes. However, the specific role of muscarinic receptors in memory formation mechanisms is less known. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effects of muscarinic antagonist M2 presynaptic receptor, AFDX-116 (0.5mM) and M1 and M3 post-synaptic receptor pirenzepine (100mM), as well as a non-selective muscarinic antagonist, scopolamine (136mM), in the insular cortex (IC) during acquisition and retrieval of conditioned taste aversion (CTA). In addition, we evaluate the effects of those antagonists in cortical ACh release by in vivo microdialysis and the effects on the induction of in vivo LTP in the BLA-IC projection. The results showed that the cortical microinjections of scopolamine and pirenzepine, but not AFDX-116, produced significant disruption in the acquisition of CTA, without effects during retrieval. Microinjections of scopolamine and AFDX-116 produced significant cortical ACh release, while infusions of pirenzepine did not produce any release. Application of scopolamine and pirenzepine diminished induction of LTP in the BLA-IC projection, but not AFDX-116, as compared with vehicle. The induction of BLA-CI LTP seems to be modulated by post-synaptic muscarinic acetylcholine receptors and not by pre-synaptic muscarinic receptors. These results suggest a differential involvement of cholinergic receptors during acquisition and retrieval of aversive memory formation, as well as a differential role of muscarinic receptors in the biochemical and electrophysiological processes that may underlay aversive memory.     

Is there any relationship between sexual attraction and gender typology?

People can be classified as attracted to both sexes, to men, to women, or to neither sex, and also as instrumental-expressive, instrumental, expressive, or non-instrumental-expressive. The two hypotheses tested herein are, on the one hand, the relative independence between these two typologies and, on the other, the close relation between sexual dimorphism and sexual attraction, in contrast to the relative independence between sexual dimorphism and the instrumental and expressive domains. A total of 503 university students (284 women and 219 men) completed two assessment instruments: The Sexual Attraction Questionnaire (SAQ) and the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI, 12 items). Analysis of contingency tables was performed. The results provide empirical support for the hypothesis of independence of the two typologies, solid support for the relation between sexual dimorphism and sexual attraction, and clear support for the independence between the gender domains and sexual dimorphism. The implications of these data for the different outlooks concerning the relations between sex and gender are established.