Does maintenance of colour categories rely on language? Evidence to the contrary from a case of semantic dementia

Recent neuropsychological evidence, supporting a strong version of Whorfian principles of linguistic relativity, has reinvigorated debate about the role of language in colour categorisation. This paper questions the methodology used in this research and uses a novel approach to examine the unique contribution of language to categorisation behaviour. Results of three investigations are reported. The first required development of objective measures of category coherence and consistency to clarify questions about healthy control performance on the freesorting colour categorisation task used in previous studies. Between-participant consistency was found to be only moderate and the number of colour categories generated was found to vary markedly between individuals. The second study involved longitudinal neuropsychological examination of a patient whose colour categorisation strategy was monitored in the context of a progressive decline in language due to semantic dementia. Performance on measures of category coherence and consistency was found to be relatively stable over time despite a profound decline in the patient's colour language. In a final investigation we demonstrated that, for both the patient and controls, between- and within-participant consistency were higher than expected by (a) random sorting and (b) sorting perceptually similar chips together. These findings indicate that the maintenance of colour categorisation need not depend on language.     

Moral spillovers: The effect of moral violations on deviant behavior

Two experiments investigated whether outcomes that violate people’s moral standards increase their deviant behavior (the moral spillover effect). In Study 1, participants with and without a moral mandate (i.e., a strong attitude rooted in moral conviction) read about a legal trial in which the outcome supported, opposed or was unrelated to their moral mandate. Relative to when outcomes supported moral mandates, when outcomes opposed moral mandates people judged the outcome to be less fair, were more angry, were less willing to accept the outcome, and were more likely to take a borrowed pen. In Study 2, participants who recalled another person’s moral violation were more likely to cheat on an experimental task relative to angry or neutral condition participants. Taken together, results provide evidence for moral spillover: outcomes that violate moral standards increase deviant behavior.     

In their words: Connecting on‐line weblogs to developmental processes

This paper seeks to connect adolescents' communication within on‐line weblogs or blogs to developmental processes. A total of 195 English language blogs written by self‐identified 14‐ to 18‐year‐olds were selected; three entries from each blog were analysed, resulting in a sample of 585 entries. Blogger demographics, self‐presentation, and blog entries (format, style, content, and tone) were coded. The blog authors in our sample were overwhelmingly female and lived within the US; the majority were between 15‐ and 16‐years of age. Bloggers utilized usernames and userpictures for self‐presentation and in addition to gender, frequently presented information about their age and location. The majority of the entries used text, were narrative and reflective in style, and contained themes related to their authors' peers and everyday life. Emotional tone was present and entries with romantic, identity, and future‐related themes often contained emotional tone. Blog authors seemed to be using blogs to create narratives and to reflect about the people and events in their lives. Our results show that adolescent bloggers project off‐line themes to their blogs, suggesting that their on‐line and off‐line contexts are psychologically connected.     

Behavioural knowledge amongst staffing groups for the care of the intellectually disabled

A multiple choice inventory was used to assess the behavioural knowledge of staff providing services to people with an intellectual disability. The relationships between performance on the inventory and other staff related variables were investigated. Results support previous research and indicate a low level of behavioural knowledge amongst direct care staff. The implications of these results are discussed in relation to staff training and selection.     

Gender differences in depression: The role of anxiety and generalized negative affect

This study used the tripartite model of depression and anxiety to examine whether gender differences in depression may be accounted for, in part, by the overlap of depression with anxiety and negative affectivity. The tripartite model distinguishes between pure forms of depression and anxiety, co-morbid depression and anxiety, and mixed anxiety-depression. One hundred-six college students completed questionnaires that measured depression, anxiety, and negative and positive affectivity. Results were moderately consistent with hypotheses. Specifically, the proportion of women versus men was significantly higher in the categories of co-morbid depression and anxiety and mixed anxiety-depression, but not in the categories of specific (i.e., pure) depression or anxiety. It is argued that specific depression may be equally prevalent in men and women, but that other depression-related syndromes may be more common among women than men.     

Internalized transphobia and mental health among transgender adults: A nationwide cross-sectional survey in South Korea

Abstract

Introduction: Transgender people are stigmatized in South Korea (hereafter Korea), where cultural expectations of a biologically-based, binary sex and gender system present fundamental challenges to those whose gender identity does not align with their birth-assigned sex. A growing international body of literature implicates gender minority stress as a key contributor to transgender mental health disparities, but little research has been conducted on this topic in Korea. As in other cultural settings, depression and suicidality are urgent public health concerns for transgender people in Korea, primarily for those who have not initiated gender affirming medical treatment (GAMT), such as cross-sex hormone therapy. In the current study, an international and interdisciplinary team of authors apply the lens of gender minority stress to elucidate the relationships between a key facet of gender minority stress, internalized transphobia (ITP), and outcomes of depressive symptoms and suicidality.

Methods: Based on a cross-sectional survey of 207 Korean transgender adults, the current study evaluates the relationships between ITP and depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts. ITP was measured with an eight-item, Korean-language questionnaire adapted from the Gender Minority Stress and Resilience Measure through a translation and back-translation process.

Results: Korean trans women and trans men mean (mean age?=?26.4) were included in the analysis, most of whom had at least one experience of any GAMT. The findings of this study show that Korean transgender adults face similar public health concerns such as high prevalence of depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts. As predicted, ITP was significantly related to depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts.

Conclusion: The authors suggest potential clinical, policy, and research applications, including institutional interventions, to address structural and cultural barriers to optimal mental health and GAMT as well as mental health interventions to reduce Korean transgender people’s internalized negative beliefs about their gender identity.     

The effectiveness of UK student counselling services: an analysis using the CORE System

Despite concern surrounding the mental health of students, brought about by the government's policy of widening participation and increasing demands upon students, the effectiveness of student counselling has been a neglected research area. This study examines data from seven UK student counselling services using the CORE System in the routine evaluation of their services. Results indicate that counselling is effective, with 70% (service range 67% to 83%) of clients with outcome measures available showing reliable improvement on the CORE-OM from pre- to post-therapy. However, students who complete a course of counselling show significantly greater improvement, according to practitioner pre- and post-therapy severity ratings of depression and anxiety, than those clients who drop out or have an unplanned therapy ending (effect size 1.03, 0.85, respectively). The stage at which students drop out of therapy is important, with those students dropping out of therapy before the third session being the most vulnerable. The implications of these findings are discussed.