Configurations of unemployment,reemployment, and psychological well-being: A longitudinal study of unemployed individuals in Portugal

This study examined how four different configurations of unemployment and reemployment (defined by history of past unemployment and unemployment/reemployment 3 years later) related to changes in psychological well-being. The longitudinal sample consisted of 566 Portuguese men and women who were unemployed at the beginning of the study. Using true change score models, we found that individuals who reported a long period of unemployment at T1 but were reemployed at T2 showed meaningful gains in positive affect and life satisfaction compared to those who had a shorter history of unemployment and were reemployed. An examination of gender differences revealed that the women who were reemployed after a long history of unemployment showed the greatest relative gains in positive affect. We conclude by noting limitations of this research and suggesting future research to address these limitations.     

A misinterpreted psychoanalyst: Herbert Silberer and his theory of symbol-formation

The primary aim of this article is to give a more detailed exposition of the cultural, personal, and theoretical contexts in which the Viennese psychoanalyst, Herbert Silberer's theories were born. When assessing the broader picture that this approach offers, it can be concluded that Silberer was an innovative thinker who inspired several of his contemporaries. Recognized in many respects by the society and scholars of this time, he represented quite a different viewpoint that was significantly influenced by several forms of Western esoteric thinking. Yet his main aim was to contribute to the field of psychoanalysis and develop a theory in which rationalistic psychoanalytic interpretations were combined with nonreductive approaches to mystical experiences. Silberer's name is frequently mentioned in a specific context in which his tragic suicide is emphasized rather than his innovations. Upon evaluating the materials recording Silberer's private life, it seems very likely that his suicide was not triggered by the criticism of Freud alone. Silberer's family affairs, his relationship with his father, and his financial and professional struggles could have all contributed to his tragic decision. This paper contends that Silberer's oeuvre deserves greater attention and must be evaluated based upon its own merit.     

NMDA and muscarinic receptors of the nucleus accumbens have differential effects on taste memory formation

Animals recognize a taste cue as aversive when it has been associated with post-ingestive malaise; this associative learning is known as conditioned taste aversion (CTA). When an animal consumes a new taste and no negative consequences follow, it becomes recognized as a safe signal, leading to an increase in its consumption in subsequent presentations (attenuation of neophobia, AN). It has been shown that the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) has an important role in taste learning. To elucidate the involvement of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and muscarinic receptors in the NAcc during safe and aversive taste memory formation, we administrated bilateral infusions of DL-2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid (APV) or scopolamine in the NAcc shell or core respectively. Our results showed that pre-training injections of APV in the NAcc core and shell disrupted aversive but not safe taste memory formation, whereas pre-training injections of scopolamine in the NAcc shell, but not core, disrupted both CTA and AN. These results suggest that muscarinic receptors seem to be necessary for processing taste stimuli for either safe or aversive taste memory, whereas NMDA receptors are only involved in the aversive taste memory trace formation.     

The development of a Spanish language version of the Worn Out scale of the General Well-Being Questionnaire (GWBQ)

The paper describes the development of a short Spanish-language version of the General Well-Being Questionnaire (GWBQ; Cox and Gotts, 1987), based on the 12 items of its Worn Out scale. Research has shown the English-version Worn Out scale to be sensitive to aspects of the design and management of work. This study aimed to test its cross-cultural consistency in a Spanish-language workplace context. The data were collected from a sample of 229 workers in Valencia (Spain). Confirmatory Factor Analyses showed the factorial validity, reliability, and concurrent validity of the new Spanish version to be adequate. The sensitivity of the new measure to safety behavior and the reporting of accidents was also assessed and shown to be good. The new questionnaire extends the usefulness of the parent questionnaire to occupational health psychology research in the Spanish language by offering a short assessment tool appropriate for workplace studies.     

Pathological gambling and personality disorders: a pilot-study with the MCMI-II

In this paper, the most frequent personality disorders related to pathological gambling are described. A sample of 50 pathological gamblers, who were assessed with the MCMI-II before treatment, and of 50 normative subjects from general population with the same demographic features (age, sex and socioeconomic level) was selected. According to the results, the 40% of clinical sample (versus the 14% of normative sample) showed at least one personality disorder. The most prevalent one was the Narcissistic (32%), followed by the Antisocial and Passive-Aggressive (16% each one of them). Furthermore, the gamblers with personality disorders presented an average of 2.2 disorders and tended to be more impulsive. Likewise pathological gamblers abused of alcohol, showed a mild anxiety and were not so adapted to everyday life as much as the control group. Finally, implications of this study for clinical practice and future research in this field are commented upon.     

Spoonish spanerisms: A lexical bias effect in Spanish

Lexical bias is the tendency for phonological errors to form existing words at a rate above chance. This effect has been observed in experiments and corpus analyses in Germanic languages, but S. del Viso, J. M. Igoa, and J. E. García-Albea (1991) found no effect in a Spanish corpus study. Because lexical bias plays an important role in the debate on interactivity in language production, the authors reconsidered its absence in Spanish. A corpus analysis, which considered relatively many errors and which used a method of estimating chance rate that is relatively independent of total error number, and a speech-error elicitation experiment provided converging evidence for lexical bias in Spanish. The authors conclude that the processing mechanisms underlying this effect hold cross-linguistically.