Pitfalls for realistic decision theory: an illustration from sequential choice

Decision theory is a theory of rationality, but the concept of rationality has several different dimensions. Making decision theory more realistic with respect to one dimension may well have the result of making it less realistic in another dimension. This paper illustrates this tension in the context of sequential choice. Trying to make decision theory more realistic by accommodating resoluteness and commitment brings the normative assessment dimension of rationality into conflict with the action-guiding dimension. In the case of resolute choice the conflict comes because of a clash of perspectives. The perspective from which resolute choice seems normatively compelling is not the perspective from which it can serve the purpose of guiding action.     

Family therapists as front line mental health providers in war-affected regions: using reflecting teams, scaling questions, and family members in a hospital in Central Africa

This paper will illustrate the utilization of systemic family therapy services inside a hospital in a war-affected region of the Central African Republic. Through an international non-governmental organization (NGO), the author, a family therapist, provided counselling supervision and services to hospital staff and patients in an area of open conflict in the northern region of the country. In circumstances of chronic insecurity fuelled by both government and rebel forces, families displaced in this region are vulnerable to numerous health conditions and social problems. Family therapy techniques and ideas were used to work with individuals, couples and families presenting with health and social problems resulting from HIV-TB, infections, chronic malnutrition, acute poisoning and beliefs about sorcery. Case examples illustrate the systems consultation model used with the mental health team in order to expand and promote the sustainability of patient mental healthcare in this underserved region.     

Types of semantic category and stimulus modality in procedural learning: implications for models of semantic memory

The present work attempts to determine whether procedural learning of a semantic categorisation task is influenced by the type of semantic category of the stimuli (biological and non-biological elements). It is also an attempt to determine the effect of the stimulus presentation modality on the categorisation task. A semantic categorisation task (4 series of 40 stimuli) was administered to 256 participants (128 classifying pictures, and 128 classifying words). Biological categories were responded to faster than non-biological ones although there were no significant differences between the interaction of the category type and the stimulus presentation modality. Reaction times progressively decreased with practice. However, the initial differences disappeared when subjects were trained. The way that current models account for these investigation findings is discussed. In addition, it is suggested that there is an attentional bias in favor of biological elements, which disappears when presumably less relevant elements become more relevant as a function of the task characteristics.     

Psychosocial intervention follow-up in children with ADHD: effects on academic, emotional and social functioning

The aim of this investigation was to analyze the maintenance of the effects, one year after its conclusion, of an intervention that integrated three coordinated programs, implemented with 27 children with ADHD, aged between 7 and 10 years, their parents and teachers. The intervention lasted 10 weeks and included behavior-modification and cognitive-behavioral techniques, academic adaptations and social skills. We evaluated the effects on academic, emotional and social adjustment from the information provided by parents, teachers and classmates. The results confirm the maintenance in the follow-up evaluation of the improvements experienced after the treatment, especially in the academic and social areas, in which these children displayed the greatest difficulties.     

Limits on bilingualism revisited: Stress ‘deafness’ in simultaneous French–Spanish bilinguals

We probed simultaneous French–Spanish bilinguals for the perception of Spanish lexical stress using three tasks, two short-term memory encoding tasks and a speeded lexical decision. In all three tasks, the performance of the group of simultaneous bilinguals was intermediate between that of native speakers of Spanish on the one hand and French late learners of Spanish on the other hand. Using a composite stress ‘deafness’ index measure computed over the results of the three tasks, we found that the performance of the simultaneous bilinguals is best fitted by a bimodal distribution that corresponds to a mixture of the performance distributions of the two control groups. Correlation analyses showed that the variables explaining language dominance are linked to early language exposure. These findings are discussed in light of theories of language processing in bilinguals.     

Sociometric types and social interaction styles in a sample of Spanish adolescents

This study analyzed the relationship between social interaction styles and sociometric types in a sample of 1,349 (51.7% boys, and 48.3% girls) Spanish adolescents. The results revealed that the proportion of prosocial adolescents nominated as liked by peers was significantly higher than prosocial with social anxiety, whereas the proportion of aggressive adolescents nominated by peers as rejected was significantly higher than the proportion of rejected-prosocial and rejected-with social anxiety. The percentages of sociometric types and social interaction styles varied significantly according to gender and academic grade. Logistic regression analyses showed that being prosocial was 48% more likely when adolescents are nominated by peers as liked, whereas being prosocial was 41% and 79% less likely when adolescents were nominated as rejected and neglected, respectively. Furthermore, prosocial adolescents were 67% more likely nominated by peers as liked, and were less likely nominated as rejected (42%) and neglected (78%). Finally, being neglected was 83% more likely in aggressive adolescents.