Field Trial of a Complicated Grief Psychosocial Program for Adolescents in Occupied Palestine

The current study evaluated the new “Children and Grief” program for Palestinian adolescents (n = 158), aged 10–18, referred to counselors for complicated grief. A mixed methods quasi-experimental design involved non-randomized intervention group (n = 79), waitlist (n = 79), and measures of program fidelity and cost. Traumatic loss was identified from case files. Standardized measures assessed complicated grief, posttraumatic stress, and depression at pre and post-test. Interviews of 9 adolescents and 9 presenters explored subjective experience of program delivery. Analysis involved multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and quasi-qualitative analysis of interviews. A large effect size was found for reduced complicated grief. Randomized control trials, longitudinal research, and studies that explore the impact of martyrdom on coping with grief are needed.     

A cross-linguistic data bank for oral picture naming in Dutch, English, German, French, Italian, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish (PEDOI)

The well established effect of word frequency on adult's picture naming performance is now called into question. This is particularly true for variables which are correlated with frequency, as is the case of age of word acquisition. Since the work of [Carrol and White, 1973] there is growing agreement among researchers to confer an important role in lexical access to this variable. Indeed, it has been shown ( [Hodgson and Ellis, 1998]) that for normal English-speaking adults only the variables 'age-of-acquisition' and 'name agreement' are independent predictors of naming success among the various variables considered. However, when brain-damaged subjects with and without degenerative pathologies are studied, word frequency and word length as well as concept familiarity all give significant effects ( [Hirsh and Funnell, 1995]; [Lambon Ralph et al., 1998]; [Nickels and Howard, 1995]). Finally, it has been suggested that the production of specific error types may be related to such variables. According to [Nickels and Howard, 1994] the production of semantic errors is specifically affected by 'imageability' and in the recent study by [Kremin et al., 2001] 'age of acquisition' predicts (frank) word finding difficulties.     

Instructional strategy effects on the retention and transfer of procedures of different difficulty level

In the present study, the effects of two instructional strategies on the retention and transfer of procedures of different difficulty level were investigated. Difficulty level was manipulated by providing a different number of cues during training. The instructional strategies differed with respect to the amount of contextual interference. Sixty-four subjects were randomly assigned to either a high interference group or a low interference group. Retention and transfer were measured immediately following training and after a three-week delay. The dependent variables were number of errors and decision time. Results showed no differences between the two training groups over the various difficulty levels. Results further showed that retention performance increased as fewer cues were available during practice. It is suggested that ‘delayed automatization’ can account for the observed increment in performance level. It is further suggested that contextual interference may produce delayed automatization of task performance but is only effective if relationships can be discovered in the learning material.     

Polynomial psychophysics of group risk perception

The Coombs and Huang (1970) distributive theory of perceived risk is reinterpreted as a more robust statistical hypothesis to describe central tendencies of noisy replicates drawn from a homogeneous population. Barron's (1976) sample of 13 business faculty rank-order responses are pooled to obtain a replicated complete 3 × 3 × 3 design which is analyzed by a new stochastic conjoint measurement (SCJM) approach to axiomatic data analysis. SCJM implements statistical analogues of the deterministic Krantz and Tversky (1971) diagnostics for error-free data. SCJM diagnosis based on a series of one-sided nonparametric two-cell comparisons at the α = 0.04 level supports the hypothesis of interaction between the expected-value and number-of-plays attributes of gambles yet contradicts Barron's odd-even effects hypothesis. SCJM diagnosis with two-cell α < 0.04 supports an additive statistical model.     

A conjoint measurement approach to color harmony

The aim of this study was to find a rule in color harmony that could reveal the mutual influences of the three basic harmonies, those of hue, lightness, and saturation. One hundred and four color pairs were judged for harmony by five subjects five times. The results were analyzed by the conjoint measurement algorithm of Krantz and Tversky (1971). It was concluded that there is an interaction between saturation harmony and hue and lightness harmony together, and an additivity between hue harmony and lightness harmony. This implies the rule: color harmony = saturation harmony * (hue harmony + lightness harmony).     

Positive body image is positively associated with hedonic (emotional) and eudaimonic (psychological and social) well-being in British adults

Studies examining associations between positive body image and well-being have used a limited array of measures of each construct. To rectify this, we asked an online sample of 1148 U.K. adults to complete a range of measures of positive body image (body appreciation, body image flexibility, body pride, body acceptance from others) and a multi-dimensional measure of well-being (emotional, psychological, and social). Results showed that, once the effects of age and body mass index (BMI) had been accounted for, body appreciation significantly predicted all dimensions of well-being. Other positive body image measures emerged as significant predictors, but patterns of associations were mixed across sex and well-being dimension. Additional analyses showed that women had significantly lower scores than men on most body image measures, and that BMI was negatively associated with all body image measures. These results have implications for the promotion of well-being, which we discuss.     

Knowing color terms enhances recognition: further evidence from English and Himba

Two experiments attempted to reconcile discrepant recent findings relating to children’s color naming and categorization. In a replication of Franklin and colleagues (Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 90 (2005) 114-141), Experiment 1 tested English toddlers’ naming and memory for blue-green and blue-purple colors. It also found advantages for between-category presentations that could be interpreted as support for universal color categories. However, a different definition of knowing color terms led to quite different conclusions in line with the Whorfian view of Roberson and colleagues (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 133 (2004) 554-571). Categorical perception in recognition memory was now found only for children with a fuller understanding of the relevant terms. It was concluded that color naming can both underestimate and overestimate toddlers’ knowledge of color terms. Experiment 2 replicated the between-category recognition superiority found in Himba children by Franklin and colleagues for the blue-purple range. But Himba children, whose language does not have separate terms for green and blue, did not show a cross-category advantage for that set; rather, they behaved like English children who did not know their color terms.     

Relational Autonomy and Paternalistic Interventions

Relational conceptions of autonomy attempt to take into account the social aspects of autonomous agency. Those views that incorporate not merely causally, but constitutively necessary relational conditions, incorporate a condition that has the form:

(RelAgency) A necessary condition for autonomous agency is that the agent stands in social relations S.

I argue that any account that incorporates such a condition (irrespective of how the relations, S, are spelt out) cannot play one of autonomy’s key normative roles: identifying those agents who ought to be protected from (hard) paternalistic intervention. I argue, against objections from Oshana, that there are good reasons for maintaining the notion of autonomy in this role, and thus that such relational conceptions should not be accepted. This rejection goes beyond that from John Christman, which holds only for those relational conditions which are value-laden.