Accuracy of respiratory symptom perception in persons with high and low negative affectivity

Accuracy of respiratory symptom perception was investigated in different contexts in participants (N = 56) scoring high or low for negative affectivity (NA). Within subject-correlations were calculated between minute ventilation (frequency per minute × tidal volume) and the subjective symptom ‘faster and/or deeper breathing’ across 10 subsequent breathing trials of 2?min with varying air mixtures, containing fresh or foul smelling odours and/or 5.5% CO₂. Half the participants were given a positive information frame for the sensations (‘some air mixtures may induce a pleasantly arousing feeling, like when being in love’), whereas the other half was given a negative frame (‘some air mixtures may induce feelings of being anxious and distressed’). Interoceptive accuracy was overall fairly high (r = 0.56–0.74), but it dropped considerably (r = 0.27), when bodily sensations were induced in high NA persons in a negative information frame (interaction, p < 0.005). Interoceptive accuracy appears low when persons with high NA are in situations characterised by negative affective cues.     

Tonal synchrony in mother–infant interaction based on harmonic and pentatonic series

This study reports the occurrence of ‘tonal synchrony’ as a new dimension of early mother–infant interaction synchrony. The findings are based on a tonal and temporal analysis of vocal interactions between 15 mothers and their 3-month-old infants during 5 min of free-play in a laboratory setting. In total, 558 vocal exchanges were identified and analysed, of which 84% reflected harmonic or pentatonic series. Another 10% of the exchanges contained absolute and/or relative pitch and/or interval imitations. The total durations of dyads being in tonal synchrony were normally distributed (M = 3.71, SD = 2.44). Vocalisations based on harmonic series appeared organised around the major triad, containing significantly more simple frequency ratios (octave, fifth and third) than complex ones (non-major triad tones). Tonal synchrony and its characteristics are discussed in relation to infant-directed speech, communicative musicality, pre-reflective communication and its impact on the quality of early mother–infant interaction and child's development.     

Attitudes of Potential Providers Towards Preconceptional Cystic Fibrosis Carrier Screening

To determine the attitudes of potential providers (general practitioners and Community Health Service workers) towards preconceptual cystic fibrosis (CF) carrier screening and to determine which factors are associated with a positive attitude. A survey was conducted among 200 general practitioners (GPs) and 134 Community Health Service (CHS) workers. Fifty-two percent of the eligible GPs participated and 84% of the CHS workers. Fifty-five percent of the GPs and 73% of the CHS workers had a positive attitude towards routinely offering CF carrier screening, and more than 80% were in favor of informing the target population about the possibility of having a CF carrier test. A positive attitude was associated with (a) high perceived severity of CF, (b) religion (nonreligious compared to Reformed), (c) low perceived barriers, and (d) high perceived test reliability. The care providers who are most likely to be involved in a preconceptual CF carrier screening program, i.e. GPs and CHS workers, generally have a positive attitude towards the implementation of such a program.     

Behaviour therapy for addicted cigarette smokers: A preliminary investigation

The apparatus and experimental procedure of a behaviour therapy approach to cigarette addiction are described. The aim of the methd is to develop a dislike for the taste of cigarettes, which may help in giving up the habit of smoking. An account is given of some preliminary experiences and results.     

Die signififchen Grundlagen der Mathematik

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Eat now,exercise later: The relation between consideration of immediate and future consequences and healthy behavior

In light of the current obesity epidemic, individual choices for food and exercise should be understood better. Consideration of the immediate and future consequences of these choices (i.e., time orientation) can be an important predictor of eating and exercising behavior. The objective was to show that behavior-specific time orientation differentially predicts eating and exercising behavior. Two studies were conducted among students (N = 55) and the general public (N = 165). Participants completed two adapted versions (for food and exercise) of the Consideration of Future Consequences Scale (CFC), each consisting of the subscales CFC-future and CFC-immediate. Thereafter they reported their eating and exercising behavior. Study 1 showed that CFC-food, but not CFC-exercise, predicted eating behavior. Similarly, both studies showed that CFC-exercise, but not CFC-food, predicted exercising behavior. Moreover, eating behavior was predicted by CFC-food/immediate, whereas exercising behavior was predicted by CFC-exercise/future. In conclusion, behavior-specific time orientation predicts behavior within a behavioral domain but less well across behavioral domains. Additionally, consideration of immediate and future consequences differentially predict behavior across behavioral domains. In order to predict behavior, time orientation is measured best at a behavior-specific level.     

When Problems Lead to Ideas: The Roles of Daily Vigor and Social Interactions

In this study, we investigate idea generation by conducting a diary study. We hypothesized that idea generation depends on problem identification, and that this relation is moderated by two factors: (a) the number of social interactions an individual has with “non‐redundant” network connections, and (b) an individual's level of vigor. The hypotheses were tested by making use of a diary study among 31 employees of a Dutch applied university over a period of 2 weeks. Results showed that idea generation results from the identification of problems that require new ideas to solve them. An individual's number of social interactions and the level of redundancy of these social interactions moderated this relation. The level of vigor of an individual did not predict idea generation, but results suggest that vigor is needed for interacting with others. Furthermore, this study contributes to the creativity research using a new approach to look at the effects of social interactions by relating them to the overall structure of social networks.     

Does technology and innovation management improve market position? Empirical evidence from innovating firms in South Africa

There is a growing recognition of the central role of technology and knowledge management for market success of organizations. Little is empirically know, however, about this relationship. Drawing on the South African Innovation Survey, a unique dataset on innovative behavior of South African firms in manufacturing and services, this paper investigates the question to what extent and in which ways do technology and innovation management activities affect firms’ market position. Findings show that conducting technology strategy activities pays out. Moreover, especially a combination of internal and external technology audits seems to be beneficial for organizational performance.     

Person, personality, self, and identity: a philosophically informed conceptual analysis

Who is the person, or self, associated with personality disorder and its treatment? How are we to account for a self conceptualized in terms of schemas and representations, that at the same time--as self--scrutinizes these schemas and representations (as in cognitive therapy for personality disorders)? Five approaches to personhood are examined: metaphysical, empirical, transcendental, hermeneutical, and phenomenological. An elementary sense of selfhood is tied to all one's experiences and activities; this sense of self is experientially irreducible and conceptually connected to a primordial form of self-relatedness. After examining these issues, I formulate four provisional conclusions: (a) the separation between person and roles (functions, personality features) is a modern fiction--persons are not neutral bearers of roles and functions; (b) the concept of personality in DSM-IV refers to nonhomogeneous behaviors such as feelings, moods, inclinations, temperaments, and habits, and these behaviors differ with respect to their distance to the core self; (c) there exists an enormous variety of ways of self-relating and this variety may affect the contents of the core self under certain circumstances; and (d) the concept of person may be primitive; that is, irreducible and referring to a background of unity and integrity.