Remembrances of parental rejection are associated with loneliness as mediated by psychological maladjustment in young Bangladeshi men but not women

Loneliness is a significant public health issue that affects young adults. This investigation drew from interpersonal acceptance-rejection theory to understand how remembrances of parental rejection contributed to psychological maladjustment and loneliness in Bangladeshi college students (N = 300; 50% female). Students reported their remembrances of mothers' and fathers' acceptance-rejection, their current psychological maladjustment, and loneliness. Remembrances of rejection by parents in childhood were associated with psychological maladjustment (hostility/aggression, negative self-esteem, negative self-adequacy, emotional unresponsiveness, emotional instability, and negative worldview) for young adult men and women. Psychological maladjustment, in turn, was associated with feelings of loneliness in young adulthood for young men, but not women. Remembrances of parental rejection were also associated with greater hostility and aggression over and above general psychological functioning among both men and women. Findings are discussed in the context of different social and structural features of young adulthood for women and men in Bangladesh.     

Equality,Bias, and the Right to an Equal Say

Philosophia - Thomas Christiano argues that democracies acquire a right to rule by being the unique embodiment of publicly accessible rules. Justice requires the equal advancement of the interests...     

Quantifying the Interplay of Semantics and Phonology During Failures of Word Retrieval by People With Aphasia Using a Multiplex Lexical Network

Investigating instances where lexical selection fails can lead to deeper insights into the cognitive machinery and architecture supporting successful word retrieval and speech production. In this paper, we used a multiplex lexical network approach that combines semantic and phonological similarities among words to model the structure of the mental lexicon. Network measures at different levels of analysis (degree, network distance, and closeness centrality) were used to investigate the influence of network structure on picture naming accuracy and errors by people with Anomic, Broca's, Conduction, and Wernicke's aphasia. Our results reveal that word retrieval is influenced by the multiplex lexical network structure in at least two ways—(a) the accuracy of production and error type on incorrect productions were influenced by the degree and closeness centrality of the target word, and (b) error type also varied in terms of network distance between the target word and produced error word. Taken together, the analyses demonstrate that network science techniques, particularly the use of the multiplex lexical network to simultaneously represent semantic and phonological relationships among words, reveal how the structure of the mental lexicon influences language processes beyond traditionally examined psycholinguistic variables. We propose a framework for how the multiplex lexical network approach allows for understanding the influence of mental lexicon structure on word retrieval processes, with an eye toward a better understanding of the nature of clinical impairments, like aphasia.     

Imagined contact and mental illness stigma in an Asian context: Bolstering the effect and examining the impact of factual information

Imagined contact can be effective at reducing social stigma. However, the effect may depend on the strength of the stigma held. We tested the robustness of imagined contact in an Asian setting where stigmatization of mental illness is stronger than in Western countries. In Experiment 1 (n = 167) with five conditions, only an enhanced version of positive imagined contact was able to decrease stigma towards people with schizophrenia through decreasing intergroup anxiety. Given the potential discrepancy between imaginations and reality about experiences with stigmatized groups, in Experiment 2 (n = 121), we tested the hypothesis that after presenting participants with factual information about a mental illness group, imagined contact might backfire, resulting in more negative perceptions. However, enhanced imagined contact alongside factual message about schizophrenia did not increase stigma. The backfiring hypothesis was therefore not supported. Nevertheless, providing realistic information did negate the positive effects of enhanced imagined contact on stigma reduction. In both experiments, we also showed that intergroup anxiety mediated the effect of enhanced imagined contact on various measures of stigma.     

Evaluating gene x psychological risk factor effects in the pathogenesis of anxiety: a new model approach

The present study evaluated the singular and interactive effects of a functional polymorphism (variation) in the serotonin transporter (5-HTT) gene and a psychological trait (anxiety sensitivity [AS], i.e., fear of arousal symptoms) in predicting subjective and physiological responses to a 35% carbon dioxide (CO2) challenge in a community sample (N = 72). Genotypes were divided into 2 groups in accord with prior research. Findings were partially supportive of the hypothesized risk model. These indicated that the Group L genotype (homozygous for the 1 allele), compared with the Group S genotype (homozygous for the s allele plus heterozygous individuals), predicted greater fearful response to the biological challenge. There was also an AS x Genotype interaction predicting heart rate variability (HRV) in response to the CO2, suggesting that high AS plus Group L status predicts decreased HRV.     

Perceptual assumptions and projective distortions in a three-dimensional shape illusion

We examine a shape illusion, in which the balconies of a building appear to tilt up or down, depending on the viewpoint. The balconies are actually level parallelogram shapes, but appear as tilted rectangles. We measured the illusory tilts observed when parallelogram shapes are viewed above the line of sight, using three-dimensional stimuli consisting of parallelograms of various tilts viewed at different orientations. Under perspective projection, parallelism and orthogonality are not preserved. However, perspective distortions alone cannot account for the perceived tilts measured in these experiments, since observers perceived illusory tilts even for stimuli in the frontoparallel plane. We introduce a model, based on the theory that observers assume ambiguously projected three-dimensional angles to be equal to 90 degrees, but revise their predictions on the basis of observation. In the model, perceived tilt is predicted as a weighted sum of the tilts predicted by the assumptions that the shape is rectangular, and that the shape is level (i.e. that the angle between the shape and the vertical backboard is equal to 90 degrees). We prove that it is mathematically impossible for a planar rectangle to share a projection with a nonrectangular parallelogram. A less restrictive assumption that just the two leading internal angles are equal to 90 degrees is suggested as an alternative, and it is further proven that this new configuration of angles leads to a unique perceived tilt. The relative weights in the model reflect the amount that each prediction is revised, and are shown to vary systematically with stimulus orientation. For some observers a better fit was found by replacing the level-tilt assumptions with an assumption that physical tilt was equal to the projected tilt.     

Ethnic identity, self-esteem, and ethnocentrism: a study of social identity versus multicultural theory of development

Social identity theory (SIT) proposes that the more strongly individuals identify with their group, the less favorable attitudes they hold toward dissimilar groups. In contrast, multicultural theory proposes that affirmation toward one's group--particularly with respect to ethnicity--should correspond with higher levels of acceptance toward dissimilar groups. These competing theories were examined with 486 non-Hispanic White, African American, and Hispanic/Latino university students to determine if support would be found for either theory. Consistent with SIT, levels of ethnic identity correlated significantly with levels of ethnocentrism for Whites and Hispanics but not for African Americans. African Americans obtained significantly higher ethnic identity and self-esteem scores than the other 2 groups. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Circadian phase-shifted rats show normal acquisition but impaired long-term retention of place information in the water task

It is thought that circadian rhythms may influence learning and memory processes. However, research supporting this view does not dissociate a mnemonic impairment from other performance deficits. Furthermore, published reports do not specify the type of memory system influenced by the circadian system. The present study assessed the effects of phase shifting on acquisition and expression of place navigation in the water maze, a task sensitive to hippocampal dysfunction. The results showed that phase-shifting circadian rhythms in rats impaired the expression of place information on a retention test but not initial acquisition or encoding of place information. These results suggest that disruption of circadian rhythms may impair consolidation of previously encoded hippocampal place information.