Interference suppression vs. response inhibition: An explanation for the absence of a bilingual advantage in preschoolers’ Stroop task performance

The well-documented advantage that bilingual speakers demonstrate across the lifespan on measures of controlled attention is not observed in preschoolers’ performance on Stroop task variations. We examined the role of task demands in explaining this discrepancy. Whereas the Color/Word Stroop used with adult participants requires interference suppression, the Stroop task typically used with preschoolers requires only response inhibition. We developed an age-appropriate conflict task that measures interference suppression. Fifty-one preschool children (26 bilinguals) completed this new Bivalent Shape Task and the Day/Night task used in previous research. Bilingual in comparison to monolingual children performed better on incongruent trials of the Bivalent Shape Task, but did not differ on other measures. The results indicate that the discrepancy between preschoolers and older individuals in performance on Stroop task adaptations results from characteristics of the task rather than developmental differences. Further, the findings provide additional support for the importance of interference suppression as a mechanism underlying the bilingual advantage.     

Personality predictors of smoking behavior in a sample of physicians

Abstract

The smoking status of 239 physicians was obtained from a mail survey in 1981. MMPI data, which had been obtained from these men 25 years earlier, was used to prospectively predict smoking status at follow-up. Those who never smoked had scores indicative of social conventionality (low scores on L, Pd, and Schubert scales; high scores on Ego-control). A similar pattern was found among smokers who quit after a relatively short smoking history. Compared to ex-smokers, those who continued to smoke at the time of follow-up were characterized by high scores on the Pd and Ma scales. These results were discussed in terms of a multi-stage conceptualization of the smoking cessation process.     

Voices of African Traditional Healers: Cultural Context and Implications for the Practice of Counselling in Sub-Saharan Africa

The healing paradigm implicit in many sub-Saharan African cultures is embedded in African cosmology, and thus the recognition of this is essential for understanding Traditional African Healing practices and implementing collaborative counselling practices. To this end, this article focuses on the cultural importance, or voice, of traditional healers in sub-Saharan Africa. The current article uses an ethnographic approach to analyse systematically the cultural context of indigenous healing practices in sub-Saharan Africa. The anthropological importance of Traditional Healing practitioners, the context of healing, and the changing legal and ethical status of Traditional Healers are addressed as pivotal in furthering the development of this crucial, yet under utilized resource. The authors propose that such cultural understanding is highly relevant to the work of professional counselors.     

Homophobia is the patient 1

This paper draws on psychoanalytic work with a heterosexual woman who struggles with the conscious and unconscious aspects of her homophobia. It reflects on the limitations of the classical psychoanalytic interpretations of phobia as a symptom in the light of contemporary philosophers such as Levinas, Foucault and Butler. It focuses particularly on the connection between anxiety and the relation to the Other.     

Languages of trauma; towards a phenomenological response

In this article, I explore the possibilities of a phenomenological perspective on trauma in psychoanalytic practice. I highlight the problem of interpretations that universalise experiences of trauma, provide explanations in terms of ‘causes’ and assume particular processes/stages of ‘recovery’ from it. The notion of trauma challenges dichotomies of ‘internal’ and ‘external’ worlds. Traumatic experiences always have a context – that of the immediate relational circumstances of the individual suffering from the trauma, including the wider social/relational context, and the person’s history. I argue for an attunement to the language and specificity of the meanings, verbal and non-verbal, conscious and unconscious, of the client’s suffering within the analytical relationship. This requires the therapist to avoid ‘ready-made’ interpretations from psychoanalytic theory and to be open to the poiesis of the speech, which emerges between therapist and client. My discussion of my reading of the Chilean documentary film, Nostalgia for the Light, which focuses on the traumatic experiences of those who survived Pinochet’s military regime (1973–1989), highlights how diverse responses to trauma are. The originality of the language of the film calls on us as therapists to discover new ways of listening and speaking to our clients’ suffering.     

Problems of assessment in religious and moral education: the Scottish case

This article is concerned with assessment issues in Religious and Moral Education (RME) offered in Scottish non-denominational schools. The analysis of the findings in this article is weighed against the framework of the new ‘3–18’ Scottish curriculum called ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ (CfE). CfE was introduced in primary schools in 2009 and a year later in secondary schools as replacement of the much criticised ‘5–14’ Curriculum which had been in use since 1992. It is based on qualitative data collected from schools in five Scottish local authorities between 2009 and 2011 as part of a moderation project. What is being problematised in this article is the revelation from the data about issues that impact adversely on good assessment in RME in five key areas, namely: planning, religious knowledge, progression, self and peer assessment, literacy and values. The implications of these assessment problems for effective teaching and learning in RME are analysed.     

A Rogerian Perspective on Empathic Patterns in Southern African Healing

This article offers a reflective comment on the topics presented in this special issue. These topics address the concept of community psychology from various perspectives presented in three thematic categories: The states and form of community psychology; the application of community psychology to vulnerable groups and the concept of service delivery and methodologies. The author highlights trends gleaned from the articles, implicitly or explicitly—that of the efficacy of community psychology as a credible branch of psychology, changes needed in training programmes and the idea of the circularity that is community which exists because of the individual who exists because of community.     

Retrieval-induced forgetting and unwanted thought intrusions

The act of retrieving an existing memory has been found to inhibit the recall of related memories, a phenomenon known as retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF). The purpose of the present study was to investigate the hypothesis that individuals with a strong RIF effect might be better at suppressing unwanted intrusive thoughts. In Experiment 1 the relationship between RIF and the prevalence of intrusive thoughts was investigated using a sample of 58 normal British participants, who completed three different questionnaires to measure their susceptibility to intrusive thoughts, obsessional thoughts, and impulsive thoughts. Their susceptibility to RIF was also measured, using the standard procedure introduced by Anderson, Bjork, and Bjork (1994). The results showed a significant RIF effect, and, although no significant correlations were found between RIF strength and any of the three measures of intrusive thoughts, there was some evidence to suggest a possible relationship between RIF and intrusive thoughts. In an effort to clarify these inconclusive findings, Experiment 2 investigated the relationship between RIF and intrusive thoughts in a different and more varied population sample, consisting of 90 normal members of the Greek population. Experiment 2 confirmed the RIF effect, but no significant association was found between RIF and intrusive thoughts. These findings therefore offer no support for the hypothesis that RIF assists the suppression of intrusive thoughts in normal individuals.