Cyborg identities and contemporary techno-utopias: adaptations and transformations of the body in the age of nanotechnology

The possibility of improving the human body through a closer relationship with technology in order to overcome the human species toward new stages of evolution is a constant element of techno-utopian visions, among other transhumanism. This projection to a radical transformation of the body - and mind - as a result of technological action is based on the concepts of adaptation, or non adaptation, of a human being to a world constantly changed by technoscience. The belief is that not only the body has to change, but that identity is not a stable concept. This mobility in the relationship between body and identity is typical of the post human thought, which inherits from the informational model the conviction that the biological embodiment of human is to be regarded as an accident of history rather than as an essential condition of life. Hybridization is therefore valued by the post human thought as a condition which has "made" the human as he is today, and it appears as a fundamental topic in any discourse on nanotechnology, biotechnology and development of human-machine interfaces.     

Psychometric properties of the Social Skills Questionnaire: Portuguese adaptation of the student form (grades 7 to 12)

The present study aims to analyze the psychometric properties of the student form (Grades 7 to 12) of the Social Skills Questionnaire authored by Gresham and Elliott (1990), on a sample of Portuguese adolescents. Participants included 573 students, both female and male, aged 14 to 19. Reliability was assessed through Cronbach's alpha and was .87 for the total scale, ranging from.58 to .72 for the subscales. A confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the main adjustment indices presented unexpected values. A principal components analysis indicated that several items of the cooperation subscale correlated with other factors. Adequate adjustment indices were found when cooperation was removed from the model. Semantic dualities due to cultural factors and difficulties assuming the cooperation dimension as an independent dimension might explain the results observed. The reorganization of the SSQ offers a reliable and valid instrument for research within the Portuguese population.     

Un regard structural sur l’inégalité des genres au travail : La causalité des différences « genrées » dans les caractéristiques de réseau de l’employé

This study aims at identifying gender differences in network structure and, hence, at understanding the underlying nature of gender inequalities in organisations. The hypotheses address four ego-network characteristics: network size and density, and ego’s centrality and brokerage. Contrary to the existing body of literature, none significant isolated gender difference in network structure is identified. Instead, those gender differences are triggered exclusively by organisational status, that is to say, they are due to the increased level of power. Thus, organisational status is considered as moderating the relationship between gender and network structure’s characteristics. Some further perspectives are suggested to clarify and generalise the phenomena observed.     

Do humans and nonhuman animals share the grouping principles of the iambic–trochaic law?

The iambic–trochaic law describes humans’ tendency to form trochaic groups over sequences varying in pitch or intensity (i.e., the loudest or highest sounds mark group beginnings), and iambic groups over sequences varying in duration (i.e., the longest sounds mark group endings). The extent to which these perceptual biases are shared by humans and nonhuman animals is yet unclear. In Experiment 1, we trained rats to discriminate pitch-alternating sequences of tones from sequences randomly varying in pitch. In Experiment 2, rats were trained to discriminate duration-alternating sequences of tones from sequences randomly varying in duration. We found that nonhuman animals group sequences based on pitch variations as trochees, but they do not group sequences varying in duration as iambs. Importantly, humans grouped the same stimuli following the principles of the iambic–trochaic law (Exp. 3). These results suggest the early emergence of the trochaic rhythmic grouping bias based on pitch, possibly relying on perceptual abilities shared by humans and other mammals, whereas the iambic rhythmic grouping bias based on duration might depend on language experience.     

Temperamental and environmental risk factors for borderline personality disorder among inner-city substance users in residential treatment

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is widely considered the result of biological vulnerability and environmental adversity. Despite growing evidence for the role of several temperamental and environmental risk factors in the development of BPD, the unique contribution of each to the development of this disorder remains unclear. Furthermore, the extent to which these factors are associated with BPD among underserved and diverse populations is unknown. The current study examined the temperamental and environmental factors uniquely associated with BPD among a sample of 93 inner-city individuals receiving residential substance use treatment. Results indicate that BPD was associated with higher impulsivity and emotional instability/vulnerability, lower well-being, and several interpersonal manifestations of positive and negative temperament (i.e., greater alienation and lower achievement and social closeness). BPD was also associated with several forms of childhood maltreatment, including emotional and physical abuse and neglect. However, only emotional instability or vulnerability, impulsivity, and emotional abuse emerged as unique predictors of BPD status.     

The use of experimenter-given cues by South African fur seals (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Arctocephalus pusillus</Emphasis>)

Dogs can use a variety of experimenter-given cues such as pointing, head direction, and eye direction to locate food hidden under one of several containers. Some authors have proposed that this is a result of the domestication process. In this study we tested four captive fur seals in a two alternative object choice task in which subjects had to use one of the following experimenter-given cues to locate the food: (1) the experimenter pointed and gazed at one of the objects, (2) the experimenter pointed at only one of the objects, (3) the experimenter gazed at only one of the objects, (4) the experimenter glanced at only one of the objects, (5) the experimenter pointed and gazed at one of the objects but was sitting closer to one object than to the other, (6) the experimenter pointed only with the index finger at one of the objects, (7) the experimenter presented a replica of one of the objects. The fur seals were able to use cues which involved a fully exposed arm or a head direction, but failed to use glance only, the index finger pointing and the object replica cues. The results showed that a domestication process was not necessary to develop receptive skills to cues given by an experimenter. Instead, we hypothesize that close interactions with humans prior to testing enabled fur seals to use some gestural cues without formal training. We also analyzed the behavior of the seals depending on the level of difficulty of the task. Behavioral signs of hesitation increased with task difficulty. This suggests that the fur seals were sensitive to task difficulty.     

Timing accuracy in motion extrapolation: reverse effects of target size and visible extent of motion at low and high speeds

By varying target size, speed, and extent of visible motion we examined the timing accuracy in motion extrapolation. Small or large targets (0.2 or 0.8 deg) moved at either 2.5, 5, or 10 deg s(-1) across a horizontal path (2.5 or 10 deg) and then vanished behind an occluder. Observers responded when they judged that the target had reached a randomly specified position between 0 and 12 deg. With higher speeds, the timing accuracy (the reverse of absolute error) was better for small than for large targets, and for long than for short visible extents. With low speed, these effects were reversed. In addition, while long visible extents yielded a greater accuracy at high than at low speeds, for short extents the accuracy was much better with the low speed. The findings suggest that, when extrapolating motion with targets and visible extents of different sizes, the visual system implements different scaling algorithms depending on target speed. At higher speeds, processing of visible and occluded motion is likely to share a common scaling mechanism based on velocity transposition. Reverse effects for target size and extent of visible motion at low and high speeds converge with the assumption of two distinct speed-tuned motion-processing mechanisms in human vision.     

A quantitative synthesis of literature on work status and subjective well being

Metanalytic techniques were used to synthesize results of studies on the relation of work status (retired, employed part time, employed full time) and subjective well being (SWB). The weighted mean of the work status/SWB relation across all studies was .18. When zero-order associations between work status and SWB were used as dependent variables, significant predictors of that relation were the way in which work status was operationalized, ratings of quality of study, year of publication for studies, and age midrange of samples. Gender was not a significant predictor of the work status/SWB relation.