A Developmental Framework for Collaboration in Child-Serving Agencies

Collaboration for the purpose of interdependent problem solving represents a fundamental reform of services for children with serious emotional disturbance and their families, which have typically been categorical, poorly coordinated, costly, overly restrictive, and frequently provided outside of the children's home communities. This article presents a developmental framework for collaboration that is based on the experience of families, service providers, administrators, and community members who have been involved in local collaborative processes in their own communities. The framework provides those interested in building collaboration a clear identification of the stages of collaborative development, defining characteristics of each stage, collaborative activities typical of that stage, and identification of the catalyst for change to the next stage. The results of this project indicate that while well-developed professional collaboration is a necessary component of collaboration, it is not sufficient in and of itself. The sites participating in this project related their experiences in building collaborative processes to both the development of strong interagency collaborations and the development of family participation. Their experience indicates that these two processes must be fully developed and woven together to achieve the goal of true collaboration.     

Do Bilinguals Automatically Activate Their Native Language When They Are Not Using It?

Most models of lexical access assume that bilingual speakers activate their two languages even when they are in a context in which only one language is used. A critical piece of evidence used to support this notion is the observation that a given word automatically activates its translation equivalent in the other language. Here, we argue that these findings are compatible with a different account, in which bilinguals “carry over” the structure of their native language to the non‐native language during learning, and where there is no activation of translation equivalents. To demonstrate this, we describe a model in which language learning involves mapping native language phonological relationships to the non‐native language, and we show how it can explain the results attributed to automatic activation of translation equivalents.     

The effects of increasing semantic-associate list length on the Deese–Roediger–McDermott false recognition memory: Dual false-memory process in retrieval from sub- and supraspan lists

In this study, the number of semantic associates in Deese–Roediger–McDermott (DRM) lists was varied from 4 to 14 in a modified Sternberg paradigm. The false alarm (FA) and correct rejection (CR) reaction time (RT)/memory-set size (MSS) functions of critical lures showed a cross-over interaction at approximately MSS 7, suggesting a reversal of the relative dominance between these two responses to the critical lure at this point and also indicating the location of the boundary between the sub- and supraspan MSS. For the subspan lists, FA to critical lures was slower than CR, suggesting a slow, strategic mechanism driving the false memory. Conversely, for the supraspan lists, critical lure FA was faster than its CR, suggesting a spontaneous mechanism driving the false memory. Results of two experiments showed that an automatic, fast, and a slow, controlled process could be error-prone or error-corrective, depending on the length of the DRM memory list. Thus there is a dual retrieval process in false memory as in true memory. The findings can be explained by both the activation/monitoring and the fuzzy-trace theories.     

Traditional versus modern values and interpersonal factors predicting stress response syndromes in a Swiss elderly population

Stress response syndromes like adjustment disorders or complicated grief are assumed to be shaped by social-cultural factors in addition to biological and psychological factors. In previous research, value orientations and interpersonal factors were found to jointly predict those syndromes (Maercker, A., Mohiyeddini, C., Müller, M., Xie, W., Hui Yang, Z., Wang, J., & Müller, J. ( 2009 ). Traditional versus modern values, self-perceived interpersonal factors, and posttraumatic stress in Chinese and German crime victims. Psychology and Psychotherapy, 82(Pt 2), 219-232.). In addition to the previous finding, the current study using Swiss elderly (65-97 years) aimed to replicate patterns of predictors leading to stress responses in people with recent bereavement or severe life events. Traditional (conformity, tradition and benevolence) and modern values (stimulation, hedonism and achievement) and two self-perceived interpersonal mediator processes (disclosure intentions and social acknowledgement as a victim) were assessed. The current study confirms the previous model in parts, that is, the indirect path from social acknowledgment to stress response syndrome is mediated by disclosure intentions. Traditional values and not modern values explained substantial variance for disclosure intentions and are therefore indirectly linked to worse mental health outcomes whereas the direct association appears somewhat controversial in light of previous findings.     

Primate prefrontal neurons encode the association of paired visual stimuli during the pair-association task

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is known to contribute to memory processes such as encoding representations into long-term-memory (LTM) and retrieving these representations from LTM. However, the details of the PFC's contribution to LTM processes are not well known. To examine the characteristics of the PFC's contribution to LTM processes, we analyzed single-neuron activity while monkeys performed a pair-association (PA) task using 12 pairs of complex visual images. Among 60 neurons with sample-period activity, 32% showed the strongest and second-strongest sample-period activities when a particular pair of stimuli was presented (pair selectivity). In addition, the mean latency of sample-period activity was 138 ms in the PFC, which was longer than that observed in ITC neurons under bottom-up conditions, but shorter than that under top-down conditions. These results indicate that the PFC participates in encoding and retrieving information in LTM processes and that pair-selective sample-period activity might be a candidate for the top-down signal that the PFC provides to the ITC during the retrieval of information from LTM.     

In and out of a daydream: attachment orientations, daily couple interactions, and sexual fantasies

In this study, the authors examined the contribution of attachment orientations to the content of daily sexual fantasies. The two partners of 48 couples independently reported on their attachment orientations and provided daily reports on relationship interactions and sexual fantasies for a period of 21 days. Results showed that attachment anxiety was associated with wishes for intimacy and representations of others as more affectionate in sexual fantasies. Conversely, avoidant attachment was associated with avoidance-related wishes and representations of the self and others as more aggressive and alienated. Negative couple interactions increased habitual attachment-related wishes and self-representations. Specifically, during days characterized by negative couple interactions (relationship-damaging behaviors), attachment anxiety was associated with portrayal of the self as more helpless and avoidant attachment was associated with the expression of more avoidant wishes and portrayal of the self as less helpless. The discussion focuses on the manifestations of attachment-related interpersonal goals in sexual fantasies.     

Self-motion perception and vestibulo-ocular reflex during whole body yaw rotation in standing subjects: the role of head position and neck proprioception

Self-motion perception and vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) were studied during whole body yaw rotation in the dark at different static head positions. Rotations consisted of four cycles of symmetric sinusoidal and asymmetric oscillations. Self-motion perception was evaluated by measuring the ability of subjects to manually track a static remembered target. VOR was recorded separately and the slow phase eye position (SPEP) was computed. Three different head static yaw deviations (active and passive) relative to the trunk (0°, 45° to right and 45° to left) were examined. Active head deviations had a significant effect during asymmetric oscillation: the movement perception was enhanced when the head was kept turned toward the side of body rotation and decreased in the opposite direction. Conversely, passive head deviations had no effect on movement perception. Further, vibration (100 Hz) of the neck muscles splenius capitis and sternocleidomastoideus remarkably influenced perceived rotation during asymmetric oscillation. On the other hand, SPEP of VOR was modulated by active head deviation, but was not influenced by neck muscle vibration. Through its effects on motion perception and reflex gain, head position improved gaze stability and enhanced self-motion perception in the direction of the head deviation.     

A functional perspective on group memberships: Differential need fulfillment in a group typology

The social motivation functions of intimacy, task, and social category groups were investigated. In two studies, participants were asked to consider the extent to which their group memberships fulfilled several needs. A factor analysis confirmed that the needs comprised three factors: affiliation, achievement, and identity. Intimacy groups were associated with affiliation needs, task groups were associated with achievement needs, and social category groups were associated with identity. A study using implicit measures reinforced those results, revealing the presence of the same implicit associations between group types and need fulfillments. A final study manipulated participants’ need state through a priming procedure. Priming a specific need (affiliation, achievement, and identity) led to an increased accessibility of the group type that was best suited to meet that need (intimacy, task, social category, respectively). Results help clarify the functional aspects of groups and have implications for the perception and organization of group-level information.     

Is this a question? Not for long. The statement bias

Four experiments demonstrate a fundamental ‘statement bias’: questions are more often misremembered as statements than vice versa. The bias increases with increasing item comprehensibility (Experiment 1) and is related to depth of processing at encoding (Experiment 2). When sentences are simply comprehended, the bias is not affected by the truth of the statement underlying the sentence (Experiment 3). The statement bias generalizes to contexts in which people have to express consent with the content of the sentence (Experiment 4) but is somewhat reduced when they are not sure what the correct answer is. Our findings are consistent with the idea that during processing of a sentence the content of the sentence is represented similar to a statement.     

Wonder,Guarding Against Thoughtlessness in Education

Studies in Philosophy and Education - Hannah Arendt has a particular notion of thinking that both is and is not (in her sense of the term) philosophical. While not guided by the search for meta...