Victim blaming and exoneration of the perpetrator in domestic violence: the role of beliefs in a just world and ambivalent sexism

The existence of domestic violence is closely linked to several ideological factors that include sexism and other beliefs about society in general, namely the belief in a just world. In this study, which involved 485 people of both sexes aged between 18 and 70 years, we analyzed the influence of these ideological variables of the perceivers and characteristics of the situation on judgments of a gender aggression--blaming the victim and exonerating the perpetrator. Results showed differences in the reactions of observers depending on the cause that triggered the aggression. Participants blamed the victim and exonerated the aggressor more when no cause of the aggression was mentioned than when a cause was mentioned (the woman wanted to separate, to see an old male friend, or simply to take a trip with her female friends). We also found clear effects of hostile sexism and just world beliefs on the dependent variables. Results showed that the influence of just world beliefs depended on the fact of mention or not a cause for the aggression.     

Measuring depressive symptomatology of patients referred to a behavioral medicine clinic: Concordance of self-report measures

We measured depressive symptomatology of 134 outpatient veterans treated within a Behavioral Medicine Clinic utilizing three reliable instruments with depression subscales: Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), Derogatis Stress Profile (DSP), and Symptom Checklist 90—Revised (SCL-90-R). Results indicate that although the instruments correlate significantly, they differ in sensitivity to depression and are clinically discordant. The MMPI classified a substantially higher number of patients as depressed than either the DSP or SCL-90-R. The present study argues that the discrepancy in clinical concordance and sensitivity of the three depression scales has considerable implications for psychologists concerned with the assessment and treatment of depression.     

Topological visual mapping in robotics

A key problem in robotics is the construction of a map from its environment. This map could be used in different tasks, like localization, recognition, obstacle avoidance, etc. Besides, the simultaneous location and mapping (SLAM) problem has had a lot of interest in the robotics community. This paper presents a new method for visual mapping, using topological instead of metric information. For that purpose, we propose prior image segmentation into regions in order to group the extracted invariant features in a graph so that each graph defines a single region of the image. Although others methods have been proposed for visual SLAM, our method is complete, in the sense that it makes all the process: it presents a new method for image matching; it defines a way to build the topological map; and it also defines a matching criterion for loop-closing. The matching process will take into account visual features and their structure using the graph transformation matching (GTM) algorithm, which allows us to process the matching and to remove out the outliers. Then, using this image comparison method, we propose an algorithm for constructing topological maps. During the experimentation phase, we will test the robustness of the method and its ability constructing topological maps. We have also introduced new hysteresis behavior in order to solve some problems found building the graph.     

DIVERSITY AND COMMUNALITY IN VENEZUELA AROUND THE CONCEPTS OF PROGRESS AND WORK: THEIR EFFECTS ON ORGANIZATIONS

Venezuela has experienced quite a rapid rate of change at mid century but has not been able to attain real economic development. Yet the desirability of progress is a commonly shared value, although there are important differences within the society; for example, in the ways in which work is conceived, or the degree to which the common Latin American values are ascribed. Besides, the concern with power, which is also identified as important within Venezuelan society and often gets combined with the socio-centric values into ‘political partisanship’, is a factor affecting organizational functioning, particularly in the public sector. Examples are given of unsuccessful and successful organizations, pointing out the need to take into account the commonalities and diversities in values identified within the society in the search of organizational alternatives more viable within the particular context.     

Prior Publication and Redundancy in Contemporary Science: Are Authors and Editors at the Crossroads?

We discuss prior publication and redundancy in contemporary science in the context of changing perceptions of originality in the communication of research results. These perceptions have been changing in the publication realm, particularly in the last 15 years. Presenting a brief overview of the literature, we address some of the conflicts that are likely to arise between authors and editors. We illustrate our approach with conference presentations that are later published as journal articles and focus on a recent retraction of an article that had been previously published as a conference proceedings. Although we do not make definitive pronouncements on the matter—as many concepts are evolving—we do argue that conference papers that contain sufficient details for others to attempt a replication and are indexed in scientific databases such as PubMed, challenge some currently held assumptions of prior publication and originality in the sciences. Our view is that these important issues are in need of further clarification and harmonization within the science publishing community. This need is more evident when we consider current notions of research integrity when it comes to communication to peers. Revisiting long-standing views about what constitutes prior publication and developing a clearer set of guidelines for authors and editors to follow should reduce conflicts in the research environment, which already exerts considerable pressure, especially on newcomers in academia. However, while clearer guidelines are timely, developing them is only part of the challenge. The present times seem to call for deeper changes in the research and publication systems.     

Pseudodementia: A slow death

The clinical term pseudodementia has remained a permanent nosological entity in the literature for over 100 years. Indeed, recognition of the fact that clinical symptoms associated with reversible neuropsychiatric conditions can mimic irreversible disorders was known as early as the middle of the 19th century. The importance of the term lies in the inherent assumption that the presenting dementia is not real, or is at least reversible, and therefore treatable. Nonetheless, there continues to be controversy regarding the validity and appropriate clinical use of the term. This article reviews the evolution and clinical utility of the term pseudodementia and attempts to redirect investigative efforts toward an understanding of the neuroanatomical substrates that underlie depression and cognitive impairment in the elderly. Based on a critical analysis of the relevant literatures, a subcortical-frontal neuroanatomical substrate of late-life depression is supported. Further, the presence of leukoaraiosis, as measured by magnetic resonance imaging, is proposed as a potential neurobiological marker that contributes to the depressed mood, cognitive impairment, and later cognitive deterioration of some elderly depressed.     

Less exploring by mouth occurs in newborns of depressed mothers

Twenty‐four newborns (M age = 12 days) of depressed and nondepressed mothers were assessed for oral perception of a nubby and smooth texture. Both groups of newborns discriminated between these textures and showed a sucking preference for the smooth texture. However, the newborns of depressed mothers spent 50% less time orally exploring the stimuli, one‐third less time exploring the more novel nubby texture, and 59% less time mouthing the smooth texture. Newborns of depressed mothers may have biological differences that affect their emotional arousal and emotional regulation (e.g., capacity for self‐soothing). © 2000 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

Neuropsychological Evaluation of Everyday Memory

The evaluation of everyday memory (EM) was reviewed and reconceptualized. EM has established new objectives of study and the development of new methods to reach these objectives . At the basic level, this approach has already produced important discoveries and the development of new principles about memory and functioning. At the clinical level, this new area of investigation has resulted in evaluating deficits of EM, which is defined as what daily life functions remain impaired after a deficit pathology has occurred. A type of evaluation has evolved that is oriented toward treatment and extremely useful in designing rehabilitation programs for individuals with alterations in memory.     

Aspects of body image perception in obese and normal-weight youngsters

Perceptual and projective aspects of body image in obese youngsters (not in psychological treatment) and normal-weight youngsters 8–9 years of age and 12–13 years of age were investigated. The results indicate that perceptual distortions in estimating various body dimensions of oneself are primarily a function of age rather than weight status. The accuracy of estimating the weight of peers and an adult showed an association with the sex of the subject. No group differences were found in terms of projective aspects of body image as measured by barrier and penetration responses. This study suggests that obese youngsters in the middle childhood and entering puberty periods in comparison to normal-weight youngsters of the same age do not manifest differences in perceptual factors of body image.