Strategies in Syllogistic Reasoning

This paper is about syllogistic reasoning, i.e., reasoning from such pairs of premises as, All the chefs are musicians; some of the musicians are painters. We present a computer model that implements the latest account of syllogisms, which is based on the theory of mental models. We also report four experiments that were designed to test this account. Experiments 1 and 2 examined the strategies revealed by the participants' use of paper and pencil as aids to reasoning. Experiment 3 used a new technique to externalize thinking. The participants had to refute, if possible, putative conclusions by constructing external models that were examples of the premises but counterexamples of the conclusions. Experiment 4 used the same techniques to examine the participants' strategies as they drew their own conclusions from syllogistic premises. The results of the experiments showed that individuals not trained in logic can construct counterexamples, that they use similar operations to those implemented in the computer model, but that they rely on a much greater variety of interpretations of premises and of search strategies than the computer model does. We re-evaluates current theories of syllogistic reasoning in the light of these results.     

Creating space for interdisciplinary and interagency learning: the Newham ‘responsiveness’ days

Family therapists in Newham's specialist child and adolescent mental health services describe an interdisciplinary and interagency training day for Newham's children's workforce; the workshop aims to develop co‐learning about communication and collaboration in the context of a rapidly changing service environment, driven by current national and local policy initiatives. The training team attempts to generate a rich learning context using three themes: networking, responsiveness and complexity. The workshop demonstrates that it is perhaps possible to embed complex communication discourses in brief, pragmatic training, enhancing collaboration between professionals in local networks.     

The Psychosomatic Relationship As A Symbolic Circular Communication: Subjective And Transgenerational Dreams

The human being can be divided into body and mind, two inextricably linked aspects influencing each other. From birth, the body is the site of emotional experiences thanks to cellular memory. The transgenerational and the oneiric imaginary are two themes closely related to the body. Many families express their emotional experiences through bodily symptoms and, in dreams, body icons are used to “talk” about the subject’s identity. The body expresses itself and “speaks” through dreams, which can even become predictors of diseases.     

Body Mass Index Is an Important Predictor for Suicide: Results from a Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis

Public health concerns for the independent management of obesity and suicidal behavior are rising. Emerging evidence suggests body weight plays an important role in quantifying the risk of suicide. In light of these findings, we aimed to clarify the association between body mass index (BMI) and suicidal behavior by systematically reviewing and evaluating the literature. Studies were identified by searching MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and CINAHL from inception to January 2015, supplemented by hand and grey literature searches. Study screening, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment were conducted in duplicate. We included 38 observational studies. Meta‐analyses supported an inverse association between BMI and completed suicide. Pooled summary estimates demonstrated that underweight was significantly associated with an increased risk of completed suicide (HR = 1.21, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.36, p = .002), and obesity (HR = 0.71, 95% CI 0.56 to 0.89, p = .003) and overweight (HR = 0.78, 95% CI 0.75 to 0.82, p < .0001) were significantly associated with a decreased risk of completed suicide relative to normal weight. A qualitative summary of the literature demonstrated conflicting evidence regarding the association between BMI and attempted suicide and revealed no association between BMI and suicidal ideation. BMI may be used to aid the assessment of suicide risk, especially that of completed suicide. However, unmeasured confounders and systematic biases of individual studies limit the quality of evidence.