Testing the Situationism Scale in Europe: Scale validation,self‐regulation and regional differences

The term situationism refers to an individual's belief about the importance of a behaviour's context. This study tested whether the degree of situationism expressed by individuals in various regions of Europe was consistent with self‐regulation and cross‐cultural theories. The English version of a Situationism Scale (measuring beliefs about the relation between the environment and one's own behaviour) was translated into five additional languages: Dutch, German, Hungarian, Italian and Slovenian. Young adults (N = 1106, M_Age = 22.9 years, 79% female) across Europe responded to one of the six language versions of the scale as part of a larger survey. Results indicated that: new language versions were psychometrically valid; there was a positive relation between situationism and the use of situation‐control strategies; and situationism was higher for individuals from regions that are Eastern European and relatively more interdependent, compared with individuals from regions that are Western European and relatively less interdependent. As the first evaluation of the Situationism Scale outside America, this study supports the Scale's validity and suggests not only may some effects of situationism be universal, but between‐ and within‐culture differences in situationism exist. Overall, when making judgments and decisions about the self, cultural background and individual differences in situationism may come into play.     

No evidence for self-recognition in a small passerine,the great tit (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Parus major</Emphasis>) judged from the mark/mirror test

Self-recognition is a trait presumed to be associated with high levels of cognition and something previously considered to be exclusive to humans and possibly apes. The most common test of self-recognition is the mark/mirror test of whether an animal can understand that it sees its own reflection in a mirror. The usual design is that an animal is marked with a colour spot somewhere on the body where the spot can only be seen by the animal by using a mirror. Very few species have passed this test, and among birds, only magpies have been affirmatively demonstrated to pass it. In this study, we tested great tits (Parus major), small passerines, that are known for their innovative foraging skills and good problem-solving abilities, in the mirror self-recognition test. We found no indication that they have any ability of this kind and believe that they are unlikely to be capable of this type of self-recognition.     

Are the aesthetic preferences towards snake species already formed in pre-school aged children?

This study explores aesthetic preferences towards boa and python species among pre-school children and adults, and compares the ratings between the two groups. A set of snake photographs was presented (56 species) to children and adult respondents. The respondents were asked to select the five most preferred and five least preferred species. The children’s agreement on which species were ‘beautiful’ and which were ‘ugly’ was statistically significant and a positive relationship between the mean ranks provided by children and adults was also found (r = .54, P < .001). Children preferred species with thick necks and inconspicuous heads, usually small species, harmless to children. Large pythons probably posed more danger to children than they did to adults during human evolution in African savannas and therefore we hypothesize that young children’s aesthetic preferences were shaped by natural selection through interactions with dangerous snakes.     

The Roles of Child Gender and Parental Knowledge of Child Development in Parent-Child Interactive Play

In our study, we aimed to analyse the effect of child gender on parental and child interactive play behaviour, as well as to determine relations between parental general knowledge of child development and parental play behaviour in two developmental periods, namely toddlerhood and early childhood. The sample included 99 children (50 toddlers 1–3 years-old; 49 preschoolers 3–5 years-old) and their parents. Parent–child interactive play with a standard set of toys was observed and assessed in the home setting. We found that parental and child play behaviours were closely related in both age groups. In addition, child’s gender affected child, but not parental, play behaviour such that girls more frequently established the content of play, sustained play frame, and used more symbolic transformations during play than boys did. Parents’ general knowledge of child development was associated with both parental education and parental play behaviour. The findings are applicable to different professionals working with children and their parents in the preschool period.     

Type D Personality in the Prediction of Internet Addiction in the Young Adult Population of Slovak Internet Users

This article presents the results of the first study on the relationship between Internet addiction (IA) and Type D personality (D is for distressed) in Slovakia and is the first attempt to examine the impact of Type D personality in the prediction of IA beyond personality dimensions. Altogether 405 adult Slovak Internet users (aged from 18 to 45 years) filled out the following questionnaires: IRPS, DS14, and NEO-FFI. The results showed that there wasn’t a significant effect of the Type D personality on levels of IRPS after controlling for the effect of Big-Five personality traits. The Big Five personality dimensions and demographics explained 21.1 % of variance in IA. According to our results the typical adult addicted to the Internet could be characterized as a young introverted unconscientious and disagreeable neurotic. Future research should concentrate more on the creation and validation of the model of IA.     

From Humanized Nature to Naturalized Humans―Li Zehou’s Transformation of the Classical Chinese “Tianren Heyi ” Paradigm Through the Lens of Kant and Early Marx

Li Zehou belongs among the ranks of the most important Chinese philosophers of the 20th and 21st centuries. In his complex theoretical system, he aimed to reconcile the Chinese cultural heritage with the demands of the contemporary world. Besides elaborating on traditional Chinese philosophy, Li launched many innovative views based on his understanding of specific developments in pre-modern and modern Western philosophy. His philosophy could be described as the search for a synthesis between Western and traditional Chinese thought and a specifically Chinese modernization. In order to provide a basic insight into Li’s specific methods of combining Kant, early Marx and classical Chinese philosophy, the present article investigates his elaboration of the traditional Chinese paradigm of “the unity of nature and man” (tianren heyi天人合一) through the lens of ideas about humanized nature (renhua de ziran人化的自然) and naturalized humans (ziranhua de ren自然化的人).     

Decency and Love (One or Two Paths to the Life of Goodness in Gaita’s Work?)

Philosophia - This paper traces the distinction between the claims of love and the claims of morality in the work of Raimond Gaita, and disputes it using examples from Gaita’s work –...     

The perception of subjective contours and neon color spreading figures in young infants

The goal of the present habituation—dishabituation study was to explore sensitivity to subjective contours and neon color spreading patterns in infants. The first experiment was a replication of earlier investigations that showed evidence that even young infants are capable of perceiving subjective contours. Participants 4 months of age were habituated to a subjective Kanizsa square and were tested afterward for their ability to differentiate between the subjective square and a nonsubjective pattern that was constructed by rotating some of the inducing elements. Data analysis indicated a significant preference for the nonsubjective pattern. A control condition ensured that this result was not generated by the difference in figural symmetry or by the local differences between the test displays. In the second experiment, infant perception of a neon color spreading display was analyzed. Again, 4-month-old infants could discriminate between the illusory figure and a nonillusory pattern. Furthermore, infants in a control group did not respond to the difference in symmetry and the local differences between two nonillusory targets. Overall, the results show that young infants respond to illusory figures that are generated by either implicit T-junctions (Experiment 1) or implicit X-junctions (Experiment 2). The findings are interpreted against the background of the neurophysiological model proposed by Grossberg and Mingolla (1985).