Semantic processing in auditory lexical decision: Ear-of-presentation and sex differences

In this study we examined the interplay between appetitive (approach) and defensive (avoid) responses in spoken word recognition. Ninety-two right-handed participants (half women) took part in an auditory lexical decision experiment in which speech was presented to only one ear. The danger and usefulness of the word referents interacted in predicting RTs, as in previous (binaural) studies with poorer control of psycholinguistic covariates. Specifically, higher danger ratings were associated with faster RTs for words rated low on usefulness; but higher danger ratings were associated with slower RTs for words rated high on usefulness. In addition to this primary finding, men showed more lateralised performance, as indicated by significant interactions of sex and ear of presentation with word frequency, and with the animacy of the word referents. For both sexes, word frequency had a stronger effect on accuracy for speech presented to the right ear. Finally, men's but not women's RTs were related to the danger dimension. This last finding provides an intriguing avenue for future research in the area of sex differences and emotion.     

Family Context and Five-Year-Old Children’s Attitudes Toward Literacy When They are Learning to Read

This study explored associations in the family context, conceptualized as comprising parent–child practices and parental expectations, and five-year-old children's attitudes toward literacy. A total of 94 children from four primary schools and their parents participated in the study. Each child completed an individually administered Literacy Attitude Scale that assessed her enjoyment in reading-related activities. Parents completed a questionnaire about aspects of their family context. The results revealed a high level of positive attitudes toward literacy by beginning readers, with no gender difference. Frequency of parent–child everyday interactions and parental expectations had significant relationships with children's attitude toward literacy. This study highlights the importance of looking beyond parent–child literacy activities when examining children's attitudes toward literacy.     

Integrating Multiple Intersecting Identities: A Multicultural Conceptualization of the Power and Control Wheel

For the past three decades intimate partner abuse has received growing attention as a major social problem with its roots in socially structured systemic inequalities. However, much of the intimate partner abuse literature lacks adequate attention to issues of diversity, and more specifically fails to address how structural underpinnings beyond gender shape women's experiences of intimate partner abuse. The primary purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of considering how various systems of oppression (e.g., heterosexism, agism, ableism, racism, spirituality/religion, classism, and sexism) shape the experiences of victims of intimate partner abuse. In particular, we address how these personal, cultural, and structural identities may individually or in combination influence women's experiences of intimate partner abuse. The literature on diverse identities and intimate partner abuse is reviewed, and a revised version of the commonly used Power and Control Wheel is presented, called the Multicultural Power and Control Wheel. Directions for future research and implications for practice are proposed with the hopes of initiating a dialogue among researchers and clinicians as to the most effective ways to serve victims of IPA.     

Conduction-electron mediated 1H nuclear spin-lattice relaxation in Ti45Zr38Ni17H x icosahedral quasicrystals

Nuclear magnetic resonance spin-lattice relaxation rates for ¹H in quasicrystalline Ti₄₅Zr₃₈Ni₁₇H _x are presented as a function of temperature and hydrogen concentration x. The temperature dependence demonstrates that the relaxation is via interaction with conduction electrons. The relaxation rate is extremely sensitive to hydrogen content, with the rate changing by a factor of as much as two for samples that differ in x     

Biotechnology and legitimacy

Contested Technology: Ethics, Risk and Public Debate, edited by Rene von Schomberg, Tilburg: International Centre for Human and Public Affairs, 1995, £19/$29 pb.     

The Role of Resonance in Performance Excellence and Life Engagement

This article presents a concept underlying excellence called resonance , which was developed based on research interviews and consulting practice with high-level performers from all walks of life. Findings suggest that many high-caliber performers follow a typical process as they become experts in their chosen field. They have a dream , which represents how they want to feel in their daily pursuits. They also engage in extensive preparation, which includes activities that enable them to live their dream. All of the participants faced obstacles, but they developed strategies to revisit their dream before they actually engaged in more preparation. This cyclical process that guided their performance and life has been termed resonance , which occurs when there is a seamless fit between their internal self and their external environment. It is captured in the resonance performance model (RPM), a heuristic model devised to guide the practice of consultants. The article also includes a discussion of the RPM in relation to other performance-related concepts such as flow, presents some recent and future research with resonance, and considers practical application for consultants who may be interested in using the RPM.     

Homage to Dora: Commentary on Paper by Melanie Suchet

This discussion of Suchet's paper further explores Butler's double disavowal of love and loss as it relates to racialized bonds. It also examines Yoshino's concept about the cost of “covering” difference and supports the need to uncover white privilege and lack while being mindful of holding the tension of sameness and difference between the psychic and the social. Surrender is considered within a frame of multiplicity and of Buddhist thought, and the author associates to the sensory realm of childhood through her own early attachment. Finally, the author wonders about the nature and complexity of racialized shame and its delicate place in clinical work.     

Televised Sexual Content and Parental Mediation: Influences on Adolescent Sexuality

Little research has been conducted to examine the influence of exposure to televised sexual content on adolescent sexuality or how parental intervention may reduce negative effects of viewing such content. This study uses self-report data from 1,012 adolescents to investigate the relations among exposure to sexually suggestive programming, parental mediation strategies, and three types of adolescent sexuality outcomes: participation in oral sex and sexual intercourse, future intentions to engage in these behaviors, and sex expectancies. As predicted, exposure to sexual content was associated with an increased likelihood of engaging in sexual behaviors, increased intentions to do so in the future, and more positive sex expectancies. Often, parental mediation strategies were a significant factor in moderating these potential media influences.     

Self-Reported Depressive Symptoms Have Minimal Effect on Executive Functioning Performance in Children and Adolescents

The relation between mood and executive functioning in children and adolescents has not been previously reported. This study examined the association between self-reported depressive symptoms in both clinical outpatient and psychiatric inpatient samples to the following measures of executive functioning: the Controlled Oral Word Association Test, Animal Naming, Trail Making Test, and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Records from children and adolescents aged 7–17 years old with an IQ > 70 were examined. Data were gathered at either an outpatient neuropsychology clinic (n = 89) or an inpatient psychiatric hospital setting (n = 81). Mood was measured with the Children’s Depression Inventory. Generally, statistical associations between self-reported depressive symptoms and executive functioning were small and non-significant. The variance predicted by mood on measures of executive functioning was minimal (generally less than 2 %) for the total sample, the outpatient group, inpatient group, and a subgroup who endorsed elevated mood symptoms. These results suggest that impaired performance on measures of executive functioning in children and adolescents is minimally related to self-reported depressive symptoms.