Infant manual exploration of composite substrates

Everyday environments, even small regions within reach, vary dramatically in terms of material composition. Adapting one's manual behavior to such transitions can be considered to be an important element of skilled action. To investigate the origins of this ability, we presented 8-month-olds (n=24) and 10-month-olds (n=24) hard or soft objects on a composite tabletop substrate that was half rigid and half flexible. Results indicated infants explored the objects selectively and geared their manual behaviors, with or without an object in hand, to the particular substrate they contacted. More broadly, the study suggests that infant manual exploration is flexible even in the face of abrupt transitions in material structure. Such flexibility may support early attempts at problem solving and tool use.     

Efficiently assessing negative cognition in depression: an item response theory analysis of the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale

Despite a central role for dysfunctional attitudes in cognitive theories of depression and the widespread use of the Dysfunctional Attitude Scale, form A (DAS-A; A. Weissman, 1979), the psychometric development of the DAS-A has been relatively limited. The authors used nonparametric item response theory methods to examine the DAS-A items and develop a briefer version of the scale. Using DAS-A data obtained from depressed participants enrolled in 2 large depression treatment studies (N=367), the authors developed a 9-item DAS form (DAS-SF1). In addition, because 2 versions of the DAS are needed for certain study designs, they also developed a 2nd short version (DAS-SF2). These short forms were highly correlated with the original 40-item DAS-A (rs ranged from .91 to .93), exhibited change similar to that of the DAS-A over the course of treatment, were moderately correlated with related self-report assessments, predicted concurrent depression severity, and predicted change in depression from before to after treatment. Taken together, the authors believe the DAS-SF1 and DAS-SF2 provide an efficient and accurate assessment of dysfunctional attitudes among depressed individuals.     

Spatial multiple-choice matching in a harbour seal (Phoca vitulina): differential encoding of landscape versus local feature information?

The nature of spatial information used for memorizing and recalling places is largely unclear. Earlier studies tested integration of geometric and feature information mostly during reorientation in artificial environments without including time as a memory-critical component. Here, we tested a harbour seal in a delayed matching-to-sample task (DMTS) in a familiar environment under two spatial multiple-choice conditions. The feature condition consisted of a DMTS task with four comparison stimuli presented on fixed positions in a classic matching apparatus and was designed to make stimulus features the most prominent information. The landscape condition consisted of a DMTS task in a familiar environment with four places marked by comparison stimuli and allowed the use of all available spatial information including geometrical and feature information. The seal's performance was impaired by delays of 3, 6, 9 or 12 s only in the feature condition; a delay of 12 s resulted in chance level performance. Replacing the comparison stimuli at the apparatus with identical spheres resulted in impaired performance. Performance in the landscape condition was impaired neither by delays nor by replacing comparison stimuli with spheres. Landscape information obviously was encoded redundantly and could be recalled more reliably and longer than feature information, which reveals feature information to be a less valuable type of spatial information for memorizing and recalling places.     

Impacts of school-wide positive behaviour support: Results from National Longitudinal Register Data

Problem behaviour in schools may have detrimental effects both on students' well-being and academic achievement. A large literature has consistently found that school-wide positive behaviour support (SWPBS) successfully addresses social and behavioural problems. In this paper, we used population-wide longitudinal register data for all Norwegian primary schools and a difference-in-difference (DiD) design to evaluate effects of SWPBS on a number of primary and secondary outcomes, including indicators of externalising behaviour, school well-being, pull-out instruction, and academic achievement. Indications of reduced classroom noise were found. No other effects were detected. Analyses revealed important differences in outcomes between the intervention and control schools, independent of the implementation of SWPBS, and that a credible design like DiD is essential to handle such school differences.     

Group disagreement: a belief aggregation perspective

The debate on the epistemology of disagreement has so far focused almost exclusively on cases of disagreement between individual persons. Yet, many social epistemologists agree that at least certain kinds of groups are equally capable of having beliefs that are open to epistemic evaluation. If so, we should expect a comprehensive epistemology of disagreement to accommodate cases of disagreement between group agents, such as juries, governments, companies, and the like. However, this raises a number of fundamental questions concerning what it means for groups to be epistemic peers and to disagree with each other. In this paper, we explore what group peer disagreement amounts to given that we think of group belief in terms of List and Pettit’s (Econ Philos 18:89–110, 2002; Group agency: the possibility, design, and status of corporate agents, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2011) ‘belief aggregation model’. We then discuss how the so-called ‘equal weight view’ of peer disagreement is best accommodated within this framework. The account that seems most promising to us says, roughly, that the parties to a group peer disagreement should adopt the belief that results from applying the most suitable belief aggregation function for the combined group on all members of the combined group. To motivate this view, we test it against various intuitive cases, derive some of its notable implications, and discuss how it relates to the equal weight view of individual peer disagreement.

     

Well-Being Before and After Pregnancy Termination: The Consequences of Abortion and Miscarriage on Satisfaction With Various Domains of Life

Journal of Happiness Studies - The consequences of pregnancy outcomes other than live birth on subjective well-being have rarely been analysed in research to date. This study examines pre-event...     

Standard Errors of Kernel Equating: Accounting for Bandwidth Estimation

In standardized testing, equating is used to ensure comparability of test scores across multiple test administrations. One equipercentile observed-score equating method is kernel equating, where an essential step is to obtain continuous approximations to the discrete score distributions by applying a kernel with a smoothing bandwidth parameter. When estimating the bandwidth, additional variability is introduced which is currently not accounted for when calculating the standard errors of equating. This poses a threat to the accuracy of the standard errors of equating. In this study, the asymptotic variance of the bandwidth parameter estimator is derived and a modified method for calculating the standard error of equating that accounts for the bandwidth estimation variability is introduced for the equivalent groups design. A simulation study is used to verify the derivations and confirm the accuracy of the modified method across several sample sizes and test lengths as compared to the existing method and the Monte Carlo standard error of equating estimates. The results show that the modified standard errors of equating are accurate under the considered conditions. Furthermore, the modified and the existing methods produce similar results which suggest that the bandwidth variability impact on the standard error of equating is minimal.     

History as a Literary Weapon: The Gospel of Barnabas in Muslim-Christian Polemics

Even if religion is not in itself a concept intrinsic to Christian doctrine, dogmatics need to develop its understanding of religion. Interpretating both early and late writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-45), the article takes us to the different understandings of religion to be found in Bonhoeffer. It focuses on the relation between religion and (the dogmatic notion of) sin in Bonhoeffer's thinking. In this very relation one finds the motives behind Bonhoeffer's wellknown criticism of religion. But surprisingly Bonhoeffer's hamartiological approach to religion also leads him to a positive understanding of religion which has escaped the attention of most Bonhoeffer scholarship. This positive understanding of religion is finally developed further by the article which shows how Bonhoeffer also connects religion and (the dogmatic notion of) man's God-likeness.     

Methodological individualism

The doctrine of methodological individualism is clarified and different versions of it are distinguished. The main thesis of the article is that methodological individualism is either a false doctrine or else a doctrine compatible with functionalism, structuralism, and Marxism. Positively it is maintained that, for all we know, collective entities such as power structures may shape our beliefs and values; these beliefs and values may explain some of our actions and expectations. These actions and expectations, together with similar actions and expectations of other people, caused in a similar fashion, may in turn constitute social phenomena. This means that, for all we know, in our best explanations of some social phenomena we may well need to have recourse to collective entities.