Memory in pregnancy and post‐partum: Item specific and relational encoding processes in recall and recognition

It has been recently proposed that pregnant women would perform memory tasks by focusing more on item‐specific processes and less on relational processing, compared to post‐partum women (Mickes, Wixted, Shapiro & Scarff, 2009 ). The present cross‐sectional study tested this hypothesis by directly manipulating the type of encoding employed in the study phase. Pregnant, post‐partum and control women either rated the pleasantness of word meaning (which induced item‐specific elaboration) or named the semantic category to which they belonged (which induced relational elaboration). Memory for the encoded words was later tested in free recall (which emphasizes relational processing) and in recognition (which emphasizes item‐specific processing). In line with Mickes et al.'s ( 2009 ) conclusions, pregnant women in the item‐specific condition performed worse than post‐partum women in the relational condition in free recall, but not in recognition. However, compared to the other two groups, pregnant women also exhibited lower recognition accuracy in the item‐specific condition. Overall, these results confirm that pregnant women rely on relational encoding less than post‐partum women, but additionally suggest that the former group might use item‐specific processes less efficiently than post‐partum and control women.     

Code switching by bilinguals: Evidence against a third grammar

Bilingual code switching within sentences (as in “The towel roja was dirty”) is often observed in bilingual communities. The present study addressed two issues. First, what is the nature of the grammatical rules that underlie code switching? Second, how do bilingual speakers acquire such rules? We addressed the first issue by obtaining judgments of the grammaticality of four types of sentences containing code-switched words. Judgments of acceptability seemed to be based on two rules: (1) Code switching can occur only when the code-switched words are positioned in accord with the rules for which they are approriate lexical items; (2) code switching within word boundaries is considered ungrammatical. We addressed the second issue by exploring the effects of age and code switching experience on the grammatical judgments of bilingual children and adults. Extensive code-switching experience did not seem to be necessary for bilingual speakers to know the grammatical constraints of code switching. This suggests that the constraints of code switching are based on the integration of the grammars of the two code-switched languages rather than on the creation of a third grammar. There were developmental changes in the judgments made to the sentences. All aged subjects found sentences that violated the word-order rule (1 above) unacceptable. However, the youngest children (8- to 10-year-olds) found mixing within a word acceptable. This developmental change could be due to a change in the grammar of code switching, in the ability to make metalinguistic judgments, or in the child's general knowledge about the nature of languages.     

The role of just world belief and anger issues in self-defeating personality.

Persons who scored higher on a measure of self-defeating personality did not believe in a just world as implied in the writings of such theorists as Reik (1941); however, they had a greater awareness of anger and feelings of mistrust and suspiciousness of others, held anger in, and were self-critical. These latter findings are consistent with conclusions regarding masochism proposed in 1991 by Glickauf-Hughes and Wells.     

Brain mapping in dysphonemic dyslexia: in resting and phonemic discrimination conditions.

Topographic mapping of EEG bands and alpha asymmetry were analyzed during resting conditions and an auditory phonemic discrimination task (APD) in carefully screened samples of 9.0- to 12-year-old control and dysphonemic-sequencing dyslexic children. The EEG was recorded over the entire scalp, with a linked ears reference. We found: (1) no differences between groups during resting conditions in any frequency band analyzed; (2) a left hemisphere alpha responsiveness in dyslexic children during the APD condition; and (3) a beta 2 decrease in the left posterior quadrant in dyslexics during the APD condition. We conclude that the lower alpha and beta 2 responsiveness may be due to a diminished cortical reactivity and may be related to intrinsic disorganization of the neural processors associated directly with the APD task demands, the alpha activity reflecting poor attention to an external stimuli source and the beta 2 decrease reflecting an unusual processing associated with the linguistic cognitive requirements.     

Fear,attachment and affiliation: The interaction of functional systems in 8- and 12-month-old infants

In this research fear of strangers has been analysed as it interacts with attachment and affiliation, and in relation to developmental level, in conditions most similar to the natural situations where encounters with unfamiliar persons take place. A total of 30 infants and their mothers participated. The children were divided into two groups (8-9 and 11-12 months). Each infant was approached by two females, who, in turn, produced either of two natural sequences. Our results allowed us to confirm the universality of fear and its coexistence and interaction with attachment and affiliation. As far as the role that developmental level plays, it was noted that in the 12-month-old infants fear reactions were more intense than in the younger ones. Furthermore, the attachment system was more activated in the older group in the intrusive episodes, but when the threatening nature of the situation decreased, attachment was activated less in the 12-month-old group. Another difference was related to control resources. While in the younger infants we observed a tendency to control their own emotional state, the 12-month-old infants tried to gain control over the stranger. These results were interpreted by considering the adaptative value of an increase with age of the capacity to evaluate a situation's threat value, of attachment security, and of behavioural resources permitting some control over the stranger's behaviour.     

Correlations between self-handicapping and self-defeating personality.

In this study scores on Strube's self-handicapping scale were correlated with scores on Schill's self-defeating personality scale. Berglas believes there are subtypes of self-defeating personality and that his concept of self-handicapping should be correlated with the three criteria which represent a self-protective component of self-defeating personality. Some support for Berglas' proposition was found, particularly for men. However, correlations with other components of self-defeating personality suggest the criteria thought to be self-protective may need to be reconsidered.     

The role of vulnerable environments in support for homegrown terrorism: Fieldwork using the 3N model

The 3N model of radicalization proposes that violent radicalization is the result of the contribution of needs, networks, and narratives. Although research has mainly been supportive of this perspective, a substantial amount of ground remains uncovered regarding the network component of the model. Within this framework, we examine why individuals living in certain social environments tend to harbor more positive attitudes toward homegrown terrorism than others. Building on prior research, we hypothesized that individuals living in social environments known to be vulnerable (vs. less vulnerable) are more likely to experience a sense of significance loss (i.e., lack of social integration, perceived conflicts between religious groups), find solace in religious social networks (i.e., mosques), and thus adhere to radical narratives (i.e., legitimization of terrorism). A study with 365 young Muslims from different cities in Spain (Almería, Barcelona, Ceuta, and Melilla)supported these predictions. Theoretical and practical implications for the study of violent extremism are discussed.     

The Protestant Reformation and Social Justice in Latin America

The political effects of the 16th‐century religious reformations have never been in doubt. What is debatable, however, is how these effects have been felt in different contexts. In what is now Latin America, their influence was kept at a distance to avoid the changes in Europe from taking place on the other side of the Atlantic. This article examines Latin American writers to demonstrate how, in the different cultural and geographical contexts of the sub‐continent, the social and political imprint of the Reformation and its emancipating and libertarian emphasis has been perceived.