Phonological sensitivity and memory in children with a foreign language learning difficulty

The phonological processing and memory skills of 12- and 13-year-old Italian children with difficulty in learning English as a foreign language (foreign language learning difficulty, FLLD) were examined and compared with those of a control group matched for age and nonverbal intelligence. Three experiments were conducted. A dissociation between verbal and visuo-spatial working memory was observed when compared to the control group; children with FLLD showed a poorer performance in a phonological working memory task but performed to a comparable level in a visuo-spatial working memory task (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2 the word length and the response modality of an auditory word span task were manipulated in order to examine the efficiency of the phonological loop and the relevance of the spoken output. The FLLD group did not show sensitivity to the word length effect and showed no advantage in the picture pointing recall condition. In Experiment 3 children with FLLD were shown to be sensitive to phonological similarity but again they showed neither a word length effect nor a slower articulation speed. Furthermore, in all three experiments children with FLLD were shown to be less efficient in phonological sensitivity tasks and this deficit appeared to be independent of the phonological memory problem. All three experiments consistently showed that children with FLLD have an impairment in phonological memory and phonological processing, which appear to be independent from one other but both contribute to the children's difficulty in learning a second language.     

Biomechanical and energetic determinants of technique selection in classical cross-country skiing

Classical cross-country skiing can be performed using three main techniques: diagonal stride (DS), double poling (DP), and double poling with kick (DK). Similar to other forms of human and animal gait, it is currently unclear whether technique selection occurs to minimize metabolic cost or to keep some mechanical factors below a given threshold. The aim of this study was to find the determinants of technique selection. Ten male athletes roller skied on a treadmill at different slopes (from 0° to 7° at 10 km/h) and speeds (from 6 to 18 km/h at 2°). The technique preferred by skiers was gathered for every proposed condition. Biomechanical parameters and metabolic cost were then measured for each condition and technique. Skiers preferred DP for skiing on the flat and they transitioned to DK and then to DS with increasing slope steepness, when increasing speed all skiers preferred DP. Data suggested that selections mainly occur to remain below a threshold of poling force. Second, critically low values of leg thrust time may limit the use of leg-based techniques at high speeds. A small role has been identified for the metabolic cost of locomotion, which determined the selection of DP for flat skiing.     

Dimensions of “uniquely” and “non‐uniquely” human emotions

Emotion scientists often distinguish those emotions that are encountered universally, even among animals ( “primary emotions”), from those experienced by human beings ( “secondary emotions”). No attempt, however, has ever been made to capture the lay conception about this distinction and to find the criteria on which the distinction is based. The first study presented in this paper was conducted in three countries involving four languages, so as to allow for cross‐cultural comparisons. Results showed a remarkable convergence. People from all samples not only differentiated between “uniquely human” and “non‐uniquely human” emotions on a continuum, but they did so on the same basis as the one used by emotion scientists to distinguish between “primary” and “secondary” emotions. Study 2 focused on the implicit use of such a distinction. When confronted with a human (animal) context, participants reacted faster to secondary (vs primary) emotions. The implications of the human uniqueness of some emotions within the social and interpersonal contexts are discussed.     

Gaze direction and facial expressions exert combined but different effects on attentional resources

Gaze direction and facial expressions are critical components of face processing and have been shown to influence attention deployment. We investigated whether gaze direction (direct vs. averted) combined with a neutral or angry expression modulates the deployment of attentional resources over time. In a Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) paradigm participants had to decide the gender of a neutral or an angry target face with direct or averted gaze (T1) and then to judge the orientation of a target picture of a landscape (T2), following the face at different time intervals. Results showed no attentional blink effect (i.e., no deterioration in T2 accuracy) when T1 was an angry face with direct gaze, whereas it was present for angry faces with averted gaze or neutral faces with either averted or direct gaze. These findings are consistent with appraisal theories and are discussed against the background of automatic processing of threat stimuli.     

Amélioration de la qualité de vie au travail dans les unités de soins : la démarche ORSOSA

Improve the quality of working conditions is a major issue for healthcare workers who have to deal with productivity obligations and multiple procedures. Based on the magnet hospital concept, the ORSOSA study (prospective cohort study of 4000 helthcare workers) helped develop and validate a methodolody that allows to quickly diagnose the levels of psychological and organizational constraints (CPO) from the staff’s point of view / of the staff. The ORSOSA method relies on an organisational psychologist who launches a dynamic during the diagnostic feedback phase. He gets the team to appropriate the strengths and weaknesses and to rank their recommendations. This article presents an overview of the method and it the first stages of its evaluations.     

Prevention programme for eating disturbances in adolescents. Is their effect on body image maintained at 30 months later?

We assessed changes in the body image of Spanish adolescents who participated in a programme aimed at preventing disordered eating, with a 30-month follow-up. 254 girls and 189 boys aged 12–14 were assigned to a control group (n = 201) or one of two possible experimental conditions: media literacy programme (ML, n = 143) and media literacy plus nutrition awareness programme (ML + NUT, n = 99). Body image was assessed with the Body Image Questionnaire (Qüestionari d’Imatge Corporal; QÜIC). Pre-test, post-test, 7- and 30-month follow-up measurements were taken. Linear model analyses were carried out with a 2 × 3 × 3 ANOVA (sex × group × phase), adjusted by the baseline level. At 30-month follow-up, ML and ML + NUT participants showed fewer body problems and more body satisfaction than the control group. There is a need for prevention programmes addressing eating and body image disturbances that involve both boys and girls.     

Psychiatric chrono‐epidemiology: its relevance for the study of aggression

Chrono‐epidemiology is the study of the distribution of health events according to time. The time intervals taken into account have cyclic patterns and include circadian, weekly, seasonal, and circannual rhythms. In the behavioural field, chrono‐epidemiology can be and has been applied to studies concerning the causes of death (suicide and homicide), clinical events such as admissions to and contacts with mental healthcare services, and the seasonal distribution of crime involving the use of violence. Frequently reported findings include clear circadian and seasonal rhythms present in the phenomenon of suicide (rhythms more evident in the case of violent suicide); seasonal rhythms in the expression of aggression by patients hospitalised for mental illness; and a circannual recurrence of crimes with a violent component. The intrinsic circadian and seasonal rhythms of some neuronal systems, particularly those of serotonin, involved in the control of mood and impulses, are thought to favour the behavioural rhythms observed, although the contribution of socio‐environmental factors, such as the fluctuation of supportive networks according to time, is also acknowledged. By demonstrating non‐casual recurrence of certain behaviour and by exploring the socio‐biological basis of the rhythms beneath these recurrences, chrono‐epidemiology may offer important etiologic and preventive clues to the understanding of the biological and environmental correlates of aggressive behaviour. Aggr. Behav. 28:477–490, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Brain Oxidative Damage Following Acute Immobilization and Mild Emotional Stress

We studied the role of free radicals on brain oxidative damage in rats after acute immobilization stress (restraint) and mild emotional stress (handling). To investigate brain oxidative damage, CuZn and Mn dependent superoxide dismutase (CuZn SOD, Mn SOD) activities, lipid peroxidation (TBARs), Na ⁺ K ⁺ ATPase activity, protein carbonyl (PrC), and reduced and oxidized glutathione (GSH, GSSG) levels were measured in the cerebral cortex (CTX), hippocampus (HIP), and striatum (ST) of the animals after the two different stress stimuli. Because stress produces abnormalities in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, the intensity of the two stress conditions were measured by plasmatic corticosteroid (COR) levels: particularly, COR levels doubled in handled rats and increased 15-fold in restrained animals. The SOD activities increased in CTX and decreased in HIP of the handled rats, while in ST a significant decrease in handled animals but an increase in restrained animals occurred. TBARs, GSH, and GSSG levels remained unchanged, while an index of glutathione redox decreased significantly in ST of handled animals and in CTX of restrained ones. Na ⁺ K ⁺ ATPase activity increased significantly in the HIP and ST of both groups of stressed rats. The stress induced a remarkable increase in PrC levels in all studied cerebral areas. These findings provide evidence to support the idea that stress produces oxidants but that the oxidative damage in stress differs in cerebral areas and could contribute to the degenerative mechanism of aging.     

The Role of Non-Numerical Stimulus Features in Approximate Number System Training in Preschoolers from Low-Income Homes

Recent findings have suggested that adults’ and children’s approximate number system (ANS) acuity may be malleable through training, but research on ANS acuity has largely been conducted with adults and children who are from middle- to high-income homes. We conducted 2 experiments to test the malleability of ANS acuity in preschool-aged children from low-income homes and to test how non-numerical stimulus features affected performance. In Experiment 1, mixed-effects models indicated that children significantly improved their ratio achieved across training. Children’s change in probability of responding correctly across sessions was qualified by an interaction with surface area features of the arrays such that children improved their probability of answering correctly across sessions on trials in which numerosity conflicted with the total surface area of object sets significantly more than on trials in which total surface area positively correlated with numerosity. In Experiment 2, we found that children who completed ANS acuity training performed better on an ANS acuity task compared with children in a control group, but they only did so on ANS acuity trials in which numerosity conflicted with the total surface area of object sets. These findings suggest that training affects ANS acuity in children from low-income homes by fostering an ability to focus on numerosity in the face of conflicting non-numerical stimulus features.