Inclined Weight-Loaded Walking at Different Speeds: Pelvis-Shoulder Coordination,Trunk Movements and Cost of Transport

Although studied at level surface, the trunk kinematics and pelvis-shoulder coordination of incline walking are unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the speed effects on pelvis-shoulder coordination and trunk movement and the cost of transport (C) during unloaded and loaded (25% of body mass) 15% incline walking. We collected 3-dimensional kinematic and oxygen consumption data from 10 physically active young men. The movements were analyzed in the sagittal plane (inclination and range of trunk motion) and the transverse plane (range of shoulder and pelvic girdle motion and phase difference). The rotational amplitude of the shoulder girdle decreased with load at all speeds, and it was lower at the highest speeds. The rotational amplitude of the pelvic girdle did not change with the different speeds. The phase difference was greater at optimal speed (3 km.hr^?1, at the lowest C) in the loaded and the unloaded conditions. The trunk inclination was greater with load and increased with speed, whereas the range of trunk motion was lower in the loaded condition and decreased with increasing speed. In conclusion, the load decreased the range of girdles and trunk motion, and the pelvis-shoulder coordination seemed to be critical for the incline walking performance.     

Correction to: The diachronic threshold problem

Philosophical Studies -     

The Prevalence and Characteristics of Alexithymia in Adults Following Brain Injury: A Meta-Analysis

Neuropsychology Review - Alexithymia is the inability to identify and describe one’s own emotions. Some research suggests that organic alexithymia may occur after acquired brain injury (ABI)....     

Psychosocial risk assessment among families receiving assistance from the social services

This study analyses the psychosocial risk profiles that better discriminate between three levels of risk: low, middle and high. We also examine to what extent the assessments of the level of risk made by professionals of social services are consistent with their decision of initiate a "risk declaration" expedient. For this purpose, 468 cases of families (245 two-parents and 223 one-parent) were examined through the Psychosocial Risk Profile of the Family. Discriminant analysis showed that social exclusion and family violence profiles discriminate between high and middle-low levels of risk in two-parent families. Negligence and family violence plus maternal inadequacy and children maladjustment discriminate between high and middle-low levels of risk in one-parent families. There is a high consistence between the assessment of psychosocial risk and the decision to initate a procedure of a "risk declaration" in both families, with a tendency to overestimate the middle risk in one-parent families.     

Assessing Alexithymia: Psychometric Properties and Factorial Invariance of the 20-Item Toronto Alexithymia Scale in Nonclinical and Psychiatric Samples

The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) is a self-report questionnaire designed to measure the three components of alexithymia; difficulty identifying feelings in the self (DIF), difficulty describing feelings (DDF), and externally orientated thinking (EOT). We examined the scale’s psychometric properties in Australian nonclinical (N = 428) and psychiatric (N = 156) samples. In terms of factorial validity, confirmatory factor analyses found the traditional 3-factor correlated model (DIF, DDF, EOT) to be the best and most parsimonious solution, but it did not reach adequate levels of goodness-of-fit in either sample. Several EOT items loaded poorly on their intended factor, and a reverse-scored item method factor was present; the factor structure of the scale was invariant across both samples. A higher-order factor model (with a single higher-order factor) was slightly inferior to the correlated models, but still tenable. The total scale score and DIF and DDF subscales displayed sound internal consistency, but the EOT subscale did not. We conclude that the TAS-20 has, for the most part, adequate psychometric properties, though interpretation should focus only on the total scale score and DIF and DDF subscales; we recommend the EOT subscale score not be used. Implications for clinical use and future revision of the scale are discussed.     

Counterfactual Evaluation of Outcomes in Social Risk Decision-Making Situations: The Cognitive Developmental Paradox Revisited

We report a study that examined the existence of a cognitive developmental paradox in the counterfactual evaluation of decision-making outcomes. According to this paradox adolescents and young adults could be able to apply counterfactual reasoning and, yet, their counterfactual evaluation of outcomes could be biased in a salient socio-emotional context. To this aim, we analyzed the impact of health and social feedback on the counterfactual evaluation of outcomes in a laboratory decision-making task involving short narratives with the presence of peers. Forty risky (e.g., taking or refusing a drug), forty neutral decisions (e.g., eating a hamburger or a hotdog), and emotions felt following positive or negative outcomes were examined in 256 early, mid- and late adolescents, and young adults, evenly distributed. Results showed that emotional ratings to negative outcomes (regret and disappointment) but not to positive outcomes (relief and elation) were attenuated when feedback was provided. Evidence of development of cognitive decision-making capacities did also exist, as the capacity to perform faster emotional ratings and to differentially allocate more resources to the elaboration of emotional ratings when no feedback information was available increased with age. Overall, we interpret these findings as challenging the traditional cognitive developmental assumption that development necessarily proceeds from lesser to greater capacities, reflecting the impact of socio-emotional processes that could bias the counterfactual evaluation of social decision-making outcomes.     

The Validity of the Massie-Campbell Attachment During Stress Scale (ADS)

The present study is the first step towards validating the Massie-Campbell attachment during stress scale (ADS). The ADS is a one-page guide to standardized observation of mother-infant interactions meant to detect insecure attachment behaviors. So far it was used infrequently in scientific research but it is widely applied in the Chilean public health system. To establish the ADS’s convergent, concurrent, and construct validity, the ADS was compared with the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) and correlated with maternal sensitivity. Videotapes of the SSP were coded with the ADS and the resulting ADS attachment classifications were compared with the SSP classifications. It was found that the ADS can distinguish moderately well between securely attached and non-securely attached mother-infant dyads, and the ADS was also associated with observed maternal sensitivity. However, the ADS suffers from a number of limitations that warrant further study. In particular, the ADS proved unable to detect resistantly attached mother-infant dyads. Revision of the scale and its scoring rules seems necessary in order to improve its validity as a screening device in scientific research and clinical practice.     

Levels of immersion, tacit knowledge and expertise

This paper elaborates on the link between different types and degrees of experience that can be gone through within a form of life or collectivity—the so-called levels of immersion—and the development of distinct types of tacit knowledge and expertise. The framework is then probed empirically and theoretically. In the first case, its ‘predictions’ are compared with the accounts of novices who have gone through different ‘learning opportunities’ during a pre-operational training programme for running a huge nickel industrial plant in Brazil. These are also analysed vis-à-vis the experience of an expert who has designed and experienced the outcomes of two pre-operational training sessions in the nickel industry before developing and managing the one discussed here. Theoretically, the framework is used to pinpoint exactly what interactional experts who have developed their expertise through linguistic socialisation alone are able to do as well as to analyse the case of technical connoisseurs. The results indicate that the proposed framework is useful. It supports the design and improvement of training programmes for the development of tacit knowledge while at the same time bringing about a refined analysis of claims concerning the abilities of types of experts and expertise.