Gender Differences in Problem Drinking and Depression: Different “Vulnerabilities?”

This study examines the relationship between stressors and resources and the functioning of a sample of 515 men and women who had a drinking problem. At a one-year follow-up, both women and men had improved on three functioning measures: alcohol consumption, days intoxicated, and depression. There were no gender differences at Time 2 on alcohol consumption, but men had more days intoxicated and women had more symptoms of depression. The impact of stressors and resources varied by life domain, functioning criterion, and gender. Although the predictors varied, the amount of variance in depression accounted for was the same for women and men. The most striking gender difference was the stronger impact of friendships for women on all aspects of functioning. This study provides support for reconsideration of the stress vulnerability of women and men.     

Enjoying influence on others: Congruently high implicit and explicit power motives are related to teachers’ well-being

The present study examined the associations of implicit and explicit power motives with the well-being of teachers. Teachers (N = 170) participated in an online assessment, which included measures for implicit motives (assessed by the operant motive test), explicit motives, and well-being. We expected congruently high power motives to be linked with the highest levels of well-being. We tested this assumption using polynomial regressions with response surface analysis. Results were consistent with our hypothesis. Additionally, there was an effect of directional motive incongruence (a combination of a low implicit and a high explicit power motive was associated with higher well-being than a high implicit/low explicit combination), which did not hold when controlling for emotional stability. Results for achievement were comparable, but weaker, and there was no effect for motive incongruence. No significant associations were found for motive (in)congruence in the affiliation domain. Our findings underline the importance of the power motive in understanding individual differences in teachers’ well-being.     

Can clouds dance? Neural correlates of passive conceptual expansion using a metaphor processing task: Implications for creative cognition

Creativity has emerged in the focus of neurocognitive research in the past decade. However, a heterogeneous pattern of brain areas has been implicated as underpinning the neural correlates of creativity. One explanation for these divergent findings lies in the fact that creativity is not usually investigated in terms of its many underlying cognitive processes. The present fMRI study focuses on the neural correlates of conceptual expansion, a central component of all creative processes. The study aims to avoid pitfalls of previous fMRI studies on creativity by employing a novel paradigm. Participants were presented with phrases and made judgments regarding both the unusualness and the appropriateness of the stimuli, corresponding to the two defining criteria of creativity. According to their respective evaluation, three subject-determined experimental conditions were obtained. Phrases judged as both unusual and appropriate were classified as indicating conceptual expansion in participants. The findings reveal the involvement of frontal and temporal regions when engaging in passive conceptual expansion as opposed to the information processing of mere unusualness (novelty) or appropriateness (relevance). Taking this new experimental approach to uncover specific processes involved in creative cognition revealed that frontal and temporal regions known to be involved in semantic cognition and relational reasoning play a role in passive conceptual expansion. Adopting a different vantage point on the investigation of creativity would allow for critical advances in future research on this topic.     

Dichotic listening performances in the follow-up of Landau and Kleffner syndrome

Abstract

In the follow-up study of 4 children with acquired epileptic aphasia or Landau and Kleffner syndrome, dichotic listening studies evidenced a unilateral ear extinction. In the four cases, the dichotic extinction was contralateral to the temporal cortex involved in the generation of epileptic discharges during the active period of epilepsy. This pattern of dichotic performances persisted several years after the complete recovery from epilepsy and EEG normalization. The long-lasting dichotic extinction revealed a permanent dysfunction in the temporal auditory system that may be a consequence of the presence of an active epileptogenic focus during the critical period of functional differentiation of the temporal cortex.     

Dialectical materialism and political theology: Two views of the future

In a wide variety of publications,¹ Johannes B. Metz programatically represented a new political theology of subject, society, history, and future. This theology participates intensely in the lively, ongoing discourse on the political and theological actuality and significance of the critical theory of society, religion and future set forth by the Marxist, Walter Benjamin.² The purpose of this study is to illuminate several connections between Benjamin's critical theory and Metz's political theology, particularly with respect to the present stage of development in advanced capitalistic society and to their future.