Principal Congruences on Semi-De Morgan Algebras

In this paper we use Hobby's duality for semi-De Morgan algebras, to characterize those algebras having only principal congruences in the classes of semi-De Morgan algebras, demi-pseudocomplemented lattices and almost pseudocomplemented lattices. This work extends some of the results reached by Beazer in [3] and [4].     

Measuring "negative body image": validation of the Body Image Disturbance Questionnaire in a nonclinical population

Despite numerous measures of facets of the body image construct, no single assessment broadly measures a continuum of body image disturbance. Accordingly, this study developed the Body Image Disturbance Questionnaire (BIDQ), derived from the Body Dysmorphic Disorder Questionnaire. Participants were 220 college women and 75 college men who completed an online survey containing this new assessment and established measures of body image and psychosocial functioning. Results confirmed that the Body Image Disturbance Questionnaire was internally consistent and free of impression-management response bias. For both sexes, the measure converged appropriately with other body image indices (evaluation, affect, investment, and impact), was positively correlated with depression, social anxiety, and eating disturbance. Scores on this assessment also predicted psychosocial functioning above and beyond body dissatisfaction as a predictor. Greater body image disturbance was observed among women than men, among heavier than lighter women, and among White than African American women. Limitations and future research implications are discussed.     

Congruence of the Marital Relationship During Transition to Parenthood: A Study with Couples Who Conceived Spontaneously or Through Assisted Reproductive Technologies

In this study we examined the congruence between partners’ perceptions of their marital relationship during the transition to parenthood and the effect of depression during pregnancy on couples’ congruence during the early postpartum period. Thirty-one couples who conceived spontaneously, along with thirty-five who conceived through assisted reproductive technologies (ART), provided data on their marital relationship and depression at their 24th pregnancy week and four months after the partum. All couples reported a decrease in marital congruence. Couples who conceived through ART reported lower marital congruence. For these subjects, women’s depression was associated with lower congruence. Interventions that focus on strengthening the marital relationship across the transition to parenthood should assess and promote couples’ congruence.     

Death Anxiety and Symbolic Immortality in Relatives at Risk for Familial Amyloid Polyneuropathy Type I (FAP I,ATTR V30M)

This study is an investigation of the impact of familial amyloid polyneuropathy type I (FAP I, ATTR V30M) on death anxiety and symbolic immortality. Templer and Drolet’s scales were administered to 524 individuals: (1) 84 relatives at risk, (2) 92 relatives not at risk for FAP I; and (3) a control group (n = 348) with no known hereditary disease in their families. At-risk relatives had, on average, a higher score for death anxiety and a lower score for symbolic immortality, than either those not-at-risk or controls. There were no significant differences in scores on either measure for those not-at-risk versus controls. Being at risk increases death anxiety and threatens the sense of symbolic immortality and psychosocial wellbeing. This may be true for other serious hereditary disorders as well. Genetic counsellors should become familiar with these concepts, feel comfortable initiating discussions about death with their patients, and be able to identify and reinforce their patients’ and family members’ sense of symbolic immortality.     

Clock drawing performance and brain morphology in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease

The Clock Drawing Test (CDT) is a widely used instrument in the neuropsychological assessment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). As CDT performance necessitates several cognitive functions (e.g., visuospatial and constructional abilities, executive functioning), an interaction of multiple brain regions is likely. Fifty-one subjects with mild cognitive impairment, 23 with AD and 15 healthy controls underwent high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging. Optimized voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was performed to investigate the putative association between CDT performance and gray matter (GM) density throughout the entire brain. In the first step of analysis (p<.001, uncorrected), VBM revealed a reduced GM density in numerous cortical (temporal lobe, frontal lobe, parietal lobe, cerebellum) and subcortical (thalamus, basal ganglia) brain regions to be associated with poorer CDT performance. When corrected for multiple comparisons (p<.01), the associations remained significant predominantly in the left temporal and--less pronounced--the right temporal lobe. VBM demonstrated CDT performance to depend on the integrity of widely distributed cortical and subcortical areas in both brain hemispheres with accentuation in the left-sided temporal lobe region.     

The origins of cognitive dissonance: evidence from children and monkeys

In a study exploring the origins of cognitive dissonance, preschoolers and capuchins were given a choice between two equally preferred alternatives (two different stickers and two differently colored M&M's, respectively). On the basis of previous research with adults, this choice was thought to cause dissonance because it conflicted with subjects' belief that the two options were equally valuable. We therefore expected subjects to change their attitude toward the unchosen alternative, deeming it less valuable. We then presented subjects with a choice between the unchosen option and an option that was originally as attractive as both options in the first choice. Both groups preferred the novel over the unchosen option in this experimental condition, but not in a control condition in which they did not take part in the first decision. These results provide the first evidence of decision rationalization in children and nonhuman primates. They suggest that the mechanisms underlying cognitive-dissonance reduction in human adults may have originated both developmentally and evolutionarily earlier than previously thought.     

Integrated-structure emergence and its mechanistic explanation

Synthese - This paper proposes an integrated-structure notion of interlevel (part-whole) emergence, from a dynamic relational ontological perspective. First, I will argue that only the...     

New Reflections on the Mirror: the Interests Proximity Bias Solution

Philosophia - We worry about becoming non-existent, but not about coming into being. But both events are similarly bad according to Deprivationism; hence, it seems that we should display symmetric...     

Reception of Morse code through motional, vibrotactile, and auditory stimulation

The potential for communication through the kinesthetic aspect of the tactual sense was examined in a series of experiments employing Morse code signals. Experienced and inexperienced Morse code operators were trained to identify Morse code signals that were delivered as sequences of motional stimulation through up-down displacements (roughly 10 mm) of the fingertip. Performance on this task was compared with that obtained for both vibrotactile and acoustic presentation of Morse code using a 200-Hz tone delivered either to the fingertip through a minishaker or diotically to the two ears under headphones. For all three modalities, the ability to receive Morse code was examined as a function of presentation rate for tasks including identification of single letters, random three-letter sequences, common words, and sentences. Equivalent word-rate measures (i.e., product of percent correct scores and stimulus presentation rate) were nearly twice as high for auditory presentation as for vibrotactile stimulation, which in turn was about 1.3 times that for motional stimulation. The experienced subjects outperformed the inexperienced subjects by amounts that increased with task complexity. For example, the former were able to receive sentences at 18 words/min with motional stimulation, whereas the latter, following 75 h of training, were unable to perform this task. The present results and those of other research with tactual communication systems are compared, particularly regarding estimates of information-transfer rates.     

Suicide Among Minority Elderly: A Preliminary Investigation

ABSTRACT: In the United States, suicide has traditionally been considered a White elderly phenomenon. Suicide rates have been increasing for Nonwhites in recent years, but it is not clear how this may have affected the age distribution, particularly for specific Nonwhite groups. An investigation of official 1976 suicide statistics among minority elderly revealed that suicide rates are also highest among the old for Chinese-, Japanese- and Filipino-Americans. Among Blacks and Native Americans, however, suicide rates are extremely low for the aged. Explanations for these findings are suggested and the need for a long-term study is indicated.