Different selection principles of freestanding and bound morphemes in language production

Freestanding and bound morphemes differ in many (psycho)linguistic aspects. Some theorists have claimed that the representation and retrieval of freestanding and bound morphemes in the course of language production are governed by similar processing mechanisms. Alternatively, it has been proposed that both types of morphemes may be selected for production in different ways. In this article, the authors first review the available experimental evidence related to this topic and then present new experimental data pointing to the notion that freestanding and bound morphemes are retrieved following distinct processing principles: freestanding morphemes are subject to competition, bound morphemes not.     

Links among the Self,Stress, and Psychological Distress during Emerging Adulthood: Comparing Three Theoretical Models

The authors tested three theoretical models linking self, stress, and psychopathological distress in emerging adulthood. The vulnerability model posits that self-concept pathology leads to distress. The scarring model postulates that distress and stress lead to self-concept pathology. The stress generation model stipulates that distress and self-concept pathology lead to the experience of episodic and chronic life stress. Change in ruminative brooding was examined as a potential mechanism in all models. One-hundred and seventy Israeli freshmen (M_[age]?=?23.19, 68% females) were followed up three times over the duration of one year. Distress and six dimensions of the self (self-criticism, self-concept inadequacy, hated sense of self, self-esteem, generalized self-efficacy, and self-concept clarity) were assessed repeatedly. Acute and chronic stresses were measured at Time 2 using the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Stress Interview. Distress prospectively predicted self-concept pathology pertaining to all of the dimensions, except self-concept clarity, which was adversely affected by chronic stress. Change in ruminative brooding mediated scarring for self-criticism, a hated self, and self-concept clarity. Low self-esteem emerged as a powerful chronic stress generator. Self-concept clarity was as the only dimension leading to change in distress. In emerging adulthood, psychological distress and—to a lesser extent—chronic stress might “scar” the self.     

Perceived stigma,self-blame,and adjustment among lung,breast and prostate cancer patients

People who suffer from disease have often been stigmatised. The internalisation of stigma leads to the experience of self-blame. The relationship among stigma, self-blame and adjustment was framed with two theoretical perspectives: the looking-glass self and learned helplessness models. These models were studied in 96 lung, 30 breast and 46 prostate cancer patients. Consistent with the looking-glass-self model, we predicted that perceived stigma and self-blame would be associated with poorer psychological adjustment; the data supported these hypotheses. Consistent with the learned helplessness model, we predicted that self-blame would mediate the link between perceived stigma and psychological adjustment; data supported these hypotheses. The mediation model explained a greater percentage of the variance in adjustment in the lung cancer sample compared to the breast and prostate cancer sample. Participants who reported internal causal attributions reported poorer psychological adjustment. Lung cancer patients were more likely than breast or prostate cancer patients to report internal causal attributions for their cancer. Future research and cancer care are discussed in light of these findings.     

Is there a religious factor in health?

This paper reviews epidemiologic studies employing religion as an independent construct, and finds that most epidemiologists have an extremely limited appreciation of religion. After a historical overview of empirical religion and health research, some theoretical considerations are offered, followed by clarification of several operational and methodological issues. Next, well over 200 studies are reviewed from nine health-related areas: cardiovascular disease, hypertension and stroke, colitis and enteritis, general health status, general mortality, cancer of the uterine corpus and cervix, all other non-uterine cancers, morbidity and mortality in the clergy, and cancer in India. Finally, an agenda for further research is proposed.     

Transforming feminine categories: genealogies of virginity and sainthood

The categories of virginity and sainthood, often used as norms of femininity, are historically and contextually constructed. Genealogies of these categories reveal definitions of female subjectivity in accordance with male desires. Traditional conceptions of virginity have implications for theories of female development and sexuality, conceptions of the psychoanalytic process, and theories of social symbolism. Notions of virginity as an unblemished state, the first penetration by a penis as an irrevocable transformation to womanhood, and defloration as a developmental milestone in female sexuality derive from male fantasies of female purity that translate into justifications for social structures of control and ownership. While fantasies of sainthood played significant roles in the work of both Sigmund and Anna Freud, their images of saints, which they did not analyze, were unconsciously shaped by a Victorian sensibility. Because the psychoanalytic legacy is androcentrically informed, analysts may be hampered in their efforts to treat the pathologies of perfection that continue to plague women. Contesting and unsettling conventional epistemological assumptions open up the categories of virginity and sainthood to images and representations of female autonomy and integrity. The critical analyses offered here contribute to theories of the plasticity of gender and the social construction of femininity.     

The Hermann grid illusion revisited

The Hermann grid illusion consists of smudges perceived at the intersections of a white grid presented on a black background. In 1960 the effect was first explained by a theory advanced by Baumgartner suggesting the illusory effect is due to differences in the discharge characteristics of retinal ganglion cells when their receptive fields fall along the intersections versus when they fall along non-intersecting regions of the grid. Since then, others have claimed that this theory might not be adequate, suggesting that a model based on cortical mechanisms is necessary [Lingelbach et al, 1985 Perception 14(1) A7; Spillmann, 1994 Perception 23 691 708; Geier et al, 2004 Perception 33 Supplement, 53; Westheimer, 2004 Vision Research 44 2457 2465]. We present in this paper the following evidence to show that the retinal ganglion cell theory is untenable: (i) varying the makeup of the grid in a manner that does not materially affect the putative differential responses of the ganglion cells can reduce or eliminate the illusory effect; (ii) varying the grid such as to affect the putative differential responses of the ganglion cells does not eliminate the illusory effect; and (iii) the actual spatial layout of the retinal ganglion cell receptive fields is other than that assumed by the theory. To account for the Hermann grid illusion we propose an alternative theory according to which the illusory effect is brought about by the manner in which S1 type simple cells (as defined by Schiller et al, 1976 Journal of Neurophysiology 39 1320-1333) in primary visual cortex respond to the grid. This theory adequately handles many of the facts delineated in this paper.