Screen Time as a Mechanism Through Which Cumulative Risk is Related to Child Socioemotional and Developmental Outcomes in Early Childhood

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - Socio-demographic risks are associated with higher child screen time and higher screen time is associated with poor socioemotional and...     

Religious/Spiritual Well-Being,Personality and Mental Health: A Review of Results and Conceptual Issues

The current paper provides background to the development of the Multidimensional Inventory for Religious/Spiritual Well-being and then summarises findings derived from its use with other measures of health and personality. There is substantial evidence for religiosity/spirituality being positively related to a variety of indicators of mental health, including subjective well-being and personality dimensions. Furthermore, religiosity/spirituality can play an important role in the process of recovering from mental illness as well as providing a protective function against addictive or suicidal behaviours. However, further research is needed to examine the mechanisms through which religiosity/spirituality have an impact on health-related conditions.     

The role of human body movements in mate selection

It is common scientific knowledge, that most of what we say within a conversation is not only expressed by the words' meaning alone, but also through our gestures, postures, and body movements. This non-verbal mode is possibly rooted firmly in our human evolutionary heritage, and as such, some scientists argue that it serves as a fundamental assessment and expression tool for our inner qualities. Studies of nonverbal communication have established that a universal, culture-free, non-verbal sign system exists, that is available to all individuals for negotiating social encounters. Thus, it is not only the kind of gestures and expressions humans use in social communication, but also the way these movements are performed, as this seems to convey key information about an individual's quality. Dance, for example, is a special form of movement, which can be observed in human courtship displays. Recent research suggests that people are sensitive to the variation in dance movements, and that dance performance provides information about an individual's mate quality in terms of health and strength. This article reviews the role of body movement in human non-verbal communication, and highlights its significance in human mate preferences in order to promote future work in this research area within the evolutionary psychology framework.     

Perception of Temporal Order: The Effects of Age,Sex, and Cognitive Factors

ABSTRACT

The present paper investigates the effects of age, sex, and cognitive factors on temporal-order perception. Nine temporal-order tasks were employed using two and four stimuli presented in the auditory and visual modalities. Significantly increased temporal-order thresholds (TOT) in the elderly were found for almost all tasks, while sex differences were only observed for two tasks. Multiple regression analyses show that the performance on most temporal-order tasks can be predicted by cognitive factors, such as speed of fluid reasoning, short-term memory, and attention. However, age was a significant predictor of TOT in three tasks using visual stimuli. We conclude (1) that age-related differences can often be attributed to cognitive factors involved in temporal-order perception, and (2) that the concept of temporal-order perception is more complex than implied by the current models.     

State-dependent changes of prefrontal–posterior coupling in the context of affective processing: Susceptibility to humor

The aim of the present study was to examine whether interindividual differences in the coupling or decoupling of prefrontal and posterior cortices during the exposure to social–emotional information may predict an individual’s positive emotional responsiveness. Susceptibility to humor was assessed in a behavioral paradigm several weeks after the EEG recordings. State-dependent changes of prefrontal–posterior EEG beta coherence were recorded during stimulation with other people’s auditory expressions of cheerfulness and sadness. Greater decreases of coherence during the stimulation with positive affect expressions prospectively predicted greater positive emotional responsiveness, indicated by higher amusement ratings in response to cartoons and higher scores in a questionnaire measure of exhilarability. Greater increases of coherence during the stimulation with negative affect expressions did not predict perceived funniness but were related to shorter response latencies to the amusement ratings. The results further support the notion that a more loose prefrontal–posterior coupling may be related to loosening of control of the prefrontal cortex over incoming emotional information and, thus, to a propensity to deeper emotional involvement and a greater impact of perceptual input, whereas increased prefrontal–posterior coupling may be related to strong control and the propensity to protect oneself from becoming emotionally affected.     

Adoption of near-coincident-site lattice orientations by contacting monolayer rafts of metallic nanoparticles with different superlattice periodicities

A hexagonal raft of monodisperse alkane-thiol-stabilized Au nanoparticles has been self-assembled from solution on to an amorphous C substrate and then subsequently a second layer of monodisperse but differently sized gold nanoparticles deposited on top of the first. Detailed analysis of electron micrographs obtained from various regions of this bilayer revealed the presence of several distinct epitaxial interface structures. A simple near-coincident-site lattice model is used to rationalize the existence of the observed characteristic nanoparticle interface structures.     

Clinging to Nothing: The Phenomenology and Metaphysics of Upādāna in Early Buddhism

The concept of clinging (upādāna) is absolutely central to early Buddhist thought. This article examines the concept from both a phenomenological and a metaphysical perspective and attempts to understand how it relates to the non-self doctrine and to the ultimate goal of Nibbāna. Unenlightened consciousness is consciousness centered on an ‘I’. It is also consciousness that is conditioned by and bound up with a being in the world. From a phenomenological perspective, clinging gives birth to the illusion of self, or what is called the ‘conceit of “I am”’. From a metaphysical perspective, clinging binds consciousness to a worldly being. Seen in the first way, Nibbāna is ‘centerless’ consciousness. Seen in the second, it is unconditioned consciousness. Viewed in either way, Nibbāna is a state of consciousness reached through the eradication of clinging     

Compliance Dynamics Within a Friendship Network II: Structural Positions Used to Garner Social Support

Social networks play a critical role in people's responses to influence attempts, determining whether a person seeks the support of others as an alternative to compliance or as a way to cope with being the target of an influence attempt. In 2 experiments (N = 458 and N = 105), sociograms were used to represent social relationships and to investigate the social network member who would be sought for social support after an influence attempt. Results showed that targets were seen as likely to seek social support in more threatening situations and from more useful (e.g., powerful, connected) network members. Differences found in the 2 experiments appear to represent differences between intergroup and intragroup networks.