Learning words: children disregard some pragmatic information that conflicts with mutual exclusivity

Children tend to infer that when a speaker uses a new label, the label refers to an unlabeled object rather than one they already know the label for. Does this inference reflect a default assumption that words are mutually exclusive? Or does it instead reflect the result of a pragmatic reasoning process about what the speaker intended? In two studies, we distinguish between these possibilities. Preschoolers watched as a speaker pointed toward (Study 1) or looked at (Study 2) a familiar object while requesting the referent for a new word (e.g. ‘Can you give me the blicket?’). In both studies, despite the speaker's unambiguous behavioral cue indicating an intent to refer to a familiar object, children inferred that the novel label referred to an unfamiliar object. These results suggest that children expect words to be mutually exclusive even when a speaker provides some kinds of pragmatic evidence to the contrary.     

Differing profiles of developmental experiences across types of organized youth activities

This study inventoried the types of developmental and negative experiences that youth encounter in different categories of extracurricular and community-based organized activities. A representative sample of 2,280 11th graders from 19 diverse high schools responded to a computer-administered protocol. Youth in faith-based activities reported higher rates of experiences related to identity, emotional regulation, and interpersonal development in comparison with other activities. Sports and arts programs stood out as providing more experiences related to development of initiative, although sports were also related to high stress. Service activities were associated with experiences related to development of teamwork, positive relationships, and social capital. Youth reported all of these positive developmental experiences to occur significantly more often in youth programs than during school classes.     

Belief in supernatural agents in the face of death

Four studies examined whether awareness of mortality intensifies belief in supernatural agents among North Americans. In Studies 1 and 2, mortality salience led to more religiosity, stronger belief in God, and in divine intervention. In Studies 3 and 4, mortality salience increased supernatural agent beliefs even when supernatural agency was presented in a culturally alien context (divine Buddha in Study 3, Shamanic spirits in Study 4). The latter effects occurred primarily among the religiously affiliated, who were predominantly Christian. Implications for the role of supernatural agent beliefs in assuaging mortality concerns are discussed.     

Luther's Radical Conception of Faith: God,Christ, and Personhood in a Post‐Metaphysical Age

Luther's exposition of Paul's letter to the Galatians offers a premier window into a deconstruction of the tandem God, ego and symbolic order of the law by proposing a radical “technology of the self,” a new understanding of what it means to be a person in light of God's own becoming in the flesh—a new subjective perspective. This places the event of belief as a displacement of a socially and ecclesiastically constructed ego‐consciousness and the emergence of a new (social) center of subjectivity—Christ consciousness, that is, faith. For Luther the “person” emerges as a radical break with the self‐referentiality of the ego and through the perspectival assimilation of God's own subjective experience in the flesh.     

Psychological distance and judgments of causal impact

When assessing causal impact, individuals have to consider two pieces of information: the magnitude of the cause that resulted in an effect, and the magnitude of the resulting effect. In the present research, participants judged the causal impact of cause–effect relationships in which the magnitude of causes and effects varied independently. Participants mainly relied on effect magnitude, rating causal impact to be much higher when strong (vs. weak) effects emerged. When participants took cause magnitude into account (which they did, but to a lesser extent), their judgments reflected a covariation rule (i.e., causal impact being maximal for strong causes generating strong effects) rather than a ratio rule (i.e., causal impact being maximal for weak causes generating strong effects). These distinct views on causal impact were moderated by psychological distance: Effect magnitude dominated judgments of proximal events, whereas cause magnitude had relatively more impact on causal judgments of distal events.     

Psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire in high‐risk groups

The Childhood Trauma Questionnaire ‐ Short Form (CTQ‐SF) is widely used to measure childhood abuse of all types. In the present study, we examined the psychometric properties of the Norwegian version of the instrument. The participants constituted four subsamples (n = 517): substance abusers (n = 126), psychiatric patients (n = 210), prisoners (n = 109) and adolescents in out‐of‐home placements (n = 72). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a reasonable fit of the data to the original five‐factor structure of the CTQ‐SF. Measurement invariance was found across gender and the four subsamples. It was concluded that the Norwegian version of the CTQ‐SF has acceptable psychometric properties, with good reliability and satisfactory accuracy, to assess different dimensions of childhood trauma.     

Dependency and perfectionism: Short-term dynamic group psychotherapy for university students

Abstract

This paper is based on the authors' experiences of conducting short-term psychodynamic group therapy with university students. The therapy groups focus on common problems among the members, i.e. perfectionism, procrastination, and fear of graduation. Working on their dependency and on their inadequate separation from parental figures typically helps the students cope more creatively with their academic problems. The paper explores technical questions and possible advantages in working within a short time frame using a group analytic approach.     

Perception of threat and safety at work among employees in the Norwegian ministries after the 2011 Oslo bombing

Background and objectives: Terrorism can heighten fears and undermine the feeling of safety. Little is known, however, about the factors that influence threat and safety perception after terrorism. The aim of the present study was to explore how proximity to terror and posttraumatic stress reactions are associated with perceived threat and safety after a workplace terrorist attack. Design and methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was administered to employees in 14 of 17 Norwegian ministries 9–10 months after the 2011 bombing of the government headquarters in Oslo (n = 3520). Results: About 198 of 1881 employees completing the survey were at work when the bomb exploded. Regression analysis showed that this high-exposed group had elevated perceived threat (β = 0.36; 95% CI = 0.19 to 0.53) and reduced perceived safety (β = ?0.42; 95% CI = ?0.62 to ?0.23) compared to a reference group of employees not at work. After adjusting for posttraumatic stress reactions, however, proximity to the explosion no longer mattered, whereas posttraumatic stress was associated with both high perceived threat (β = 0.55; 95% CI = 0.48 to 0.63) and low perceived safety (β = ?0.71; 95% CI, ?0.80 to ?0.63). Conclusion: Terror-exposed employees feel more threatened and less safe after a workplace terrorist attack, and this is closely linked to elevated levels of posttraumatic stress reactions.     

Silence is golden? Characteristics and experiences of self-reported whistleblowers

This study investigates the characteristics of whistleblowers, the prevalence and nature of whistleblowing, and the occurrence of retaliation after whistleblowing using a randomly selected and representative sample of Norwegian employees. The results showed that 12 per cent self-reported as whistleblowers according to an operational definition. Being a leader, or a union or personnel safety representative was significantly related to whistleblowing. The most frequently reported wrongdoing was harassment conducted by a single colleague. Wrongdoer(s) received mixed responses, from no reaction to reprimand. Even though most whistleblowers were not sanctioned, they reported less job satisfaction and more workplace bullying than did nonwhistleblowers. Only a few were rewarded. For the most part, wrongdoing was stopped or reduced. However, whistleblowing was only partially effective, because whistleblowers reported lack of feedback about the result of their report. Results also showed that the status of the wrongdoer was related to the reaction he or she received afterwards, as were the type of wrongdoing and the effect on the wrongdoing, and the type of wrongdoing and the effect on the wrongdoer(s). Potential explanations for the results, such as the type of sample and power distance, are discussed. Practical implications of the study are also addressed, such as the importance of providing feedback to whistleblowers.     

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Cognitive Performance in a Population-Based Sample of the Oldest Old: Impact of Comorbid Dementia

We examined the relationship between type 2 diabetes mellitus and cognitive function in a population-based sample of very old people. The sample comprised 338 persons, aged 80-93 years (mean age 83.5 years), of whom 70 persons had type 2 diabetes mellitus. Measures of cognitive functioning included tests of perceptual speed, visuo-spatial ability, inductive reasoning, short-term memory, semantic memory, episodic memory, and the Mini-Mental State Examination. Regression analyses showed that type 2 diabetes mellitus duration was related to test performance across all cognitive domains, with the exception of short-term memory, such that longer duration was associated with lower test performance. When cases with dementia were excluded from the sample, further analyses showed that diabetes duration was not associated with cognitive test performance. This indicates that diabetes is not related to lower cognitive function in the general population of non-demented old people. Diabetes, however, increases the risk for cerebrovascular incidents, like stroke, that may contribute to vascular dementia.