The influence of linguistic and cognitive factors on the time course of verb-based implicit causality

In three eye-tracking experiments the influence of the Dutch causal connective “want” (because) and the working memory capacity of readers on the usage of verb-based implicit causality was examined. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that although a causal connective is not required to activate implicit causality information during reading, effects of implicit causality surfaced more rapidly and were more pronounced when a connective was present in the discourse than when it was absent. In addition, Experiment 3 revealed that—in contrast to previous claims—the activation of implicit causality is not a resource-consuming mental operation. Moreover, readers with higher and lower working memory capacities behaved differently in a dual-task situation. Higher span readers were more likely to use implicit causality when they had all their working memory resources at their disposal. Lower span readers showed the opposite pattern as they were more likely to use the implicit causality cue in the case of an additional working memory load. The results emphasize that both linguistic and cognitive factors mediate the impact of implicit causality on text comprehension. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of the ongoing controversies in the literature—that is, the focusing-integration debate and the debates on the source of implicit causality.     

The structure of coping styles: a comparative study of croatian sample

The primary aim of this study was to develop a Croatian inventory for assessing coping strategies that people use when under stress. As a basis for this inventory, a translation of the multidimensional coping inventory (COPE) by Carver, Scheier and Weintraub (1989) was used. The second purpose was to compare the results of the original version of the COPE with the translated Croatian version. Three additional scales (Humour, Turning to Religion, and Drug and Alcohol Use) were also analysed. The results were obtained using a sample consisting of undergraduate students (N=403) from the University of Rijeka, Croatia. When comparing the original version of the COPE inventory with the Croatian version, a similar factor structure emerged. The differences obtained are interpreted by taking into account different sociocultural and economic conditions in Croatia and the USA. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Validity of the Czech Version of the Therapeutic Factors Inventory – Short Form (TFI-S)

This study’s aim was to assess validity of the Czech translation of the Therapeutic Factors Inventory (TFI-S), which includes four factors: Instillation of Hope, Secure Emotional Expression, Awareness of Emotional Impact, and Social Learning. We assessed data from 220 patients who attended a daily three-month treatment program that used integrative group psychotherapy. TFI-S’s reliability was satisfactory: at week 12, Cronbach’s α was .93 and McDonald’s ω was .95. Confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable fit to our data: at week 12, χ²(146) = 262.5, p < 0.001, CFI = .994, TLI = .992, RMSEA = .071 (90% CI = .057–.084), and SRMR = .063. Predictive validity showed significant correlations between TFI-S factors and pre/post-treatment change. In the conclusion, we discuss possible future potential of cross-cultural research.     

Burnout and occupational participation among dentists with teaching responsibilities in universities

The aim of this study was to investigate the levels of burnout and explore the relationships between burnout and occupational participation among dentists with teaching responsibilities. Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) was used to evaluate occupational participation with questions on demographic information among 155 dentists with teaching responsibilities. Age, gender, years of experience, academic position were the factors affecting level of burnout and occupational participation. Occupational performance score was negatively correlated with emotional exhausment (r = –.731) and depersonalization (r = –.693) while positively correlated with personal accomplishment (r = .611). Occupational satisfaction scores were negatively correlated with emotional exhausment (r = –.631) and depersonalization (r = –.625) while positively correlated with personal accomplishment (r = .614). Occupational participation level can effect burnout among dentists with teaching responsibilities. Further studies with a larger sample are needed to investigate these preliminary results deeply.     

Dissociative Experiences and Trauma Exposure Among Newly Arrived and Settled Young War Refugees

War-traumatized refugee adolescents are a vulnerable and understudied group. This study of two different groups of war-traumatized youth (N = 77) resettled in Sweden (newly arrived refugee adolescents, n = 42, 13–19 years, and settled students with childhood war experiences, n = 35, 11–18 years) evaluated their war experiences, refugee journey, general trauma exposure, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and dissociative experiences. Both groups had experienced many traumas and a substantial proportion reported levels consistent with posttraumatic stress (71% in the newly arrived group and 34% among the settled students) and dissociation (36% and 23%, respectively). The study also provides information about the type of adverse events experienced by war-refugee adolescents, including their own subjective appraisals of the worst events. The results show that the extent of trauma exposure and posttraumatic and dissociative symptomatology among refugee adolescents are considerable even after a period of resettlement, a finding that has educational, clinical, and social implications.     

Brain activity underlying negative self- and other-perception in adolescents: The role of attachment-derived self-representations

One of teenagers’ key developmental tasks is to engage in new and meaningful relationships with peers and adults outside the family context. Attachment-derived expectations about the self and others in terms of internal attachment working models have the potential to shape such social reorientation processes critically and thereby influence adolescents’ social-emotional development and social integration. Because the neural underpinnings of this developmental task remain largely unknown, we sought to investigate them by functional magnetic resonance imaging. We asked n = 44 adolescents (ages 12.01–18.84 years) to evaluate positive and negative adjectives regarding either themselves or a close other during an adapted version of the well-established self-other trait-evaluation task. As measures of attachment, we obtained scores reflecting participants’ positive versus negative attachment-derived self- and other-models by means of the Relationship Questionnaire. We controlled for possible confounding factors by also obtaining scores reflecting internalizing/externalizing problems, schizotypy, and borderline symptomatology. Our results revealed that participants with a more negative attachment-derived self-model showed increased brain activity during positive and negative adjective evaluation regarding the self, but decreased brain activity during negative adjective evaluation regarding a close other, in bilateral amygdala/parahippocampus, bilateral anterior temporal pole/anterior superior temporal gyrus, and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. These findings suggest that a low positivity of the self-concept characteristic for the attachment anxiety dimension may influence neural information processing, but in opposite directions when it comes to self- versus (close) other-representations. We discuss our results in the framework of attachment theory and regarding their implications especially for adolescent social-emotional development and social integration.     

Incongruences of Ethical and Legal Norms in Academia: the Case on Revocation of Doctoral Degrees

In the academic setting as in any organization legal norms prevail and are assumed to be congruent with ethical norms. Nevertheless, there are cases when the ratio of ethical and legal norms is inadequate and disproportional, especially those dealing with socially responsible decisions in academia. For this reason, the aim here is to analyse incongruences of ethical and legal norms related to the revocation of doctoral degrees in Lithuania, illustrated with examples of deviant behaviour by academic degree holders in terms of decisions of the courts and the ombudsman for academic ethics. Lithuania, being a Member State of the European Union, is currently facing the challenge of implementing newly-adopted laws related to the revocation of doctoral degrees. Accordingly, data were collected from available online official sources to gain more comprehensive evidence, and then analysed using the inductive approach of qualitative content analysis. Research findings show that there is still a thin line between ethical and legal norms, and this line fluctuates depending on nuanced considerations. This is to say that it is still problematical to dress ethical principles in legal clothing.     

Are the aesthetic preferences towards snake species already formed in pre-school aged children?

This study explores aesthetic preferences towards boa and python species among pre-school children and adults, and compares the ratings between the two groups. A set of snake photographs was presented (56 species) to children and adult respondents. The respondents were asked to select the five most preferred and five least preferred species. The children’s agreement on which species were ‘beautiful’ and which were ‘ugly’ was statistically significant and a positive relationship between the mean ranks provided by children and adults was also found (r = .54, P < .001). Children preferred species with thick necks and inconspicuous heads, usually small species, harmless to children. Large pythons probably posed more danger to children than they did to adults during human evolution in African savannas and therefore we hypothesize that young children’s aesthetic preferences were shaped by natural selection through interactions with dangerous snakes.     

How do affected interests support global democracy?

In this paper, I critique one way of arguing for global democracy on grounds of affected interests and defend another. A famous argument for global democracy, which I call the Demos-Based Argument, attempts to justify global democracy based on the claim that affected interests vindicate individual claims to democratic participation or representation. I analyze and evaluate the Demos-Based Argument and consider different ways of interpreting and justifying its crucial premise: the Principle of Affected Interests. The result is that the argument fails. One lesson of the discussion of the Demos-Based Argument is that the most promising, though eventually unsuccessful, justification of the Principle of Affected Interests is utilitarian. Given the failure of the Demos-Based Argument, the question suggests itself if there is another way to argue for global democracy on utilitarian grounds. I will outline a promising alternative argument for global democracy, which I call the Direct Argument. Like the Demos-Based Argument, the Direct Argument is based on affected interests and ultimately on utilitarianism, but unlike the former, the Direct Argument avoids the detour over stating a criterion for individual claims to democratic participation and representation.     

One test,five scoring procedures: different ways of approaching the cognitive reflection test

Although the cognitive reflection test (CRT) represents a frequently used instrument within the field of judgement and decision-making, its scope and detailed characteristics are still not well understood. Therefore, the present article discusses 5 different ways of scoring the CRT that include the regular CRT scoring procedure (CRT-Regular), adding up the intuitive answers (CRT-Intuitive), calculating the proportion of intuitive in total incorrect answers (CRT-Proportion Intuitive), scoring only non-intuitive answers irrespective of their correctness (CRT-Reflection) and calculating the proportion of correct in total non-intuitive answers (CRT-Calculation). We conducted 2 studies aimed at investigating the associations among these scoring techniques and their relationships with thinking dispositions, specifically the need for cognition, faith in intuition, superstitious thinking, maximising and post-choice regret. The results indicate that thinking dispositions play a modest role in explaining the performance on the CRT. The specific associations among the investigated dispositions and different CRT scoring techniques are discussed.