Liberal Nationalism and Territorial Rights

Abstract This essay sets out from the strain of liberal political thought which, in recent years, has come to the defence of nationalism, and raises some preliminary thoughts concerning its appropriate application to the very concrete issue of national territorial rights. It asks what type of justifications could be morally acceptable to "liberal nationalism" for the acquisition and holding of territory. To this end, the paper takes a brief look at five central arguments for territorial entitlement which have become predominant in political debates. These are: so called "historical rights" to territory; demands for territorial restitution; efficiency arguments; claims of entitlement to territories settled by co-nationals; and lastly, territorial demands based on claims of equal entitlement to the earth's natural resources. These popular arguments point towards several potential criteria for the arbitration of territorial conflicts. The paper attempts to outline the morally relevant guidelines for thinking about territorial issues that flow from, or are at least consistent with, applying liberal values to the national phenomenon. It places the territorial aspect of nationalism at the head of the liberal nationalist agenda and offers an initial common ground for discussion (including disagreement) among liberals, and for the mediation of claims between nations.     

Occupational Identity,Competence, and Environments Among Adults With and Without Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Exploring occupational adaptation among adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is essential due to associated occupational difficulties. Occupational Performance History Interview scales—identity, competence, and environments—were compared between 51 adults with and 50 without ADHD who participated in occupations. Internal and external resources supporting occupational participations were represented by the competence and environment scales, respectively. The group with ADHD reported fewer internal and external occupational resources compared to the group without ADHD, despite occupational identity similarities. Study findings suggest that occupational interventions aimed at increasing internal and external occupational resources may support occupational adaptation among adults with ADHD.     

Field dependence/independence and mental capacity: A developmental approach

In this study we tested a central theoretical assumption of J. Pascual-Leone's (1970, Acta Psychologica, 32, 301–345) model of cognitive development, that same-age field-dependent and field-independent children have the same developmental mental capacity. The study was conducted on a very heterogeneous population, regarding both social class and age, to allow for a large variance of performance scores. The theoretical assumption was strongly supported.     

Gesture Helps,Only If You Need It: Inhibiting Gesture Reduces Tip-of-the-Tongue Resolution for Those With Weak Short-Term Memory

People frequently gesture when a word is on the tip of their tongue (TOT), yet research is mixed as to whether and why gesture aids lexical retrieval. We tested three accounts: the lexical retrieval hypothesis, which predicts that semantically related gestures facilitate successful lexical retrieval; the cognitive load account, which predicts that matching gestures facilitate lexical retrieval only when retrieval is hard, as in the case of a TOT; and the motor movement account, which predicts that any motor movements should support lexical retrieval. In Experiment 1 (a between-subjects study; N = 90), gesture inhibition, but not neck inhibition, affected TOT resolution but not overall lexical retrieval; participants in the gesture-inhibited condition resolved fewer TOTs than participants who were allowed to gesture. When participants could gesture, they produced more representational gestures during resolved than unresolved TOTs, a pattern not observed for meaningless motor movements (e.g., beats). However, the effect of gesture inhibition on TOT resolution was not uniform; some participants resolved many TOTs, while others struggled. In Experiment 2 (a within-subjects study; N = 34), the effect of gesture inhibition was traced to individual differences in verbal, not spatial short-term memory (STM) span; those with weaker verbal STM resolved fewer TOTs when unable to gesture. This relationship between verbal STM and TOT resolution was not observed when participants were allowed to gesture. Taken together, these results fit the cognitive load account; when lexical retrieval is hard, gesture effectively reduces the cognitive load of TOT resolution for those who find the task especially taxing.