Coping with homesickness: The construction of the adult homesickness coping questionnaire

This study examined coping with homesickness in a sample of homesick adult women. For this purpose, the Adult Homesickness Coping Questionnaire (AHCQ) was constructed. Analysis of the structure of the AHCQ revealed four factors: Social Support, Positive Thinking/Distraction, Turning to Religion, and Mental Escape. The psychometric properties of the AHCQ appeared adequate. Results indicated that ways of coping with homesickness are related to diverse aspects of the homesickness experience, like length of stay in the homesickness situation, causal attributions, and intensity levels of homesickness feelings. It is emphasized that future prospective studies should focus specifically on the (in)effectiveness of coping strategies in order to design adequate interventions for homesick individuals.     

The effects of ingroup and outgroup homogeneity on ingroup favouritism,stereotyping and overestimation of relative ingroup size

An experiment (n = 61) investigated the effects of ingroup and outgroup homogeneity on ingroup favouritism, stereotyping and the overestimation of relative ingroup size. As predicted, outgroup homogeneity was conducive to ingroup favouritism. Ingroup homogeneity, however, failed to influence ingroup favouritism. Also unexpectedly, asymmetry in group homogeneity — irrespective of whether the ingroup or the outgroup was the more homogeneous group — led to pronounced stereotyping of both groups and to the overestimation of relative ingroup size.     

Interactions between sentence context and word frequencyinevent-related brainpotentials

Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded as subjects silently read a set of unrelated sentences. The ERP responses elicited by open-class words were sorted according to word frequency and the ordinal position of the eliciting word within its sentence. We observed a strong inverse correlation between sentence position and the amplitude of the N400 component of the ERP. In addition, we found that less frequent words were associated with larger N400s than were more frequent words, but only if the eliciting words occurred early in their respective sentences. We take this interaction between sentence position and word frequency as evidence that frequency does not play a mandatory role in word recognition, but can be superseded by the contextual constraint provided by a sentence.     

Projection of a binary criterion into a model of hierarchical classes

A formal analysis is made of how to project an attribute criterion into the hierarchical classes model for object by attribute data proposed by De Boeck and Rosenberg. The projection is conceptualized as the prediction of the attribute criterion by means of a logical rule defined on the basis of attribute combinations from the model. Eliminative and constructive strategies are proposed to find logical rules with maximal predictive power and minimal formula complexity. Logical analyses of a real data set are reported and compared with a logistic regression to demonstrate the usefulness of the logical strategies, and to show the complementarity of logical and probabilistic approaches.The first suthor is Senior Research Assistant of the National Fund for Scientific Research (Belgium). We would like to thank the Editor, the reviewers, Seymour Rosenberg, and Luc Delbeke for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article.     

A comparison of directly recorded and derived acceleration data in movement control research

This paper compares acceleration-time histories that were recorded during a simple arm extension/flexion movement completed as fast as possible and at a slower rate. Directly measured accelerations from an accelerometer were used to obtain an optimum filter cut-off frequency for displacement data were to be subsequently differentiated. Dependent variables such as ‘zero line crossings’ and ‘significant deviations’ were measured using both the accelerometer data and the derived acceleration data.     

A therapist's ritual of respect

A great deal of attention in systemic family therapy has been given to the process and technique ofdeveloping 'therapeutic' rituals for families. In this paper we address the process of the therapist developing the ritual of practising respect. By practising respect the therapist shifts to a position similar to that of an anthropologist who is attempting to understand another culture and its epistemology. The ritual of practising respect has the potential of changing the therapist's tendency to move toward social control and moralist judgements. A case example is presented in this paper which illustrates the therapeutic ritual of practising respect for the client/family.     

Close friendships among senior adults

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the relative contributions of personal, affective, and social exchange characteristics to satisfaction with the best friendship. Senior adults (N = 76) described and evaluated their best friendships in terms of positive and negative affect, equity, reciprocity of social support, and satisfaction. The individual's endorsement of communal and exchange orientations were included as personal characteristics. The study confirms that a communal orientation enhances satisfaction with a best friendship and that conflict and negativity detract from it. Social exchange characteristics were not related to friendship satisfaction. The need to reevaluate the role of social exchange in close relationships is discussed.