Language development in Down syndrome: from the prelinguistic period to the acquisition of literacy

Down syndrome (DS) is associated with abnormalities in multiple organ systems and a characteristic phenotype that includes numerous behavioral features. Language, however, is among the most impaired domains of functioning in DS and, perhaps, also the greatest barrier to independent meaningful inclusion in the community. In this article, we review what is known about the extent, nature, and correlates of the language and related problems of individuals with Down syndrome. In doing so, we focus largely on the syndrome-specific features of the language phenotype, although we also consider within-syndrome variation. The review focuses on the prelinguistic foundations of language and the major components of language (i.e., vocabulary, syntax, and pragmatics). We also consider two topics in the treatment and education of individuals with DS: prelinguistic communication intervention and the acquisition of literacy skills.     

First-Order Frege Theory is Undecidable

The system whose only predicate is identity, whose only nonlogical vocabulary is the abstraction operator, and whose axioms are all first-order instances of Frege's Axiom V is shown to be undecidable.     

Classroom Interactions: Gender of Teacher,Gender of Student,and Classroom Subject

An observational study investigated the effects of gender of teacher, gender of student, and classroom subject (mathematics vs. English literature/language) on teacher–student interactions. A total of 597 high school students (294 males and 303 females) and 36 teachers (28 males and 8 females) were observed in either 18 mathematics classes or 18 literature/language classes. Students and teachers were predominately Caucasian, with the majority of students from a lower- or middle-class background. Observations were coded using the interactions for sex equity in classroom teaching (INTERSECT) observational instrument. It was found that female mathematics teachers, male literature/language teachers, and female literature/language teachers tended to interact somewhat more with male students than with female students. This tendency was not the result of male students having initiated more direct verbal interactions with teachers.     

Soul in the world: symbolic culture as the medium for psyche

Whilst the loss of a sense of living connection with the material world is mainly associated with the scientific revolution in seventeenth century Europe, it can be traced back to Plato's introduction of a hierarchy between soul and body. Jung's attempted solution to this – esse in anima – is ingenious but maintains the Cartesian split by which the aliveness of the world is reduced to a projection of psychic forces (the archetypes). An alternative approach is proposed, rooted in the Aristotelean emphasis on practical activity that sees the soul as a function of our way of being in the world. Human cognition is extended and distributed by our social and material engagement with the world, especially via collective representations whose symbolic character is constitutive of the reality of the world in which we live. Despite the dominance of ‘scientific Cartesian’ representations in the modern Western world, there remain numerous instances of participation mystique that cannot be captured by the Cartesian notion of projection. These indicate an opening to ways of being in the world that may lead us out of the impasse of the Cartesian matrix.     

A preliminary study of autobiographical memory in remitted bipolar and unipolar depression and the role of imagery in the specificity of memory

Autobiographical memory was investigated in a sample of 19 individuals with remitted bipolar affective disorder and a community sample of 16 individuals with remitted unipolar depression who had similar low levels of current symptoms. Each participant was prompted to recall one positive memory and one negative memory, to rate it on several scales, and to describe it in detail. Relative to the remitted unipolar group, the remitted bipolar group reported more general than specific negative memories and more frequent recollections of the negative memory during their everyday life. Across the sample, 95% of all specific memories involved a mental image, whereas only 56% of all general memories involved a mental image, suggesting a role of imagery in the retrieval of a specific memory. Characteristic examples of memories are provided. These results are preliminary yet they suggest that patients with bipolar disorder in remission may show memory characteristics that are often associated with symptomatic unipolar depression.     

"I won't do what you tell me!": elevated mood and the assessment of advice-taking in euthymic bipolar I disorder

We hypothesized that when individuals with bipolar disorder are engaged in goal-directed behaviour and experience elevated mood, their decision-making becomes less constrained by advice from other people. This process may allow their goal-directed behaviour to persist, contributing to manic symptoms. Three groups of 32 participants: euthymic-bipolar-I, remitted-unipolar and never-depressed healthy controls were allocated to either a high or low mood induction. Advice-taking was assessed before and after the induction by a computerized task incorporating facial images. The bipolar group significantly opposed the advice given in the task after the high mood induction. The effect was specific to bipolar disorder and remained when controlling for possible confounds. Future work could investigate the effects of this process on manic symptoms, its origins, and the wider theoretical and clinical implications.     

Imagination and the imaginary

This paper argues that real imagination depends on the capacity to acknowledge the absence of what is imagined from the world of material actuality. This leads on to a view of symbol formation as the operation of the transcendent function between the opposites of presence and absence. 'The imaginary' is contrasted with this as a defensive misuse of imagination that attempts to deny 'negation' where negation is defined as all those aspects of the world that constitute a check to the omnipotence of fantasy--e.g., absence, loss, difference, otherness etc. Parallels are drawn with theoretical antecedents in analytical psychology and psychoanalysis, with particular attention to papers published in the Journal of Analytical Psychology (JAP) in the 1960s on the relation between active imagination, transference and ego development. A clinical example is given to show the use of the imaginary as a means of warding off the unbearable pain of Oedipal disappointment.     

Interval timing with gaps and distracters: evaluation of the ambiguity, switch, and time-sharing hypotheses

Gaps and distracters were presented during the timed signal to examine whether the stop/reset mechanism is activated by (a) changes in the timed signal (switch hypothesis), (b) ITI-like events (ambiguity hypothesis), or (c) processes concurrent with the timing process (time-sharing hypothesis). While the switch and ambiguity hypotheses predict that rats should time through (ignore) distracters, the time-sharing hypothesis predicts that extraneous events (e.g., gaps and distracters) delay timing by causing working memory to decay in proportion to the events' salience. The authors found that response functions were displaced by both gaps and distracters, in accord with the time-sharing hypothesis. Computer simulations show that the time-sharing and memory-decay hypotheses can mechanistically address present data, and reflect different levels of the same model.     

The affective underpinnings of job perceptions and attitudes: a meta-analytic review and integration

Using psychometric meta-analysis, the authors present a quantitative and qualitative review (k = 205, total pairwise N = 62,527) of the literature relating trait and state positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) to job-related attitudes, including job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intentions, and dimensions of job burnout. Results indicated substantial correlations, ranging in absolute value from -.17 (PA and turnover intentions; NA and personal accomplishment) to.54 (NA and emotional exhaustion). Correlational results largely were consistent across hypothesized and exploratory moderator conditions. Meta-analytic multiple regression results generally supported the unique contribution of each affect to each attitude variable of interest. Implications and suggestions for future research on emotion-related aspects of job attitudes are discussed.     

Decision-making in state lotteries: Half now or all of it later?

Many state lotteries offer players a choice between receiving roughly half of the jackpot immediately and receiving the entire jackpot over 25 annual payments. This requires players to make a decision that involves uncertainty, delay, and large amounts of real money. Archival data on lottery players' jackpot payment decisions were collected from seven state and three multistate lotteries. Players' jackpot payment preferences were assessed at the time of ticket purchase and after winning a jackpot. Preference for the annuity payment option significantly decreased as jackpot size increased, both at the time of ticket purchase and after winning. Furthermore, a significant proportion of winners who selected the annuity payment option at ticket purchase switched to the cash payment option after winning, whereas no winners switched from the cash to the annuity option after winning. These findings suggest that real-world choices involving large sums of money may be subject to diminishing marginal utility and probability and delay discounting.