Psychobiological Aspects of Infant Crying

This study addresses the relationship between the amount of infant crying and maternal responsiveness to the infant's facial communicative cues during distress and non-distress situations. From an evolutionary perspective, the interpretation of infant crying as a communicative signal is preferred over its distance-regulating function. This view implies a relation between the amount of infant crying and parameters describing interactional regulation. Maternal responsiveness is operationalized by (a) the contingent reactions in a latency time span which define the intuitive character of parental behaviours (200–800 ms) and by (b) an event-based coding system of maternal inappropriate behaviour. Infant states (crying, fussing, sleeping and waking hours) were assessed by means of diaries kept by the mothers. In two samples (N=10, N=13, respectively), married, middle-class mothers were videotaped in free play situations with their healthy, firstborn children in their family homes. Results show that there is a strong intersituational consistency of maternal behaviour, but context-sensitive components of maternal behaviour could also be found. The contingency of maternal reactions during the free play situation can be regarded as a predictor of the duration of the infant's crying measured by a maternal diary. The whole pattern of the results confirms the regulatory function of infant crying in the context of early caregiver–child interactions.     

Gaze behaviour in hereditary prosopagnosia

Prosopagnosia is the inability to recognize someone by the face alone in the absence of sensory or intellectual impairment. In contrast to the acquired form of prosopagnosia we studied the congenital form. Since we could recently show that this form is inherited as a simple monogenic trait we called it hereditary form. To determine whether not only face recognition and neuronal processing but also the perceptual acquisition of facial information is specific to prosopagnosia, we studied the gaze behaviour of four hereditary prosopagnosics in comparison to matched control subjects. This rarely studied form of prosopagnosia ensures that deficits are limited to face recognition. Whereas the control participants focused their gaze on the central facial features, the hereditary prosopagnosics showed a significantly different gaze behaviour. They had a more dispersed gaze and also fixated external facial features. Thus, the face recognition impairment of the hereditary prosopagnosics is reflected in their gaze behaviour.     

The neural network model of organizational identification

This paper proposes the Neural Network Model of Organizational Identification; the model depicts organizational identification as an associative link within an organization member’s social knowledge structure of self as it relates to a focal organization. Within this knowledge structure, organization identification connects self to organization via an attribute sub-network that includes self-concept and organization identity and via a valance sub-network that includes organization based self-esteem and attitudinal commitment. This model draws on the principles of balance-congruity, imbalance dissonance, and differentiation [Greenwald, A. G., Banaji, M. R., Rudman, L. A., Farnham, S. D., Nosek, B. A., & Mellott, D. S. (2002). A unified theory of implicit attitudes, stereotypes, self-esteem, and self-concept. Psychological Review, 109, 3–25.] to predict relationships between these organizational constructs. The Neural Network Model of Organizational Identification is parsimonious yet it effectively integrates and synthesizes the burgeoning literature on organizational identification. By operating at a neural network level of analysis, the model departs substantially from existing organization models by (1) specifying unique construct definitions; (2) offering an alternative perspective of the affective/cognitive dimensions and interrelationships; (3) introducing the concept of implicit cognition to the literature on organizational identification, which makes apparent problems with current measures; and (4) explaining phenomena not explained in existing models. This perspective adds precision and reveals that organizational identification is interconnected within a reciprocal network of mutual causality.     

Cold pressor stress reduces left cradling preference in nulliparous human females

The left cradling preference refers to the finding that women hold their infants more frequently on the left side of their own bodies. Several observational studies showed reduced left cradling during stressful circumstances, such as mother-infant separation, or domestic violence. However, until now no experimental study was conducted to investigate the immediate impact of stress on cradling behaviour. Half of the 64 female subjects participating were randomly assigned to a stressful bilateral cold pressor test. The remaining subjects performed a non-stressful control procedure. Before and after this intervention, cradling behaviour was assessed using a baby-like doll. Subjects showed a left cradling preference prior to the intervention. The cold pressor test increased blood pressure and heart rate significantly. A repeated ANOVA revealed an interaction of intervention (cold pressor vs. control) X assessment period (pre- vs. post-intervention), indicating that cold pressor stress reduces left cradling behaviour in female volunteers. Our data indicate that stress influences cradling preference. This may be of relevance for caregiver-infant interactions.     

Menstruation and suicide: an exploratory study

Previous research has reported mixed findings on the effect of the menstrual cycle on suicidal behavior. The contribution of menstruation to completed suicide is also controversial, though the studies are very limited and have not been carefully designed. To explore the relationship, 217 autopsies on completed suicides were performed, matched to a control group at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. The results show that 54.46% of people who died by suicide were menstruating (results excluded pregnancies), compared to 6.75% of the control group. Menstruation in those who completed suicide, compared to a control group, appeared to have an association with suicide. More research is warranted.     

The impact of post-learning sleep vs. wakefulness on recognition memory for faces with different facial expressions

A beneficial effect of sleep after learning, compared to wakefulness, on memory formation has been shown in many studies using a variety of tasks. However, none of these studies has specifically addressed recognition memory for faces so far. The recognition of familiar faces, together with the extraction of emotional information from facial expression, is a fundamental cognitive skill in human everyday life, for which specific neural systems and mechanisms of processing have been developed. Here, we investigated the role of post-learning sleep for later recognition memory for neutral, happy, and angry faces. Twelve healthy subjects, after judging the emotional valence of the faces in the evening (learning phase), either slept normally in the subsequent night, with sleep recorded polysomnographically (sleep condition), or remained awake (wake condition) according to a cross-over design. Recognition testing took place in the second evening after learning, i.e. after a further night of regular sleep spent at home. Sleep after learning, compared to wakefulness, enhanced memory accuracy in recognition memory. This effect was independent of the emotional valence of facial expression. The response criterion at recognition testing did not differ between sleep and wake conditions. The amount of non rapid eye movement (NonREM) sleep during post-learning sleep correlated positively with memory accuracy at recognition testing, while time in REM sleep was associated with a speeded responding to the learned faces. Results suggest that face recognition, despite its dependence on specialized brain systems, nevertheless relies on the general neural mechanisms of sleep-associated memory consolidation.     

School track and ethnic classroom composition relate to the mainstream identity of adolescents with immigrant background in Germany,but not their ethnic identity

Although developing a cultural identity is a core task for adolescents from immigrant families and the school is a highly important context in adolescence, to date, few studies have examined whether adolescents with particular cultural identities cluster in certain school contexts. Using data from a representative German sample including 7702 secondary school students of immigrant background from 1643 classrooms, we examined how the attended school track and four aspects of ethnic classroom composition relate to adolescents' cultural identity (i.e., their ethnic identity and mainstream identity). Two-level structural equation models indicated that students' ethnic identity was not systematically associated with the attended school track and the ethnic composition of the classroom. However, attending the academic school track, a classroom with a low proportion of classmates with immigrant background and frequently using German with classmates related positively to mainstream identity. Ethnic diversity and proportion of co-ethnics in class did not relate to mainstream identification. Our findings suggest that the ethnic identity of adolescents with an immigrant background in Germany is largely independent from the different socialisation contexts related to school tracks and the ethnic classroom composition. Yet, students' with a strong mainstream identity cluster in certain school contexts.     

Intuitionism and the Modal Logic of Vagueness

Journal of Philosophical Logic - Intuitionistic logic provides an elegant solution to the Sorites Paradox. Its acceptance has been hampered by two factors. First, the lack of an accepted semantics...     

Loneliness and the Big Five Personality Traits: A Meta-analysis

This preregistered meta-analysis (k = 113, total n = 93 668) addressed how the Big Five dimensions of personality (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness) are related to loneliness. Robust variance estimation accounting for the dependency of effect sizes was used to compute meta-analytic bivariate correlations between loneliness and personality. Extraversion (r = −.370), agreeableness (r = −.243), conscientiousness (r = −.202), and openness (r = −.107) were negatively related to loneliness. Neuroticism (r = .358) was positively related to loneliness. These associations differed meaningfully in strength depending on how loneliness was assessed. Additionally, meta-analytic structural equation modelling was used to investigate the unique association between each personality trait and loneliness while controlling for the other four personality traits. All personality traits except openness remained statistically significantly associated with loneliness when controlling for the other personality traits. Our results show the importance of stable personality factors in explaining individual differences in loneliness. © 2020 The Authors. European Journal of Personality published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Association of Personality Psychology.