Language specific prosodic preferences during the first half year of life: Evidence from German and French infants

There is converging evidence that infants are sensitive to prosodic cues from birth onwards and use this kind of information in their earliest steps into the acquisition of words and syntactic regularities of their target language. Regarding word segmentation, it has been found that English-learning infants segment trochaic words by 7.5 months of age, and iambic words only by 10.5 months of age [Jusczyk, P. W., Houston, D. M., & Newsome, M. (1999). The beginnings of word segmentation in English-learning infants. Cognitive Psychology, 39, 159–207]. The question remains how to interpret this finding in relation to results showing that English-learning infants develop a preference for trochaic over iambic words between 6 and 9 months of age [Jusczyk, P. W., Cutler, A., & Redanz, N. (1993). Preference for the predominant stress patterns of English words. Child Development, 64, 675–687]. In the following, we report the results of four experiments using the headturn preference procedure (HPP) to explore the trochaic bias issue in German- and French-learning infants. For German, a trochaic preference was found at 6 but not at 4 months, suggesting an emergence of this preference between both ages (Experiments 1 and 2). For French, 6-month-old infants did not show a preference for either stress pattern (Experiment 3) while they were found to discriminate between the two stress patterns (Experiment 4). Our findings are the first to demonstrate that the trochaic bias is acquired by 6 months of age, is language specific and can be predicted by the rhythmic properties of the language in acquisition. We discuss the implications of this very early acquisition for our understanding of the emergence of segmentation abilities.     

Towards a theory of communicative competence

In this, the second of two articles outlining a theory of communicative competence, the author questions the ability of Chomsky's account of linguistic competence to fulfil the requirements of such a theory. ‘Linguistic competence’ for Chomsky means the mastery of an abstract system of rules, based on an innate language apparatus. The model by which communication is understood on this account contains three implicit assumptions, here called ‘monologism’, ‘a priorism’, and ‘elementarism’. The author offers an outline of a theory of communicative competence that is based on the negations of these assumptions. In opposing the first two assumptions he introduces distinctions, respectively, between semantic universals which process experiences and those that make such processing possible, and between semantic universals which precede all socialization and those that are linked to the conditions of potential socialization. Against elementarism, he argues that the semantic content of all possible natural languages does not consist of combinations of a finite number of meaning components. Differences in systems of classification preclude this, and such differences can be seen to infect all respects of intercultural comparison. Using the notion of ‘performative utterance’, the author elucidates the role of dialogue‐constitutive universals as part of the formal apparatus required of a”; speaker's capacity to communicate. He then notes what would be required of a general semantics based on a theory of communicative competence; and finally points out how this theory might be used for social analysis.     

Sexuelle Funktionsstörungen und ambulante Psychotherapie

Based on a literature review the following questions are discussed: how prevalent are sexual dysfunctions in the community and in treatment samples (particularly in psychotherapy patients)? How many patients with sexual dysfunctions seek help in outpatient psychotherapy and for how many patients would this kind of treatment be indicated? Data show that only relatively few patients with sexual dysfunctions are being treated in outpatient psychotherapy. Deficits concerning detection and monitoring of sexual dysfunctions and in terms of interdisciplinary treatment are obvious. To find possible reasons for these deficits the multifactorial etiology of sexual dysfunctions, the segmentation of care and also psychological variables characterizing the patient (denial of dysfunction) and the therapist (subjective need for specific training) are discussed. It is proposed that routine use of screening questionnaires for sexual dysfunctions should be introduced and it is described how the diagnostics and treatment implementation for sexual dysfunctions can be effectively integrated into clinical practice. Finally, arguments for a broader representation of research on sexual dysfunction in the field of clinical psychology are presented.     

Somatische und psychische Komorbidität

Studies indicate that chronic somatic diseases are often associated with psychological burden and manifest mental disorders. The interaction may be a complex one rather than a mere reaction to severe somatic illness. Early recognition of psychosomatic comorbidities has important implications for adequate diagnostic classification, therapy, and the course of the whole disease pattern. The timely treatment of depression in somatic illnesses can for example not only alleviate depressive symptoms but also raise quality of life and reduce the consequences concerning the course of the somatic disease. However, many questions still need to be answered relating to the concrete influence of a therapy of the mental disorder on the somatic prognosis.     

The subjective experience of committed errors and the Discrepancy-Attribution hypothesis

In routine sequential behavior, we sometimes become aware of having committed an error. However, often we do not. Here, we investigated the processes underlying conscious error detection within a typing paradigm. Our assumption according to the Discrepancy-Attribution hypothesis is that the (explicit) judgment of having made an error is due to a perceived discrepancy between expected and actually experienced performance which then is attributed to an error. In 4 experiments, participants were instructed to type single words without seeing what they were typing and, afterwards, to judge whether typing was correct. Experiments 1 through 3 tested the assumption that conscious awareness about an error is due to a perceived discrepancy between an expectation and the experienced performance. Experiment 4 investigated the assumption of a separate attribution process triggered by the perceived discrepancy. The results support the Discrepancy-Attribution hypothesis and argue for a two-stage model of conscious error detection.