A Cerebral Hyperventilation Index for Electroencephalography

This study was an attempt to determine the effect of drive on probability learning. Each of two groups of Ss was divided into high- and low-drive groups on the basis of MAS scores. Each S was given 200 trials on a probability learning task, with 70 per cent reinforcement on one side and 30 per cent reinforcement on the other. At the .05 level, there was no difference between groups in probability choices, and neither group differed from the objective probability scores. The results are discussed in terms of the number of trials involved, the introduction of emotional arousal, and Hullian theory. On the basis of a comparison with the results of previous studies, it was suggested that investigators be cautious in generalizing probability learning results from one species to another.     

A Natural Approach in Mental Health Practice: Occupational Adaptation Revealed

A single case study of the stories told by one occupational therapist about her clients in mental health settings is presented in this article. Qualitative analysis revealed key concepts of the role of the occupational therapist as defined by occupational adaptation theory, along with unique perspectives of occupational therapy in mental health settings. The outcome of this study is a demonstration of the unique insight occupational therapy brings to addressing client recovery in mental health settings, specifically from an occupational adaptation perspective. This insight should enlighten others as to the necessity of skilled occupational therapy in mental health settings.     

Inter-individual variability of forces and modular muscle coordination in cycling: A study on untrained subjects

The aim of this study was to investigate the muscle coordination underlying pedaling in untrained subjects by using the muscle synergies paradigm, and to connect it with the inter-individual variability of EMG patterns and applied forces. Nine subjects performed a pedaling exercise on a cycle-simulator. Applied forces were recorded by means of instrumented pedals able to measure two force components. EMG signals were recorded from eight muscles of the dominant leg, and Nonnegative Matrix Factorization was applied to extract muscle synergy vectors W and time-varying activation coefficients H. Inter-individual variability was assessed for EMG patterns, force profiles, and H. Four modules were sufficient to reconstruct the muscle activation repertoire for all the subjects (variance accounted for >90% for each muscle). These modules were found to be highly similar between subjects in terms of W (mean r = .89), while most of the variability in force profiles and EMG patterns was reflected, in the muscle synergy structure, in the variability of H. These four modules have a functional interpretation when related to force distribution along the pedaling cycle, and the structure of W is shared with that present in human walking, suggesting the existence of a modular motor control in humans.     

Evaluating the effect of educational media exposure on aggression in early childhood

Preschool-aged children (M = 42.44 months-old, SD = 8.02) participated in a short-term longitudinal study investigating the effect of educational media exposure on social development (i.e., aggression and prosocial behavior) using multiple informants and methods. As predicted, educational media exposure significantly predicted increases in both observed and teacher reported relational aggression across time. Follow-up analyses showed that educational media exposure also significantly predicted increases in parent reported relational aggression across more than a two year period. Results replicate and extend prior research that has demonstrated links between educational media exposure and relational aggression, but not physical aggression, during early childhood.     

Social problem solving in early childhood: Developmental change and the influence of shyness

The purpose of this study was to examine developmental change and the influence of shyness on social problem-solving (SPS). At 24, 36, and 48 months, children (N = 570) were observed while interacting with an unfamiliar peer during an SPS task and at 24 months, maternal report of shyness was collected. Results showed that across the full sample, children displayed low but stable levels of withdrawn SPS and increasing levels of SPS competence over development. In addition, results showed multiple trajectories of withdrawn and competent SPS. Shyness was associated with high-increasing and high-decreasing withdrawn SPS trajectories compared with the low-increasing withdrawn SPS trajectory. Shyness was also associated with the low-increasing compared with the high-increasing SPS competence trajectory. Findings demonstrate the development of SPS competence over early childhood, and the influence of early shyness on this developmental course, with some shy children showing improvement in SPS skills and others continuing to show SPS difficulties over time.     

Understanding how children's engagement and teachers' interactions combine to predict school readiness

This study examined the quality of preschool classroom experiences through the combination of children's individual patterns of engagement and teachers' classroom-level interactions in predicting children's gains in school readiness. A sample of 605 children and 309 teachers participated. The quality of children's engagement and teacher interactions was directly observed in the classroom, and direct assessments of children's school readiness skills were obtained in the fall and again in the spring. Latent profile analysis was used to examine children's patterns of engagement with teachers, peers, and tasks. Children's engagement and the quality of teacher interactions were associated with gains in school readiness skills. The effect of children's individual classroom engagement on their expressive vocabulary was moderated by classroom-level teacher interactions. The results suggest that when teachers engage in highly responsive interactions across the children in their classrooms, children may develop more equitable school readiness skills regardless of their individual engagement patterns.     

Sensory substitution: an approach to the experimental study of perception / Sustitución sensorial: un abordaje para el estudio experimental de la percepción

Abstract

Sensory substitution refers to the phenomenon where object and environment information normally acquired through one sense can be obtained by another sense. For example, visual input being provided by hearing or touching. Sensory substitution devices are technological designs that transform the characteristics of one sensory modality into stimuli of another sensory modality. These devices were developed with two purposes: (1) to assist people with sensory disabilities in daily tasks; and (2) to study the involved mechanisms of brain plasticity. This article reviews studies in which sensory substitution phenomenon is employed as a methodological strategy to study visual perception. Furthermore, its use is discussed as an experimental platform to contrast new perceptual theories and underlying neurophysiological mechanisms that are currently under review.     

The Soul Cluster: Reconsideration of a Millennia Old Concept

The article presents a comparative analysis of the theories on conceptions of soul in indigenous and early European traditions. The focal point of the study is the observation that the concept of soul is noticeably complex in aboriginal cultures, and its plural—especially tripartite—nature is the rule rather than the exception. Another observation is that the described pluralism, the number of soul components, and their attributes go through speculative changes as the tradition moves away of tribal origins, which have the shamanic state of consciousness as experiential source of knowledge instead of scholarly theorization. A three-network model of human experience is drawn to support the tripartition cum trilocation concept of soul.     

Preschoolers’ emotion knowledge: Self-regulatory foundations,and predictions of early school success

Preschoolers (N=322 in preschool, 100 in kindergarten) were assessed longitudinally to examine the self-regulatory roots of emotion knowledge (labelling and situation) and the contributions of emotion knowledge to early school adjustment (i.e., including social, motivational, and behavioural indices), as well as moderation by age, gender, and risk. Age, gender, and risk differences in emotion knowledge were also examined. Emotion knowledge skills were found to be more advanced in older children and those not at economic risk, and in those with higher levels of self-regulation. Overall, the results support the role of emotion knowledge in early school adjustment and academic success even with gender, age, and risk covaried, especially for boys, older preschoolers, and those at economic risk.     

Identity in the asphalt jungle

We present a study of 40 youngsters who live and work in the streets of Mexico City and who have abandoned their homes for significant periods of time. They seek out their own means of survival from a very young age. In many cases they have children of their own already as teenagers. The Seminario de Sociopsicoanálisis was invited to take part in a project aimed at facilitating the access of these children to graphic arts, artistic creation and therapeutic listening. This article presents our principal findings of the children's everyday life conditions, their work and their dreams, based on data obtained from social character questionnaires – with which therapeutic intervention in this project began. Vignettes of two case studies are also presented. The interviews were complemented by data gathered in weekly sessions attended by the youngsters on a voluntary bases. The sessions attested to both the narcissistic, aggressive impulsiveness of these youngsters and the vital effort they make toward their own recovery and toward establishing affective emotional ties with instructors and therapists. We found that socio‐psychoanalytic methods could be used successfully to expand the scope of psychoanalytic theoretic postulates about character to a non‐clinical, disadvantaged population. By analyzing the content of the psychoanalytically guided interviews we were able to recognize the central, distinctive motive, which leads these youngsters to run away from home and forge their own sense of identity.