Direct Evidence of Memory Retrieval as a Source of Difficulty in Non‐Local Dependencies in Language

Linguistic dependencies between non‐adjacent words have been shown to cause comprehension difficulty, compared with local dependencies. According to one class of sentence comprehension accounts, non‐local dependencies are difficult because they require the retrieval of the first dependent from memory when the second dependent is encountered. According to these memory‐based accounts, making the first dependent accessible at the time when the second dependent is encountered should help alleviate the difficulty associated with the processing of non‐local dependencies. In a dual‐task paradigm, participants read sentences that did or did not contain a non‐local dependency (i.e., object‐ and subject‐extracted cleft constructions) while simultaneously remembering a word. The memory task was aimed at making the word held in memory accessible throughout the sentence. In an object‐extracted cleft (e.g., It was Ellen whom John consulted…), the object (Ellen) must be retrieved from memory when consulted is encountered. In the critical manipulation, the memory word was identical to the verb's object (ELLEN). In these conditions, the extraction effect was reduced in the comprehension accuracy data and eliminated in the reading time data. These results add to the body of evidence supporting memory‐based accounts of syntactic complexity.     

Recognising relations: What can be learned from considering complexity

Analogy is an important cognitive process that has been researched extensively. Functional accounts of it typically involve at least four stages of processing (access, mapping, transfer, and evaluation); however, these accounts take the way in which the base analogue is understood, along with its relational structure, for granted. The goal of this paper is to open up a discussion about how this process (which we will call “relational recognition”) may occur. To this end, this paper describes two experiments that vary the level of relational complexity across exemplars. It was found that relational recognition tasks benefit from increased complexity, while mapping tasks suffer from it.     

The best of possible worlds: A testable claim of choice

Leibniz said that the universe, if God-created, would exist at a unique, conjoint, physical maximum: Of all possible worlds, it would be richest in phenomena, but its richness would arise from the simplest physical laws and initial conditions. Using concepts of “variety” and algorithmic informational complexity, Leibniz' claim can be reframed as a testable theory. This theory predicts that the laws and conditions of the actual universe should be simpler, and the universe richer in phenomena, than the presence of observers would require. Tegmark has shown that inhabitants of an infinite multiverse would likely observe simple laws and conditions, but also phenomenal richness just great enough to explain their existence. Empirical observations fit the claim of divine choice better than the claim of an infinite multiverse. The future of the universe, including its future information-processing capacity, is predicted to be endless.     

Adolescent coping with everyday stressors: A seven-nation study of youth from central,eastern, southern,and northern Europe

The present study compares problem-specific coping strategies and coping styles of European adolescents from seven nations. The sample consisted of 3031 adolescent participants, aged 11 to 20, from Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Norway, Portugal, and Switzerland. The adolescents completed the Coping Across Situations Questionnaire (CASQ) by indicating which coping strategies (from 20 alternatives) they usually employed in dealing with age-specific problems (covering 8 different domains). The strategies can be collapsed to three coping styles: active coping, internal coping, and withdrawal. Results show that adolescents from all seven nations predominantly employed functional forms of coping, i.e., active coping and internal coping. In addition, the pattern of frequently and rarely applied coping strategies was similar across cultures. Differences in coping style were revealed for some, but not all problem domains, suggesting that cross-cultural similarity in coping exists for specific stressors. Problem-specific analyses helped to clarify where cultural influence is most distinct. Whereas cultural diversity was highest for coping with job-related problems, coping with self- and future-related problems was highly similar among adolescents from all the nations. Despite the considerable traditional, educational, and economic differences among the cultures investigated, the similarities in coping behaviour were impressive. Explanations for cultural universals and differences in adolescent coping are discussed.     

Preschool classroom conversations as long-term resources for second language and literacy acquisition

This study investigated relations between preschool talk exposure and immigrant first graders' second language literacy and oral skills outcomes. Participants in the study were 25 children with Turkish as their first language and Norwegian as their second, attending various multilingual and ethnically diverse preschool classrooms in Norway and videotaped during preschool group conversations. Group conversations were coded for vocabulary richness, discourse complexity and emergent phonics talk. Relations between the qualities of the preschool group conversations that the children participated in and their second language vocabulary, listening comprehension and code related skills outcomes 1 year later in first grade were examined. Preschool classroom vocabulary richness and discourse complexity predicted first grade vocabulary (receptive vocabulary and word definition skills), but not listening comprehension. No associations were found between preschool classroom emergent phonics talk and first grade code-related skills. The findings have implications for early interventions addressing reading comprehension.     

不同心理弹性者的日常情绪特征:结合体验采样研究的证据

结合体验采样法和问卷法,分别考察了从252名上海高校大学生中甄别出的100名高、中、低心理弹性者在日常情绪状态和情绪复杂性、情绪调节方式上的差异态势。结果发现,不同心理弹性大学生:(1)在日常情绪状态上存在差异。高心理弹性组积极情绪的总分、强度和频率都显著高于低弹性组;高心理弹性组的积极情绪在日常情绪构成中所占的比重显著大于中、低弹性组。(2)在情绪复杂性的4个维度有不一致的表现。高心理弹性组拥有更高的积极情绪细腻度,3组在其他维度上没有发现差异。(3)积极情绪调节中,高心理弹性组多采用宣泄而少用抑制策略;消极情绪调节中,低心理弹性组多采用认知重视调节。这提示,积极情绪是与个体适应发展密切相关的内部因素,也是促进心理弹性发展的重要资源,个体对积极情绪的体验和觉察对心理弹性有重要影响。针对情绪觉察与调节的指导训练有望提升个体心理弹性。     

Can Cyber‐Physical Systems Reliably Collaborate within a Blockchain?

A blockchain can be considered a technological phenomenon that is made up of different interconnected and autonomous systems. Such systems are referred to here as cyber‐physical systems: complex interconnections of cyber and physical components. When cyber‐physical systems are interconnected, a new whole consisting of a system of systems is created by the autonomous systems and their intercommunication and interaction. In a blockchain, individual systems can independently make decisions on joint information transactions. The decision‐making procedures needed for this are executed based on fault‐tolerant communication and voting and consensus procedures, while the results of these decision‐making procedures are stored in distributed ledgers. Due to the intercommunication, interaction, and independent decision making by autonomous systems, the new whole of a blockchain is a complex entity. Complexity science rather than the usual reductionist scientific approach can help us better understand the behaviour of the new and continuously developing whole of a blockchain as a technological phenomenon.     

Child psychotherapy with looked after and adopted children: a UK national survey of the profession

Relatively little empirical data is available about the range of work undertaken by child psychotherapists in the UK; however, previous surveys have shown high levels of complexity amongst children referred to child psychotherapists and an increasing proportion of work with children in foster or adoptive placements. Aims: We sought to examine child psychotherapists’ working practices with looked after and adopted children (LAAC), including the types of activities undertaken and their views on this work. Method: An online survey was designed to elicit this information from the members of the Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP), the regulatory body for child psychotherapists in the UK. The survey included a number of categorical and open-ended questions, which were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. Findings: 215 responses were received (24.5% of the eligible ACP membership). The vast majority of the sample were working with LAAC in some context (87.9%). Respondents were conducting a range of work: the most frequently conducted activities were assessment (83.7%), direct psychotherapy (82.3%), work with foster carers and adoptive parents (80.9%) and consultation with the professional network (76.7%). Thematic analysis of qualitative data suggested the complexity of problems amongst the children attending psychotherapy, as well as the perceived need for long-term work with these children. Many respondents placed emphasis on the importance of working with the professional network around the child, including foster carers and adoptive parents, despite feeling that this was often an under-resourced area of child and adolescent mental health services. The implications of the survey for practice and future research are discussed.     

Information‐Theoretic Measures Predict the Human Judgment of Rhythm Complexity

To formalize the human judgment of rhythm complexity, we used five measures from information theory and algorithmic complexity to measure the complexity of 48 artificially generated rhythmic sequences. We compared these measurements to human prediction accuracy and easiness judgments obtained from a listening experiment, in which 32 participants guessed the last beat of each sequence. We also investigated the modulating effects of musical expertise and general pattern identification ability. Entropy rate and Kolmogorov complexity were correlated with prediction accuracy, and highly correlated with easiness judgments. A logistic regression showed main effects of musical training, entropy rate, and Kolmogorov complexity, and an interaction between musical training and both entropy rate and Kolmogorov complexity. These results indicate that information‐theoretic concepts capture some salient features of the human judgment of rhythm complexity, and they confirm the influence of musical expertise on complexity judgments.