The development of Japanese mother–infant feeding interactions during the weaning period

During the weaning period, infants are not skilled at self-feeding and caregivers play a prominent role in feeding. Solid feeding is therefore an inherently collaborative and interactive process between infants and caregivers. The present study examined how caregivers and infants coordinate their solid feeding interactions, based on naturalistic longitudinal observations of three Japanese mother–infant dyads. The main results were as follows. Four or five months after weaning (about 10–11 months of age), children's mouth movements and mothers’ arm movements became more synchronized, and the success or failure of coordinated feeding became independent on children's gaze behavior. During this same period, both mothers’ and children's body movements accelerated. Specifically, children's food-intake motions and mothers’ food-carrying movements became faster together, although before 10–11 months fluctuations of these motions were not as correlated. Finally, at 9–11 months of age rhythmic body movements became frequent. From the first day of weaning, all three mothers swayed their bodies rhythmically while feeding, and about 2–3 months later their children also began to sway as they ate, at first infectiously but later spontaneously. These observations indicate how specific behavioral development contributes to mother–infant coordination in feeding.     

Beside the point: Mothers’ head nodding and shaking gestures during parent–child play

Understanding the context for children's social learning and language acquisition requires consideration of caregivers’ multi-modal (speech, gesture) messages. Though young children can interpret both manual and head gestures, little research has examined the communicative input that children receive via parents’ head gestures. We longitudinally examined the frequency and communicative functions of mothers’ head nodding and head shaking gestures during laboratory play sessions for 32 mother–child dyads, when the children were 14, 20, and 30 months of age. The majority of mothers produced head nods more frequently than head shakes. Both gestures contributed to mothers’ verbal attempts at behavior regulation and dialog. Mothers’ head nods primarily conveyed agreement with, and attentiveness to, children's utterances, and accompanied affirmative statements and yes/no questions. Mothers’ head shakes primarily conveyed prohibitions and statements with negations. Changes over time appeared to reflect corresponding developmental changes in social and communicative dimensions of caregiver–child interaction. Directions for future research are discussed regarding the role of head gesture input in socialization and in supporting language development.     

Strategic and cognitive differentiation–integration effort in a study of 76 countries

The phenomena of strategic and cognitive differentiation and integration (SD–IE and CD–IE) amongst life history indicators and cognitive abilities as a function of level of latent life history speed have been robustly demonstrated in individual differences samples. Here we examine a cross-national sample (N = 76 nations) with respect to ten aggregate life history indicators (birth rate, infant mortality, skin reflectance, prevalence of STDs, overall life satisfaction, life expectancy, national IQ, cranial capacity, savings rate and crime rate), all of which share substantive common variance stemming from a K-Super factor which accounts for 66.6% of the variance amongst these indicators. All indicators became significantly less strongly correlated with the super factor as the level of K increased indicating the presence of robust SD–IE effects. A ‘cognitive’ factor comprised of the national IQ and cranial capacity variables also exhibited differentiation as a function of increasing levels of K, suggesting the presence of CD–IE also. Consistently with the findings of individual differences studies investigating SD–IE, the degree to which the indicators loaded on the K super-factor positively mediated their sensitivity to the effect.     

Liberation as a Correlate of Religiosity: a Christian–Muslim Perspective on Fundamental Trust

This article explores the dialectical relationship between liberating trust in reality and religious faith in God, interpreted from a Christian–Muslim perspective. An underlying conviction is that liberation constitutes a necessary mutual correlate of a “true” religiosity, i.e. liberation is to be conceived as both prerequisite for and realization of a genuine religiosity, and vice versa. As opposed to a “true” religiosity, born from liberating trust and finding its fulfilment in prophetic action aimed at liberation of human realities, religious belief and practice that stem from fundamental mistrust are likely to deteriorate into either religious fundamentalism or indifferentism. The article focuses on fundamental trust in reality as capable of evoking the liberating and uniting force of religious theory and praxis. It aims to render explicit the religious and ecumenical potential (hitherto not fully realized) of the theological–ethical considerations of Hans Küng, in particular within a Christian–Muslim framework. The first part of the article, more conceptual in character, examines Küng's views on fundamental (mis)trust and its religious implications. The second part seeks to identify theological insights that shed light on the specifically Christian and specifically Muslim interpretations of liberating trust. My hope is that this study may contribute to a truly global ecumenism whose objective is to render religion an instrument of liberation, not oppression.     

Fireman's job stress: Integrating work/non-work conflict with Job Demand-Control-Support model

IntroductionHeavy working load and uncontrollable schedule often lead firemen to face to conflict between work and non-work life.ObjectiveThis study aims to examine the mediating role of work/non-work conflict between firemen's job stress and job demand, job control, job support and family support.MethodQuestionnaire survey was used for data collection. Four hundred and twenty-two firemen returned completed questionnaires. Structure equation modelling was employed for data analysis.ResultsWork/leisure conflict (WLC) and work/family conflict (WFC) mediate partially the relationship between job demand and job control, job support and job stress. The relationship between family support and job stress is fully mediated by WLC and WFC.ConclusionWFC and WLC are integrated into Job Demand-Control-Support model model in current research to narrow the gap of job stress theory.     

Varieties of cognitive penetration in visual perception

Is our perceptual experience a veridical representation of the world or is it a product of our beliefs and past experiences? Cognitive penetration describes the influence of higher level cognitive factors on perceptual experience and has been a debated topic in philosophy of mind and cognitive science. Here, we focus on visual perception, particularly early vision, and how it is affected by contextual expectations and memorized cognitive contents. We argue for cognitive penetration based on recent empirical evidence demonstrating contextual and top-down influences on early visual processes. On the basis of a perceptual model, we propose different types of cognitive penetration depending on the processing level on which the penetration happens and depending on where the penetrating influence comes from. Our proposal has two consequences: (1) the traditional controversy on whether cognitive penetration occurs or not is ill posed, and (2) a clear-cut perception–cognition boundary cannot be maintained.     

When the cat’s away,some mice will play: A basic trait account of dishonest behavior

In line with every-day observation, research has established substantial individual differences in ethical behavior, especially dishonesty and cheating. However, these individual differences have remained mostly unexplained, especially in terms of traits as specified in models of basic personality structure. Theoretically, a prime candidate to account for these differences is the Honesty–Humility factor proposed as the sixth basic personality dimension within the HEXACO Model of Personality. Despite clear theoretical links, corresponding behavioral evidence is scarce and limited due to methodological caveats. In a series of six behavioral experiments we thus bridge the gap between behavioral ethics and personality research – critically testing whether individual differences in dishonest behavior can be accounted for by basic traits in general, and Honesty–Humility in particular. We implement different cheating paradigms, tasks, incentive structures, samples, and sets of covariates to evaluate the robustness and generality of results. Overall, variance in dishonest behavior was indeed accounted for by Honesty–Humility which was the only consistent predictor of cheating across the various experimental setups and beyond relevant covariates including other personality factors. The results thus corroborate that individual differences in ethical behavior can be accommodated by comprehensive models of personality structure in general and the Honesty–Humility factor in particular.     

Relationships between regulatory temperament dimensions and self-regulatory behaviors at 4 and 6 months of age

The present study focused on relationships between temperament and behavior in early regulation development. Unlike most studies on the topic, we observed infant behavior in a naturalistic playful situation rather than in experimental stressful procedure, and employed temperament measures uniquely reflecting regulatory dispositions rather than a global measure of reactivity. The infant's self-regulatory behaviors were observed at 4 and 6 months during face-to-face interactions and regulatory dimensions were assessed at 4 months. We found that low intensity pleasure and soothability dimensions, related to the infant physical and social experience, respectively, significantly affected regulatory behavior and their influence showed to depend on the infant's age, with the former dimension being influential at the earlier age and the latter being influential when the behavior was observed at the later age. Results are interpreted on the light of a dynamic view of regulation development.     

Age-associated differences in global and segmental control during dual-task walking under sub-optimal sensory conditions

The ability to safely perform cognitive-motor dual-tasks is critical for independence of older adults. We compared age-associated differences in global and segmental control during dual-task walking in sub-optimal sensory conditions. Thirteen young (YA) and 13 healthy older (OA) adults walked a straight pathway with cognitive dual-task of walking-while-talking (WT) or no-WT under four sensory conditions. On randomly selected trials, visual and vestibular inputs were manipulated using blurring goggles (BV) and Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS), respectively. Gait speed decreased more in YA than OA during WT. Gait speed increased with GVS with normal vision but not BV. Step length considerably decreased with WT. Trunk roll significantly decreased only in OA with GVS in WT. Head roll significantly decreased with GVS regardless of age. Results indicate GVS-induced adaptations were dependent on available visual information. YA reduced their gait speed more than OA to achieve a similar pace to safely perform WT. GVS resulted in both age-groups to reduce head movement. However, with the addition of WT during GVS, OA also stiffened their trunk. Therefore, with increased attentional demands healthy OA employed different compensatory strategies than YA to maintain postural control.     

Is empathizing in the E–S theory similar to agreeableness? The relationship between the EQ and SQ and major personality domains

This study investigated the relationship between the Empathy Quotient (EQ) and Systemizing Quotient (SQ) and major personality domains (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Honesty–Humility) using two personality questionnaires: the NEO-FFI and the HEXACO-PI. Participants who responded were 1382 university students for the NEO-FFI, and 842 for the HEXACO-PI, with the EQ and SQ. The results showed almost no relationship between the EQ and SQ and the five-factor personality domains of the NEO-FFI. The regression analysis showed that the NEO-FFI explained only 2–3% of the variance of the EQ/SQ, while in the domains of the HEXACO-PI extraversion moderately correlated with the EQ (r = 0.32) and openness showed the highest correlation with the SQ (r = 0.44). The regression analysis showed that the HEXACO-PI explained 22% of the variance of the EQ and 28% of the variance of the SQ. The strong relationship between the EQ and agreeableness, which was reported as r = 0.75 by Nettle (2007), was hardly found in the results of the NEO-FFI (r = 0.16) and HEXACO-PI (r = 0.17). These results suggest that that empathizing and systemizing, as one-dimensional constructs, are not substantially related to personality, although some weak relationship might be observed between the EQ/SQ and some personality domains.