The role of language in memory for actions

Languages differ with respect to how aspects of motion events tend to be lexicalized. English typically conflates MOTION with MANNER, but Japanese and Spanish typically do not. We report a set of experiments that assessed the effect of this cross-linguistic difference on participants' decisions in a similarity-judgment task about scenes containing novel animations as stimuli. In Experiment 1, which required participants to encode the stimuli briefly into memory, we observed a language effect; in Experiment 2, which required participants to analyze the same stimuli, but not remember them, the language effect disappeared. Hence, these experiments reveal a task-dependent effect, which, we argue, points to working memory as the source of the language effect observed in Experiment 1 and, potentially, other experiments that have shown a linguistic relativity effect.     

Affect sensitivity and affect regulation in dealing with positive and negative affect

Interactions between two types of affect sensitivity and two types of affect regulation were tested: low sensitivity to positive affect and high sensitivity to negative affect were expected to become maladaptive when self-motivation and self-relaxation are low, respectively. Consistent with expectations, specific Sensitivity × Regulation interactions emerged: low sensitivity to positive affect (i.e., independent, schizoid-like personality) was only associated with reduced emotional well-being when self-motivation was low. High sensitivity to negative affect (i.e., self-critical, avoidant-like personality) was only associated with psychosomatic symptoms when self-relaxation was low. In a subsample, the same results were obtained longitudinally. Findings support the distinction between affect sensitivity and affect regulation. Furthermore, affect regulation can be differentiated into self-motivation and self-relaxation.     

Stressful events compromise control strivings during a major life transition

Prior research on stressful events has largely ignored their potential impact on motivational processes. This study prospectively examined the association of a stressful event with control strivings in the school-to-work transition. Five waves of data on stressful events, control strategies, and potential mediating variables were collected from an adolescent sample in Berlin (N = 420) during the year before high school graduation. The occurrence of a stressful event (death of family member, parent divorce) predicted a decline in general career-related and specific apprenticeship-related control strivings. This association was mediated by a decline in control-related means-ends beliefs. Proximity to the deadline of graduation exacerbated this association for apprenticeship-seeking control strivings, but this effect was buffered by usage of selective secondary control strategies (cognitive strategies to enhance commitment to a goal). Thus, stressful events can exacerbate challenges and require additional means of control striving.

帛书《周易》以史解经刍议

1973年长沙马王堆出土的帛书《周易》中的《缪和》篇中,有六则以历史故事解说《易经》卦爻辞的例子。本文分析这六则历史故事用以解经的符合程度,以证明用历史故事解经并不始于南宋的杨万里等人,而四库馆臣所谓"一变而胡瑗、程子,始阐明儒理;再变而李光、杨万里,又参证史事,《易》遂日启其论端",并非历史事实。     

Countertransference as active imagination: imaginative experiences of the analyst

Active imagination is at the heart of Jung's elucidation of depth psychology. Yet, in the discourse of present day analytical psychology theory it is not always given the serious attention accorded to some other Jungian concepts. Active imagination emerges spontaneously within the 'third' area--the imaginal or dynamic field--in-between patient and analyst. It is commonly regarded as the patient's experience but I am proposing that, looked upon as the analyst's experience as well, active imagination offers a distinctly Jungian way of understanding some forms of countertransference. I am describing what I think many present-day analytical psychologists already do in their clinical practice but, as far as I know, it has not been theorized in quite this way before. The intention is to exploit the unique contribution of our Jungian heritage by reframing certain profoundly symbolic countertransference-generated imagery as active imagination. In this article these are differentiated from other less complex forms of imaginative countertransference through examples from clinical practice. The point is that such countertransference experiences may activate the symbolic function in the analyst and thus contribute to the mediation of emergent consciousness in the analysand.     

Internet addiction,adolescent depression,and the mediating role of life events: Finding from a sample of Chinese adolescents

The aim of this study is to examine the mediating role of life events in the relation between Internet addiction and depression using an adolescent sample in China. A total of 3507 urban adolescent students were asked to complete the questionnaires including Young's Internet Addiction Scale, Adolescent Self‐Rating Life Events Checklist, and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Parent–Child Conflict Tactics Scales, and demographic characteristics. Path analyses demonstrated that life events fully mediated the relationship between Internet addiction and adolescent depression. Specificity for the mediating role of life events was demonstrated in comparison to alternative competing mediation models. The findings support our hypothesis that the effect of Internet addiction on adolescent depression is mediated by the life events. Further research is required to test the temporal relationship between Internet addiction and adolescent depression and explore mechanisms underlying the pathways leading to adolescent depression.     

Young adolescents’ emotional and regulatory responses to positive life events: Investigating temperament,attachment, and event characteristics

Very little is known about what factors predict variations in responses to positive events among youth. Consequently, we examined young adolescents’ positive emotional reactions and their savoring and dampening responses to their most intense positive event across a four-day period. The investigated predictors were parent-reported adolescent temperament, adolescent-reported attachment security with mothers and fathers, and researcher-coded event characteristics. The sample was 56 youth (31 boys, 10–14 years of age). More support was found for temperament than attachment. Specifically, effortful control predicted more savoring and sustained positive affect (PA) about the events, whereas negative emotionality predicted more dampening. Adolescents’ reports of more secure attachment to fathers were marginally linked to more savoring of their positive event. Girls reported higher levels of initial PA yet endorsed more dampening responses than boys. Event type (interpersonal vs. not) was unrelated to responses to the events. Overall, this study offers new information on the development of PA regulation and responses to positive events in youth.     

Suicide attempts and stressful life events among female victims of intimate partner violence living in poverty in Nicaragua

This article describes a study of 136 female intimate partner violence victims living in poverty in Nicaragua. The paper aimed to analyze the relationship between experiencing stressful life events (SLE) and perceived social support with suicide attempts, and to evaluate the differences in the SLE experienced by female suicide attempters versus non‐attempters. The results showed the existence of a high level of SLE among the interviewees, and that women who have attempted suicide have experienced substantially more of these events. Experiences of violence and less social support were especially related to suicide attempts among the interviewees.