Mommy is only happy! Dutch mothers’ realisation of speech sounds in infant-directed speech expresses emotion,not didactic intent

Exaggeration of the vowel space in infant-directed speech (IDS) is well documented for English, but not consistently replicated in other languages or for other speech-sound contrasts. A second attested, but less discussed, pattern of change in IDS is an overall rise of the formant frequencies, which may reflect an affective speaking style. The present study investigates longitudinally how Dutch mothers change their corner vowels, voiceless fricatives, and pitch when speaking to their infant at 11 and 15 months of age. In comparison to adult-directed speech (ADS), Dutch IDS has a smaller vowel space, higher second and third formant frequencies in the vowels, and a higher spectral frequency in the fricatives. The formants of the vowels and spectral frequency of the fricatives are raised more strongly for infants at 11 than at 15 months, while the pitch is more extreme in IDS to 15-month olds. These results show that enhanced positive affect is the main factor influencing Dutch mothers’ realisation of speech sounds in IDS, especially to younger infants. This study provides evidence that mothers’ expression of emotion in IDS can influence the realisation of speech sounds, and that the loss or gain of speech clarity may be secondary effects of affect.     

Fostering Feminist Principles in Our Community

SUMMARY

In a recent focus group discussion at the Feminist Therapy Institute conference participants outlined a vision for a future community based on feminist principles. It is built on five critical ideals, including more equitable distribution of resources, genuine respect for human diversity and varying world views, caring and compassionate members, increased connections and collaborations, and political/personal empowerment. While the challenges inherent to such vision must be acknowledged, greater attention will be placed on ways in which we can begin to foster environments and micro communities that are conducive to feminist practice and ideology.     

Functional hemispheric asymmetries of global/local processing mirrored by the steady-state visual evoked potential

While hemispheric differences in global/local processing have been reported by various studies, it is still under dispute at which processing stage they occur. Primarily, it was assumed that these asymmetries originate from an early perceptual stage. Instead, the content-level binding theory (Hübner & Volberg, 2005) suggests that the hemispheres differ at a later stage at which the stimulus information is bound to its respective level. The present study tested this assumption by means of steady-state evoked potentials (SSVEPs). In particular, we presented hierarchical letters flickering at 12 Hz while participants categorised the letters at a pre- cued level (global or local). The information at the two levels could be congruent or incongruent with respect to the required response. Since content-binding is only necessary if there is a response conflict, asymmetric hemispheric processing should be observed only for incongruent stimuli. Indeed, our results show that the cue and congruent stimuli elicited equal SSVEP global/local effects in both hemispheres. In contrast, incongruent stimuli elicited lower SSVEP amplitudes for a local than for a global target level at left posterior electrodes, whereas a reversed pattern was seen at right hemispheric electrodes. These findings provide further evidence for a level-specific hemispheric advantage with respect to content-level binding. Moreover, the fact that the SSVEP is sensitive to these processes offers the possibility to separately track global and local processing by presenting both level contents with different frequencies.     

Smoking,self-regulation and moral positioning: A focus group study with British smokers from a disadvantaged community

Smoking in many Western societies has become a both moral aand health issue in recent years, but little is known about how smokers position themselves and regulate their behaviour in this context. In this article, we report the findings from a study investigating how smokers from an economically disadvantaged community in the East Midlands (UK) respond to concerns about the health impact of smoking on others. We conducted ten focus group (FG) discussions with mixed groups (by smoking status and gender; N?=?58 participants) covering a range of topics, including smoking norms, self-regulation, and smoking in diverse contexts. We transcribed all FG discussions before analysing the data using techniques from discourse anlysis. Smokers in general positioned themselves as socially responsible smokers and morally upstanding citizens. This position was bolstered in two main ways: ‘everyday accommodation’, whereby everyday efforts to accommodate the needs of non-smokers were referenced, and ‘taking a stand’, whereby proactive interventions to prevent smoking in (young) others were cited. We suggest that smoking cessation campaigns could usefully be informed by this ethic of care for others.     

Quality-of-life assessment in HIV-infected psychiatric outpatients: Perceived health,functional status,symptoms, and preferences for cardiopulmonary resuscitation

Abstract

The current study had two purposes: (1) to describe the reliability and validity of a measure of quality of life (QOL) in HIV-infected psychiatric outpatients, and (2) to predict cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) preferences from disease stage, depression, and other QOL factors. We studied 63 patients, who were seen in one year at an HIV/AIDS psychiatry clinic. The results provide evidence for the validity of our instrument as a measure of health status in an HIV-infected psychiatric population. Overall symptoms were the strongest associates of functional limitations. disability, and perceived health, but depression was also significantly associated with all measures of QOL. Twenty-two patients (35.5%) would not have wanted to be revived if their heart stopped beating the day of the study. Disease stage and poor mental health were independent predictors of this preference, but severity of depression, social support, fatigue, perceived health, functional limitations, and life satisfaction were not.     

Thoughts Associated with Unprotected Anal Intercourse Among Men at High Risk in San Francisco 1997-1999

Men who had high-risk sex with men in the previous year ( N = 124) were asked to recall their thought processes at the time they last had unprotected anal sex with a man who was HIV-positive or of unknown serostatus. Self-justifications for non-condom use were examined individually and in internally validated scales. The most common single self-justification was I want to have unprotected sex because it feels good , endorsed by 76%. Other common thoughts included the notion that it is only human to slip up occasionally (59%) and the resolution to withdraw before ejaculation (59%). For scaled items, the most strongly endorsed themes were: (1) that condoms reduce sexual pleasure (any of 6 items endorsed at least slightly by 90%); (2) fatalism or leaving it to chance (11 items, 81%); and (3) loss of control (9 items, 77%). The thoughts and themes identified may be useful in planning individual and community prevention messages.     

Interactions between interfacial dislocations and γ/γ′ interface during high temperature – low stress creep in nickel-based single crystal superalloy

ABSTRACT

The interaction between interfacial dislocations and γ/γ′ interface is critical to the high temperature creep properties of single crystal superalloys. However, only a few studies have paid attention to the detailed structure such as local interfacial morphologies and the elemental distribution around interfacial dislocations. In this paper, the interfacial protrusions and related dislocations in a single crystal superalloy after creep at high temperature – low stress have been investigated in detail. It is found that the morphology and size of the interfacial protrusions remain almost the same during the early and middle stages of high temperature creep, which indicates a local equilibrium at the interfacial protrusions. Steps at different height are formed at the γ/γ′ interface at the initial stage of high temperature creep since dislocations could move along the γ/γ′ interface, which indicates that dislocation motion at different creep stage may affect the morphology of γ/γ′ interface.     

Community as Outsider Witness: Utilising Community Members in the Reconstitution of Problem-Saturated Identities

This study explored community members' ability to enlist discourses affirming of psychiatric patients' quest for generative identities. The participants were members of the public who attended an exhibition of psychiatric patients' artwork (n = 7, age range 18–55). A Foucauldian discourse analysis was used to analyse the research interviews. Results revealed that the majority of community members used dominant cultural discourses to speak about psychiatric patient-artists. These discourses conferred a problem-saturated identity on to psychiatric patients. We conclude that community members can be recruited as outsider witnesses to support psychiatric patients' search for generative identities, provided community members resist discourses that produce problem-saturated identity conclusions.     

Community Counselling: Values and Practices

This article focuses on community counselling, specifically in African contexts. A community psychology approach is used as a framework for this discussion. This approach, linked to a critical perspective, highlights the importance of going beyond individualist assessments and interventions towards comprehensive approaches that locate the person in context, and that listen carefully to and engage openly with all voices in a way that highlights dynamics that oppress ourselves and others, for the purposes of building a supportive and health promoting environment for all. Perspectives and values relevant to this approach, and their implications for psychological practice, are discussed. In particular, the implications for psychological assessment and intervention are explored in some detail.     

Sex and the Right to HIV/AIDS Education in Early Childhood

This study explored how early childhood teachers (n=5) and young children (n=174) (age range 7 to 8 years; males = 81; females = 93) in two primary schools constructed and interpreted the right to HIV/AIDS education. Data were captured using individual interviews with teachers and group interviews with young children. Analysis of the data showed that teachers viewed young children's right to health information positively but did not consider the right to sexual information. Teachers operated within discourses which upheld the image of the child as innocent requiring protection from sexual knowledge. Children's perceptions of their rights to knowledge of sex in HIV/AIDS education showed ambiguity. Some accepted the right to know whilst others felt that knowledge about HIV/AIDS was inconsistent with childhood innocence.