Une base de données en sémantique du verbe : Semasit

In this article, we present Semasit, a semantic database for French verbs developed for the purposes of experimental research in psycholinguistics and neuropsychology. This database features the distribution of the agents and patients of 96 verbs of interpersonal relations, and 60 verbs of change of state, based on their probability of occurence for 100 participants. It also provides the free-association norms of these 156 verbs. The degree of imagery is also presented for some of them. For 24 verbs of interpersonal relations, this semantic database is completed by the distribution of the patients, when an agent and a verb are presented together. It also provides the free association norms of the patients in this case. This database in freely accessible and can be downloaded from the Internet: http://www.mshs.univ-poitiers.fr/lmdc/semasit/frame-index.htm.     

Associations between prenatal maternal mental health indices and mother–infant relationship quality 6 to 18 months’ postpartum: A systematic review

Maternal mental disorders can significantly impact on children's psychosocial and psychological development, incurring substantial ongoing economic and personal costs. A key mediating mechanism is mother–infant relationship quality (MIRQ). Research studies and perinatal mental health screening initiatives have predominantly focused on depressive symptoms and perinatal depression as predictors of MIRQ. While maternal depression is associated with suboptimal MIRQ, the findings have not been consistent. Personality characteristics are associated with parenting and proneness to depression, presenting a potential addition to prenatal mental health assessment. We conducted a systematic review of studies that have examined the link between prenatal depressive symptoms and/or personality characteristics with postnatal MIRQ. Our findings suggest that both maternal personality traits and depressive symptoms measured in early pregnancy are associated with postnatal MIRQ. A measure of personality characteristics may enhance prenatal mental health assessment, affording opportunities for targeted intervention commencing in pregnancy to improve MIRQ, parenting, maternal mental health outcomes, and infant psychosocial and psychological development, and thereby contributing to the reduction of human and economic cost burdens.     

Infant illness severity and family adjustment in the aftermath of NICU hospitalization

Up to 15% of parents have an infant who will spend time in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). After discharge, parents may care for a medically fragile infant and worry about their development. The current study examined how infant illness severity is associated with family adjustment. Participants included parents with infants who had been discharged from the NICU 6 months to 3 years prior to study participation (N = 199). Via a Qualtrics online survey, parents reported their infants’ medical history, parenting stress, family burden, couple functioning, and access to resources. Multivariable regression analyses revealed that more severe infant medical issues during hospitalization (e.g., longer length of stay and more medical devices) were associated with greater family burden, but not stress or couple functioning. Infant health issues following hospitalization (i.e., medical diagnosis and more medical specialists) were associated with greater stress, poorer couple functioning, and greater family burden. Less time for parents was associated with increased stress and poorer couple functioning. Surprisingly, parents of infants who were rehospitalized reported less stress and better couple functioning, but greater family burden. Family-focused interventions that incorporate psychoeducation about provider−patient communication, partner support, and self-care may be effective to prevent negative psychosocial sequelae among families.     

Male callers to an Australian perinatal depression and anxiety help line—Understanding issues and concerns

There is increasing recognition of the issues facing men in the perinatal period. Vulnerability factors and issues in the partner relationship contribute to mental health risk and can impact the quality of the father–infant relationship. Yet, there is limited understanding of fathers’ help-seeking when they or their partner are experiencing mental health issues in the context of caring for a new baby. The present study examines fathers’ contacts with the Perinatal Anxiety and Depression Australia (PANDA) National Helpline. The study reviewed contacts from fathers and their identified needs for assistance, relationship issues, and support needs; 70% of male callers (N = 129) reported concerns about the mother's mental health, and 57% were concerned about relationship breakdown. Significant numbers of men raised issues about their own mental health (43%) and many were concerned about the impact of maternal mental state on the relationship with the infant. When compared to community data, there were elevated rates of concerns about depression and anxiety. Men also described difficulties with the fathering role and with regulating their own feelings of guilt and frustration. These findings highlight the needs of men for support when a mother experiences perinatal problems and also the risk for distress in fathers.     

Les pratiques d’evaluation utilisees dans les structures de conseil en recrutement : quelques determinants

Referring to the work of Bruchon-Schweitzer & Ferrieux (1991) and Balicco (1999), the present study describes the recruitment practices of different types of organizations (N=327, 134 consulting companies and 193 temporary placement firms). We hypothesised that job position and recruiter characteristics (sex, age, level and type of education, status, and recruitment experience) would influence the use of selection techniques. Results revealed that choice of selection techniques is not based on a scientific evaluation of applicants. Job position seems to strongly determine use of personality assessment techniques. Further, recruiter characteristics only seem to determine choice of less valid techniques. In the discussion, a theoretical model of choices made by recruiters and some courses of action are proposed.     

Pour une approche contextuelle et clinique de la demande de recrutement : la transformation d’une demande initiale dans une entreprise familiale

Studies of psychology in the work place usually analyse job offers from an explicit and functional point of view, forgetting the more implicit and strategic dimensions associated with them. This activity of recruitment takes into account the understanding of the specific context of the job offer and of the structure of the organisation which is looking to recruit. The clinical case study described here takes into consideration these contextual elements of very small company and proposes recruitment methods which include a third party, emphasising the particular role of psychologists or consultancies as recruitment advisers.     

Le rattachement lexical de la liaison : une expérience d’amorçage chez des enfants prélecteurs

The goal of the present study is a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in child segmentation of words in liaison context, where the boundary between a word1 and a word2 is ambiguous. In a priming experiment in prereaders aged 5–6 years, we examined the nature of the lexical representations, using a picture-naming task (deux ours). Targets were preceded by lexically related or unrelated auditory primes, that share the same liaison consonant or not (trois ours, un ours, trois oublis, un oubli). The results suggest that the liaison consonant is lexically encoded at the initial of variants of the word2 (/nurs/, /zurs/ for ours). They support the usage-based model of liaison acquisition [J Child Lang 36 (2009) 557–596].     

Les effets de la modalité sensorielle sur la perception du temps

The subjective duration of an event can be influenced by the modality of the signal demarcating that event. For example, auditory signals are often judged as of longer duration than equivalent duration visual signals. Within the framework of pacemaker-accumulator models of timing, such modality effects raise the question of whether the internal clock is modality specific or amodal. The answer to this question is quite important for the development of cognitively and neurologically realistic models of timing and time perception. Here, we argue that the internal clock has both modality specific and amodal components. Specifically, we claim there is a common amodal pacemaker, but the switch-accumulator systems are modality specific. Moreover, we also posit that long-term memory representations of duration are stored amodally.     

La mémoire à long terme des durées : fonctionnement et développement

Estimating the duration of an event often requires that we reference our own knowledge about the duration of similar events stored in long-term memory. The ability to preserve these durations in long-term memory therefore seems to serve an important function in time estimation. However, relatively few studies on this topic appear in the psychology literature. In the present article, we describe how time estimation models have treated long-term memory, and discuss relevant empirical data obtained from adults. Then, we present the results of recent experiments that examine 3- to 8-year-old children’s ability to maintain durations in memory, depending on the kind of previous experience the children have had with these durations.     

The early biopsychosocial development of boys and the origins of violence in males

We apply a biopsychosocial approach to introduce early-in-life experiences that explain a significant part of the male preponderance in the perpetration of violence. Early caregiver abuse and neglect, father absence, and exposure to family and neighborhood violence exacerbate boys’ greater risk for aggressive behavior and increase the probability of carrying out violent acts later in life. We examine the development of the psychological self and explore conditions that encourage physical aggression, focusing on the impact on the infant and toddler's emergent mental representation of self, others, and self–other relationships. Boys’ slower developmental timetable in the first years of life may enhance their vulnerability for disorganization in emergent neurobiological networks mediating organization of socioemotional relationships. Emergent attachment and activation relationship systems may differentially affect risk and resilience in boys and girls, particularly in single-parent families. Evidence has suggested that the dramatic increase in single-parent families is especially linked to corresponding increases in behavioral undercontrol, antisocial behavior, and the emergence of violence in boys.