Impulsiveness, attitude to authority, and gender.

This article examined the relationship between impulsiveness and attitudes toward institutional authority among Australian secondary school students. Reliable questionnaire measures of these constructs were completed by 48 boys and 57 girls, about 14 years of age. Correlations between impulsiveness and attitude to authority differed between the sexes, with a significant negative correlation of -.43 being obtained for boys only.     

An outcome evaluation of the implementation of the Triple P-Positive Parenting Program in Hong Kong

The present study evaluated the effectiveness of the Positive Parenting Program (Triple P) with a sample of Chinese parents of children with early onset conduct-related problems in Hong Kong. The participants consisted of 91 parents whose children attended maternal and child health centers and child assessment centers for service, and were between three to seven years old. Participants were randomly assigned to the intervention (TP) and a waitlist control group (WL). There was no significant difference in pre-intervention measures between the two groups. However, at post intervention, participants in the TP group reported significantly lower levels of child behavior problems, lower dysfunctional parenting styles, and higher parent sense of competence, compared to the WL group. Implications of these findings for the use of Triple P with families of Chinese descent are discussed.     

The time course of argument reactivation revealed: using the visual world paradigm

Previous research has found that the single argument of unaccusative verbs (such as fall) is reactivated during sentence processing, but the argument of agentive verbs (such as jump) is not (Bever & Sanz, 1997; Friedmann, Taranto, Shapiro, & Swinney, 2008). An open question so far was whether this difference in processing is caused by a difference in thematic roles the verbs assign, or a difference in the underlying syntactic structure. In the present study we tease apart these two potential sources. In order to achieve this, we included a set of verbs (like sparkle) which are equal to unaccusative verbs in the thematic role they assign to their argument, but equal to agentive verbs in the syntactic status of their argument (henceforth mixed verbs). As a method we used the visual world paradigm as this enables us to measure processing of the sentences continuously. This method also allowed us to test another hypothesis, namely the hypothesis that not only the argument of unaccusative verbs is reactivated during processing, but also the argument of agentive verbs. This reactivation is expected as the result of integrating the verb and its argument into one representation. In our experiment, participants listened to sentences including one of the three types of verbs. While listening, they viewed a visual display in which one of four objects was strongly related to the argument of the verb (wood-saw). The gaze record showed that the eyes moved to the related object (saw) upon presentation of the argument (wood). More interestingly, the eyes moved back to the related object upon presentation of the verb (fell). We found that looks to the related object increase only late after verb offset for unaccusative verbs, replicating the findings of previous research. We also found a rise in looks to the related object in agentive verbs, but this rise took place much earlier, starting slightly after verb onset. Finally, we found that mixed verbs pattern in processing with agentive verbs. We conclude that the argument of the verb is always reactivated, independent of verb type. In addition, the timing of integration differs per verb type and depends on the syntactic status of the argument and not on the thematic role that is assigned to the argument.     

Do attentional focus instructions affect real-time reinvestment during level-ground walking in older adults?

Cognitive Processing - This study represents the first attempt in exploring whether attentional focus instructions could affect real-time reinvestment (conscious movement processing) in older...     

The language and social background questionnaire: Assessing degree of bilingualism in a diverse population

Research examining the cognitive consequences of bilingualism has expanded rapidly in recent years and has revealed effects on aspects of cognition across the lifespan. However, these effects are difficult to find in studies investigating young adults. One problem is that there is no standard definition of bilingualism or means of evaluating degree of bilingualism in individual participants, making it difficult to directly compare the results of different studies. Here, we describe an instrument developed to assess degree of bilingualism for young adults who live in diverse communities in which English is the official language. We demonstrate the reliability and validity of the instrument in analyses based on 408 participants. The relevant factors for describing degree of bilingualism are: (1) the extent of non-English language proficiency and use at home, and (2) non-English language use socially. We then use the bilingualism scores obtained from the instrument to demonstrate their association with: (1) performance on executive function tasks, and (2) previous classifications of participants into categories of monolinguals and bilinguals.     

Detection of feigned memory impairments using a Chinese word task

In this study the detection of feigned memory impairments was investigated using a forced-choice task with Chinese words as stimuli. Task difficulty on accuracy and response time and the faking strategies employed were examined for 85 participants, 42 men and 43 women, who were administered the experimental task. Following a simulation design, all participants performed under control and faking conditions. Their accuracy of performance and response times were measured. Analysis indicated significant differences on both outcome measures for the two conditions. Further, a significant difference in accuracy, but not in response time, among levels of task difficulty was observed. For classification accuracy, using the cut-off score criterion seemed more effective than using the below-chance criterion or response time. Implications for relying on chance criterion to identify deception are discussed.     

Endogenous testosterone concentration, mental rotation, and size of the corpus callosum in a sample of young Hungarian women

In the present study brain laterality, hemispheric communication, and mental rotation performance were examined. A sample of 33 women were tested for a possible linear relationship of testosterone level and mental rotation with structural background of the brain. Subjects with a smaller splenial area of corpus callosum tended to have lower levels of testosterone (r =.37, p<.05). However, there were no significant differences in mean scores of mental rotation of object and hand between groups with high and low levels of testosterone. There was a significant difference in relative size of the 6th area (slice) of the corpus callosum between groups with good and poor scores on mental rotation of an object and also in relative size of the 4th and 5th slices of the corpus callosum between groups on mental rotation of the hand. The good and poor scorers' show different relations with the measures of the corpus. The mental rotation of hand was associated with the parietal areas of the corpus callosum, while the mental rotation of object was associated only with the occipital area. These observations suggest that higher testosterone levels may be associated with a larger splenial area, which represents an important connection between the parieto-occipitocortical areas involved in activation of mental images. Further srudy is encouraged.     

The role of childhood sexual seduction in the development of an erotic transference: Perversion in the psychoanalytic situation

Abstract

Based on Ferenczi's Confusion of Tongues theory of trauma we proposed the following hypothesis: “An erotic transference is an enactment in the here-and-now of the psychoanalytic situation of a childhood seduction of sexual trauma”. We delineate the relational approach to the analysis of the incest trauma, both theoretically and clinically. The concept of enactment helps us understand the emergence of the incest trauma in the psychoanalytic situation as an indication of an earlier childhood experience. Three clinical examples are discussed which illustrate ways of using the hypothesis within the analytic process. The clinical examples demonstrate the value of enactments that are contained in the unconscious communication that the erotic transference represents.

Rachman AWM et al. Die Rolle sexueller Verführung in der Kindheit bei der Entwicklung einer erotischen Übertragungsperversion in der psychoanalytischen Situation

Basierend auf Ferenczi′s Konfusion der Zungen Trauma Theorie schlugen wir die folgende Hypothese vor: Eine erotische Übertragung ist eine Inszenierung im Hier und Jetzt der psychoanalytischen Situation einer Kindheits Verführung als sexuellem Trauma. Wir entwerfen den relationalen Ansatz theoretisch und klinisch in Bezug auf die Analyse des Inzest Traumas. Das Konzept der Reinszenierung hilft uns das Auftauchen des Inzest Traumas als ein Anzeichen einer früheren Kindheitserfahrung in der psychoanalytischen Situation zu verstehen. Es werden drei klinische Beispiele diskutiert, die die Wege illustrieren, die Hypothese innerhalb des analytischen Prozesses anzuwenden. Die klinischen Beispiele zeigen den Wert von (Re-) Inszenierungen, die in der unbewußten Kommunikaton enthalten sind, welche die erotische Übertragung repräsentieren.

Rachman A WM et. al. El rol de la seducción sexual infantil en el desarrollo de una transferencia erótica: perversión en la situación analítica.

Basado en la teoría del trauma de la confusión de lenguas de Ferenczi, proponemos la siguiente hipótesis: una transferencia erótica es un enactment en el aquí y el ahora de la situación analítica del trauma de la seducción sexual infantil. Trazamos la aproximación relacional del análisis del trauma del incesto. El concepto de enactment nos ayuda a entender la emergencia del trauma del incesto en la situación psicoanalitica, como indicación de una experiencia infantil temprana.

Se presentan tres ejemplos clínicos que ilustran formas de uso de la hipótesis desde el proceso analítico. Estos ejemplos clínicos demuestran el valor de los enactments contenidos en la comunicación inconsciente que representa la transferencia erótica.     

Immigrant acculturation attitudes and host country identification

This study assessed the efficacy of a model predicting the host country identification of members of immigrant groups. The model proposed that host country identification is primarily determined by the positivity of the immigrants' acculturation attitude towards living according to the standards and values of the host country, followed by the degree of acceptance by members of the dominant cultural group, the success immigrants experience in the new country, and the extent to which they choose to live within their ethnic environment rather than the wider society. The study included 602 adult immigrants from a number of countries (Vietnam, People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand), which varied in their cultural similarity to the host country, Australia. Results from a multiple regression analysis of participants' questionnaire responses revealed good support for the model. As expected, acculturation attitude towards Australia was the strongest predictor of host country identification, followed by acceptance by Australians, while extent of ethnic involvement was a significant negative predictor. The results also revealed ethnic identification as a significant positive predictor of host country identification. The importance of the relationship between acculturation attitudes and identification is discussed, together with immigrants' identification processes towards their ethnic group and the host country. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.