Doomed to Read in a Second Language: Implications for Learning

The aim of the study was to elucidate whether and how reliance on a second language impacts the learning of new information under very basic learning conditions. The paradigm used to investigate this issue required individuals to learn a series of associations between numerals and particular letter strings. Participants were two groups of university students: (1) individuals for whom spoken Hebrew was the mother tongue and written Hebrew a primary orthography (L1 group), and (2) individuals for whom Hebrew, both spoken and written, was a second language (L2 group). Data were collected under two conditions. In the language-dependent condition (LDC), the paradigm required learning associations between eight numerals and the letter strings of eight familiar Hebrew words. In the language-independent condition (LIC), it required learning associations between eight numerals and eight random letter strings in Hebrew. Results suggest that learners may be significantly disadvantaged when compelled to learn new information mediated in a second language. This disadvantage appears to manifest itself at a very basic learning level and in instances where new information is mediated by language that is fairly overlearned by the L2 learner.     

Worry about terror among young adults living in ongoing security uncertainty

The aim of the current study was to investigate worry about terror as a mediating variable, with the exogenous variables being media viewing, differentiation of self, and trait anxiety, and the endogenous variables being somatic symptoms and perceptions of security‐related stress. Participants were divided into two groups by age/academic level: 248 high school students and 191 university students. A pathway correlation model was used to investigate worry about terror as a mediating variable. The central finding was that worry about terror was a significant mediating variable in the relationship between the extent of media viewing following terror events and the level of perception of security‐related stress. That is, young people who said they worried a lot reported a high level of stress relating to the terror events they saw covered in the media. In addition, trait anxiety was found to have an effect on stress perception only via the level of worry about terror. This means that high levels of stress are not experienced by all highly trait‐anxious people, but only by those who suffer from higher levels of worry about terror.     

Time estimation could be impaired in male,but not female adults with attention deficits

The ability to judge the passage of time is critical to behavioral regulation and planning and can be impaired among individuals with attention deficit. Time estimation was tested in young adults screened for attention deficit, based on scores of a self-report questionnaire for attention problems (CAARS), using a prospective reproduction paradigm. Four time intervals (3, 6, 12, and 24 s) were tested in two conditions: (1) reproduction of the duration of a visual stimulus and (2) reproduction of an empty time interval. A significant interaction between gender and group was found suggesting that males, but not females, with attention deficits made larger errors than controls. Males with attention deficits and both groups of females made larger underestimations of time judgement than control males.     

Adult Israeli Community Norms for the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI)

The study aim is to establish Israeli norms for the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). A nationwide representative sample of 510 community respondents (age range 35–65, 51.4% women) completed the Hebrew version of the BSI. The data showed high internal reliabilities for the 9 BSI scales, as well as for their total score, indicated by the General Severity Index (GSI). Higher levels of GSI were found for widowed, divorced, and single respondents than for married respondents. Higher GSI was also found for unemployed and retired men than the self-employed and employees, validating the GSI as a measure of distress. Most importantly, the scores of the Israeli GSI, as well as each of the 9 scales, were higher than those reported in either the U.S. or the British norms. These findings may indicate that Israeli society is experiencing relatively high distress, highlighting the need for establishing BSI norms for each culture.     

Fear-related pictures deteriorate the performance of university students with high fear of snakes or spiders

Despite research regarding emotional processing, it is still unclear whether fear-evoking stimuli are processed when they are irrelevant and when attention is oriented elsewhere. In this study, 63 healthy university students with high fear from snakes or spiders participated in two different experiments. In an emotional modification of the spatial cueing task, 31 subjects (5 males) were asked to detect a target letter while ignoring a neutral or fear-related distracting picture. The distribution of attention was independently manipulated by a spatial cue that preceded the appearance of the picture and the target letter. In an emotional modification of the cognitive load paradigm, 32 subjects (4 males) were asked to discriminate between two target letters, while ignoring a central neutral or fear-related picture, and additional 1, 3, or 5 distracting letters that created a varied attentional load. Fear-related pictures interfered with the performance of highly fearful participants, even when the pictures were presented outside the focus of attention and when the task taxed attentional resources. We suggest that highly fearful individuals process fear-related information automatically, either inattentively or with prioritized attention capture over competing items, leading to deteriorated cognitive performance. Different results were shown in healthy individuals while processing negative--but not phobic--pictures, suggesting that emotional processing depends on the fear value of the stimulus for a specific observer.     

Parenting among mothers exposed to ongoing military conflict in childhood: An exploratory study

Mothers living in areas exposed to ongoing military conflict are at higher risk for psychological difficulties, such as posttraumatic stress disorder, than those not living in such areas. The aim of this two-part exploratory study was twofold. The first aim was to examine differences between mothers who grew up under ongoing military conflict in childhood and mothers who did not grow up in affected areas in terms of their levels of differentiation of self and parental self-efficacy (PSE). The second aim was to identify and describe the parenting experiences of mothers who were exposed to military conflict in childhood. In Part 1 of the study, the sample included 120 mothers (half of whom reported on being exposed to ongoing military conflict in childhood). Findings showed that mothers exposed to ongoing military conflict in childhood reported lower levels of differentiation of self and PSE than their counterparts. In Part 2, 10 mothers who were exposed to ongoing military conflict as children were interviewed about their experience as parents and their PSE. Results indicated that the mothers felt their childhood experiences affected their parenting and PSE negatively, resulting in anxiety, difficulty dealing with stress and sometimes posttraumatic symptoms as well as parental patterns of overprotectiveness, separation anxiety and intergenerational transmission of anxiety. The results highlight the consequences of exposure to ongoing military conflict during childhood on levels of differentiation of self and parenting practices.     

Balancing the family and the collective in raising children: why communal sleeping in kibbutzim was predestined to end

This article integrates research data about attachment in kibbutz-raised children with a review of the socio-historical processes that shaped the interrelations between the kibbutz family and the collective and influenced childrearing practices. It uses systems theory to evaluate the changing practices of kibbutz childrearing with particular focus on communal sleeping for infants and children away from their parents, and its impact on the formation of attachment relations to parents and caregivers, transmission of attachment across generations, and later school competence. It argues that artificial childrearing practices such as communal sleeping for infants and children created a unique and unprecedented "social experiment in nature," which, from the perspective of attachment theory, was predestined to be discontinued because it betrayed the essential attachment needs of most parents and children.     

Marital Quality, Family Patterns, and Children's Fears and Social Anxiety

This study examined relationships among marital quality, family patterns, and children's fears, and social anxiety. Two types of family patterns were studied, adaptability and cohesion. Mothers of children aged 5–6, drawn from kindergartens in northern Israel, completed Hebrew versions of the ENRICH scale (abridged, for marital quality), FACES-III (adaptability and cohesion), the FSSC-R (fears), and the SASC-R (social anxiety). Family cohesion was negatively correlated with marital quality and positively correlated with children's social anxiety. Marital quality and family adaptability were inversely related to specific children's fears. Children's social anxiety was highly correlated with specific fears. These findings suggest that children from rigid, fused families or low quality marriages may be at risk for high levels of fears and social anxiety.