Social categories in the making: construction or recruitment?

Real kinds, both natural and social categories, are characterized by rich inductive potential. They have relatively stable sets of conceptually independent projectable properties. Somewhat surprisingly, even some purely social categories (e.g., ethnicity, gender, political orientation) show such multiple projectability. The article explores the origin of the inductive richness of social categories and concepts. I argue that existing philosophical accounts provide only a partial explanation, and mechanisms of boundary formation and stabilization must be brought into view for a more comprehensive account of inductively rich social categories.

     

Choose change: Situation modification,distraction, and reappraisal in mild versus intense negative situations

Motivation and Emotion - Despite the theoretical importance and applied potential of situation modification as an emotion regulation strategy, empirical research on how people change situations to...     

Longitudinal associations of cognitive ability,personality traits and school grades with antisocial behaviour

This study investigated the role of adolescents' cognitive ability, personality traits and school success in predicting later criminal behaviour. Cognitive ability, the five‐factor model personality traits and the school grades of a large sample of Estonian schoolboys (N = 1919) were measured between 2001 and 2005. In 2009, judicial databases were searched to identify participants who had been convicted of misdemeanours or criminal offences. Consistent with previous findings, having a judicial record was associated with lower cognitive ability, grade point average, agreeableness, and conscientiousness and higher neuroticism. In multivariate path models, however, the contributions of cognitive ability and conscientiousness were accounted for by school grades and the effect of neuroticism was also accounted for by other variables, leaving grade point average and agreeableness the only independent predictors of judicial record status. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Forensic interviews with preschool children: An analysis of extended interviews in Norway (2015–2017)

This study examined the quality of forensic interviews conducted by specially trained police officers in the Norwegian Barnahus between 2015 and 2017, using the sequential interview (SI) model, a Norwegian version of the extended interview model that has not previously been studied. Two hundred and seven interviews of alleged abused preschool children (3–7 years old) were selected from around the country. Developmental trends in interview dynamics and the pattern of disclosure were analyzed. Analyses showed that the interviews were long but involved few open-ended and many suggestive questions, especially in interviews with the youngest children who did not disclose. Because similar findings were obtained in previous studies of Norwegian interviews not using this model, the findings suggest that the SI interview model does little to improve the formal quality of forensic interviews with very young children, and show the need to develop new forms of interviewer training which are more intensive than those currently employed.     

MATERNAL TRAUMA AFFECTS PRENATAL MENTAL HEALTH AND INFANT STRESS REGULATION AMONG PALESTINIAN DYADS

We examined how diverse and cumulated traumatic experiences predicted maternal prenatal mental health and infant stress regulation in war conditions and whether maternal mental health mediated the association between trauma and infant stress regulation. Participants were 511 Palestinian mothers from the Gaza Strip who reported exposure to current war trauma (WT), past childhood emotional (CEA) and physical abuse, socioeconomic status (SES), prenatal mental health problems (posttraumatic stress disorder and depression symptoms), and perceived stress during their secondtrimester of pregnancy as well as infant stress regulation at 4 months. While all trauma types were associated with high levels of prenatal symptoms, CEA had the most wide‐ranging effects and was uniquely associated with depression symptoms. Concerning infant stress regulation, mothers’ CEA predicted negative affectivity, but only among mothers with low WT. Against hypothesis, the effects of maternal trauma on infant stress regulation were not mediated by mental health symptoms. Mothers’ higher SES was associated with better infant stress regulation whereas infant prematurity and male sex predisposed for difficulties. Our findings suggest that maternal childhood abuse, especially CEA, should be a central treatment target among war‐exposed families. Cumulated psychosocial stressors might increase the risk for transgenerational problems.     

Diffusion of e-commerce in Denmark: An analysis of institutional intervention

This article analyzes the way a series of recent policy statements have been used to promote and shape the take-up of e-commerce in Denmark. Issuing periodic policy statements, with a combination of direct and indirect modes of intervention, is one of the roads governments are taking to influence the evolutions of ICT. The policy statements present the goals, launch initiatives, and assess achievements. Complementing a co-or self-regulation strategy, the policy statement approach has become particularly important in areas where governments seek to influence the take-up of a technology without appearing to tip the scales. She did her Ph.D. at the Center for Electronic Commerce, at Department of Informatics, Copenhagen Business School. Helle Zinner Henriksen has a degree in Law (University of Copenhagen, 1995). Her research interests include: Adoption and diffusion of Interorganizational Information Systems, e-government, and institutional regulation of electronic commerce and e-government. Kim Viborg Andersen is a researcher in organizational and policy aspects of IT. Andersen’s research encompasses various applications: economic models, EIS/BIS, health data network, EDI, e-commerce, and mobile applications primarily within the public sector domain. He is co-founder of the AIS SIG on e-government, vice-chair of the IFIP WG 8.4 on interdisciplinary e-business and on various editorial boards for journals. He is head of the Center for Research on Information Technology in Policy Settings (CIPS) at the Copenhagen Business School.     

BDNF is a novel marker of cognitive function in ageing women: the DR's EXTRA Study

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is one of the key molecules modulating brain plasticity. While low circulating levels of BDNF have been suggested to predispose to Alzheimer's disease, very little data are available on its association with cognitive function in general population. We evaluated the association between plasma BDNF levels and cognition in a representative population sample of ageing men and women. The subjects (n=1389) were participants of the Dose-Responses to Exercise Training (DR's EXTRA) Study and represent a random sample of Eastern Finnish people (684 men and 705 women), 57-79 years of age at baseline of the study. Plasma BDNF levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Cognitive function was evaluated using the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) neuropsychological test battery. Women had a higher mean (+/-SEM) plasma BDNF level than men (1721+/-55vs. 1495+/-54pg/ml, P<0.001). In women, 1 SD decrease in BDNF increased the risk for a low score in Naming Test by 53% (95% CI 1.21-1.92, P<0.001), in Mini-Mental State Examination by 63% (95% CI 1.21-2.20, P=0.001), in Word List Memory by 56% (95% CI 1.08-2.26, P=0.019), in Word List Recall by 50% (95% CI 1.10-2.05, P=0.010), in Word List Saving by 49% (95% CI 1.12-1.99, P=0.007), and in Word List Recognition by 64% (95% CI 1.19-2.25, P=0.002). Data were adjusted for age, education, depression, impaired glucose metabolism, cardiovascular disease, antihypertensive medication, lipid lowering medication, use of sex hormones, smoking, alcohol consumption, storing time of plasma in the freezer and platelet count. BDNF was not associated with cognition in men. Present data suggest that plasma BDNF is a biomarker of impaired memory and general cognitive function in ageing women.