Aphasia in a polyglot

A Greek-born aphasic who had been able to speak four languages (Romanian, Russian, Greek, German) was tested quantitatively for verbal expression (standard interview indexes) and verbal reception (fifth part of the Token Test). The form of aphasia (qualitative aspect) was found to be identical for all four languages. Quantitatively, his performance in the four languages was different, with the languages used most during the past 20 years (Romanian and Russian) being less impaired. Nevertheless, verbal reception was equally impaired quantitatively in all four languages. Treatment with semantic-syntagmatic methods performed in Romanian had a beneficial effect on speech in the other languages as well. The authors feel that the expressive disturbance noted in aphasia reflects involvement of deep as well as of surface structures of language, but the receptive disturbance reflects involvement of the deep structures only. This may account for quantitative discrepancies in expression without discrepancy in reception among the four languages, as well as the qualitatively identical features of the disturbance in verbal expression and reception.     

Multidimensional scaling of schematically represented faces based on dissimilarity estimates and evoked potentials of differences amplitudes

This study researches the input of the cerebral occipital and temporal cortex in the analysis of facial configuration and expressive characteristics. Analysis is based on the construction of a spherical model for the differentiation of schematically presented faces with quantitatively altering curvature of the mouth and brows. The model is designed using the method of multidimensional scaling of the dissimilarity judgments between stimuli (faces) and the amplitude of evoked potentials of differences (EPD) between abrupt stimulus changes recorded from the occipital and posterior temporal cortex. Analysis of the structure of the spherical model of facial differentiation depending on the electrode site and the latency of the EPD component within the duration of 120-240 ms has demonstrated that the activity of the occipital and posterior temporal cortex of the right hemisphere is associated with the emotional characteristics of the presented face, whereas facial configuration is reflected in the activation of both posterior temporal cortex and the occipital cortex of the left hemisphere. At all electrode sites maximum information of the emotional expression and configuration is represented in inter-peak amplitude P120-N180. With increasing latency there is increased distortion of the structure of differences in the spherical model of schematically presented faces, which is interpreted as an attenuation of electrical activity associated with the analysis of the emotional expression, which occurs more rapidly than configuration analysis.     

Spousal similarity in depression: a dyadic latent panel analysis of the panel study of Belgian households

Dyadic latent panel analysis (DLPA) was applied to eight waves of the Panel Study of Belgium Households (N = 954 couples). DLPA decomposes the observed variance of both members of a dyad into variance due to stable factors, factors that gradually change over time, and occasion-specific factors including random error. Total observed similarity between members of a dyad on one occasion is decomposed into stable similarity, similarity in factors that change over time, and occasion-specific similarity. The results show that depressive symptoms are influenced by stable and changing factors and that spousal similarity in both factors contribute to spousal similarity in depression on a single occasion. Spousal similarity in factors that change gradually over time suggests that shared-environmental factors contribute to depressive symptoms.     

Spinoza and Tolstoy in Valentin Asmus’ comparative analysis

Studies in East European Thought - The paper investigates the dependence of Leo Tolstoy’s ethical, religious and political ideas on Benedict Spinoza’s philosophy. The Soviet philosopher...     

Deconstructing therapy outcome measurement with Rasch analysis of a measure of general clinical distress: the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised

Rasch analysis was used to illustrate the usefulness of item-level analyses for evaluating a common therapy outcome measure of general clinical distress, the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R; Derogatis, 1994). Using complementary therapy research samples, the instrument's 5-point rating scale was found to exceed clients' ability to make reliable discriminations and could be improved by collapsing it into a 3-point version (combining scale points 1 with 2 and 3 with 4). This revision, in addition to removing 3 misfitting items, increased person separation from 4.90 to 5.07 and item separation from 7.76 to 8.52 (resulting in alphas of .96 and .99, respectively). Some SCL-90-R subscales had low internal consistency reliabilities; SCL-90-R items can be used to define one factor of general clinical distress that is generally stable across both samples, with two small residual factors.     

The Effect of Text Coherence and Modality on Metamemory Judgements

This study examined the effects of text coherence and modality on the metamemory judgements of Ease of Learning (EOL) and Judgement of Learning (JOL), and on the object-level measure of recall. Previous work found that sentence material set in a coherent, ordered text context was not judged as more memorable than that presented in a context of sentences in a disordered sequence, even though an ordered sequence helped recall (Shaddock & Carroll, 1997). The current study modified Shaddock and Carroll's design by changing the texts used from expository to narrative text. The metamemory judgements and recall were now found to be significantly more sensitive to material learned in an ordered sequence than to material learned in a disordered sequence. Also, JOLs and recall were more sensitive to material that was originally learned in an auditory mode (spoken presentation) than in a visual mode (verbal presentation). The results are discussed in terms of a cue-utilisation approach to metamemory judgements.     

Association of hypertension-related distress with lack of self-care among hypertensive patients

Research on factors associated with poor adherence to self-care focuses primarily on psychiatric emotional disorders such as depression and anxiety, whereas non-psychiatric chronic-disease-related emotional distress has received little attention in hypertensive patients. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association of hypertension-related distress with the lack of self-care including low adherence to pharmacological treatment, lack of regular physical activity, low intake of fruits and vegetables and frequent intake of high-salt foods. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2014 in two family medical units affiliated with the Mexican Institute of Social Security. The study included 487 hypertensive patients >19 years of age. The conceptual framework for the study was based on the Health Promotion Model. The analysis included multiple Poisson regression models. We found that 21.1% of participants had hypertension-related distress. Low adherence to pharmacological treatment was identified in 45.8% of patients, whereas 46.8% lacked regular physical activity, 30.8% reported a low consumption of fruits and vegetables, and 54.6% frequently consumed foods high in salt content. Hypertension-related distress was associated with lack of regular physical activity and low intake of fruits and vegetables. These findings highlight the importance of addressing distress in order to improve self-care of hypertensive patients.     

Psychology of male and female communicative activity

The article features a brief overview of theoretical and empirical studies in communication psychology and sociability of men and women, boys and girls. Russian and foreign studies are summarized to point out that girls and women place greater emphasis on communication and interpersonal relations than do boys and men. Moreover, female communication is more emotional. The article presents the results of the author's own empirical study of male and female communicative activity. Communicative activity is viewed as a complex psychological phenomenon, a degree of the subject's willingness to interact. Communicative activity was studied with the test proposed by the Russian psychologist, Krupnov, and designed to detect the following components of communicative activity: dynamic (natural), emotional, motivational, cognitive, regulatory, productive, and two sorts of communication difficulties (operational and personal). Gender differences in communicative activity are shown on a sample of 480 participants aged 18-40 (240 men and 240 women). The article then describes communicative styles of adolescents (130 boys and 130 girls, aged 19-24). Various communicative styles are featured, including "energetic, businesslike," "conformal, emotional," "diplomatic, externally oriented" for boys and "energetic, sociable," "emotional, difficult," and "complaisant, expressive" for girls. Every person's individuality and gender identity are shown to impact their communicative style.