How much self-presentation behavior do applicants from the United Arab Emirates exhibit?

Applicants from different cultures vary in their self-presentation behavior during job interviews. This study investigates self-presentation behavior in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the second largest economy in the Arab world. Specifically, it examines self-presentation behavior of applicants from the UAE and compares it to the behavior of American, European, and Chinese applicants from previous studies. The randomized response technique was used to gather self-presentation prevalence data of 111 UAE applicants regarding self-presentation behavior in their last job interview. Prevalence rates were lower than those from the United States and from China but higher than those from Iceland and from Switzerland. Results indicate that though UAE culture values modesty, UAE applicants still engage in distinct self-presentation behavior.     

Personality and female criminals in Bangladesh

A study is reported of female criminals at Dacca Jail, using the EPQ standardized in Bangladesh. The Ss of the present investigation were considered as a single group and also divided into groups according to the nature of the crime committed and their age. The major finding that clearly emerged from the study is that the female criminals returned very high P scores. They were also found to have elevated scores on N. It is suggested that the translated version of the EPQ be used with male criminal and psychiatrically-abnormal groups in future studies.     

Word Order Typology Interacts With Linguistic Complexity: A Cross-Linguistic Corpus Study

Much previous work has suggested that word order preferences across languages can be explained by the dependency distance minimization constraint (Ferrer-i Cancho, 2008, 2015; Hawkins, 1994). Consistent with this claim, corpus studies have shown that the average distance between a head (e.g., verb) and its dependent (e.g., noun) tends to be short cross-linguistically (Ferrer-i Cancho, 2014; Futrell, Mahowald, & Gibson, 2015; Liu, Xu, & Liang, 2017). This implies that on average languages avoid inefficient or complex structures for simpler structures. But a number of studies in psycholinguistics (Konieczny, 2000; Levy & Keller, 2013; Vasishth, Suckow, Lewis, & Kern, 2010) show that the comprehension system can adapt to the typological properties of a language, for example, verb-final order, leading to more complex structures, for example, having longer linear distance between a head and its dependent. In this paper, we conduct a corpus study for a group of 38 languages, which were either Subject–Verb–Object (SVO) or Subject–Object–Verb (SOV), in order to investigate the role of word order typology in determining syntactic complexity. We present results aggregated across all dependency types, as well as for specific verbal (objects, indirect objects, and adjuncts) and nonverbal (nominal, adjectival, and adverbial) dependencies. The results suggest that dependency distance in a language is determined by the default word order of a language, and crucially, the direction of a dependency (whether the head precedes the dependent or follows it; e.g., whether the noun precedes the verb or follows it). Particularly we show that in SOV languages (e.g., Hindi, Korean) as well as SVO languages (e.g., English, Spanish), longer linear distance (measured as number of words) between head and dependent arises in structures when they mirror the default word order of the language. In addition to showing results on linear distance, we also investigate the influence of word order typology on hierarchical distance (HD; measured as number of heads between head and dependent). The results for HD are similar to that of linear distance. At the same time, in comparison to linear distance, the influence of adaptability on HD seems less strong. In particular, the results show that most languages tend to avoid greater structural depth. Together, these results show evidence for “limited adaptability” to the default word order preferences in a language. Our results support a large body of work in the processing literature that highlights the importance of linguistic exposure and its interaction with working memory constraints in determining sentence complexity. Our results also point to the possible role of other factors such as the morphological richness of a language and a multifactor account of sentence complexity remains a promising area for future investigation.     

Methodological appraisals, advice, and historiographical models

In the paper I examine (Section I) the best defense for the claim that methodologies shouldnot function heuristically (thesis-LW) as it appears in John Worrall. I then evaluate (Section II) his proposal of a criterion^* M which is offered as a criterion for evaluating competing methodologies such as falsificationism, conventionalism, methodology of research programmes. etc. Finally, I consider (Section III) the consequences of arguments presented earlier (Section I and II) as they bear on the problem of selecting a historiographical model.I argue, among other things, (I) that thesis-LW is defended on some very dubious assumptions; (II) that Worrall's criterion^* M falters under three clear cases two of which at least^*M should accomodate, and that part of^* M's failure can be linked to its being hooked to thesis-LW. By arguments analogous to the ones which serve^* M, I show thatcontra John Worrall and John Watkins, thesis-LW is testable; finally, (III) if we accept arguments for thesis-LW and^* M we are left with a skeptical conclusion with respect to the choice of a historiographical model which Worrall by parity of reasoning should accept, but does not.     

Visual control of hand action

Recent investigations in normal and brain-damaged individuals have begun to identify the types of visual information used to plan and guide reaches. Binocular visual cues have been shown to be important for both movement planning and on-line guidance of hand movements, while emerging evidence suggests that dynamic visual analysis of the moving limb may provide a rich source of information for precise control of the hand in flight. Reaching movements appear to be planned to follow what is perceived to be a straight trajectory in peripersonal space. Furthermore, the process of selecting visual targets appears to influence hand trajectories, with hand movements curving away from non-target objects. This behaviour may be explained most effectively by a dynamic representation of space which is sculpted by attentional mechanisms into selected (target) and inhibited (non-target) regions. The role of attention in movement planning in individuals with attentional disorders is controversial. Patients with visual neglect have impairments of visuomotor control including reaches that, under certain conditions, are significantly more curved than those of normal individuals. The representations of space that neglect patients use to plan reaches may be distorted by impairments in the mechanisms that normally act to select target regions and inhibit non-target zones.     

Mechanisms underlying corruption of working memory in Parkinson's disease

Working memory (WM) impairments are reported to occur in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the mechanisms are unclear. Here, we investigate several putative factors that might drive poor performance, by examining the precision of recall, the order in which items are recalled and whether memories are corrupted by random guessing (attentional lapses). We used two separate tasks that examined the quality of WM recall under different loads and retention periods, as well as a traditional digit span test. Firstly, on a simple measure of WM recall, where patients were asked to reproduce the orientation of a centrally presented arrow, overall recall was not significantly impaired. However, there was some evidence for increased guessing (attentional lapses). On a new analogue version of the Corsi-span task, where participants had to reproduce on a touchscreen the exact spatial pattern of presented stimuli in the order and locations in which they appeared, there was a reduction in the precision of spatial WM at higher loads. This deficit was due to misremembering item order. At the highest load, there was reduced recall precision, whereas increased guessing was only observed at intermediate set sizes. Finally, PD patients had impaired backward, but not forward, digit spans. Overall, these results reveal the task- and load-dependent nature of WM deficits in PD. On simple low-load tasks, attentional lapses predominate, whereas at higher loads, in the spatial domain, the corruption of mnemonic information—both order item and precision—emerge as the main driver of impairment.     

Empirical equivalence and underdetermination

Jarrett Leplin in A Novel Defense of Scientific Realism (1997) argues that if the thesis of empirical equivalence is cogent, then the thesis of underdetermination cannot even get off the ground. Part of Leplin's argument rests on the claim that auxiliary hypotheses can be independently confirmed, thus enabling us to determine the epistemic worth of a theory. This, in turn, helps in determining about what we should be realists. Leplin's claims are demonstrated to be problematic. Leplin wants, inconsistently, to use only those auxiliary hypotheses which dovetail with confirmed theories. Finally, a detail of Leplin's argument is found wanting.     

Mental health of medical students: a cross-sectional study in Tehran

Medical students are subject to stress from sources related to medical training in addition to personal problems, resulting in significant mental distress. This study evaluates the scope of the problem in Tehran medical schools and sheds light on some of its associations. Students (604) of medicine from four medical schools in the city of Tehran responded to the Persian version of 28-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) in conjunction with a data collection sheet asking about age, sex, marital status, current training level, living place, grade point average in previous semester, and perceptions of their financial status. Of 602 students, 40.7% had mental distress (45.7% of female and 36.7% of male students). Distress was associated with being a woman (female to male odds ratio: 1.55) and very poor financial status (OR: 18.0).