Something from nothing: exploring dimensions of children's knowing through the repeated reading of favourite books

Witte‐Townsend and DiGiulio explore some of the dimensions of knowing that children, teachers and parents may engage together during story‐time. They reflect on some of their own long‐term relationships with children and children's books, especially Phoebe Gilman's Gilman P 1992 Something from nothing (New York, NY, Scholastic Inc)  [Google Scholar] Something from nothing (published in 1992) and Simms Taback's Taback S 1999 Joseph had a little overcoat (New York, NY, Viking‐Penguin)  [Google Scholar] Joseph had a little overcoat, published in 1999. The authors probe issues such as why children ask to hear a favourite story over and over and why they suddenly abandon all interest and move on to a new book. They explore the meaning of the silences that sometimes arise during story‐time, pooling around the young listeners as the last words of the book are read. Witte‐Townsend and DiGiulio remind us of the value of literature in the lives of children and they affirm that the reading and re‐reading of favourite stories enables the understanding of complex human issues and contributes significantly to social, emotional and spiritual growth.     

Considering an affect regulation framework for examining the association between body dissatisfaction and positive body image in Black older adolescent females: Does body mass index matter?

The present study provided an initial evaluation of an affect regulation model describing the association between body dissatisfaction and two contemporary measures of positive body image among 247 Black college-bound older adolescent females. We further tested whether possessing a higher body mass index (BMI) would strengthen these associations. Self-reported height and weight were used to calculate BMI. Respondents also completed a culturally-sensitive figure rating scale along with assessments of body appreciation and body image flexibility. Results indicated a robust positive association between the two measures of positive body image; BMI was the strongest predictor of both body appreciation and body image flexibility with body size discrepancy (current minus ideal) contributing incremental variance to both models tested. Implications for improving our understanding of the association between positive and negative body image and bolstering positive body image to promote health-protective behaviors among Black young women at this developmental juncture are discussed.     

Lower back pain in nurses working in home care: linked to work–family conflict,emotional dissonance,and appreciation?

In industrial countries home care services for elderly people living in the community are growing rapidly. Home care nursing is intensive and the nurses often suffer from musculoskeletal pain. Time pressure and job control are job-related factors linked to the risk of experiencing lower back pain (LBP) and LBP-related work impairment. This survey investigated whether work-family conflict (WFC), emotional dissonance and being appreciated at work have incremental predictive value. Responses were obtained from 125 home care nurses (63% response rate). Multiple linear regression showed that emotional dissonance and being appreciated at work predicted LBP intensity and LBP-related disability independently of time pressure and job control. WFC was not a predictor of LBP-related disability in multiple regression analyses despite a zero-order correlation with it. Redesigning the working pattern of home care nurses to reduce the emotional demands and improve appreciation of their work might reduce the incidence of LBP in this group.     

Perceived relationship with God moderates the relationship between social comparison and body appreciation

Social comparison has been shown to contribute to the negative attitudes that most Western women have towards their bodies. However, minimal research has addressed the relationship between social comparison and body appreciation, which entails holding favourable opinions towards the body, accepting the body along with its deviations from societal beauty ideals, respecting the body by engaging in healthy behaviours, and protecting the body by rejecting unrealistic media appearance ideals. This study tested whether feeling loved and accepted by God would weaken the inverse relationship between social comparison and body appreciation among a sample of 186 female undergraduates. Results showed that frequent body-related comparisons were related to lower body appreciation, but this relationship was conditional upon the quality of women's perceived relationship with God. Results suggest that future research should explore interventions designed to create improved secure attachment relationships between clients and God.     

Weight discrepancy and body appreciation among women in Poland and Britain

Previous studies have suggested that the process of transmigration has detrimental effects on the body image of migrants relative to women in the country of origin. In the present work, we examined the body image of Polish migrants in Britain (n = 153), Polish women in Poland (n = 153), and a comparison group of British White women (n = 110). Participants completed a measure of actual-ideal weight discrepancy and the Body Appreciation Scale (BAS). Contrary to hypotheses, our results showed that Polish women in Poland had significantly higher weight discrepancy than their counterparts in Britain. Further analyses showed that the BAS reduced to two dimensions among Polish participants, with Polish participants in Poland having significantly lower body appreciation than Polish migrants. We suggest that the sociocultural changes that have taken place in Eastern Europe may place women in that region at relatively high risk for developing negative body image.     

Selective imitation of the passive construction through modeling

Six 4- to 5-yr-old subjects were exposed to five sessions in which an adult model used passive sentences to describe a set of modeling stimuli. Probe stimuli, which the subjects were asked to describe without benefit of modeling and without selective reinforcement were interspersed among modeling stimuli. A matched group of control subjects received probletrials but no modeling trials. Both groups of subjects were subsequently tested on their ability to comprehend active and passive sentence forms. Every subject in the experimental group produced passive sentences on probe trials even though there was considerable variability in the number of passives produced. No control subject produced passives. The modeling procedure increased the comprehension scores of the experimental group above those of the control group though the scores of both groups were above chance. The results were contrasted with earlier studies in which modeling was ineffective in producing passive usage and in which comprehension of the passive was not demonstrated by even older children.     

Personality as a work of art

The idea of the personality as a work of art offers a new conception of personality. From this perspective, personality would be the ethical and aesthetic style each person gives to their life, according, naturally, to the prevailing personal circumstances and social values. The idea is developed in two parts. In the first, which constitutes the empirical part, a historical review, from the time of Homer to the present day, reveals a ‘great chain of personality’, with its characteristics in each era. In the second, or transcendental part, we argue that it is some kind of work-of-art or life project that constitutes personality, whatever its aesthetic form. From this point of view, life projects, though in principle fictitious, may end up forging a person's true character, in accordance with a person-character dialectic. This dialectic is well illustrated by the literary figure of Don Quixote, but it is equally valid for anybody in everyday life. In any case, it is understood that the development of a personality is a dramatic task (in line with the theatrical sense that is at the basis of this conception). Among the most important consequences of this idea is the confirmation of responsibility as an essential constituent of the person.     

论《易经》的英译与世界传播

翻译是人类交流与传播史上最古老最复杂的文化现象,从17世纪以来,世界上各种语言和风格的不同<易经>翻译版本就层出不穷.<易经>英语翻译对世界影响重大,但长期以来存在多方面的有待解决的问题.本论旨在通过探讨<易经>英译的相关问题以寻找在新世纪全球化语境下<易经>翻译的改进与<易经>世界传播的新思路.