Comments on Hughes and Sussman''s time-sharing study of cerebral laterality in language-disordered and normal children

M. Hughes and H. M. Sussman (1983, Brain and Language, 19, 48-64) suggest that the time-sharing paradigm "does not serve as an adequate behavioral index for language lateralization in children." The merits of this conclusion are considered and general interpretative issues regarding manual interference in dual-task/time-sharing studies are discussed.     

Création de l’Échelle de Distorsions Cognitives pour adultes (EDC-A) : étude des propriétés psychométriques en population générale et association avec l’anxiété et la dépression

IntroductionCognitive distortions contribute to the maintenance of inappropriate cognitive schemas and play a role in the emergence of pathologies such as anxiety and depression. We developed the Cognitive Distortion Scale for Adults in order to identify distortions in individuals’ reasoning. The main objectives of this study were: (1) to study the psychometric properties of the Cognitive Distortion Scale for Adults, (2) to identify cognitive distortions associated with anxiety and depression in the general population.MethodThe study involved 916 participants (151 men and 765 women) aged 18 to 85-years. The participants completed the Cognitive Distortion Scale for Adults. The tool presents 42 mini scenarios with a daily life situation and a proposition concerning a cognitive distortion. Participants must give their degree of agreement (0 to 10) with this one. Seven cognitive distortions are operationalized (dichotomous reasoning, disqualification of one of the poles, arbitrary focusing, omission of the neutral, requalification in the other pole, maximization and minimization). They also completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Both scales were available online on the Internet. The total duration of the test was approximately 10 minutes. A group of 35 participants completed the two scale 15 days apart.ResultsThe sub-dimensions of EDC-A obtain Cronbach alphas higher than .65 and EDC-A has a coherent factor structure. The scale has good temporal stability. Anxiety is predicted by dichotomous reasoning, disqualification of one of the poles, arbitrary focusing and maximization. Depression is predicted by dichotomous reasoning, arbitrary focusing, omission of the neutral and requalification in the other pole. Anxiety and depression are associated with negative cognitive distortions in reasoning. However, depression is also associated with positive cognitive distortions. Subjects with depression produce more varied cognitive distortions than subjects with anxiety.DiscussionThe Cognitive Distortion Scale for Adults shows promising psychometric properties. Further studies will need to be conducted to confirm these results. Anxiety would be related to biased information treatment of negative information, whereas depression would be related to more comprehensive biased information treatment, both negative and positive information. Anxiety would be related to suboptimal functioning of reasoning abilities; depression would be more characterized by a structural deficit of reasoning abilities.     

Does Analytic Thinking Insulate Against Pro-Kremlin Disinformation? Evidence From Ukraine

Pro-Kremlin disinformation campaigns have long targeted Ukraine. We investigate susceptibility to this pro-Kremlin disinformation from a cognitive-science perspective. Is greater analytic thinking associated with less belief in disinformation, as per classical theories of reasoning? Or does analytic thinking amplify motivated system 2 reasoning (or “cultural cognition”), such that analytic thinking is associated with more polarized beliefs (and thus more belief in pro-Kremlin disinformation among pro-Russia Ukrainians)? In online (N = 1,974) and face-to-face representative (N = 9,474) samples of Ukrainians, we find support for the classical reasoning account. Analytic thinking, as measured using the Cognitive Reflection Test, was associated with greater ability to discern truth from disinformation—even for Ukrainians who are strongly oriented towards Russia. We find similar, albeit weaker, results when operationalizing analytic thinking using the self-report Actively Open-Minded Thinking scale. These results demonstrate a similar pattern to prior work using American participants. Thus, the positive association between analytic thinking and the ability to discern truth versus falsehood generalizes to the qualitatively different information environment of postcommunist Ukraine. Despite low trust in government and media, weak journalistic standards, and years of exposure to Russian disinformation, Ukrainians who engage in more analytic thinking are better able to tell truth from falsehood.     

Examining the roles of experiential avoidance and cognitive fusion on the effects from mindfulness to athlete burnout: A longitudinal study

ObjectivesAthlete burnout is a maladaptive outcome that is potentially detrimental for performance and wellbeing. Cross-sectional evidence suggests that mindfulness might be associated with athlete burnout via experiential avoidance and cognitive fusion. In the current study, we extend knowledge of these hypothesized mediational pathways using a longitudinal design.MethodsData was collected at three occasions with a three-month interval. A final sample of 280 elite Chinese athletes aged 15–32 years (M_age = 19.13; SD = 2.92; Female = 130) reported their mindfulness at Time 1, experiential avoidance and cognitive fusion at Time 2, and athlete burnout at Time 3. Structural equation modelling was adopted to examine the mediating roles of experiential avoidance and cognitive fusion on the effects from mindfulness to athlete burnout.ResultsWe found statistically meaningful directs effects from mindfulness (Time 1) to experiential avoidance and cognitive fusion (Time 2), which in turn influenced athlete burnout (Time 3). However, the direct effect from mindfulness at Time 1 to athlete burnout at Time 3 was non-significant. The indirect effects of experiential avoidance and cognitive fusion on the effects from mindfulness to athlete burnout were significant, providing longitudinal evidence that these two variables contribute meaningfully to the mindfulness-burnout pathway.ConclusionWith initial evidence for the mediating effects of experiential avoidance and cognitive fusion, future studies could consider using experimental designs to examine the potential changing mechanisms of mindfulness on reducing athlete burnout.     

The responsibility of engineers, appropriate technology, and lesser developed nations

Projects importing technology to lesser developed nations may raise five important concerns: famine resulting from substitution of cash crops for subsistence crops, the use of products banned in the United States but permitted overseas, the use of products safe in the U.S. but unsafe under local conditions, ecological consequences of technological change, and cultural disruption caused by displacing traditional ways of life. Are engineers responsible for the foreseeable hunger, environmental degradation, cultural disruption, and illness that results from the project? Are engineers guilty of paternalism if they refuse to accept the project for that reason? Criteria are given to help engineers assess the extent of their responsibility when working in lesser developed nations.     

Character-Principlism and the Particularity Objection

This paper is a response to particularist critics of the normative force of moral principles. The particularist critique, as I understand it, is a rejection not only of principle-based accounts of moral deliberation and justification, but also of accounts of character in which principles play a central role. I focus on the latter challenge and counter it with a view I call character-principlism .
I begin by discussing in a general way what motivates the particularity objection to principles and then contrast two views – both of which insist on the importance of attentiveness to particularity – about the relative normative status of principles and particular cases. I present some reasons for believing that we need a more normatively robust conception of the role of moral principles than the particularists provide. In the main portion of the paper, I discuss how character-principlism sees principles functioning in our lives and the lives we lead with others. I contrast this with some other accounts of desirable character that particularists can embrace, and argue that these are seriously flawed because, unlike character-principlism, they cannot satisfactorily explain how a person could possess the constancy of character that moral integrity requires.     

6 15岁儿童对友谊特性的认知发展

研究目的：（１）考察我国儿童、青少年的友谊特性的认知发展规律和特点;（２）探讨儿童友谊特性的认知结构。研究采用结构访谈法,被试为来自北京市普通幼儿园、小学和中学的６岁、８岁、１０岁、１２岁和１５岁儿童共１００名（每个年龄组２０名,男女各半）。结果发现：（１）６—１５岁儿童对友谊特性的认知结构由５个维度组成,即：个人交流和冲突解决,榜样和竞争,互相欣赏,共同活动和互相帮助,亲密交往。（２）对６—１５岁儿童,友谊特性中的５个维度的重要性次序为：共同活动和互相帮助,个人交流和冲突解决,榜样和竞争,互相欣赏,亲密交往。（３）从发展上来看,对友谊特性不同维度的认知发展趋势有很大年龄差异。６—８岁儿童只能认识到友谊特性中一些外在的、行为的特征;以后才能逐渐认识到那些内在的、情感性的特征。但是,原来那些外在的特征并没有随着儿童年龄的增长而被取代,而是与内在的、情感性的特性结合在一起,在认识中逐渐深化。（４）小学六年级儿童在共同活动和游戏上表现出性别差异（男生高于女生）;而在冲突解决上,女生的认知水平高于男生。此外,初中三年级学生在互相欣赏方面,男生的认识水平高于女生     

An historical preface to engineering ethics

This article attempts to distinguish between science and technology, on the one hand, and engineering, on the other, offering a brief introduction to engineering values and engineering ethics. The method is (roughly) a philosophical examination of history. Engineering turns out to be a relatively recent enterprise, barely three hundred years old, to have distinctive commitments both technical and moral, and to have changed a good deal both technically and morally during that period. What motivates the paper is the belief that a too-easy equation of engineering with technology tends to obscure the special contribution of engineers to technology and to their own professional standards and so, to obscure as well both the origin and content of engineering ethics.     

A case study of conflicting interests: Flemish engineers involved in environmental impact assessment

This article reports of the activities of the working group, Ethics & Engineers, of the Royal Flemish Society of Engineers. More particularly, the ethical problems that engineers face in the preparation of an environmental report are illuminated. Irrespective to which party the engineer belongs, he or she is confronted with the difficult weighting of his or her personal interest, the interests of private companies and last but not least the common good. It is argued that the implementation of a code of ethics and the introduction of courses on engineering ethics into the education of engineers would strengthen the engineer in the fulfilment of his vocation. Dirk Holemans is a bio-engineer preparing a doctoral thesis on the social responsibility of engineers, Herman Lodewyckx teaches ethics and has research interests in professional and applied ethics.