bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mirror neurons, gestures and language evolution
Authors: Fogassi Leonardo , Ferrari Pier Francesco
Published: September 2007

Different theories have been proposed for explaining the evolution of language. One of this maintains that gestural communication has been the precursor of human speech. Here we present a series of neurophysiological evidences that support this hypothesis. Communication by gestures, defined as the capacity to emit and recognize meaningful actions, may have originated in the monkey motor cortex from a neural system whose basic function was action understanding. This system is made by neurons of monkey’s area F5, named mirror neurons, activated by both execution and observation of goal-related actions. Recently, two new categories of mirror neurons have been described. Neurons of one category respond to the sound of an action, neurons of the other category respond to the observation of mouth ingestive and communicative actions. The properties of these neurons indicate that monkey’s area F5 possesses the basic neural mechanisms for associating gestures and meaningful sounds as a pre-adaptation for the later emergence of articulated speech. The homology and the functional similarities between monkey area F5 and Broca’s area support this evolutionary scenario.
The Frame/Content theory of evolution of speech
Authors: MacNeilage Peter F. , Davis Barbara L.
Published: September 2007

The Frame/Content theory deals with how and why the first language evolved the present-day speech mode of programming syllable “Frame” structures with segmental (consonant and vowel) “Content” elements. The first words are considered, for biomechanical reasons, to have had the simple syllable frame structures of pre-speech babbling (e.g., “bababa”), and were perhaps parental terms, generated within the parent–infant dyad. Although all gestural origins theories (including Arbib’s theory reviewed here) have iconicity as a plausible alternative hypothesis for the origin of the meaning-signal link for words, they all share the problems of how and why a fully fledged sign language, necessarily involving a structured phonology, changed to a spoken language.
Afterword: Life after the symbol system metaphor
Authors: MacDorman Karl F.
Published: September 2007

After reviewing the papers in this special issue, I must conclude that brains are not syntactic engines, but control systems that orient to biological, interindividual, and cultural norms. By themselves, syntactic constraints both underdetermine and overdetermine cognitive operations. So, rather than serving as the basis for general cognition, they are just another kind of empirically acquired constraint. In humans, symbols emerge from a particular sensorimotor activity through a process of contextual broadening that depends on the coordination of conscious and nonconscious processing. This process provides the representational freedom and stability that constitute the human brain’s solution to the frame problem and symbol grounding problem. Symbol formation and grounding is an ongoing process of generalising constraints from particular contexts, selectively enlisting their use, and re-automating them. This process is central to the self-creation of a language-using person with beliefs, agency, and identity.
Interaction in group writing tasks in genre-based instruction in an EAP classroom
Authors: Loewen Shawn , Basturkmen Helen
Published: September 2007

Instruction in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) writing classes often involves the use of group writing tasks in which small groups of students co-construct written texts. One purpose of using such tasks is for students to negotiate the meanings they wish to express and in so doing engage in language related episodes (discussion of language forms). In writing classes it is expected that at least some of the language related episodes will be discourse related and concern aspects of writing, such as text organisation and genre conventions. The study reported in this paper aimed to investigate the extent to which students discussed language forms (grammar, vocabulary, spelling, discourse, etc) while engaged in small group writing tasks. The study focused particularly on students’ discussion of text and discourse by recording, transcribing and analysing small group interaction and the roles students played during group writing tasks. The analysis showed that the students paid considerable attention to language forms in general and to discourse in particular.
Civil rites
Authors: Bax Marcel , Streekstra Nanne
Published: September 2007

We shall be concerned with a mode of epistolary politeness that marks a special category of ritual language use. Taking examples from the correspondence between Hooft and Huygens, two notable representatives of the Dutch Republic’s cultural elite, we will establish, first, that the notions and methods of the modern language-and-politeness paradigm are well-suited tools for exploring politeness phenomena occurring in seventeenth-century Dutch. Next we will argue that, in cases like the one under study, negatively polite ostentation is by and large a ritual affair, particularly since the use of subservient phrases and other expressions according to the humiliative mode is generally a game, rather than earnestly paying deference. As regards the issue of playful make-believe politeness, it will be contended that early modern society was quite preoccupied with various genres of “deceit”, artistic and otherwise, and took much pleasure in the witty exploitation of multiple meaning design, also when it concerned doing the civil thing.
The study of argumentation as normative pragmatics
Authors: van Eemeren Frans H. , Houtlosser Peter
Published: September 2007

In the study of argumentation there is a sharp and ideological separation between dialectical and rhetorical approaches, which needs to be remedied. The authors show how the pragma-dialectical theory of argumentation can be instrumental in bridging the gap. By adopting a research programme that involves engaging in ‘normative pragmatics’, not only the critical normative and the empirical descriptive dimensions of the study of argumentation can be brought together, but also the dialectical and the rhetorical perspectives. In the research programme, which includes philosophical, theoretical, analytical, empirical and practical components, dialectical and rhetorical perspectives are articulated in each component. The authors make clear that the two perspectives can be reconciled with the help of the notion of ‘strategic manoeuvring’. Strategic manoeuvring, which is inherent in argumentative discourse, is aimed at reconciling the simultaneous pursuit of dialectical and rhetorical aims.
From parts of speech to the grammar
Authors: Munro Pamela
Published: September 2007

Making dictionaries is a vital aid to completing a full grammatical analysis of a language, particularly if the dictionary requires the specification of the part of speech for each entry. English (or “universal”) parts of speech may not be relevant in all languages, as can be shown by structural comparisons of “adjectives” in San Lucas Quiaviní Zapotec vs. Chickasaw and of “adpositions” in San Lucas Quiaviní Zapotec (and Mixtec) vs. Chickasaw. Each language will present its own structurally determined inventory of parts of speech, relevant for its own grammatical facts. Thus, discovering the actual parts of speech of a language is a critical part both of dictionary making and of grammar writing. These aspects of linguistic analysis are crucially interconnected.
The Klagenfurt database for sign language lexicons
Authors: Krammer Klaudia , Bergmeister Elisabeth , Dotter Franz , Hilzensauer Marlene , Okorn Ingeborg , Orter Reinhold , Skant Andrea
Published: September 2007

The Klagenfurt database was originally developed as a base for both monolingual and bilingual dictionaries of Austrian Sign Language. The part dealing with the formational features of signs as well as the morphosyntactic and semantic information have already been finished. We decided on an approach using modified versions of Liddell & Johnson’s (1989) Movement-and-Hold model, the HamNoSys (Prillwitz, S. et al. 1989) and the SignPhon category system (Blees, M. et al. 1996).
Cross-linguistic perspectives on the development of text-production abilities
Authors: Berman Ruth A. , Verhoeven Ludo
Published: September 2007

The studies reported in this volume of WL&L (5: 1–2, 2002) all derive from a joint project entitled “Developing literacy in different contexts and in different languages”, funded by the Spencer Foundation, Chicago. The study encompasses seven languages — Dutch, English, French, Hebrew, Icelandic, Spanish, and Swedish — for which data were collected in Europe, Israel, and the US by graduate research assistants in education, linguistics, and psychology, under the supervision of a project director in each country — each of whom is listed as a first or “lead” author in the articles which follow the introduction to this collection.
Differences between written and spoken input in learning new words
Authors: Nelson Jessica R. , Balass Michal , Perfetti Charles A.
Published: September 2007

We taught adult learners the meanings of rare words to test hypotheses about modality effects in learning word forms. These hypotheses are that (1) written (orthographic) training leads to a better representation of word form than phonological training, that (2) recognition memory for a word is partly dependent upon congruence between training and testing modality (written vs. spoken) but that (3) skilled learners are less dependent on the episodic context of training than are less skilled readers. These hypotheses were confirmed by results of a word recognition test following form-meaning training. We discuss these results in terms of an episodic account of word learning (Reichle & Perfetti, 2003) and variations in lexical quality (Perfetti & Hart, 2001) that can arise through differences in code generation during learning.
METHODOLOGICAL AND RELATED PROBLEMS IN CROSS‐CULTURAL RESEARCH1
Authors: Berrien F. Kenneth
Published: September 2007

Problèmes méthodologiques des recherches interculturelles. — L'A. cherche à montrer dans quelles conditions le problème de la comparabilité des échantillons dans les études intercultuielles peut ou non trouver une solution. Il montre que les thèmes d'étude sont déterminés ethniquement, et souligne qu'il est sage pour un chercheur qui s'éloigne des frontières de son milieu naturel, de se livrer à une exploration préliminaire suffisante pour s'assurer que le thème qui L'intéresse a un sens dans ce qui est, pour lui, un cadre étranger. Le choix des instruments de recherche et leur nécessaire adaptation à deux ou plusieurs cultures, soulève des problèmes particulièrement tenaces qui peuvent être partiellement traités, via la notion de validation construite. Mais celle‐ci, à son tour, élimine presque totalement la possibilité de strictes définitions opérationnelles, à moins qu'on ne puisse montrer que les opérations, quoique différentes, ont une signification équivalente. Nous pouvons continuer à faire effort pour interpréter les résultats interculturels dans des termes qui minimisent les appartenances, les déformations, les ancrages d'origine, dans lesquels nous sommes nés et dans lesquels la plupart d'entre nous ont grandi, cependant le manque presque constant de variables universelles dans les sciences sociales requiert que les jugements interprétatifs soient formulés, dans une certaine mesure, dans les termes de ces ancrages ethniques. L'A. pense, enfin, que la plupart des problèmes inhérents aux recherches interculturelles, se rencontrent également dans des études culturellement restreintes; ils sont quelquefois évidents, ils sont rarement totalement absents. Leur intrusion récurrente dans les comparaisons interculturelles requiert qu'on leur prête une particulière attention. Reconnaître qu'ils sont le prolongement de problèmes latents dans presque toutes les études psychosociologiques, peut attirer L'attention des chercheurs qui travaillent “à domicile”, sur leur importance.
ON THE PSYCHOLOGICAL NATURE OF CHILD SPEECH FORMATION UNDER CONDITION OF EXPOSURE TO TWO LANGUAGES
Authors: Imedadze Natela V.
Published: September 2007

De la nature psychologique de la formation du langage chez L'enfant dans un milieu bilingue. Le but de la présente recherche est d'étudier s'il est possible que deux langues, apprises simultanément par un enfant, fonctionnent de façon autonome. Elle a porté sur un enfant dont les contacts avec L'entourage ont été contrôlés selon le principe: « Une langue ‐ une personne ». Une partie de son entourage ne s'adressait à lui qu'en géorgien; L'autre partie lui parlait en russe. L'analyse des observations montre que dans le développement du langage d'un enfant bilingue, on peut observer deux stades: un stade de confusion, L'enfant emploie simultanément des éléments de L'une et L'autre langue; un stade de différenciation des systèmes linguistiques qui aboutit à leur fonctionnement autonome. On a pu cependant faire apparaître qu'au cours de L'assimilation de chacune des deux langues, se produisait une interaction des structures grammaticales correspondantes. Les données sont interprétées dans les termes de la théorie de L'attitude de D.N. Uznadze.
THE USES AND LIMITATIONS OF FACTOR ANALYSIS IN CROSS‐CULTURAL RESEARCH ON SOCIALIZATION
Authors: Peterson Donald R. , Migliorino Guiseppe
Published: September 2007

L'utilisation et les limites de L'analyse factorielle dans les recherches interculturelles sur la socialisation. — Une analyse factorielle a été récemment utilisée dans des recherches interculturelles à large échelle, sur le comportement des parents envers leurs enfants. Dans une des plus importantes ètudes de ce genre, les méthodes employées pour élever les enfants ont été examinées dans six sociétés différentes (Mexique, Philippines, Okinawa, Inde, Afrique, Etats‐Unis); une analyse factorielle a été effectuée, qui a abouti à un système descriptif complexe multifactoriel. d'autres études suggèrent, toutefois, que les systèmes factoriels de ce genre manquent de cette invariance statistique et de cette clarté conceptuelle que requiert un systéme descriptif adéquat. Un degré élevé de stabilité structurale peut être obtenu en limitant L'étude aux facteurs qui ont la plus grande invariance. Deux dimensions, affection (des parents) et contrôls, étaient fortement représentées dans les méthodes de socialisation décrites par les pères et les mères en Sicile et aux Etats‐Unis. Les facteurs relatifs aux problèmes de personnalité et aux problèmes de conduite apparaissent avec la même clarté dans L'analyse des troubles présentés par les enfants qui étaient L'objet de la recherche. Mais ces facteurs, tout en présentant L'invariance nécessaire à un système descriptif de portée générale, se révèlent limités sous d'autres aspects. Des données actuellement disponibles, il résulte que L'analyse factorielle peut être d'une certaine utilité dans la description globale et dans la comparaison interculturelle des processus de socialisation, mais qu'une confrontation plus précise des diverses cultures et une meilleure compréhension des phénomènes étudiés exigent une analyse du comportement bien plus spécifique qu'aucun système factoriel n'en peut actuellement fournir.
INTIMACY RATINGS IN FIVE COUNTRIES
Authors: Sommer Robert
Published: September 2007

Estimation de l'intimité psycbologuque dans cinq pays. — On fait passer à des étudiants américains, anglais, hollandais, suédois et pakistanais, un questionnaire qui a été conçu pour mesurer l'impression d'intimité que donnent diverses dispositions spatiales. On retrouve la même ordination dans tous les échantillons : être assis côte‐à‐côte donne la plus forte impression d'intimité; viennent ensuite, dans l'ordre, voisiner de chaque côté d'un coin, être face‐à‐face, être à distance ou en diagonale. Les estimations faites par les Américains, les Suédois et les Anglais sont très semblables; mais les Hollandais jugent la position en coin moins intime que ne le font les autres sujets; de même, les Pakistanais, pour le face‐à‐face. l'A. suggère une utilisation éventuelle des dispositions spatiales comme methode non‐verbale de mesure de Pintimité psychologique dans une culture.
ETHNIC GROUP INTERACTION IN A MULTIETHNIC SOCIETY1
Authors: Tucker G. Richard , Taylor Donald M. , Reyes Esther
Published: September 2007

Une variante de la technique “matched‐guise” accompagnée d'un film, a été utilisée pour étudier les interactions entre groupes ethniques aux Philippines. A de jeunes garçons tagals, on a présenté un sketch dont les personnages représentaient une des quatre combinaisons ethniques possibles et parlaient L'une des trois langues utilisées dans L'expérience. L'analyse des réponses aux questions montre que les sujets s'attendent à ce que les groupes homogènes s'entendent mieux entre eux que les groupes hétérogènes et semblent avoir des sentiments ethnocentriques, surtout vis‐à‐vis des Philippins d'origine chinoise. De plus, les sujets ont des normes précises en ce qui concerne L'usage des différentes langues; ils sont néanmoins incapables d'identifier avec fidélité les membres d'un groupe marginal important. La technique utilisée semble à la fois réaliste et pratique pour des recherches sur la perception sociale dans une société pluriethnique.
POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION
Authors: Furby Lita
Published: September 2007

Le comportement politique peut être défini comme un ensemble d'actes qui sont en liaison avec les relations de pouvoir et d'autorité entre les hommes. Dans le passé, L'étude du développement d'un tel comportement chez L'enfant a été trop étroitement limitée. L'auteur montre combien il serait important de définir un cadre théorique basé sur les dimensions (facteurs) qui déterminent le comportement politique de L'adulte. Pour identifier ces facteurs et préciser leurs effets sur le comportement politique, les comparaisons interculturelles sont indispensables. A titre d'exemples de facteurs qui devraient être étudiés, L'auteur évoque le rôle des discontinuités dans L'éducation des enfants, ainsi que L'interaction de cette variable avec les apprentissages précoces, la contribution relative des différents agents de socialisation, la dissonance cognitive et les conditions économiques prévalant dans une société donnée.
TIME CONSERVATION ACROSS CULTURES
Authors: Dempsey Arthur D.
Published: September 2007

L'auteur tente de determiner si les enfants appartenant à des cultures non occidentales perçoivent le temps de la même manière que les enfants occidentaux, s'ils se conforment aux stades de Piaget, et si L'âge auquel ces stades se réalisent correspond approximativement à ce que trouve Piaget. Les échantillons ont été tirés de sept cultures: anglo (Blancs), mexicaine‐américaine, et indiennes (Hopis, Pimas, Papagos, Apaches et Navajos). Avec un total de 317 sujets, L'étude a porté, dans chaque groupe culturel, sur quinze enfants de sept, neuf et onze ans respectivement. Quatre épreuves ont été utilisées pour mettre en évidence la conservation du temps: deux épreuves sur la conservation de L'ordre des événements, et deux épreuves sur la conservation de la simultanéité. Les résultats font apparaître une très grande variabilité avec L'âge; dans le cas de la simultanéité, aucun groupe culturel n'atteint le critère, proposé par Piaget, de 3/4 de réponses correctes, même aux âges où cette capacité, selon Piaget, est atteinte. En ce qui concerne la conservation de L'ordre nécessaire des événements, seuls les enfants mexicains‐américains, anglos et pimas ont acquis cette capacité à L'âge de onze ans. En ce qui concerne la conservation de L'ordre naturel, seuls les Navajos et les Apaches n'ont pas cette capacité à L'âge de onze ans.
PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN INDIA: 1920–19671
Authors: Ganguli Harish C.
Published: September 2007

The reader may find a brief account of the psychology programme in Indian universities useful for a proper appreciation of the nature and direction of research in the subject. Therefore the paper begins with this item.
The structure of social attitudes in three countries: Tests of a criterial referent theory(1)
Authors: Kerlinger Fred N. , Middendorp Cees P. , Amón Jesús
Published: September 2007

A criterial referents theory of attitudes was tested cross‐culturally by administering a social attitude referents (single words and short phrases) summated‐rating scale, suitably “transformed”, to 500 graduate students of education in the United States, 470 mature students of psychology in Spain, and 270 students of the social sciences and a stratified random sample of 685 persons in the Netherlands. The theory claims a dualistic (two second‐order factors) structure of social attitudes, thus challenging the common assumption of attitude bipolarity, which arises from the notion that differing attitude orientations oppose each other, e. g., conservatism versus liberalism. First‐order factor analysis of the correlations among the items and second‐order factor analysis of the correlations among the first‐order obliquely rotated factors supported the theoretical predictions with certain exceptions. In general, the first‐order factors of the referents scales contained only conservatism or only liberalism items; negative loading were mostly low in magnitude. Four similar conservative factors and four similar liberalism factors appeared in the three countries, with one, two, or three unique factors in each sample. The second‐order factor analyses yielded two main orthogonal factors, one identifiable as conservatism, the other as liberalism; a third factor was complementary to one of the two main factors. Bipolarity was a relatively minor phenomenon. Thus the results indicated the empirical cross‐cultural validity of the theory, but also the need for its further specification.
Similarities and differences in social attitudes in four Western countries1
Authors: Kerlinger Fred N.
Published: September 2007

A referents scale (single words and short phrases) constructed to measure social attitudes and values was administered to 500 graduate students of education in the United States, 427 mature evening students in Spain, 130 German students, 270 Dutch students, and 685 Dutch adults, a random sample of the Netherlands. The attitudes of the samples were compared by analysis of the means of clusters of referents associated with the factors common to all samples. The means of selected individual referents of social significance were similarly compared across samples. In general, the U.S. student sample and the Netherlands random sample were more conservative than the Spanish, Dutch, and German student samples. On the other hand, the Dutch, Spanish, and American students were more liberal than the Dutch random sample and the German students. The correlations between the profiles of means of referents common to pairs of samples were mostly substantial (average r's of .75 for conservative referents and .62 for liberal referents), indicating considerable cross‐cultural agreement in the rank ordering of the referents within the conservative and within the liberal categories, and thus, presumably, common cores of reaction to the two kinds of referents. The use of attitude‐value referents, especially in cross‐cultural research, was judged valid and useful.
Discrimination, alienation, and job satisfaction among Coloured and White employees in South Africa
Authors: Orpen Christopher
Published: September 2007

To investigate the Mertonian model, which maintains that alienation is the result of exposure to conflicting social norms, a comparison was made between the degree to perceived discrimination, alienation and job satisfaction among 55 Coloured and 60 White clerks in South Africa. It is argued that the disadvantaged Coloureds face greater “conflict” than the privileged Whites in present‐day South Africa. Hence, the fact that the Coloureds were significantly more alienated, less satisfied, and perceived themselves to be significantly more discriminated against than did the Whites, was taken as support for the Mertonian model. Negative correlations were also found between alienation and satisfaction and between perceptions of discrimination and alienation, in both samples. These results are regarded as suggestive evidence that reactions to society‐in‐general can influence job feelings.
Personality characteristics of a group of white South African managers: Some implications for placement procedures
Authors: Blunt Peter
Published: September 2007

The usefulness of the E.P.I. as a discriminator between functionally differentiated groups of white managers in South Africa was investigated. The results supported the hypothesis that managers performing jobs of a less routine nature would be more extraverted than managers involved in more routine work. It was suggested that the E.P.I. may have a useful role to play in organizational placement. This supported the conclusions of Eysenck (1967).
A rule‐based analysis of cultural differences in social behaviour: Indonesia and Australia1
Authors: Noesjirwan Jennifer
Published: September 2007

It is suggested that any two cultures may be described and compared in terms of a coherent system of rules and their underlying value themes that operate within each culture. The usefulness of the rule model is tested with respect to a representative Eastern (Indonesian) culture and a representative Western (Australian) culture. Three questionnaires were administered to a wide variety of respondents within the Jakarta and Sydney areas. The questionnaires tapped first, the respondents choice of action in a hypothetical situation, second, the respondents affective reaction to each alternative action choice, and third, the respondents relative endorsement of conflicting value statements. The results indicated very clear patterns. Each cultural sample presented an. internally consistent pattern of responses to the series of hypothetical situations. However, the patterns of responses of the two cultural samples were markedly different. The pattern of responses and their differences are explicable in terms of three basic (Indonesian) value‐orientation themes: general sociability, the subordination of the individual to the community, and the steady state.
Validating Panga Munthu Test and Porteus Maze Test (wooden form) in Zambia
Authors: Ezeilo Bernice
Published: September 2007

This study aims at validating two non‐verbal, non paper‐and‐pencil tests, namely Panga Munthu and Porteus Maze (wooden form) on the basis of age differentiation and school performance. The subjects included Zambian school children from an intellectually average group aged 7–8 years, 9–10 years and 11–12 years; and also 11–12 years‐old bright and dull school children. The results show that the two tests differentiate the three age groups, but not the bright, average and dull 11–12 year old children. The tests in their present form thereby seem to measure some factor which matures with age, but they are not useful at predicting school performance. In Africa, especially rural Africa, intelligent behaviour is not usually measured by acadmic excellence. A study of the relationship between these tests and the African criteria for intelligence is recommended.
Extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism in Iranian students1
Authors: Irfani Suroosh
Published: September 2007

A Persian translation of Eysenck's extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism inventory (PEN) was given to 209 university and 101 high school students in Iran. Comparisons of the mean scores on extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism between the two age groups do not show any significant differences, although the high school students appear to score higher than university students on all three personality dimensions. Comparisons of reliability estimates determined separately for the two age groups suggest that the PEN is equally reliable for high school and university students. The results are discussed in their cross‐cultural context.
FROM YANG AND YIN TO AND OR BUT IN CROSS CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE*
Authors: Osgood Charles E.
Published: September 2007

Ancient Chinese metaphysics, as recorded some 4000 years ago in I Ching, the Book of Changes, expresses three fundamental characteristics of human thinking: (1) bipolar organization of the dimensions of cognitions; (2) attributions of positive polarity to the Yang pole and negative to the Yin; (3) parallelism in the orientation of the dimensions in terms of underlying Positiveness/Negativeness. In this paper, eight postulates governing the dynamics of interactions among cognitions are presented, utilizing both linguistic and psychological evidence. These postulates are used to predict the performance of native speakers of 12 languages – American English, Belgian Flemish, Swedish, Finnish, Hungarian, Serbo‐Croatian, Turkish, Iranian Farsi, Hindi, Malaysian, Thai and Japanese ‐ on a simple cognitive task: the insertion of their equivalents of and vs. but in the conjunction of pairs of familiar adjectives, X is ADJ1 — ADJ2 (e.g., X is tail BUT weak). The comparably measured affective meanings of the pairs of adjectives were found to predict the differential usage of and vs. but equivalents with high precision ‐ in a frame which, linguistically speaking, will accept either conjunction ‐ and these results displayed very high consistency across all 12 languages sampled. Yang and Yin appear to be universals of human cognizing and sentencing.
FORMAL OPERATIONAL THINKING IN YOUNG ADULTS AS A FUNCTION OF EDUCATION AND SEX*
Authors: Demetriou Andreas , Efklides Anastasia
Published: September 2007

The integration of formal operations in a lattice–INRC group structure was tested in young adults. For this purpose the equilibrium in balance, the combination of liquids and the conservation of motion tasks were employed. To test the possibility of differential integration because of differences in developmental history, the factors of education and sex were manipulated systematically. Thus, four groups were constituted of educated males, educated females, uneducated males, and uneducated females, forming a total of 40 subjects. The results revealed a consistent patterning of performance on the three tasks across groups and across subjects which is in disagreement with the Piagetian model. Education and sex were important factors in respect to formal thought attainment. A theory of formal thought spheres is formulated to account for the patterning obtained and the implications for further research discussed.
NEO‐PAVLOVIAN PROPERTIES OF HIGHER NERVOUS ACTIVITY AND EYSENCK'S PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS
Authors: Loo Robert
Published: September 2007

An hierarchical multivariate approach was used to examine the relationships between the neo‐Pavlovian properties of higher nervous activity, strength, dynamism, and mobility, as measured by motor reaction‐time tasks and Eysenck's personality model as measured by the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Eighty subjects, 40 of each sex, completed tasks measuring strength, dynamism, and mobility followed by completion of the questionnaire. Standardized composite estimates of the six primary factors extracted from the measures of the three properties and of the 16 primary factors from the questionnaire were subjected to hierarchical factor analyses. Four orthogonal second‐order factors were extracted which showed meaningful relationships involving the Pavlovian and Eysenckian constructs.
CONTRIBUTION A UNE ETUDE COMPARATIVE DES GARCONS ET DES FILLES EN FRANCE*
Authors: Beaudichon Janine , de Montmollin Germaine , Winnykamen Fajda
Published: September 2007

The sample of subjects and the modifications to the general research design due to local pecularities are described. From the analyses on the four questionnaires emerges an effect of sex on the following variables: Desired Number of Children (F> M), Masculinity (M > F), Femininity (M < F), Willing to compote (M > F) and five professional values from the fifteen. There is also an effect of the technical versus college samples on Educational Aspirations and Expectations, on Masculinity for self (but only for the older subjects) and on seven professional values. Positive correlations are obtained (for males and females, separately) between age, on the one hand, and Educational Aspirations, Educational Expectations, and the valorisation of Variety, on the other hand. The relationships between age, on the one hand, and Competition and Prestige, on the other hand, decrease as a function of age. For males, the value of Work decreases with age. For females, Masculinity as well as Work Security both decrease with age while the values of Independency and Creativity increase. Although the correlational analyses suggest some differences between males and females, the strongest correlations are common to both sexes. A preliminary study has been carried out on the effect of social environment.
SEX‐RELATED ATTITUDES AND PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE UNITED STATES
Authors: Babladelis Georgia , Deaux Kay , Helmreich Robert L. , Spence Janet T.
Published: September 2007

First, differences in attitudes and beliefs towards masculine and feminine roles as well as legal and social facts in the U.S. are presented. Due to women's and civil rights movements those differences are changing now. However, inequalities and barriers for changing are still not completely overcome, often referring to differences in temperament and motivation between men and women which are assumed to be based on biological and/or socializing factors. In the U.S. sample, sex differences emerged on the following variables: Marriage importance (F> M), Masculinity score for self (M > F), Femininity score for self (F > M), Femininity score for ideal man (F > M), Masculinity score for ideal women (F > M) and Competitiveness (M > F). Academic orientation also influences the Educational Aspirations and Expectations (college > technical) and the Masculinity score for the ideal woman (college > technical). Suggestions are given for future research work: finding techniques to decrease sex stereotypes and focusing research on the conditions which were responsible in the past for the traditional masculine and feminine roles in the American Society and how these roles no longer are appropriate.
SIXTY YEARS OF CHINESE PSYCHOLOGY: RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT*
Authors:   The Executive Committee of the Chinese Psychological Society
Published: September 2007

It is sixty years since the founding of the Chinese Psychological Society. In this comparatively short period, psychology in China has travelled a very tortuous and bumpy path. Experiences are worthy of being summarized, and lessons of being learned and remembered. On this occasion of commemorating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the society, let us review the past and look forward into the future, in the hope of pushing psychology in China towards a new stage of development.
EXTENSION DE LA PERSPECTIVE TEMPORELLE FUTURE EN RELATION AVEC LA FRUSTRATION*
Authors: Bouffard Léandre , Lens Willy , Nuttin Joseph R.
Published: September 2007

By means of Nuttin's Motivational Induction Method, the intentions, plans and goals of subjects from Rwanda were collected. These motivational objects of 71 frustrated subjects (non‐admitted to the university) were compared with those of 47 non‐frustrated subjects (admitted to the university) regarding extension of their future time perspective (FTP). As hypothesized, FTP of frustrated subjects was more restricted than that of non‐frustrated subjects (the mean extension score, in number of years, and the proportion of number of references to the near future to the number of references to the distant future). No difference was found before the occurrence of the frustrating situation. An additional analysis based on subjective frustration demonstrates that a significant relationship exists between intensity of experienced frustration and extension of FTP.
MANUAL ACTIVITY DURING SPEAKING IN APHASIC SUBJECTS*
Authors: Feyereisen Pierre
Published: September 2007

Samples of free conversations were recorded in 6 normal and 12 aphasic subjects. Manual activity during speech was observed. Groups were shown to behave in an opposite way for the verbal and nonverbal measures: while aphasic subjects' verbal behavior is impaired, they produce more speech‐related movements than normals. No differences appear concerning other movements (automanipulation, hand‐to‐hand posture, miscellaneous movements). Analysis of the aphasie group reveals no difference between the fluent and the nonfluent aphasies. Verbal fluency is shown to be a non‐critical factor in the explanation of gesture production. Increased gestural production in aphasies may be interpreted according to the hypothesis that gestures are cues for the difficulties the speaker experiences in the verbal encoding process.
PSYCHOLOGY AND THE FOUR MODERNIZATIONS IN CHINA
Authors: Ching C.C.
Published: September 2007

A review of the development of Chinese psychology since early 1900 to the present time is given with particular emphasis for the period after 1949 when Chinese psychology was faced with the task of reestablishment. Progress as well as drawbacks are described. At present, China is in the process of modernizations in industry, agriculture, science and technology, and defense. The Four Modernizations have opened up new prospects for psychological research, particularly social psychology and applied psychology could contribute to China's national aspirations.
A CONTEXTUALIST VIEW OF THE NATURE OF INTELLIGENCE
Authors: Sternberg Robert J.
Published: September 2007

A contextualist view of intelligence is presented and discussed. The presentation and discussion are divided into four main parts. First, I define and explicate just what I mean by a contextualist view of intelligence. Second, I consider some common criticisms of the contextual view, and respond to these criticisms at the same time that I elaborate upon the contextual view. Third, I consider how intelligence can be specifically defined, measured, and trained within a given socio‐cultural milieu. Finally, I draw some conclusions about intelligence and the contextual approach to it. In particular, it is claimed that this approach is compatible with a variety of kinds of theorizing (e.g., psychometric and cognitive) but that it enables one to escape from certain vicious circularities that have plagued intelligence research when it has not been placed in a contextual perspective.
CONCEPTUALIZING INTELLIGENCE: FROM AN INTERNAL STATIC ATTRIBUTION TO THE STUDY OF THE PROCESS STRUCTURE OF ORGANISM‐ENVIRONMENT RELATIONSHIPS
Authors: Valsiner Jaan
Published: September 2007

The concept of intelligence is analyzed in this article from the standpoint of social attributions, related to the meanings of intelligence‐terms in language. In various non‐Western cultures, the meaning of “intelligence ”includes characteristics of social transaction, along with cognitive characteristics. This cultural relativity of the meaning of “intelligence ”pinpoints the difficulties in the building of a general theory of intelligence on the basis of the meaning of “intelligence ”in the common sense of a given culture. Psychology's task is to transcend the limitations of the common sense of the background culture of the psychologists, instead of proposing theories based on the culture‐specific common sense.

The article outlines three types of causal attributions (internal, external, relationship) and two ways of conceptualizing the causes (static and dynamic). In psychology, as well as in the common sense of laymen from different cultures, intelligence has been traditionally conceptualized in terms of static internal causal attribution. At times, cultures' folkways have provided the basis for attributing intelligence to the personified environment of the person.

An ecological reconceptualization of intelligence in terms of a dynamic person‐environment causal attribution is proposed in the paper. If intelligence is conceptualized as a dynamic relationship between the actor and the environment, in the activity of goal‐directed problem‐solving, then it cannot be attributed to either the person, or the environment. This ecological conceptualization of intelligence is based on the theoretical heritage of Lewin, Brunswick, Vygotsky and Köhler. The article emphasizes the necessity of thinking about intelligence within a comparative‐cultural perspective.
ON BEING JUDGED ‘INTELLIGENT’
Authors: Goodnow Jacqueline J.
Published: September 2007

This paper proposes that we explore, not only the definition of intelligence, but also the way in which the judgment is made that someone is “intelligent ”or not, the rules that underlie behaviour in evaluation situations, and the way people protect themselves from judgment. For each of these issues it is proposed that we consider situations of both formal testing and everyday judgment, together with developmental aspects.
INTELLIGENCE TESTING, COGNITION, AND INSTRUCTION*
Authors: Curtis Mary E. , Glaser Robert
Published: September 2007

This paper examines the implications of recent theory and research in cognitive psychology for the understanding and assessment of intelligence. Three major themes are developed. The first has to do with how changes in the social and educational climate for testing can influence the conception of intellectual competence and the technology of testing. The second theme concerns the ways that cognitive psychology, with its emphases on memory, problem‐solving, and knowledge acquisition, has begun to provide a new framework for viewing differences in intellectual functioning. Finally, it is argued that study of the kinds of performances required for success in school suggests ways in which intelligence testing can be made more responsive to current social and educational needs.
ADOLESCENTS' PERCEPTION OF POLYGAMOUS FAMILY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO SELF‐CONCEPT
Authors: Owuamanam Donatus Ojiakudiniro
Published: September 2007

This study investigated children's perception of the degree of affection present in their monogamous/polygamous families and assessed the influence of the perception on the subjects' self‐concepts. It also examined the relationship of polygamy/monogamy to children's self‐concepts. A total of 308 adolescents (134 from polygamous families and 174 from monogamous families) in eight secondary schools in Oyo State, Nigeria filled out a questionnaire and Akinboye's (1975) self‐concept inventory. The subjects' assessment of their families was categorized into “secure ”and “insecure”. The results indicated that self‐concept significantly correlated with the subjects' assessment of their families as “secure ”or “insecure”. Self‐concept was also significantly related to the family being polygamous or monogamous. Family structure (polygamy/monogamy), however, showed no significant correlation with children's perception of their family as “secure ”or “insecure”.
APPROACHES TO SYMBOL AND SYMPTOM IN BODILY SPACE‐TIME
Authors: Devisch Renaat
Published: September 2007

The subject signifies in and through his/her body. He/she does it through culturally patterned bodily symbol and symptom. Symptom is evidence of a crack or break in the integral symbolic interweave, i.e., a break in the relationships that simultaneously mediate and differentiate between the subject's body and his/her being in the social, cultural, and natural world. The study of this symbolic interweave requires a multidisciplinary approach. First, approaches to the body considered as product stress the social and the cultural. Second, experience‐ and subject‐related research in Gestalt and psychoanalytic theories and in phenomenology shift the stress to the experience of the body, i.e., to the lived body. Third, divergent semiotic‐generative approaches (language‐derived nominalistic and hermeneutic investigations, metaphoric‐constructivist and praxiological approaches) consider aspects of the body drama, i.e., of the body's creative, signifying and symbolizing capacity seen in its own right. These approaches and their recent interdisciplinary developments hold the key to the elucidation of fundamental aspects of time and space that inform the socio‐cultural body symbolism and symptom formation. They also make possible innovative cross‐cultural investigations of the ways in which a culture may stimulate its bearers to choose a particular form of somatization, or abreaction.
THE SYMBOLIC BODY AND THE SYMBOLIC SYMPTOM
Authors: Vergote Antoine
Published: September 2007

The differential analysis of the symbolic expression and of the symbolic symptom enlightens the relation between body, language and symbol. The displacement and condensation, which explain the symptom, involve a bodily perception of a symbolic nature. Consequently, Freud tends to interpret the symbol according to the symptom formation, as opposed to J. Lacan, who equates displacement with metonymy, and condensation with metaphor. The author, in analyzing the similarities and differences, interprets the symptom as a desymbolization, which presupposes a presymbolic perception, which phenomenology has thematized. However, it is language which structures this perception as symbolic, and which introduces the symbolic finality; which the psychological dynamisms do not have by their own selves.
DEFINISSEURS CULTURELS ET REPERES INDIVIDUELS: LE RAPPORT AU CORPS CHEZ LES PERSONNES AGEES
Authors: Corin Ellen
Published: September 2007

In ageing the relationship to the body refers to the way in which old age is defined in our representational systems. This defining process intervenes on a social and individual level. The individual relationship to ageing is influenced by the way in which our society prefers a spatial or corporeal definition of old age to a temporal one and by the way in which it assigns a certain position to the individual on the ageing scale.

In reference to this defining process different conceptions regarding the relationship between corporeity and ageing appear. Drawing on a survey of the literature and an exploratory interview conducted among elderly, three types of corporeity are disclosed. First, thediagnosedcorporeity, which is also defined by the medical system in chronic illness terms, reflects our fear of the irreversibility and the deterioration which we associate with this stage of life. Second, theimaginedandprojectedcorporeity of the elderly by which they themselves react to their devalorised image offered by society. Third, thelivedandactedcorporeity in which the corporeal signs reflect the social, relational, and behavioral space. In these different domains the concept of strategy seems appropriate to learn how the aged copes, at the margins, with his/her life conditions which are very difficult as well in a material, social as symbolic sense.
STRUCTURATION METAPHORIQUE DU CORPS ET IDENTITE DANS L'ANOREXIE MENTALE
Authors: Huyghe Bernard
Published: September 2007

The author explores the relations between personal identity and symbolic bodily structuring, as revealed by semantic‐praxiological analysis in patients suffering from anorexia nervosa. In particular, he analyses the bodily practices of the patients and their families, the individual body scheme, bodily identity and psychic identity. It becomes apparent that at each level of analysis (individual, familial and socio‐cultural) other aspects of identity are revealed. Some structural connections, rooted in spatio‐temporal metaphors, exist however between all these aspects. This type of semantic‐praxiological analysis is a novel and promising key to the understanding of the process of somatization. It also offers a better insight into the articulation of the biological, cultural and psychic levels which go to make up the individual identity.