1,537 research outputs found
sj-docx-1-aut-10.1177_13623613231216052 – Supplemental material for Scene construction ability in neurotypical and autistic adults
No full textSupplemental material, sj-docx-1-aut-10.1177_13623613231216052 for Scene construction ability in neurotypical and autistic adults by Marchella Smith, Lindsey Cameron and Heather J Ferguson in Autism</p
Plausibility and perspective influence the processing of counterfactual narratives
No full textPrevious research has established that readers’ eye movements are sensitive to the difficulty with which a word is processed. One important factor that influences processing is the fit of a word within the wider context, including its plausibility. Here we explore the influence of plausibility in counterfactual language processing. Counterfactuals describe hypothetical versions of the world, but are grounded in the implication that the described events are not true. We report an eye-tracking study that examined the processing of counterfactual premises that varied the plausibility of a described action and manipulated the narrative perspective (“you” vs. “he/she”). Results revealed a comparable pattern to previous plausibility experiments. Readers were sensitive to the inconsistent thematic relation in anomalous and implausible conditions. The fact that these anomaly detection effects were evident within a counterfactual frame suggests that participants were evaluating incoming information within the counterfactual world, and did not suspend processing based on an inference about reality. Interestingly, perspective modulated the speed with which anomalous but not implausible words were detected
The future of research on social interaction
No full textOur daily lives involve many instances of social interactions, from parents talking with their children, friends catching up on each other’s news, to a customer interacting with a shop assistant. Throughout these instances of social interaction, human beings show a remarkable ability to compute ‘invisible’ mental states, allowing inference of what another person believes, can see, or has knowledge of. As highlighted throughout this book, these sociocognitive capacities are critical in determining successful social interactions, and thus furthering our understanding of social interactions in ‘real-world’ scenarios remains a key research topic. This chapter examines some of the cutting-edge methods used to study social cognition abilities, core research questions that are being explored within the field of social cognition (including ways to approach second-person neuroscience), and discusses factors that might influence social interaction abilities and how these could be used to develop intervention protocols for improving social cognition
Social interactions in old age
No full textSocial relationships play an important role in healthy ageing, with positive social interaction experiences predicting better mental and physical health. Research into social-cognitive abilities has often focused on the development of these abilities in childhood. This chapter will look at the other end of the lifespan, examining changes in social cognition abilities in older individuals as a result of healthy ageing. In particular, it focuses on several social processes, including Theory of Mind, empathy, emotion recognition, action understanding, and imitation, looking at reported changes in these abilities as a result of advancing age, and factors that may influence these changes across individuals. It also discusses potential intervention protocols aimed at reducing social-cognitive declines in older age, and how these reported abilities influence day-to-day functioning in the social world
The future of research on social interaction
No full textOur daily lives involve many instances of social interactions, from parents talking with their children, friends catching up on each other’s news, to a customer interacting with a shop assistant. Throughout these instances of social interaction, human beings show a remarkable ability to compute ‘invisible’ mental states, allowing inference of what another person believes, can see, or has knowledge of. As highlighted throughout this book, these sociocognitive capacities are critical in determining successful social interactions, and thus furthering our understanding of social interactions in ‘real-world’ scenarios remains a key research topic. This chapter examines some of the cutting-edge methods used to study social cognition abilities, core research questions that are being explored within the field of social cognition (including ways to approach second-person neuroscience), and discusses factors that might influence social interaction abilities and how these could be used to develop intervention protocols for improving social cognition
Social interactions in old age
No full textSocial relationships play an important role in healthy ageing, with positive social interaction experiences predicting better mental and physical health. Research into social-cognitive abilities has often focused on the development of these abilities in childhood. This chapter will look at the other end of the lifespan, examining changes in social cognition abilities in older individuals as a result of healthy ageing. In particular, it focuses on several social processes, including Theory of Mind, empathy, emotion recognition, action understanding, and imitation, looking at reported changes in these abilities as a result of advancing age, and factors that may influence these changes across individuals. It also discusses potential intervention protocols aimed at reducing social-cognitive declines in older age, and how these reported abilities influence day-to-day functioning in the social world
Comprehension of passive sentences with novel verbs by 25- and 42-month-olds
No full textThe acquisition of passive sentence structure has a long history of debate. Early studies using act out methods suggested that children do not understand reversible passives until around 4 years and that preschoolers pass through a stage in which they interpret the first noun phrase (NP) as the agent. However, studies using syntactic priming suggest that three-year-olds have verb-general representations of passive structure. We used forced choice pointing (Study 1) and preferential looking techniques (Study 2) to investigate at which age children show verb-general comprehension of passive structure. Since it is possible that when processing passive sentences children have to overcome a first-NP-as-agent bias, we combined preferential looking with eye-tracking measures in order to understand how children’s comprehension of passive sentences unfolds over time. We adapted a paradigm used by Gertner et al. (2006) whereby participants simultaneously saw two video clips of novel causative events, both involving a boy and a girl, whereby in one clip the boy was the agent and in the other he was the patient. Both Studies 1 and 2 compared 25-month-olds and 41-month-olds in between-subjects sentence structure conditions (Active Transitive vs. Passive). Study 1 found that 3-year-olds pointed above chance for both structures. For Study 2, we examined 800 msec windows that were time-locked to both first and second NP taking into account mean lexical processing speed for each age group. In the first NP region, both age groups showed a bias to map the first NP onto the agent, both for active and passive sentences. Both age groups showed evidence of differentiating the active from the passive sentence structure after the onset of the second NP. Thus, even as early as 25 months, children differentiate different types of two-NP sentences and show signs of an emerging ability to map these incrementally onto semantic roles
Institutional Racism and the Dynamics of Privilege in Public Health
No full textInstitutional racism, a pattern of differential access to material resources and power determined by race, advantages one sector of the population while disadvantaging another. Such racism is not only about conspicuous acts of violence but can be carried in the hold of mono-cultural perspectives. Overt state violation of principles contributes to the backdrop against which much less overt yet insidious violations occur. New Zealand health policy is one such mono-cultural domain. It is dominated by western bio-medical discourses that preclude and under-value Māori, the indigenous peoples of this land, in the conceptualisation, structure, content, and processes of health policies, despite Te Tiriti o Waitangi guarantees to protect Māori interests.
Since the 1980s, the Department of Health has committed to honouring the Treaty of Waitangi as the founding document of Māori-settler relationships and governance arrangements. Subsequent Waitangi Tribunal reports, produced by an independent Commission of Inquiry have documented the often-illegal actions of successive governments advancing the interests of Pākehā at the expense of Māori. Institutional controls have not prevented inequities between Māori and non-Māori across a plethora of social and economic indicators.
Activist scholars work to expose and transform perceived inequities. My research interest lies in how Crown Ministers and officials within the public health sector practice institutional racism and privilege and how it can be transformed. Through dialogue with Māori working within the health sector, fuelled by critical analysis and strategic advice from a research whānau (family) of Māori health leaders and a Pākehā Tiriti worker, and embracing the traditions of feminist and critical race theory I provide evidence of racism that can invoke strong emotional reactions. More disturbing is its normalisation to nigh imperceptibility within ones personal and professional life. The exposure of racism as a socially created phenomenon is a strength of the research presented here.
My action orientation is my ethical response. Honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi is a pathway to transforming racism. Such change is likely to be resisted by the Pākehā majority. This anticipated resistance is not a credible reason to weaken responsibility for such necessary change. Transforming institutional racism needs to be driven by senior managers, professional bodies, unions, and by communities. Policies, practices and leadership that enable institutional racism need to be systematically eliminated from the health sector. Crown officials must be supported to strengthen their professional accountabilities and to embrace ethical bicultural practice. Greater transparency could enable more effective monitoring of Crown behaviour and support transformed practice
Figure 1 in Craniodental characters and the relationships of Procyonidae (Mammalia: Carnivora)
No full textFigure 1. Phylogenetic hypotheses based on morphology recovered by: A, Decker & Wozencraft (1991) and B, Baskin (2004). Phylogenetic hypotheses based on molecular data recovered by: C, Koepfli et al. (2007) and D, Fulton & Strobeck (2007). Asterisk denotes Procyonidae, as defined by the author. Extinct taxa denoted by a dagger (†).Published as part of Ahrens, Heather E., 2012, Craniodental characters and the relationships of Procyonidae (Mammalia: Carnivora), pp. 669-713 in Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 164 (3) on page 671, DOI: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00778.x, http://zenodo.org/record/540682
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