Search results for "CONST"

Some reflections on semantic–pragmatic cycles

2020

Abstract This paper explores novel ways to consider semantic–pragmatic cycles using a dual strategy: an inwards strategy, whereby the distinctive traits of a pragmatic cycle are established, and an outwards strategy, whereby the categories that delimit semantic–pragmatic cycles are described. The result of this exploration is the distinction between “pragmatic cycle”, “replication”, “concomitance” and “paradigmatic increase” as four different yet related processes. In addition, this study integrates Construction Grammar into the description of each process and shows that the study of semantic–pragmatic cycles can benefit from a constructional approach, adopting Traugott and Trousdale’s (201…

How to do things with signs. The formulation of directives on signs in public spaces

2021

Abstract This paper analyzes signs and written messages aimed at regulating people's behavior in public spaces. Based on a collection of more than 700 verbal and pictographic signs, the paper focuses on how the formulation of the directives reflect and construct the authors' deontic authority, how they account for the social legitimacy of the directive and how they seek to evoke the addressee's goodwill and cooperativeness. The analysis shows that the author's entitlement to perform the directive may be grounded in references to institutional authority, or that it may be manifested in the linguistic or pictographic expression itself, such as use of imperative mode, exclamation marks, or thr…

If you can defend your own point of view, you're good : Norms of voice construction in student writing on an international Master's programme

2019

Abstract This ethnographically oriented study followed the writing experiences of four students on an international masters programme in Finland. Gathering a range of data, the study set out to examine what counts as good writing on a programme with a very diverse student body in which English is used as a lingua franca. Both teachers and students emphasised the importance of arguing one's ‘own point of view’ in academic writing, and teachers often formed impressions of students on the basis of their texts, drawing attention particularly to their use of metadiscourse markers (e.g., self-mentions, attitude markers and hedges). The present article therefore combines a quantitative analysis of…

Assessing Vocabulary in Deaf and Hearing Children using Finnish Sign Language.

2020

Abstract This study investigates children’s vocabulary knowledge in Finnish Sign Language (FinSL), specifically their understanding of different form-meaning mappings by using a multilayered assessment format originally developed for British Sign Language (BSL). The web-based BSL vocabulary test by Mann (2009) was adapted for FinSL following the steps outlined by Mann, Roy and Morgan (2016) and piloted with a small group of deaf and hearing native signers (N = 24). Findings showed a hierarchy of difficulty between the tasks, which is concordant with results reported previously for BSL and American Sign Language (ASL). Additionally, the reported psychometric properties of the FinSL vocabular…

Changes in the Semantic Construction of Compassion after the Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (CBCT®) in Women Breast Cancer Survivors

2021

The growing body of research on compassion has demonstrated its benefits for healthcare and wellbeing. However, there is no clear agreement about a definition for compassion, given the novelty of the research on this construct and its religious roots. The aim of this study is to analyze the mental semantic construction of compassion in Spanish-speaking women breast cancer survivors, and the effects of the Cognitively-Based Compassion Training (CBCT®) on the modification of this definition, compared to treatment-as-usual (TAU), at baseline, post-intervention, and six-month follow-up. Participants were 56 women breast cancer survivors from a randomized clinical trial. The Osgood''s Semantic D…

2017

The analysis of open-minded attitudes towards sexuality in general requires a construct based on attitudinal dimensions. Although several existing studies involve sexual attitudes, they differ substantially and standardized conceptual work is missing. Thus, the authors introduce the latent variable sexual openness to develop a construct based on self-oriented attitudes towards different sexual topics. Available survey data of female German students in a steady relationship allowed providing a first empirical test for the applicability of this construct. Five subdimensions are acknowledged central for sexual openness: sexual practices, masturbation, bisexuality, permissiveness, and pornograp…

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Health Behavior Change: A Contextually-Driven Approach.

2018

Promoting health behavior change presents an important challenge to theory and research in the field of health psychology. In this paper, we introduce a context-driven approach, the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) model which is built on Relational Frame Theory. The ACT-based intervention aims to promote individuals’ new health behavior patterns through the improvement of the key construct of psychological flexibility, which is defined as the ability to contact the present moment more fully with acceptance and mindfulness as a conscious human being. Building on the psychological flexibility model, implemented through the six core ACT processes, individuals improve maintenance of lon…

Evaluation der Sexual Sensation Seeking Scale: Ergebnisse einer repräsentativen deutschen Bevölkerungsumfrage

2021

ZusammenfassungBisherige Studien zu Sexual Sensation Seeking (SSS) und der Sexual Sensation Seeking Scale (SSSS) wurden überwiegend an nach dem Alter sowie dem Geschlecht selektierten Stichproben durchgeführt. In dieser Arbeit wurde die deutsche Version der SSSS anhand einer repräsentativen Umfrage an Männern und Frauen evaluiert, welche die gesamte Altersspanne der erwachsenen deutschen Bevölkerung umfasst. Die Gütekriterien und die Faktorenstruktur der deutschen Version der Sexual Sensation Seeking Scale wurden anhand einer repräsentativen Stichprobe von N=2420 Probanden (54% Frauen, 46% Männer) im Alter von 18–93 Jahren (M=50,44, SD=16,97) untersucht. Die SSSS zeigt gute Werte hinsichtli…

Construct Validity and Population-Based Norms of the German Brief Resilience Scale (BRS).

2018

Abstract. The Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) measures the ability to recover from stress. To provide further evidence for construct validity of the German BRS and to determine population-based norms, a large sample (N = 1,128) representative of the German adult population completed a survey including the BRS and instruments measuring perceived stress and the resilience factors optimism, self-efficacy, and locus of control. Confirmatory factor analyses showed best model fit for a five-factor model differentiating the ability to recover from stress from the three resilience factors. On the basis of latent and manifest correlations, convergent and discriminant validity of the BRS were fair to g…

The Italian Version of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP-32): Psychometric Properties and Factor Structure in Clinical and Non-clinical Gr…

2018

All versions of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP) are broadly used to measure people's interpersonal functioning. The aims of the current study are: (a) to examine the psychometric properties and factor structure of the Italian version of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-short version (IIP-32); and (b) to evaluate its associations with core symptoms of different eating disorders. One thousand two hundred and twenty three participants (n = 623 non-clinical and n = 600 clinical participants with eating disorders and obesity) filled out the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems-short version (IIP-32) along with measures of self-esteem (Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, RSES), psych…