An evaluation of private speech

This literature review examines the use of private speech among typically developing and hearing impaired children. This paper supports the view that private speech provides a self-regulatory function and guides behavior and problem-solving.

Maternal psychosocial adversity and the longitudinal development of infant sleep

Research has identified associations between indicators of social disadvantage and the presence of child sleep problems. We examined the longitudinal development of infant sleep in families experiencing high (n = 58) or low (n = 64) levels of psychosocial adversity, and the contributions of neonatal self-regulatory capacities and maternal settling strategies to this development. Assessments of infant sleep at 4-, 7-, and 12-weeks postpartum indicated no differences in sleeping difficulties between high- and low-adversity groups. However, more infant sleep difficulties were reported in the high- versus low-adversity groups at 12- and 18-month follow-ups. Neonatal self-regulatory capacities were not related to the presence or absence of adversity, or to subsequent infant sleep quality. However, there were group differences in maternal settling strategies that did predict subsequent infant sleep difficulties. The pattern of sleep disturbance observed in association with maternal psychosocial adversity at 18-months was consistent with risk for broader impairments in child functioning.

Amygdalar function reflects common individual differences in emotion and pain regulation success

Although the co-occurrence of negative affect and pain is well recognized, the mechanism underlying their association is unclear. To examine whether a common self-regulatory ability impacts the experience of both emotion and pain, we integrated neuroimaging, behavioral, and physiological measures obtained from three assessments separated by substantial temporal intervals. Out results demonstrated that individual differences in emotion regulation ability, as indexed by an objective measure of emotional state, corrugator electromyography, predicted self-reported success while regulating pain. In both emotion and pain paradigms, the amygdala reflected regulatory success. Notably, we found that greater emotion regulation success was associated with greater change of amygdalar activity following pain regulation. Furthermore, individual differences in degree of amygdalar change following emotion regulation were a strong predictor of pain regulation success, as well as of the degree of amygdalar engagement following pain regulation. These findings suggest that common individual differences in emotion and pain regulatory success are reflected in a neural structure known to contribute to appraisal processes.

Contributions of maternal and infant factors to infant responding to the Still Face paradigm: a longitudinal study

Early mother–infant interactions are characterised by periods of synchronous interaction that are interrupted by periods of mismatch; the experience of such mismatches and their subsequent repair is held to facilitate the development of infant self-regulatory capacities (Tronick, Als, Adamson, Wise, & Brazelton, 1978). Infant responding to such interactive challenge is assumed to be a function of both maternal behaviour and pre-existing infant characteristics. However, the latter has received relatively little attention. In a prospective longitudinal study of a sample comprising high and low adversity dyads (n = 122), we examined the contributions of both maternal sensitivity and neonatal irritability to infant behavioural and physiological responding to the interactive challenge of the Still Face paradigm. Results indicated that higher levels of maternal sensitivity were associated with more regulated infant behaviour during the Still Face paradigm. Neonatal irritability also predicted poorer behavioural and heart rate recovery following the Still Face challenge. Furthermore, there was an interaction such that irritable infants with insensitive mothers showed the worst behavioural outcomes. The findings highlight the importance of the interplay between maternal and infant characteristics in determining dyadic responding.

Global financial crisis: implications for Chinese corporate governance

This paper analyses the role of corporate governance failures and weaknesses in the global financial crisis with reference to the evolution of post-crisis corporate governance arrangements in China. The current crisis presents China with an opportunity to analyse its governance problems, reflect on its weaknesses and implement a strategy to address areas which need attention. This paper opens with a description of China’s exposure to the current global financial crisis and continues to critically evaluate the effectiveness of a free market system on corporate governance. Bratton (2002) maintains that incentive structures that motivate the self-regulatory systems generate less powerful checks against abuse than scholars and practitioners have believed. The paper highlights the need for corporate regulatory bodies and policy makers to revise and re-develop financial services sector regulations. Finally, the paper discusses the need of ethics in organizations - an issue that is beyond legislation. In an increasingly interconnected global economy, it is imperative to increase our understanding of what constitutes an effective corporate governance system. The paper contributes to the corporate governance body of literature within the Chinese context by providing insights into the contributing factors to corporate governance failure that led to the global financial crisis. It also provides policy recommendations for China’s policy makers to seriously consider. The results suggest a need for the re-examination of corporate governance adequacy and the institutionalisation of business ethics.

Stay calm! Regulating emotional responses by implementation intentions: assessing the impact on physiological and subjective arousal

Implementation intention (IMP) has recently been highlighted as an effective emotion regulatory strategy (Schweiger Gallo et al., 2009). Most studies examining the effectiveness of IMPs to regulate emotion have relied on self-report measures of emotional change. In two studies we employed electrodermal activity (EDA) and heart rate (HR) in addition to arousal ratings (AR) to assess the impact of an IMP on emotional responses. In Study 1, 60 participants viewed neutral and two types of negative pictures (weapon vs. non-weapon) under the IMP “If I see a weapon, then I will stay calm and relaxed!” or no self-regulatory instructions (Control). In Study 2, additionally to the Control and IMP conditions, participants completed the picture task either under goal intention (GI) to stay calm and relaxed or warning instructions highlighting that some pictures contain weapons. In both studies, participants showed lower EDA, reduced HR deceleration and lower AR to the weapon pictures compared to the non-weapon pictures. In Study 2, the IMP was associated with lower EDA compared to the GI condition for the weapon pictures, but not compared to the weapon pictures in the Warning condition. AR were lower for IMP compared to GI and Warning conditions for the weapon pictures.

Enforcing international financial standards in Brazil: limits and possibilities for adoption of IOSCO principles

Foreign capital and institutional investors play a key role in the Brazilian capital and financial markets. Internationally promoted regulatory patterns, especially IOSCO principles, have been increasingly influencing administrative rule making by the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) as well as the adoption of transnational rules in Brazil by means of self-regulatory activity. Even though there is a certain level of convergence of market regulatory standards at the transnational level, implementation and enforcement of rules remains essentially domestic. We analyze two case studies regarding the transposition of international standards into the Brazilian legal system, which illustrate this tension between the transnational and domestic dimensions of financial markets regulation. The first case concerns a CVM rule on disclosure of executive compensation and the its interpretation by local courts. The second case refers to the adoption of suitability rules.

A regulação descentralizada da governança corporativa: uma análise da criação dos segmentos de listagem do mercado organizado de valores mobiliários administrado pela Bovespa

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo analisar pela perspectiva da regulação descentralizada a criação dos segmentos de listagem do mercado de valores mobiliários administrado pela Bovespa. O objetivo de analisar a criação dos segmentos de listagem inclui a descrição do fenômeno para apontar fatores que levaram as companhias e controladores a alterarem seus comportamentos e a construção de um argumento normativo formulado a partir do reconhecimento desses fatores. No debate sobre regulação da Governança Corporativa, o conceito de regulação normalmente assume uma definição centrada no Estado. Grande parte da análise da criação dos segmentos de listagem do mercado administrado pela Bovespa seguiu essa perspectiva. A criação dos segmentos de listagem, então, foi classificada como um fenômeno autorregulatório, privado e de mercado. Dessa análise seguiu a formulação de um argumento normativo, o qual prescreveu o uso da autorregulação a atores que visassem estabelecer regras específicas de Governança Corporativa. Contudo, a perspectiva da regulação descentralizada questionou o pressuposto da centralidade do Estado no conceito de regulação. A perspectiva da regulação descentralizada sustentou que não só atores estatais estão cada vez mais envolvidos com atores não estatais em complexas colaborações e delegações para o exercício da regulação, como também sustentou que atores não estatais exercem regulação, incluindo, a formulação, monitoramento e enforcement de regras. Para lidar com essa complexidade dos fenômenos empíricos regulatórios, Julia Black, baseando-se na teoria dos sistemas e na literatura de Governança, formulou o conceito de regulação descentralizada. Pelo conceito de regulação descentralizada, a regulação é exercida por uma rede de atores interdependentes, estatais e não estatais, que utilizam mecanismos legais e extralegais para o exercício do poder e do controle. Diante disso, adotando esse conceito de regulação descentralizada de Julia Black, o presente trabalho pretendeu descrever a criação dos segmentos de listagem e formular um argumento normativo baseado nessa descrição. Como resultado da pesquisa realizada, foi possível concluir que a criação dos segmentos de listagem não se restringiu às partes que celebraram o Contrato de Participação, mas envolveu diversos atores, estatais e não estatais, os quais tinham uma relação de interdependência entre si e compartilharam diversos mecanismos no exercício da regulação. Com isso, não se pode resumir os fatores que fizeram com que companhias e controladores alterassem seus comportamentos e adotassem algumas regras de Governança Corporativa à voluntariedade e ao aspecto autorregulatório. Desta análise segue que, se é possível apontar para um argumento normativo do caso da criação dos segmentos de listagem, o argumento normativo não é a prescrição da autorregulação, mas sim a prescrição do uso do poder regulatório fragmentado entre diversos atores, estatais e não estatais.

Reorientando práticas de cuidado com o diabetes mellitus: a construção partilhada profissionais-usuários

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Desenvolvimento das habilidade de auto-cuidado em crianças com atraso neuropsicomotor

Introduction: The neuropsicomotor development could be negatively affected by several factors occurred in the pre, peri and pos natal period. The early stimulation is implemented by a set of dynamic activities which aim the child development according to the child’s phase. Objective: The purpose of this study was to analyze the functional skills acquisition in the self care area in children with development delay. Participated of this study 9 caregiver of children aged of 0 to 3 years with delay neuropsicomotor. Method: For the data collect was used the self-care area of the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) in the version adapted for Brazil. The data collect was performed in two different stages, with an interval of 6 months between the collects. The raw score were transformed in continuous score by the Rasch statistics, then was applied the Shapiro-Wilk and t-student test. Results: The participants obtained a signifi cant higher score in the second stage than in the fi rst (p<0,01). Conclusion: The results of the present study suggests that the early stimulation could be an important intervention in the process of self-care skills acquisition in children with neuropsicomotor delay.

Significações e sentimentos sobre o erro: alunos que frequentam a sala de apoio à aprendizagem

Pós-graduação em Psicologia - FCLAS

Evidence-Based Information on the Clinical Use of Neurofeedback for ADHD

Neurofeedback (NF) is a training to enhance self-regulatory capacity over brain activity patterns and consequently over brain mental states. Recent findings suggest that NF is a promising alternative for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We comprehensively reviewed literature searching for studies on the effectiveness and specificity of NF for the treatment of ADHD. In addition, clinically informative evidence-based data are discussed. We found 3 systematic review on the use of NF for ADHD and 6 randomized controlled trials that have not been included in these reviews. Most nonrandomized controlled trials found positive results with medium-to-large effect sizes, but the evidence for effectiveness are less robust when only randomized controlled studies are considered. The direct comparison of NF and sham-NF in 3 published studies have found no group differences, nevertheless methodological caveats, such as the quality of the training protocol used, sample size, and sample selection may have contributed to the negative results. Further data on specificity comes from electrophysiological studies reporting that NF effectively changes brain activity patterns. No safety issues have emerged from clinical trials and NF seems to be well tolerated and accepted. Follow-up studies support long-term effects of NF. Currently there is no available data to guide clinicians on the predictors of response to NF and on optimal treatment protocol. In conclusion, NF is a valid option for the treatment for ADHD, but further evidence is required to guide its use.

Regolazione delle prestazioni indispensabili e poteri della Commissione di garanzia

La legge n. 146 del 1990 ha istituito la Commissione di garanzia per l’attuazione della legge sullo sciopero nei servizi pubblici essenziali, un’authority deputata al controllo dell’effettivo bilanciamento del diritto di sciopero con gli altri diritti della persona di rango costituzionale nel caso dei servizi pubblici essenziali. Ad essa spettano alcuni poteri tra di loro eterogenei. Accanto a poteri propulsivi e sanzionatori, essa possiede poteri di tipo normativo. La legge prevede, infatti, che le prestazioni indispensabili e le altre misure necessarie al contemperamento siano determinate da accordi tra il datore di lavoro e le associazioni sindacali, mentre per il lavoro autonomo da codici di autoregolamentazione forniti da ognuna delle categorie interessate. Gli accordi e i codici di autoregolamentazione devono essere, comunque, sottoposti al vaglio della Commissione di garanzia la quale in ultimo stabilisce se essi siano idonei a realizzare il bilanciamento dei diritti in questione. Quando i soggetti indicati dalla legge non provvedano alla redazione dei suddetti atti, la Commissione interviene con l’emanazione di una provvisoria regolamentazione, la quale possiede natura di regolamento, giacchè partecipa dei caratteri della generalità ed astrattezza propri delle norme di legge. In effetti, anche altre authorities possiedono un potere normativo, che si sostanzia alle volte in un regolamento indipendente, altre in un regolamento simile ai regolamenti delegati ed altre al regolamento esecutivo. Poiché la legge n. 146 del 1990 prevede quali siano gli istituti idonei a realizzare il bilanciamento (preavviso, proclamazione scritta, procedure di raffreddamento e conciliazione, intervallo minimo, misure indicative delle prestazioni indispensabili), la provvisoria regolamentazione possiede i caratteri del regolamento esecutivo.

Subjective stress in female elite athletes and non-athletes: Evidence from cortisol analyses

Stress response can be considered a consequence of psychological or physiological threats to the human organism. Elevated cortisol secretion represents a biological indicator of subjective stress. The extent of subjectively experienced stress depends on individual coping strategies or self-regulation skills. Because of their experience with competitive pressure, athletes might show less pronounced biological stress responses during stressful events compared to non-athletes. In the present study, the short version of the Berlin Intelligence Structure Test, a paper-pencil intelligence test, was used as an experimental stressor. Cortisol responses of 26 female Swiss elite athletes and 26 female non-athlete controls were compared. Salivary free cortisol responses were measured 15 minutes prior to, as well as immediately before and after psychometric testing. In both groups, a significant effect of time was found: High cortisol levels prior to testing decreased significantly during the testing session. Furthermore, athletes exhibited reliably lower cortisol levels than non-athlete controls. No significant interaction effects could be observed. The overall pattern of results supports the idea that elite athletes show a less pronounced cortisol-related stress response due to more efficient coping strategies.

Action crisis and cost–benefit thinking: A cognitive analysis of a goal-disengagement phase

The present research is based on the notion that disengagement from goals is not a discrete event but a process (Klinger, 1975). A critical phase in this process is when difficulties and setbacks in striving for a goal accumulate. This critical phase is termed here as an action crisis. Given the profound effects that people's thoughts have on their self-regulatory efficiency, it is essential to understand the cognitive correlates of an action crisis. In two experimental lab and two correlational field studies, the hypothesis that goal-related costs and benefits become cognitively highly accessible during an action crisis was tested and supported. Participants who were experiencing an action crisis in such diverse goal areas as intimate relationships, sports, and university studies, thought about goal-related costs and benefits more intensively and frequently in comparison to participants who were not in an action crisis. In an incidental learning task they recognized more of cost–benefit-items and less of implementation-items than the control group. Results are interpreted in terms of action phase specific mindsets (Gollwitzer, 1990, 2012).