Bodily perspective taking goes social: the role of personal, interpersonal, and intercultural factors

Mentally placing the self in the physical position of another person might engage social perspective taking because participants have to match their own position with that of another. We investigated the influence of personal (sex), interpersonal (siblings, parental marital status), and cultural (individualistic, collectivistic) factors on individuals' abilities to mentally take the position of front-facing and back-facing figures in an online study (369 participants). Replicating findings from laboratory studies responses were slower for front-facing than back-facing figures. Having siblings, parents' marital status, and cultural background influenced task performance in theoretically predictable ways. The present perspective-taking task is a promising experimental paradigm to assess social perspective taking and one that is free from the response biases inherent in self-report.

Multiple interacting cell death mechanisms in the mediation of excitotoxicity and ischemic brain damage: A challenge for neuroprotection.

There is currently no approved neuroprotective pharmacotherapy for acute conditions such as stroke and cerebral asphyxia. One of the reasons for this may be the multiplicity of cell death mechanisms, because inhibition of a particular mechanism leaves the brain vulnerable to alternative ones. It is therefore essential to understand the different cell death mechanisms and their interactions. We here review the multiple signaling pathways underlying each of the three main morphological types of cell death - apoptosis, autophagic cell death and necrosis - emphasizing their importance in the neuronal death that occurs during cerebral ischemia and hypoxia-ischemia, and we analyze the interactions between the different mechanisms. Finally, we discuss the implications of the multiplicity of cell death mechanisms for the design of neuroprotective strategies.

The development of intercultural awareness and changes of beliefs: the effects of studying abroad on learners of English as a second language

The present study examines the development of interculturality and changes of beliefs, by analyzing 106 compositions produced by 53 advanced level university students of translation studies at a university in Spain before and shortly after a stay-abroad (SA) period. The study draws on data collected at two different times: before (T1) and after the SA (T3). In addition, we compared the results with the writings produced by a control group of 10 native English speakers on SA too. Data were collected by means of a composition which tried to elicit the learners’ opinion about cultural habits maintenance. The results reveal significant changes between T1 and T3 in the degree of better attitudes and intercultural acquisition.

El Papel de la mediación intercultural en el ámbito sanitario

El trabajo analiza y define la figura del Mediador Intercultural, diferenciándole del mediador social y del intérprete de conferencias. Nos centramos en el papel del Mediador en los servicios públicos, concretamente en el ámbito sanitario y en la labor del Servicio de Mediación Intercultural del Hospital del Mar de Barcelona.

Situación de la mediación intercultural en el ámbito sanitario

Este trabajo versa sobre la situación de la mediación intercultural en el ámbito sanitario en Cataluña, concretamente en los Centros de Atención Primaria, y ofrece una reflexión sobre la necesidad actual de esta disciplina a la vez que la compara con la situación actual de la misma.

Atelier de Educação Intercultural

Este projecto intitulado por Atelier de Educação Intercultural surge no âmbito do estágio curricular do Mestrado em Ciências da Educação na área de Educação Social – Crianças Jovens e Família. A escolha do título “Atelier de Educação Intercultural” e das propostas que lhe constituem foram influenciadas por diversos factores, sendo a área de estágio o principal. A escolha da área de Educação Social – Crianças Jovens e Família como âmbito de especialização do meu estágio curricular e do Gabinete do Apoio ao Estudante (GAE FPCEUC) como local de estágio deveu-se ao facto de a combinação de ambos permitir um contacto próximo com a população académica, a qual espero vir a ser a população no seio da qual exercerei profissionalmente no meu país. O Gabinete de Apoio ao Estudante da Faculdade de Psicologia constitui um agente privilegiado no contacto com a população académica, sendo o principal facilitador de interacção entre os 1800 estudantes dos 3 cursos leccionados na instituição académica a que faz parte. A escolha do nome do projecto de estágio foi levada a cabo seguidamente à preferência da área e local de estágio, através de um contacto próximo com a orientadora da área e coordenadora do local de estágio, sendo que o título foi sugerido pela mesma e adoptado de imediato, pois, permitir-me-ia conciliar o contacto com a população académica Portuguesa e os estudantes da Comunidade de Países de Língua Oficial Portuguesa, onde se integram os estudantes Cabo-verdianos que constituirão a minha população-alvo durante a futura exerção profissional.

The three strands of intercultural polities: a comprehensive view. A critical review of Bouchard and Cantle recent books on interculturalism

Within the emerging policy debate on interculturalism we critically review two recent books in 2012: Bouchard’s L’interculturalisme: un point de vue quebecois, and Cantle’s Interculturalism: The New Era of Cohesion and Diversity. In my view, both contribute very directly to open a foundational debate on interculturalism. In addressing the point of convergence and the dividing lines of these two contributions, I will claim that in spite of having one core concept of interculturalism, there are, however, at least two basic conceptions that have to be interpreted in complementary ways: Bouchard’s essay represents the contractual strand, Cantle’s book the cohesion strand. At the end I would also suggest that these two strands do not manage to express explicitly that diversity can also be seen as a resource of innovation and creativity, and so can drive individual and social development. This view is based on the diversity advantage literature already informing most of the diversity debate in Europe and elsewhere. This is what I will call the constructivist strand. My ultimate purpose is to defend a comprehensive view, grounded on the argument that no one can have the sole authority to define intercultural policy, since the three strands can be applied at different moments, according to different purposes and policy needs. The challenge now is that policy managers be able to achieve a balance between these three policy drivers.

L'interprète communautaire: une pièce centrale dans le puzzle de la consultation interculturelle [The community interpreter: a central piece in the puzzle of the intercultural consultation]

As a consequence of growing global migration, physicians in French speaking Switzerland often face communicational difficulties with allophone patients. This paper first discusses advantages and shortcomings of various ways of dealing with this kind of situations. The indication of using professional interpreters will be addressed, as well as some specific therapeutic, linguistic and relational features of triadic consultations involving a physician, a patient and an interpreter. Finally, useful practical information and advices are provided to clinicians in order to help them optimize their consultations with allophone patients.

Mediation Fast, Free, Confidental, Everyone Wins

Booklet produced by the Iowa Civil Rights Commission

A didática na perspectiva multi/intercultural em ação: construindo uma proposta

Este trabalho se situa no contexto da pesquisa Ressignificando a Didática na Perspectiva Multi/Intercultural, realizada com o apoio do Conselho Nacional de Pesquisas Tecnológicas, no período de 2003 a 2006. Teve por principal objetivo construir e desenvolver, em caráter exploratório, um curso de Didática dirigido à licenciatura em Pedagogia, na perspectiva multi/intercultural, com abordagem metodológica inspirada na pesquisa-ação. A experiência desenvolveu-se durante um semestre letivo e foi realizada pela equipe do Grupo de Pesquisas sobre Cotidiano Escolar, Educação e Cultura(s), composta por dez integrantes. Apoiou-se em ampla literatura sobre a temática, que vem sendo explorada pelo grupo desde 1996. Após descrição e análise do desenvolvimento do curso, são levantados questionamentos, tensões e desafios para a incorporação da interculturalidade nas práticas educativas, em torno dos seguintes eixos: múltiplas narrativas, alteridade e estranhamento, e desconstrução e resistência. Conclui reafirmando a relevância da temática abordada e a complexidade da proposta em discussão.

Quan l'actualitat mediàtica entra a l'aula: la "mediaquest" com a eina per promoure la crítica intercultural.

Després d'analitzar alguns dels canvis que s'estan començant a generar en l'educació, per la introducció de les tecnologies de l'aprenentatge i el coneixement, i per la presència d'alumnat de procedència diversa, aquest article proposa una eina en web, la mediaquest, que ha d'ajudar el professorat perquè els alumnes esdevinguin creadors i productors de nous coneixements i no mers consumidors passius d'informacions rebudes. Es tracta, en definitiva, d'ajustar el temps analògic del professorat amb el temps digital de l'alumnat.

Direct Effect of Birth Weight on Childhood Blood Pressure: a Causal Mediation Analysis

Background: Numerous studies have shown a negative association between birth weight (BW) and blood pressure (BP) later in life. To estimate the direct effect of BW on BP, it is conventional to condition on current weight (CW). However, such conditioning can induce collider stratification bias in the estimate of the direct effect. Objective: To bound the potential bias due to U, an unmeasured common cause of CW and BP, on the estimate of the (controlled) direct effect of BW on BP. Methods: Data from a school based study in Switzerland were used (N = 4,005; 2,010 B/1,995 G; mean age: 12.3 yr [range: 10.1-14.9]). Measured common causes of BW-BP (SES, smoking, body weight, and hypertension status of the mother) and CW-BP (breastfeeding and child's physical activity and diet) were identified with DAGs. Linear regression models were fitted to estimate the association between BW and BP. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess the potential effect of U on the association between BW and BP. U was assumed 1) to be a binary variable that affected BP by the same magnitude in low BWand in normal BW children and 2) to have a different prevalence in low BW children and in normal BW children for a given CW. Results: A small negative association was observed between BW and BP [beta: -0.3 mmHg/kg (95% CI: -0.9 to 0.3)]. The association was strengthened upon conditioning for CW [beta: -1.5 mmHg/kg (95% CI: -2.1 to -0.9)]. Upon further conditioning on common causes of BW-BP and CW-BP, the association did not change substantially [beta: -1.4 mmHg/kg (95% CI: -2.0 to -0.8)]. The negative association could be explained by U only if U was strongly associated with BP and if there was a large difference in the prevalence of U between low BWand normal BW children. Conclusion: The observed negative association between BW and BP upon adjustment for CW was not easily explained by an unmeasured common cause of CWand BP.