Narcissism Dynamics

The scientific study of narcissism has accelerated in recent years. However, this literature has primarily been cross-sectional and descriptive in nature, making it difficult to integrate with theories of narcissism, which instead emphasize various dynamics. Theoretical work construes narcissism as a complex dynamical system with processes that interact to contribute to narcissism expression and maintenance. We begin by reviewing theoretical accounts of narcissism and what they suggest about dynamic processes. We then review research that examines processes associated with narcissism in naturalistic settings. Integrating clinical theories with empirical work, we highlight remaining tensions in the field and discuss major conceptual considerations. For example, we discuss the role of entitlement and antagonistic behavior within narcissism and the need to identify the temporal ordering of various processes (e.g., self-esteem fluctuations and fluctuations in grandiosity and vulnerability). In light of limitations of the existing literature, we then discuss methodological barriers that currently limit the ability to fully align empirical research with theorized processes within narcissism.

Dynamical Continuous Discrete Assessment of Competencies Achievement: An Approach to Continuous Assessment

Learning is a non-deterministic complex dynamical system where students transform inputs (classes, assignments, personal work, gamification activities, etc.) into outcomes (acquired knowledge, skills, and competencies). In the process, students generate outputs in a variety of ways (exams, tests, portfolios, etc.). The result of these outputs is a grade aimed at measuring the (level of) competencies achieved by each student. We revisit the relevance of continuous assessment to obtain this grading. We simultaneously investigate the generated outputs in different moments as modifiers of the system itself, since they may reveal a variation of the level of competencies achievement previously assessed. This is a novelty in the literature, and a cornerstone of our methodology. This process is called a Dynamical Continuous Discrete assessment, which is a form of blended assessment that may be used under traditional or blended learning environments. This article provides an 11-year perspective of applying this Dynamical Continuous Discrete assessment in a Mathematics class for aerospace engineering students, as well as the students’ perception of continuous assessments.

Geosystemics and Earthquakes

Geosystemics (De Santis 2009, 2014) studies the Earth system as a whole focusing on the possible coupling among the Earth layers (the so called geo-layers), and using universal tools to integrate different methods that can be applied to multi-parameter data, often taken on different platforms. Its main objective is to understand the particular phenomenon of interest from a holistic point of view. In this paper we will deal with earthquakes, considered as a long term chain of processes involving, not only the interaction between different components of the Earth’s interior, but also the coupling of the solid earth with the above neutral and ionized atmosphere, and finally culminating with the main rupture along the fault of concern (De Santis et al., 2015a). Some case studies (particular emphasis is given to recent central Italy earthquakes) will be discussed in the frame of the geosystemic approach for better understanding the physics of the underlying complex dynamical system.

Topological Entropy and Mixing Invariant Extremal Distributional Chaos

We show that there exists a mixing dynamical system with an invariant, extremal and transitive distributionally scrambled set. Meanwhile, we prove that such a complex dynamical system has zero topological entropy. Finally, we extend the method of constructing the “strong” distributionally scrambled set and show that the new dynamical system has a positive topological entropy.

PERIOD REGION DISTRIBUTIONS OF MCMULLEN FAMILY M SETS

In this study, the period-[Formula: see text] steady regions of McMullen family M sets are discussed. The calculation methods of the numbers of period-[Formula: see text] steady regions are presented and the center points and boundaries of period-1 are studied by complex dynamical system theory. In addition, the problem about the free critical points is discussed. The experimental results show that the free critical points do not influence the distributions of period-[Formula: see text] steady regions when [Formula: see text], which is proved theoretically.