Suicidal Mental Imagery: Investigating a Novel Marker of Suicide Risk

Rates of suicidal ideation and behavior are high and increasing in emerging adulthood. Research focused on suicidal ideation as a predictor of suicidal behavior has nearly exclusively conceptualized suicidal ideation as verbal thoughts about suicide. Emerging research suggests, however, that mentally imagining suicide may be even more impairing than verbal thoughts about suicide. Thirty-nine emerging adults with a lifetime history of suicidal cognitions completed self-report assessments of characteristics of their suicidal cognitions, histories of suicide plans and behavior, and the degree to which their suicidal cognitions took the form of mental imagery or verbal thought. Suicidal mental imagery predicted more intense and longer duration of suicidal cognitions, a higher likelihood of having made a suicide plan, and a higher likelihood of having made a suicide attempt over and above suicidal verbal thoughts. Thus, suicidal mental imagery could provide a novel target for suicide assessment and intervention for emerging adults.

An Analysis of Previewing Reading Strategy in Business Texts: A Think Aloud Protocol Study

Students who study business and economics might read business texts related to their major. Some students get problem in finding main ideas or detail information. Finding main idea is not an easy job for EFL students since they need to understand the context and learn a lot of business vocabularies. To make it easier, there is one technique in reading which is called previewing. The business texts are previewed by students by reading the tittle, discussing the topic, and answering questions. This paper seeks to identify the effects of having previewing strategies used by EFL students and strategies most used by students in finding main idea and supported detail information. The qualitative research aimed at analyzing of how previewing can help students to find main ideas and detail information. This research also tried to decide whether students answered the questions correctly after using previewing strategy. Think Aloud Protocol (TAP) and interview collecting data techniques are carried to identify students’ strategies. TAP is data collecting technique that involves verbal thought. This methodology is used to determine what goes on students’ head while they are reading, finding main ideas and answering detail questions from business text. The research participants consist of thirteen students of the seventh semester in the Accounting major at ABFI Perbanas Institute Jakarta, Indonesia. The result shows that the participants used four parts of strategies in reading business text: (1) strategies of finding main idea, (2) strategies of finding detail information (strategies to find the word refers to, strategies of synonym, strategies to find definition), (3) previewing strategies, and (4) accuracy and inaccuracy to answer questions from reading business texts. The strategy that is often used by students in finding main idea is taking from the first sentence in paragraph. The strategies that are frequently used by students in finding detail information are referring to subject in previous sentence, choosing the right word from the option provided, finding the answer from dictionary and mentioning the place and time directly.

The Invariant-Based SLA Theory as Scaffolding for Textbook Theory and Praxis of Learning

L2 textbooks have always played an important role in the nativist and instructed leaning of foreign languages. Being a derivative of an SLA theory, textbook thesis is supposed to be subordinate to the basics of the original general framework. The underlying fundamentals of textbook theory coincide with those of SLA but are transpired into a domain designated as the acquirer's status. The concept is related to the functional modules of language systematics, its communicative projection, and the individual's inner verbal thought. These correlate with situational and linguistic patterns determined in terms of invariant predicative units. The binary principle will reveal itself in that the dimensions “language and communication,” “language and individual (introspective) verbal thought,” “communication and language,” “communication and individual verbal thought,” “individual verbal thought and language,” and “individual verbal thought and communication” are symmetrical counterparts of the predication axiom. The modules mentioned characterize the modus operandi of textbook theory phenomena alongside the operational modes presented by different types of speech: egocentric, inner, vocal, and written. Each mode is distinguished by a particular formula of predicative expression, with the total number of binary units remaining the same irrespective of the functioning mode type.

Мотивационные модели названий интеллектуальных процессов и свойств (на материале восточнославянских языков)

Motivation Models of the Names of Intellectual Processes and Properties (on the Material of East Slavic Languages)This article offers an analysis of motivation models of the names of intellectual processes, properties and states in East Slavic languages at different stages of their development. Focusing on the Belarusian and Ukrainian material, the study adopts the approach of diachronic cognitive onomasiology, according to which the study of nomination processes helps to understand mechanisms of verbal thought. The analysis revealed source frames of the names of cognitive activity: perception, psycho-emotional sphere, space, movement, physical activity, physical characteristics, social sphere, physiology, speech activity and light. The relative number of nominations formed by a particular model is proportional to the use of the corresponding metaphor in communication. Modern East Slavic languages are very similar in terms of their nomination models of cognitive processes, properties and states. However, differences between modern Belarusian and Ukrainian on the one hand, and the language of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania on the other, are more significant. Modele motywacyjne nazw procesów i właściwości intelektualnych (na materiale języków wschodniosłowiańskich)Artykuł przedstawia analizę modeli motywacyjnych nazw procesów, właściwości i stanów intelektualnych w językach wschodniosłowiańskich na różnych etapach ich rozwoju. Skupiając się na materiale białoruskim i ukraińskim, analiza przyjmuje podejście kognitywnej onomazjologii diachronicznej, zgodnie z którym badanie procesów nominacji pomaga zrozumieć mechanizmy myślenia werbalnego. Analiza wykazała ramy źródłowe nazw aktywności poznawczej: percepcji, sfery psycho-emocjonalnej, przestrzeni, ruchu, aktywności fizycznej, cech fizycznych, sfery społecznej, fizjologii, aktywności mowy i światła. Liczba nominacji utworzonych na bazie określonego modelu jest proporcjonalna do częstotliwości użycia odpowiadającej mu metafory w komunikacji. Współczesne języki wschodniosłowiańskie są bardzo podobne pod względem modeli nominacji procesów, właściwości i stanów poznawczych. Natomiast różnice pomiędzy współczesnym językiem białoruskim i ukraińskim z jednej strony, a językiem Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego z drugiej, są bardziej znaczące.

Language and Neuropsychiatric Disorders: An Analysis of Communication among Trilingual Schizophrenics in Nakuru Level Five Hospital in Nakuru County, Kenya

The main objective of this study was to describe the thought disturbance manifestation in code-switching patterns of trilingual schizophrenics in Nakuru Level Five Hospital. Schizophrenia is a grievous and chronic mental disorder that affects the way a person thinks, behaves and feels. Schizophrenia victims may appear like they have lost touch with reality. Sometimes these patients seem perfectly fine until they talk about what they are really thinking. They may not make sense when they talk. The symptoms can be observed directly in their language, most importantly, disorganized language. Disorganized language is a spoken language that fails to communicate effectively or follow a coherent discourse plan. It is a manifestation of positive formal thought disorder, or it reflects an underlying impairment of verbal thought. The diagnosis of schizophrenia relies entirely on language. A purposive sample of six respondents consisting of three females and three males of diverse age groups was investigated. Using a phenomenological qualitative research design, data was collected, compiled, described and analyzed underpinned by the un-Cartesian Linguistic Theory and the Multilingual Production Model. The main instrument of data collection was Thematic Apperception Test, open-ended interviews, audio recording and observation. Results from this study indicate that trilingual schizophrenics manifest illogical triadic code switch patterns involving mother tongue, Kiswahili and English resulting in a deviant language in code-switching patterns. This study will benefit scholars in linguistics, medical practitioners and the general public.

More refined typology and design in linguistic relativity

Linguistic relativity is the influence of language on other realms of cognition. For instance, the way movement is expressed in a person’s native language may influence how they perceive movement. Motion event encoding (MEE) is usually framed as a typological dichotomy. Path-in-verb languages tend to encode path information within the verb (e.g., ‘leave’), whereas manner-in-verb languages encode manner (e.g., ‘jump’). The results of MEE-based linguistic relativity experiments range from no effect to effects on verbal and nonverbal cognition. Seeking a more definitive conclusion, we propose linguistic and experimental enhancements. First, we examine state-of-the-art typology, suggesting how a recent MEE classification across twenty languages (Verkerk, 2014) may enable more powerful analyses. Second, we review procedural challenges such as the influence of verbal thought and second-guessing in experiments. To tackle these challenges, we propose distinguishing verbal and nonverbal subgroups, and having enough filler items. Finally we exemplify this in an experimental design.

The Invariant Approach

The invariant approach is likely to challenge the discreteness and one-sidedness of certain conventional language learning schemes by claiming at the integrity of verbal thought and speech. The idea of reconciliation of mental speech generating processes and actual communication is implemented by the binary predication unit used as the instruction shaper. The generation of a minimal binary predication unit might transpire in different modes of thought-speech activity and at different levels of language awareness attained by the learner. The binary unit potential is reached and realized in the invariant method of language learning which has been claimed as a derivative of the invariant approach. The binary unit constant produces the notional medium for the principles of the invariant method to be carried through. They are the principles of generalization, individualization, differentiation, cognition, and structural unity. As the invariant approach prioritizes the study outcome at the level of fundamental expertise, its advantages allow for the formation of solid grounds for both didactic and research purposes. Further investigation implies expanding across other sciences research methodologies on the interdisciplinary basis. The main issues considered include the background of the invariant-based approach to language interpretation and language learning, distinctive features and parameters, argument-taking predicates as curriculum shapers, and prospective correlations in other sciences and adjoining disciplines.