Visual affects: Linking curiosity, Aha-Erlebnis, and memory through information gain.

Current theories propose that our sense of curiosity is determined by the learning progress or information gain that our cognitive system expects to make. However, few studies have explicitly tried to quantify subjective information gain and link it to measures of curiosity. Here, we asked people to report their curiosity about the intrinsically engaging perceptual 'puzzles' known as Mooney images, and to report on the strength of their aha experience upon revealing the solution image (curiosity relief). We also asked our participants (279) to make a guess concerning the solution of the image, and used the distribution of these guesses to compute the crowdsourced semantic entropy (or ambiguity) of the images, as a measure of the potential for information gain. Our results confirm that curiosity and, even more so, aha experience is substantially associated with this semantic information gain measure. These findings support the expected information gain theory of curiosity and suggest that the aha experience or intrinsic reward is driven by the actual information gain. In an unannounced memory part, we also established that the often reported influence of curiosity on memory is fully mediated by the aha experience or curiosity relief. We discuss the implications of our results for the burgeoning fields of curiosity and psychoaesthetics.

[Mental health of preschool foster care children: How do foster families influence the way children cope with trauma?] / Psychische Gesundheit von Pflegekindern im Vorschulalter: Wie stark hängt die Bewältigung traumatischer Erfahrungen von der Pflegefamilie ab?

Mental health of preschool foster care children: How do foster families influence the way children cope with trauma? Abstract. Parents and other significant persons have an important role when preschool children develop or cope with psychological symptoms following traumatic experiences. The underlying mechanisms of the interaction between traumatic experiences and influences of the foster family are still unclear. This study investigates foster parents' stress levels and parenting styles as moderators or mediators in the context of trau- matic experiences. Foster parents of 286 children between three and seven years participated in an online or paper-and-pencil survey. The results suggest a connection between the traumatic experiences of foster children and the stress levels as well as the parenting styles of their foster parents. While verbosity and laxness as parenting styles moderated the impact of traumatic experiences on externalising symptoms, stress levels mediated the impact of traumatic experiences on children's internalising and externalising symptoms. The results underscore the necessity of standardized preparation of and support for foster parents in order to avoid deterioration of psychological symptoms following traumatic events.

Erlebnis e Erfahrung na perspectiva do limiar como transição e passagem / Erlebnis and Erfahrung in Light of the Threshold as Transition and Passage / Erlebnis y Erfahrung en la perspectiva del umbral como transición y pasaje

A diferença em si e a diferença em espécie manifestam-se simultaneamente como dois aspectos do devir processual. Mesmo que ambos surjam na ruptura do presente, diferem-se em natureza. Isto se reflete nos tipos de experiência os quais eles dão origem e em termos de como avançam. Ao tornar explícitas as diferenças conceituais entre os tipos de experiência, fazemos recurso a erlebnis e erfahrung como articulados por Walter Benjamin e indicamos a transição e a passagem como modos de avanço específicos para cada tipo de experiência. Para poder perceber a mudança, precisamos de marcadores e indicadores que discirnam a transição e a passagem, funções preenchidas por limiares. Assim, nosso texto identifica diferentes modalidades de limiar exigidas pela transição e passagem como diferenciadores processuais dentro dos erlebnis e do erfahrung como produtores de diferença. Nosso texto não pretende ser uma síntese do pensamento de Benjamin sobre a experiência; somente procuramos propor "agentes clinâmicos" que possam infletir leituras e compreensões subsequentes. (AU)

Difference-as-such and difference-in-kind manifest themselves simultaneously as two aspects of processual becoming. Although they both arise in the break of the present, they are of a different nature. This is reflected in the types of experience they give rise to and in terms of how they advance. In making explicit the conceptual differences between the types experience, we make recourse to erlebnis and erfahrung as articulated by Benjamin and we posit transition and passage as modes of advance specific to each type of experience. To be able to perceive change, we need markers and indicators to discern transition and passage, a function fulfilled by thresholds. Thus, our text identifies different modalities of thresholding required by transition and passage as processual differentiators within erlebnis and erfahrung as producers of difference. Our text does not purport to be a synthesis of Benjamin's thought on experience; we seek to propose "clinamic agents" which can perhaps inflect subsequent readings or understandings of erlebnis and erfahrung and their constellation of attendant ideas. (AU)

La diferencia como tal y la diferencia en especie se manifiestan simultáneamente como dos aspectos del devenir procesual. Aunque ambos surgen en la ruptura del presente, son de naturaleza diferente. Esto se refleja en los tipos de experiencia a cuales dan lugar y en términos de cómo avanzan. Al hacer explícitas las diferencias conceptuales entre los tipos de experiencia, recurrimos a erlebnis y erfahrung como los articula Walter Benjamín y postulamos la transición y el pasaje como modos de avance específicos a cada tipo de experiencia. Con fin de poder percibir el cambio, necesitamos marcadores e indicadores para discernir la transición y el paso, una función cumplida por los umbrales. Así, nuestro texto identifica diferentes modalidades del umbral que son requeridas por la transición y el pasaje como diferenciadores procesuales dentro del erlebnis y del erfahrung como productores de diferencia. Nuestro texto no pretende ser una síntesis del pensamiento de Benjamin sobre la experiencia; solamente buscamos proponer "agentes clínamicos" que quizás puedan inflexionar lecturas posteriores o entendimientos de erlebnis y erfahrung y su constelación de ideas concomitantes. (AU)