Does the name say it all? Investigating phoneme-personality sound symbolism in first names.

Sound symbolism has typically been demonstrated as an association between certain phonemes and perceptual dimensions (e.g., size or shape). For instance, the maluma-takete effect is the sound symbolic association between sonorant and voiceless stop phonemes and round and sharp visual shapes, respectively. Here we explored a novel association between phonemes and a more abstract dimension: personality. Further, although sound symbolism has often been examined using nonwords, here we studied it in the context of existing first names. In Experiments 1 and 2, we presented first names containing sonorant versus voiceless stop consonants and found that participants associated these with different personality factors from the HEXACO model of personality. In general, names with sonorant phonemes (e.g., Mona, Owen) were associated with high Emotionality, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness, whereas names with voiceless stop phonemes (e.g., Katie, Curtis) were associated with high Extraversion. In Experiment 3, we examined whether the associations of a person's name predict their personality. A sample of 1,071 individuals provided their names and completed a HEXACO personality inventory. We found no real-world evidence of the associations we observed in the lab. In Experiment 4, we used invented names and tested participants in the lab once again, finding evidence of the same associations as in Experiment 1 and 2. This suggests that phonemes, and not just existing knowledge of individuals with particular names, are key to the associations observed. Finally, in Experiment 5, we found that these effects are not mediated by likability. We discuss potential mechanisms for the observed associations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Cognitive outcomes of childhood primary CNS vasculitis.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the clinical cognitive phenotypes and severity of cognitive burden according to disease subtype in children with primary central nervous system vasculitis (cPACNS). METHOD: This retrospective multicenter inflammatory brain disease database study examined the neuropsychological outcomes of 80 children (44 male; mean age = 7.89 years, SD = 4.17) consecutively diagnosed with primary CNS vasculitis between 1992 and 2016. Twenty-one children had small-vessel disease (AN_cPACNS), and 59 had large-vessel disease (including 49 nonprogressive [APNP_cPACNS] and 10 progressive [APP_cPACNS]). Neuroimaging revealed MRI abnormalities in 100% and 90% of children with large- and small-vessel vasculitis, respectively. The primary outcomes were Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) and the index scores from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III (WISC-III, WISC-IV, and WISC-V). Analyses explored the effect of disease subtype. RESULTS: Intellectual functioning was assessed on average 2.82 years after symptom onset. Children with small-vessel CNS vasculitis had significantly lower FSIQ scores than did those with large-vessel CNS vasculitis (Ms = 81.90 vs. 94.82; p = .04). Intellectual disability (FSIQ < 70) was more frequent in children with small-vessel disease (24% vs. 5%). All groups displayed lower Working Memory and Processing Speed index scores relative to Verbal Comprehension and Perceptual Reasoning index scores. Group differences in FSIQ remained significant after controlling for the presence of seizures. CONCLUSION: Children with small-vessel CNS vasculitis are more likely to demonstrate deficits in intellectual functioning than are those with large-vessel disease, and children with both types of CNS vasculitis demonstrate relatively poor working memory and processing speed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).