A cross-cultural study of language and cognition: Numeral classifiers and solid object categorization.

One of the central issues in cognition is identifying universal and culturally specific patterns of thought. In this study, we examined how one aspect of culture, a linguistic part of speech known asclassifiers, are related to categorization of solid objects. In Experiment 1, we used a numeral classifier elicitation task to examine the classifiers used by speakers of Hmong, Japanese, and Mandarin Chinese (N = 34) with 135 nouns that referred to solid objects.

Assessment of yoga as an adjuvant treatment for combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder.

Objectives: This study assessed yoga as an adjuvant strategy for symptoms of combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Methods: Subjects had significant, combat-related PTSD. Control data were collected during an eight-week waiting period.

Shape and function in Hmong classifier choices.

This study examined classifiers in the Hmong language with a particular focus on gaining insights into the underlying cognitive process of categorization. Forty-three Hmong speakers participated in three experiments. In the first experiment, designed to verify the previously postulated configurational (saliently one-dimensional, saliently two-dimensional, and saliently three-dimensional) characteristics of common Hmong classifiers, the participants were presented with pieces of wood in various shapes and were asked to select a classifier for each item.

Topiramate in combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder.

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disabling psychiatric disorder that is common among combat veterans and may lead to very poor sleep and disturbing nightmares.

Objective: To examine the safety and effectiveness of topiramate as add-on therapy for the management of combat-related PTSD and to examine the effects of topiramate on sleep and alcohol consumption.

Methods: We conducted an 8-week open-label pilot study of topiramate for male combat veterans (N = 43) with PTSD, with analysis of veterans who completed the protocol.

Body-part metaphors: a cross-cultural survey of the perception of translatability among Americans and Japanese.

What kinds of linguistic resources do people utilize when they try to translate metaphors into a foreign language? This investigation of the perception of translatability of body-part metaphors examined the effects of the following factors: the similarity between the human body part and the metaphorical expression (e.g., "eye" in "electric eye") in appearance and function; the frequency of the use of the metaphor in the native language; and the perceived distance between the first language and the target language.