Forskning visar att buller orsakar ohälsa för många medborgare både i Europa generellt, och i Sverige. De två viktigaste negativa hälsoeffekterna av buller är försämrad sömn och bullerstörning. Trafikbuller är den främsta orsaken till dessa effekter.

I denna studie användes enkäter samt data från bullerkartor för att undersöka bullerstörning från trafik. Av de 1168 personerna i urvalet deltog 678 personer. Deltagarna svarade på 39 frågor rörande: buller, hälsa, rekreationsbeteende, luftkvalitéupplevelse samt demografi.

Studiens första syfte var att undersöka bullerstörning från vägtrafik och spårtrafik, hos boende i Silverdal. Resultatet visade att de boende i Silverdal är mer störda av buller än genomsnittet i Sverige, men även jämfört med de beräknade störningsnivåerna från bullerkartorna. Faktorerna som starkast påverkade störning från vägtrafik var: upplevda vibrationer, den upplevda luftkvalitén hemma, utbildningsnivå, om sovrumsfönstret vette mot en lokalgata samt attityd till vägtrafik. Motsvarande faktorer för spårtrafik var: upplevda vibrationer, sovrumsfönster mot spår samt utbildningsnivå.

Studiens andra syfte undersökte upplevelse av rekreationsmöjligheter och rekreationsbeteende. Resultatet visade att majoriteten av deltagarna upplever mycket bra möjligheter till rekreation. Områden, nära hemmet, med natur samt med lägre nivåer av bullernivåer, var mest besökta.

Studiens tredje syfte var att undersöka hur boende i Silverdal upplevde luftkvalitén. Resultatet visar att utomhusluften är det som upplevs mest problematiskt, medan färre upplever inomhusluften som dålig.

Studien visar att många boende i Silverdal är störda av buller, både jämfört med nationella undersökningar, men även i relation till den beräknade bullerstörningsnivån från bullerkartor. Rekreationsmiljön i området upplevs som relativt god och lufkvalitén upplevs som ett relativt mindre problem jämfört med bullret. Utomhusmiljön är den miljö som upplevs som är mest problematiskt för boende. Bulleråtgärder utomhus längs bullerkällornas sträckning rekommenderas, dels eftersom de efterfrågas av de boende, del för att de  minskar bullret både utomhus och inomhus.

An acoustic environment contains sounds from various sound sources, some generally perceived as wanted, others as unwanted. This thesis examines the effects of wanted and unwanted sounds in acoustic environments, with regard to masking, stress recovery, and speech intelligibility.

In urban settings, masking of unwanted sounds by sounds from water structures has been suggested as a way to improve the acoustic environment. However, Study I showed that the unwanted (road traffic) sound was better at masking the wanted (water) sound than vice versa, thus indicating that masking of unwanted sounds with sounds from water structures may prove difficult. Also, predictions by a partial loudness model of the auditory periphery overestimated the effect of masking, indicating that centrally located informational masking processes contribute to the effect. Some environments have also been shown to impair stress recovery; however studies using only auditory stimuli is lacking. Study II showed that a wanted (nature) sound improve stress recovery compared to unwanted (road traffic, ambient) sounds. This suggests that the acoustic environment influences stress recovery and that wanted sounds may facilitate stress recovery compared to unwanted sounds. An additional effect of unwanted sounds is impeded speech communication, commonly measured with speech intelligibility models. Study III showed that speech intelligibility starts to be negatively affected when the unwanted (aircraft sound) masker have equal or higher sound pressure level as the speech sound. Three models of speech intelligibility (speech intelligibility index, partial loudness and signal–to–noise ratio) predicted this effect well, with a slight disadvantage for the signal–to–noise ratio model. Together, Study I and III suggests that the partial loudness model is useful for determining effects of wanted and unwanted sounds in outdoor acoustic environments where variations in sound pressure level are large. But, in environments with large variations in other sound characteristics, models containing predictions of central processes would likely produce better results.

The thesis concludes that wanted and unwanted characteristics of sounds in acoustic environments affect masking, stress recovery, and speech intelligibility, and that auditory perception models can predict these effects.

Social media effects may affect self-perception and the way media users live their offline lives. The purpose of this essay was to examine the phenomenon of social media saturation in order to understand the possible risks to the development of human identity during the adolescent period. Hence, these risks may be generated by being exposed to social comparison, cyberbullying, self-validation, and self-perception in a sensitive age when self-image is still fragile and being formed. The purpose of this essay is to examine the psychological tendencies of human beings while interacting with their peers on social media platforms. Hence, this will give us a clearer view of what would be achieved by conducting interviews. Moreover, a selection of theories will be applied to those interviews in order to associate those theories with what has been said by respondents. Hence, Meyrowitz’s theory will be used in relation to  understanding the identity adaptation to online connection and linked to Goffman’s discussions of “onstage” and “backstage” (Meyrowitz, 1985: 5). After this, the essay will investigate how users’ self-perception and social comparison are enacted while socializing on social media platforms. Furthermore, this essay sheds the light on how identity is constructed online in the sense of belonging to a community on a social media platform as well as of gratification coming from peer validation in a virtual community. To be able to explain this, the “Social Identity Theory” will, therefore, be discussed (Teo, Matti, et al, 2017: 23). This will be discussed by mentioning theories like “Mediatization” (Couldry & Hepp, 2013). And lastly, the sociological concept of Habitus, minted by Pierre Bourdieu will demonstrate the process of adaptation towards unspoken social codes existing in virtual communities (Markham, 2017: 55). 

As found in the four qualitative semi-structured interviews with social media users, respondents are surrounding themselves with like-minded social groups which provide them with confidence about their own system of beliefs. Nevertheless, their perspectives are often marked by notable social pessimism and a lack of incentive to engage in conflictual interactions with others on social media. The results pointed out the perception among the interviewees that the impact of social media on identity formation is largely confined to adolescent users. Many users self-report significant daily screen time and are aware of the risks of social bubbles. Most of the respondents denied being subjected to cyberbullying, while they were surfing on social media, so the respondents’ physical lives were not affected by cyberbullying even for those who mentioned their exposure to cyberbullying. All the respondents expressed a sense of jealousy to some extent, even though some of them showed awareness of the thought that people post their lives from a perfect angle while hiding the flaws and not showing the imperfections of their lives on social media. Lastly, social comparison was an incentive feeling affected most of the respondents, and in their own experience, social media affected their character development and self-perception since they were exposed to social media at an adolescent age. 

The aim of this study was to examine closer the conflicting results from previous studies concerning the relation- ship between Facebook use and self-esteem using the Facebook Intensity Scale and Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale (N = 107). In line with some previous studies, our data confirmed that there is a relationship between Facebook usage and self-esteem, but the applied scales allowed a more refined assessment of it. The results showed, after controlling for demographic variables, that participants with low Facebook intensity reported on average higher self-esteem than those who did not use Facebook or those with high Facebook intensity, while those with medium Facebook intensity had significantly higher self-esteem compared to the participants with high Facebook intensity. Future studies should address the underlying causal relations using a time-bound observation method.

Mellan åren 2006–2021 ökade andelen som uppgav att de känner sig stressade bland både kvinnor och män under 45 år. Stress kan uppstå genom olika påfrestningar, såväl fysiska som psykiska. Tidigare studier visar att stress och psykisk ohälsa har ökat kraftigt hos universitetsstudenter de senaste decennierna. Det har även framkommit i tidigare studier att copingstrategierna som flertalet universitetsstudenter använder sig av är aktiv coping, planering och accepterande. En av de vanligaste orsakerna till att studenter söker hjälp hos studenthälsan är stress och därför är universitetets stöd för att främja studenternas psykiska hälsa av stor betydelse. Studies syfte var att undersöka om det finns ett samband mellan 14 copingstrategier, stress och upplevelsen av stöd från universitetet. Studiens data samlades in via en enkätundersökning totalt deltog n= 75 , varav 59 kvinnor, 14 män och 2 annat. Studiens starkaste prediktorn var undvikande beteende och de som använder denna copingstrategi uppfattar att de har mindre upplevt stöd från universitetet. Resultatet från positiv mindset visade en svag signifikans och studenter som använder den copingstrategin upplever så ledes stöd. Det engagerande beteendet visade inget signifikant resultat i studien och de studenter som använder den copingstrategin varken upplever eller inte upplever stöd. I korrelationsmatrisen visade variabeln stress inget samband med det upplevda stödet. Resultatet visar även att copingstrategin alkohol och droger har en positiv effekt på det upplevda stödet. Slutsatsen för den här studien är att de med positiva copingstrategier förutom alkohol och droger upplever stöd och de med negativa copingstrategier upplever inte stöd från universitetet. 

It has been argued that economic development and increased socioeconomic security tend to foster postmaterialistic attitudes including an increased concern for the environment. According to the postmaterialist hypothesis, individuals who grow up under favorable materialistic conditions tend to place a higher value on non-materialistic issues, not only during their adolescence but also for the rest of their lives. During a modernization process where people’s socioeconomic welfare increases with time, a generational effect is created where younger cohorts systematically demonstrate a higher concern for postmaterialistic values. In contrast to the postmaterialist hypothesis, a link between current income and postmaterialism has been suggested as an alternative explanation for the alleged spread of postmaterialistic attitudes. This would imply that the generational effect is substituted for a current income effect where societies with more affluent citizens tend to have a more postmaterialistic outlook. In this article, concern for the environment is taken as an example of a postmaterialistic outlook. Survey data about attitudes towards environmental issues in Estonia (2001) is used to show that no clear correlation can be found between either personal income or age and the adoption of a positive attitude towards environmental issues. This finding is taken as a starting point for a theoretical elaboration about the relationship between income, attitudes and the consumption of postmaterialistic goods. It is suggested that the important link might not be between attitudes and socioeconomic security but between income and spending on postmaterialistic goods. Changes in behavior are therefore dependent on differences in income elasticity between materialistic and postmaterialistic goods. The most important implication is that the observed changes in attitude in a postmaterialistic direction probably entail less consumption of materialistic goods in relative terms but not in absolute terms.

I studien undersöks hurvida individer som söker sig tillentreprenörskap i sitt yrkesval har en specifik personlighetsprofil somgår att urskilja från människor som väljer andra yrken. Detta görsgenom en enkätundersökning som jämför Big Five personlighetsdragoch självkänsla hos 21 entreprenörstudenter och 18 filosofistudenter.Resultaten visar att det existerar signifikanta skillnader hosentreprenörstudenter vad gäller neuroticism, öppenhet ochextraversion. Det uppkom också skillnader mellan kvinnligaentreprenörstudenter och kvinnliga deltagare i kontrollgruppen vadgäller självkänsla. Resultaten antyder att personlighet har en påverkannär en individ väljer att bli en entreprenör, och att hög självkänsla kanvara en viktig komponent för kvinnor som bestämmer för att satsa på yrket.

We review psychological research bearing on major theories of metaphor comprehension. A broad survey of behavioral studies is coupled with findings from recent meta-analyses of neuroimaging studies of metaphor processing. We identify three broad theoretical positions that have been the foci of research efforts: analogy, categorization, and conceptual mapping. The first two of these emphasize relatively well-specified information-processing models; the third links metaphor comprehension to embodied cognition. Our review evaluates the evidence that has been taken as support for each view, and then critically examines studies that bear on competing hypotheses derived from opposing theories. Finally, we discuss issues that future research on metaphor should address. In particular, we call for greater consideration of the pragmatic functions of metaphor in context, of its emotional impact, and of its links to literary interpretation. We suggest ways in which mechanisms based on analogy and conceptual combination might be integrated to create a richer conception of metaphor understanding.

Studies suggest that hourly digital screen time increases adolescents' depressive symptoms and emotional regulation difficulties. However, causal mechanisms behind such associations remain unclear. We hypothesized that problem-focused and/or emotion-focused engagement coping moderates and possibly mediates this association over time. Questionnaire data were collected in three waves from a representative sample of Swedish adolescents (0, 3 and 12 months; n = 4793; 51% boys; 99% aged 13-15). Generalized Estimating Equations estimated the main effects and moderation effects, and structural regression estimated the mediation pathways. The results showed that problem-focused coping had a main effect on future depression (b = 0.030; p < 0.001) and moderated the effect of screen time (b = 0.009; p < 0.01). The effect size of this moderation was maximum 3.4 BDI-II scores. The mediation results corroborated the finding that future depression was only indirectly correlated with baseline screen time, conditional upon intermittent problem-coping interference (C'-path: Std. beta = 0.001; p = 0.018). The data did not support direct effects, emotion-focused coping effects, or reversed causality. We conclude that hourly screen time can increase depressive symptoms in adolescent populations through interferences with problem-focused coping and other emotional regulation behaviors. Preventive programs could target coping interferences to improve public health. We discuss psychological models of why screen time may interfere with coping, including displacement effects and echo chamber phenomena.

Despite the exceptional performance of large language models (LLMs) on a wide range of tasks involving natural language processing and reasoning, there has been sharp disagreement as to whether their abilities extend to more creative human abilities. A core example is the interpretation of novel metaphors. Given the enormous and non-curated text corpora used to train LLMs, a serious obstacle to designing tests is the need to obtain novel yet high-quality metaphors that are unlikely to have been included in the training data. Here we assessed the ability of GPT-4, a state-of-the-art large language model, to provide natural-language interpretations of novel literary metaphors drawn from Serbian poetry and translated into English. Human judges—blind to the fact that an AI model was involved—rated metaphor interpretations generated by GPT-4 as superior to those provided by a group of college students. In interpreting reversed metaphors, GPT-4, as well as humans, exhibited signs of sensitivity to the Gricean cooperative principle. These results indicate that LLMs such as GPT-4 have acquired an emergent ability to interpret literary metaphors.

Sverige har en segregerad arbetsmarknad och det finns en skillnad i vilka yrken män och kvinnor väljer att arbeta inom. Språket kan vara en källa till detta och kommunala och agentiska adjektiv har visat sig finnas i jobbannonser. Föreliggande studie undersökte betydelsen av språkbruk i organisationsbeskrivningar, mer specifikt om kvinnor och män bedömer organisationsbeskrivningar olika beroende på om de läst en agentisk eller kommunal organisationsbeskrivning. De beroende variabler som testades var organisationens attraktivitet, känsla av samhörighet, upplevd jämställdhet, liksom skattning av andelen kvinnor och män inom organisationen. 138 deltagare deltog i studien, varav 75 definierade sig med pronomen hon och 63 definierade sig med pronomen han. Deltagarna deltog genom att besvara och fullfölja en internetbaserad enkät. Signifikanta resultat uppstod och ett av huvudfynden visade att kommunala texter aktiverade högre samhörighet, men det gällde för både män och kvinnor. Ett annat huvudfynd var att män upplevde större jämställdhet, i både den kommunala och agentiska organisationsbeskrivningen, än vad kvinnor gjorde. Resultaten i sin helhet visade att kvinnor och män till viss del skattar texter olika och att språkbruk kan få konsekvenser för hur organisationen upplevs. Framtida studier bör fokusera på språket ur ett intersektionellt perspektiv, detta så att fler individer inkluderas i jämställdhetsarbetet. 

Sveriges har en könssegregerade arbetsmarknad där kvinnor och män arbetar inom olika yrken och branscher. Enligt tidigare studier innehåller jobbannonser flera agentiska (manliga) adjektiv och färre kommunala (kvinnliga) vilket påverkar kvinnors uppfattning av organisationer negativt och delvis bidrar till att kvinnor fortsätter söka sig till kvinnodominerade yrken. Kvinnor har dessutom tidigare visat lägre tilltro till sin förmåga (self- efficacy) generellt, i karriären och för stereotypiskt manliga yrken, jämfört med stereotypiskt kvinnliga. Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur könsstereotypiskt språk (agentiskt och kommunalt) påverkar kvinnor och mäns uppfattning av en organisation vad gäller attraktivitet och samhörighet. Studien syftade även till att jämföra nivåer av self-efficacy i ett försök att förstå varför effekterna av språk tidigare varit större för kvinnor än män. Deltagarna (n=170, varav 155 identifierade sig som ’hon’ och 55 som ’han’) randomiserades att läsa en av två betingelser i form av organisationsbeskrivningar via en webbenkät. Huvudfynden i studien visade att kommunalt språk hade positiva effekter och att agentiskt språk hade negativa effekter vad gäller organisationens attraktivitet och förväntad samhörighet, både för kvinnor och män. För mäns del motsäger det tidigare studiers resultat. Ytterligare huvudfynd visade att kvinnor hade lägre self- efficacy för stereotypiskt manliga yrken (STEM) jämfört med män. Resultaten i studien belyser språkets betydelse för att attrahera kvinnor till stereotypiskt manliga yrken och vikten av att stärka kvinnors self-efficacy för stereotypiskt manliga yrken för att motverka en könssegregerad arbetsmarknad. Framtida studier föreslås inkludera icke-binära samt queerpersoner för ytterligare inkludering samt undersöka self-efficacy som medierande variabel för attraktivitet och samhörighet.

This paper targets the multimodal character of children’s play and its potential for scaffolding second language development. We follow children who are newcomers to a Swedish preschool, and analyze their interactions. Play is, we argue, based on rules or tacit agreements between children, originating in the human capacity of imitation, and creates an opportunity to test out cultural patterns. Despite their limited language abilities, the children naturally engage in bodily play interactions where different objects are deployed. This can potentially underpin second language development, not least when a child or teacher with better Swedish language proficiency participates.

Tidigare studier har visat att det finns köns- och generationsskillnader gällande attityder till sexuella övergrepp. De har också visat att flera andra faktorer påverkar, bland annat viljan att se världen som rättvis och våldtäktsmyter. Syftet med den här studien var att undersöka hur attityder gentemot sexuella övergrepp upplevs ha förändrats efter #metoo. Frågeställningen är: Upplevs attityder gentemot sexuella övergrepp ha förändrats efter metoo, och i så fall hur? Sexuella övergrepp är ett utbrett problem som tidigare varit tabu att prata om och det är därför intressant att se om uppropet har gjort en skillnad. Ämnet ansågs särskilt intressant eftersom det är viktigt att veta hur uppropet har fått för reaktioner för att kunna lägga upp fortsatt arbete med att upplysa om sexuella övergrepp. Eftersom ämnet tidigare är outforskat är studien explorativ. En kvalitativ studie med 11 semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts och intervjusvaren har sedan analyserats med hjälp av tematisk analys. Deltagarna bestod av fem män, fem kvinnor och en icke-binär person och var mellan 20 och 70 år. Fyra teman framkom, ökad kunskap och förståelse, distansering, förflyttande av skam och omdefiniering av tidigare upplevelser. Resultatet visade att det finns en större medvetenhet hos deltagarna om sexuella övergrepp och att deras syn på problemet har förändrats. Åsikterna hos deltagarna var polariserade och det fanns köns- och generationsskillnader. En svaghet för studien var att den endast bygger på de 11 deltagarnas egna teorier om sina egna och andras attitydförändringar. För framtida studier föreslås att göra en kvantitativ undersökning för att se om resultaten från denna studie går att generalisera.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka självförtroende och kroppsbild hos datorspelare, styrketränare och en kontrollgrupp. En webbenkät med manliga medlemmar på dator- och idrottsrelaterade internetforum genomfördes. Kontrollgruppen var medlemmar på dessa forum som varken styrketränade eller spelade datorspel. Skalorna Social physique anxiety scale, Rosenberg self-esteem scale och Drive for muscularity scale administrerades. Resultatet visar att grupperna inte var signifikant skilda åt gällande social fysisk ångest eller självförtroende. Medan styrketränare hade signifikant högre poäng än datorspelare och kontrollgruppen på önskan att bli muskulös och dess subskalor. Kanske har alla män på grund av social press från massmedia samma nivåer av kroppsbild och självförtroende. Att önskan att bli muskulös var högre hos styrketränare stöds av resultat från andra studier. Att önskan att bli muskulös var normalt hos datorspelare går emot self-discrepancy theory men kan bero på identifiering med spelkaraktärer. Framtida studier föreslås undersöka skillnader i graden av identifiering med datorspelskaraktärer mellan datorspelare som sportar och datorspelare som inte sportar.

Forskning om luktsinnesförändringar och hur det påverkar individers liv är aktuellt med den ökade prevalensen av luktproblem efter Covid-19. Denna studie syftar till att bidra med kunskap om individer som upplever ett förändrat luktsinnei sin vardag. För att undersöka detta användes mixade metoder. Den kvantitativadelen undersökte sambandet mellan individers luktsinnesförändring (Anosmi,Hyposmi, Fantosmi och Parosmi) och deras upplevda livskvalité, då det tidigareinte är undersökt. Sambandet undersöktes genom att statistiskt analysera enenkätundersökning som mätte individernas luktrelaterade livskvalité. Totalt deltog 61 individer med luktsinnesförändring, varav 3 deltagare var män och 58 var kvinnor. Resultatet visade inga signifikanta skillnader mellan luktsinnesförändringar och livskvaliteten. Däremot sågs signifikanta skillnader för påverkansområderna “Mat” samt “Socialt umgänge” mellan några av lukttyperna. Slutsatsen från denna del är att det kan vara av värde att fortsättningsvis dela uppluktsinnesförändringar i de olika lukttyperna vid fortsatt forskning. Den kvalitativa delen undersökte hur individer med Parosmi upplever att deras vardag har påverkats med fokus på det sociala. Detta analyserades med tematisk analys utifrån intervjuer med sex kvinnliga deltagare. Resultatet visade tre huvudteman som var “Svårt att delta i sociala sammanhang”, “Få förstår lidandet” och “Kämpar vidare”. Slutsatsen av denna studie är att det finnas ett värde i att organisera stödgrupper för drabbade individer då det sågs som stärkande att höra om andras historier vid svåra stunder då det saknas en botande behandling för tillståndet idag, även om luktträning har viss effekt.

We examined the relationship between metaphor comprehension and verbal analogical reasoning in young adults who were either typically developing (TD) or diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The ASD sample was highly educated and high in verbal ability, and closely matched to a subset of TD participants on age, gender, educational background, and verbal ability. Additional TD participants with a broader range of abilities were also tested. Each participant solved sets of verbal analogies and metaphors in verification formats, allowing measurement of both accuracy and reaction times. Measures of individual differences in vocabulary, verbal working memory, and autistic traits were also obtained. Accuracy for both the verbal analogy and the metaphor task was very similar across the ASD and matched TD groups. However, reaction times on both tasks were longer for the ASD group. Additionally, stronger correlations between verbal analogical reasoning and working memory capacity in the ASD group indicated that processing verbal analogies was more effortful for them. In the case of both groups, accuracy on the metaphor and analogy tasks was correlated. A mediation analysis revealed that after controlling for working memory capacity, the inter-task correlation could be accounted for by the mediating variable of vocabulary knowledge, suggesting that the primary common mechanisms linking the two tasks involve language skills.

Figurative language processing impairments in autism have been widely demonstrated, and have been considered a defining feature of autism. Studies in this area often consider different types of figurative language together, and less attention has been paid to identifying the factors that might contribute to difficulties in processing specific types of figurative language. Here we present a preregistered systematic review and meta-analysis of studies assessing the comprehension of idioms and proverbs in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as compared to typically developing (TD) individuals. Idioms are widely used multi-word figurative expressions, which are understood by using contextual information. Proverbs are a related type of fixed, figurative, formulaic expression in a sentential form, typically linked with wisdom. Idioms and proverbs represent forms of figurative language which are more conventionalized and frequently opaquer than metaphors, pointing to a unique way that they are processed in conversational contexts. Our analysis encompassed a total of 11 studies from 10 papers (involving 235 autistic and 224 TD individuals), which met our inclusion criteria (the ASD and TD groups were matched on both chronological age and intelligence). The analysis of accuracy data revealed a group difference favouring the TD over the ASD group, with a medium effect size, and no indication of a publication bias. Participants’ age was unrelated to the magnitude of group differences, but there was a trend for smaller group differences in the case of participants with higher (verbal) intelligence. We discuss these findings with reference to theories related to the nature of figurative language impairments in autism.

This chapter provides a brief overview of analogical reasoning, first in the typically developing population and then in the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) population. Many studies of analogical reasoning have used variations of a mapping task, which requires the participant to identify correspondences between specific objects in the source and target. Instructions sometimes specify that a relational match is to be sought, but may instead leave the match criterion relatively vague. The chapter presents a systematic review of empirical investigations of analogical reasoning in autism, including studies that assessed performance on J. C. Raven’s matrices. The spared analogical abilities observed in ASD also suggest refinements in models of autistic functioning. On the face of it, solving problems of the type exemplified by Raven’s matrices requires attention to visuospatial relations between geometrical forms and also requires integration of constraints provided by multiple relations.

Impairments related to figurative language understanding have been considered to be one of the diagnostic and defining features of autism. Metaphor comprehension and production in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as compared to typically developing (TD) individuals have been investigated for around thirty years, generally showing an overall advantage for TD groups. We present a preregistered systematic review and meta-analysis including a total of 15 studies that fulfilled our set of inclusion criteria (notably, ASD and TD groups matched in chronological age and verbal- or full-scale IQ). Along with accuracy, we also analyzed group differences in reaction time in the studies that reported them. The results revealed a medium-to-large group difference favoring TD over ASD groups based on accuracy measures, as well as a similar overall advantage for TD groups based on reaction times. There was reliable heterogeneity in effect sizes for group differences in accuracy, which was mostly explained by the effect of verbal intelligence, with differences in metaphor processing being smaller for participants with better verbal skills. Some of the variation in effect sizes may also be attributed to differences in types of metaphor processing tasks. We also evaluated the quality of the studies included in the meta-analysis, and the evidence relating to the potential presence of publication bias.

Anekdoter kring konstnärers arbetsrutiner indikerar att vardagliga sysselsättningar kan vara viktigt för kreativt arbete, då kombinationen av tristess och kreativitet är ett återkommande tema. Tidigare forskning visar att tristess kan vara negativt för personers välmående och prestationsförmåga, samtidigt som annan forskning visar att det kan gynna kreativitet. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur konstnärers arbetsprocess ser ut och vilken roll tristess spelar i den. En kvalitativ enkätstudie genomfördes med ett urval bestående av nio konstnärer som arbetade med visuell konst, musik och text. Genom induktiv tematisk analys fann denna studie att den konstnärliga arbetsprocessen bestod av fem olika faser; förberedelseoch inspirationsfas, koncentrationsfas, inkubationsfas, illuminationsfas och avslutningsfas. Tristess uppstod för många i olika delar av arbetsprocessen, och upplevdes som fysiskt och psykiskt obehagligt och stressande. Tristess kunde fungera som motivator att leta upp ny stimulans genom utåtvänt eller inåtvänt sökande. Att uppsöka tristessartade situationer kunde användas som en medveten strategi i arbetsprocessen, och effekterna av tristessperioder upplevdes påverka den kreativa arbetsprocessen både positivt och negativt. Huruvida effekten var positiv eller negativ berodde i stor grad på definitionen av tristessbegreppet samt om det var frivilligt att uppleva tristessen eller inte.

Engineers face challenges when they are to manage project groups and be leaders for organisations becausesuch positions demand skills in social competence and empathy. Previous studies have shown that engineershave low degrees of social competence skills. In this study, the level of empathy as measured by the foursubscales of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, perspective taking, fantasy, empathic distress and empathicconcern, among engineering students was compared to students in health care profession programmes.Participants were undergraduate students at Linköping University, 365 students from four different healthcare profession programmes and 115 students from two different engineering programmes. When theempathy measures were corrected for effects of sex, engineering students from one of the programmes hadlower empathy than psychology and socialworker students on the fantasy and perspective-taking subscales.These results raise questions regarding opportunities for engineering students to develop their empathicabilities. It is important that engineering students acquire both theoretical and practical knowledge andskills regarding empathy.

The concept of ethnocultural empathy has been put forward as a variable that could explain tolerance between individuals and groups of different ethnic and cultural background. However, it is not clear if ethnocultural em-pathy is distinct from basic empathy. In this study we investigated the association between basic empathy, as measured by the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (Davis, 1983) and ethnocultural empathy, as measured by the Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy (Wang et al., 2003). We also explored the question of whether a set of back-ground variables would predict the two forms of empathy. We investigated if there were different predictors of ethnocultural and basic empathy, and if the two constructs are distinct. Results showed that the two forms of empathy were correlated and that largely similar predictors were found for the two constructs. A confirmatory factor analysis failed to confirm two separate constructs. Implications of the findings for the measurement of empathy are discussed.

The aim of the thesis was to better understand how second language learners becomes lingual participants in a Swedish preschool. Using the following research questions: In what situations are SLLs lingual participants at the preschool? What does their emerging language look like? Are the participation any different considering children's time in the new L2 context? What kind of support does SLLs receive at the preschool?

Two focal children at the same preschool was studied with ethnography of communication as method. The focal children chosen were one girl (Mandarin L1, 4.0 yrs) who arrived to Sweden and started the preschool two months ago at the time of the study, the other a boy (Serbian L1, 3.9 yrs) who started preschool and learning the L2 one year and two months before the study. Situations where the focal children interacted with other children or adults were analyzed. 

Results showed that the focal children in interaction with each other understands some of the others intentions before being able to speak about them in the L2. Also episodes of shared attention showed to be the arena for intersubjective lingual negotiation and understanding. Imitation seemed to be the primary strategy for language learning at this stage. These results are in line with Tomasellos (1999, 2003) theory of early language emergence. The focal children became participants in lingual activity when they had the role as Lave and Wengers (1991) legitimate peripheral participants. In interaction with more central participants the focal children imitated their language. However, in interaction with other children the language was centered around formulaic expressions associated with play. These child-child interactions was best described through Rogoffs (2003) notion of guided participation. Whereas the focal children interaction with teachers showed imitation of a more nuanced repertoire of words and was more in line with learning as the scaffolding process put forth by Wood, Bruner & Ross (1976).

This leads to a discussion of the connection between language and participation, suggesting a dual model where language development is interconnected with participation in community activities and vice versa. Also the relation between formulaic language, creativity and teacher scaffolding as resources for participation are discussed.

The nature of the mental processes involved in metaphor comprehension has been the focus of debate. Research related to this debate has mainly examined the comprehension of simple nominal metaphors. Here we take an individual-differences approach to examine the comprehension of slightly more complex metaphors, some taken from literary sources, using two types of comprehension tests (selecting an overall interpretation or else selecting a completion). In a series of metaphorcomprehension experiments with college students, we measured both fluid intelligence (using the non-verbal Raven’s Progressive Matrices test) and crystalized verbal intelligence (using a new Semantic Similarities Test). Each measure had a dissociable predictive relationship to metaphor comprehension, at least for those of the more complex literary variety. The pattern of individual differences suggests that metaphor comprehension broadly depends on both crystalized and fluid intelligence, with the latter less important for relatively simple metaphors.