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The use of language within context is pragmatics. Since, there is no tool to assess Hindi pragmatics among Indian children, the present research aimed to develop a task to asses the same. In phase one, naturalistic observation, expert interviews, and text analysis of Hindi storybooks were conducted to understand the use of pragmatics. In phase two, Hindi Pragmatic language story narration (HPSN) and Hindi Pragmatic language video tasks (HPVT 1.0 and 2.0) were constructed to assess pragmatics. These were refined to develop Kids pragmatics Hindi videos (KPHV), used in phase three to investigate age and gender differences, further relationship with theory of mind was also examined. Children became significantly better in pragmatics with age. A significant relationship between pragmatics and theory of mind was also found. No significant effect of gender on pragmatics was observed. The findings of the study are useful for development of rehabilitation programs for children with Social Pragmatic Disorder (SPD).Keywords: Linguistics; Psychology; Development; Language development; Theory of Mind; Field studies; Statistics.

The present review aimed to examine cross-cultural differences (eastern vs western cultures) in the evaluation of antisocial and prosocial lies through two meta-analyses. A total of 10 studies consisting of 2,347 participants between 5 and 12 years of age were included. Both meta-analyses did not find significant cross-cultural differences on either antisocial lies (Hedges g = -0.07, p > 0.05) or prosocial lies (Hedges' g = 0.24, p > 0.05). Further, age did not have any significant moderator effect on either of the analyses. Since the inter-cultural differences were not significant, the present meta-analytic review opens new research avenues to explore more intra-cultural differences on various socialization practices within a culture that may influence the lying behaviour of children.

Studies reveal inconclusive evidence of the relationship between executive function and creativity. Further, there is a dearth of studies investigating creativity in older adults in the Indian context. Three tests--namely, Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (Figural), the Stroop Test, and Mental Balance (PGI memory scale)--were administered on a sample of 58 middle-aged and older adults (50-64 years). Analysis revealed a significant correlation between creativity and executive function (r[subscript s] = -0.35). Mann-Whitney U confirmed that individuals who were above average on creativity performed significantly better on executive function. However, there was an insignificant relationship between creativity and working memory, as well as between working memory and executive function. Further, no age decline nor gender differences were found except for speed of processing, which decreased with increase with age. These findings might aid in planning interventions and cognitive retraining exercises for individuals of the same age bracket by targeting their creative strengths. Academically, they can contribute to understanding the cognitive processes underlying creativity and can further help create norms in the Indian context.

For women who are trying to conceive, it is critical to assess their general knowledge regarding fertility and fertility-awareness practices to identify the fertile window and their agency to achieve pregnancy. The couple's ability to deal with the infertility issue may be influenced by their beliefs and attitudes concerning infertility, which are based on social and cultural influences as well as their inner aspirations. As a result, it's critical to examine infertile and fertile woman's general knowledge of reproduction and infertility risk factors. It's also crucial to learn about women's attitudes toward infertility (social beliefs), as well as the repercussions of infertility and the practises they employ to avoid it. The present study includes 250 fertile and 250 infertile women. Data collection for infertile women was done from the Gynecology Outpatient Department (OPD). Participants from both groups i.e., infertile and fertile women have little knowledge about infertility but, infertile women have significantly higher knowledge than fertile women. Knowledge of the fertile period, as well as several potential causes of infertility, were found to be significantly higher in women with infertility problem rather than fertile women, indicating that the knowledge they have acquired is not attributable to education system, but rather to their experience gained during visits to medical practitioners. In addition to differences with respect to knowledge, infertile and fertile women differed in terms of both attitude (societal beliefs and social consequences of infertility) and practices. Better knowledge regarding infertility is likely to bring positive notes among women with infertility problems. Which will further improve the attitude and practices of society towards infertile women. Therefore, its crucial to introduce reproductive health education at high school or undergraduate level, to assist women in avoiding infertility and to help infertile women develop healthier attitudes regarding infertility treatment and coping techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) compromise the development and attainment of full social and economic potential at individual, family, community, and country levels. Paucity of data on NDDs slows down policy and programmatic action in most developing countries despite perceived high burden. Methods and findings We assessed 3,964 children (with almost equal number of boys and girls distributed in 2- Conclusions The study identifies NDDs in children aged 2-9 years as a significant public health burden for India. HI was higher than and ASD prevalence comparable to the published global literature. Most risk factors of NDDs were modifiable and amenable to public health interventions., Author(s): Narendra K. Arora 1,*, M. K. C. Nair 2, Sheffali Gulati 3, Vaishali Deshmukh 1, Archisman Mohapatra 1, Devendra Mishra 4, Vikram Patel 5,6, Ravindra M. Pandey 7, Bhagabati [...]

Objective: To determine the prevalence and association between disordered eating attitudes and body shape concerns in a sample of North Indian Kathak dancers. Method: Participants were 206 Kathak female dancers and 235 healthy controls, ages 18–45 years. Participants completed questionnaires assessing demographics, disordered eating attitudes, and body dissatisfaction. Pearson correlations assessed the association between the disordered eating attitudes and body dissatisfaction, and binary logistic regression identified the risk of having a possible eating disorder. Results: Kathak dancers reported significantly greater disordered eating attitudes compared to controls (12.1% vs. 5.9%, p =.023). Dancers endorsed greater dieting behaviors (M = 5.6 vs. 4.5, p =.031), and binge eating episodes (p <.001) relative to their counterparts. Body dissatisfaction was significantly positively correlated with disordered eating attitudes among the dancers (p <.001). Dancers with elevated body shape concerns were five times more likely to report disordered eating attitudes, relative to their peers (p <.001). Discussion: Disordered eating attitudes and body shape concerns are prevalent among North Indian Kathak dancers. Future research should aim to develop targeted prevention and intervention programs that focus on reducing these behaviors and promoting a positive body image to mitigate the risk of disordered eating among this group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: Gavneet. Pruthi, Nandita. Babu Background : Acne, the most common problem that presents to dermatologists, can persist beyond teen years. Although its physical and psychosocial impact is studied in [...]

Stories are a part of a child's everyday experience and narration helps to describe this experience. Children from slum generate narrations to reflect their social world. This study attempts to explore slum children's construction of the social world in their narratives. To gain an in-depth understanding of children's construction of their social world, fifteen 6 and 7 year olds were selected from a slum area located in the city of Delhi. They were asked to narrate stories based on story leads and pictures which were provided to them. Their narrations were coded and significant themes such as: social engagement, personal likes and dislikes, mental state attribution, emotions and concern with authority emerged illustrating children construction of a meaningful social world through their narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on cognitive consequences of bilingualism have often confounded the effects of bilingualism and culture by comparing monolinguals and bilinguals belonging to different cultures. The Kond tribal society in Orissa provides an ideal setting for an investigation, since the bilingual and monolingual Konds share a common culture. A test of metalinguistic ability and Raven's Progressive Matrices (RPM) were given to 180 bilingual and monolingual Konds of three age levels. The bilinguals, using two linguistic devices to encode their experience, were expected to have a better analytic strategy facilitating their metalinguistic development. The metalinguistic ability scores were analyzed in 2 (bilingual/monolingual) × 3 (age) ANCOVA with RPM scores as covariate to control for the effect of nonverbal intelligence. The bilinguals scored significantly better than the monolinguals. The results are interpreted as again showing the nature of the positive effect of a second language on individuals' thought processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]