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Abstract: As opposed to approaches which look for psychometric correlations between individual differences in language use and psychological phenomena, computerized narrative psychological content analysis is founded on a narrative theory of identity development and cultural evolution. Narrative psychological content analysis connects psychological contents to linguistic-structural features of narratives. The present paper outlines the theoretical considerations, which led to the scientific narrative psychology and presents the framework of the empirical studies.

Bea Ehmann, Vera Garami, Mátyás Naszódi, Balázs Kis, János László

14-25

Abstract: This paper is a report on the use of computerized content analysis in mapping the psychological correlates of subjective time experience recalled in experimentally created autobiographical narratives. Firstly, the history of the field and the justification of the use of the method, then the categories in a computer algorithm, and finally the first correlational validity results are reported.

Rita Hargitai, Mátyás Naszódi, Balázs Kis, László Nagy, Adrien Bóna, János László

Linguistic markers of depressive dynamics in self-narratives: Negation and self-reference   

Abstract: The first part of the study deals with the psychological meaning of negation and self-reference. Next we introduce a new content analysis program for the automatic coding of negation and self-reference. We argue that this new program can perform morphological analysis that available English language software is not capable of. We also give an overview of previous empirical studies of negation and self-reference, which were based on word-frequency count. The paper presents the process of operationalisation on the level of the linguistic markers of negation and self-reference. It also provides empirical results in terms of the validity and reliability of negation and self-reference algorithms. 

Melinda Pohárnok, Mátyás Naszódi, Balázs Kis, László Nagy, Adrien Bóna, János László

Exploring the spatial organization of interpersonal relations by means of computational linguistic analysis

Abstract:A linguistic analyzer algorithm was developed to operationalize and identify the ap­proach-avoidance movements in self-narratives. The algorithm deals with the co-oc­curence of given verbal categories (so-called “relation-verbs”) and given nouns – common nouns referring to significant others. The outputs of the analyzer are ap­proach and avoidance codes linked to given text units. Firstly, the reliability of the algorithm was appraised by comparing the output of the algorithm with the former outputs of manual coding. Then the validity of the algorithm was examined in a clinical and also in a normative – without prior psychiatric treatments – sample. In the normative sample the validity test was conducted by comparing the output of the algo­rithm with the results of personality inquries – Experience in Close Relation­ships, Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ), Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS) and the Purpose to Life Scale (PLS). We hypothesized that the higher incidence of approach and avoidance movements concurs with higher emotional lability and disturbances in emotional regulation. The results shows that in two kinds of life-events narratives lower scores on Emotional Control, Impulse Control in the BFQ co-occur with higher prevalence of approach and avoidance expressions. Likewise, the lower scores of the Clarity subscale in the TMMS and the lower score of Manageability in the PLS co-occur with a higher prevalence of approach and avoidance expressions. On the basis of these results we can conclude that our presumptions about the relationship between interpersonal movements and relational and emotional regulation seem to be corroborated.

Abstract: The article defines the structural feature of narrative perspective in self-narratives. Concentrating on the spatio-temporal component of the perspective, it describes three formal variations of perspective, termed as retrospective, experiencing, and metanarrative forms. The article also provides the linguistic operationalisation of these perspective forms. The narrative perspective algorithm developed for the automatic coding of perspective forms is presented. This algorithm reliably codes retrospective and experiencing forms of perspective. Finally, an empirical study regarding the relationships between the narrative perspective forms and trait features of emotion regulation is presented. In this study 83 participants recounted self-narratives about five significant life story events. The results reveal relationships between the using of perspective forms and the coherence and stability of emotion regulation.

Orsolya Vincze, Judit Tóth, János László

Representations of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in the history books of the two nations    

Abstract:  History textbooks are canonical forms of transmitted knowledge of history. In addition to their role of mediating facts about the history of a nation, they also define ways of thinking about events through the way they represent these events. In our research we have analysed the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in three Hungarian and three Austrian history textbooks, frequently used in secondary schools, with the aim of uncovering how the Monarchy is represented in different national history books. Our results show that Austrian and Hungarian history books present the common history in different ways, thus formulating a different attitude towards history. While in Hungarian texts it is more likely to be a person who acts, in Austrian texts it is rath­er the institutions that are attributed as agents. The evaluation of events cor­re­sponds to democratic development in Austrian texts while Hungarian texts do not emphasize such democratic development. Other ethnic groups, besides the Hungar­ians or Austrians, are more likely to be mentioned in Austrian texts than in Hun­garian texts. They are represented more as agents with goals and characteristics. In Hungarian texts, other ethnic groups appear rarely and usually without attributed agency.

Abstract: Apparent vote-exchange (“logrolling”) in the Eurovision Song Contest has been variously interpreted as a manifestation of political attitudes within Europe, a reflection of regional tastes in pop music, or a social (memetic) epidemic.  This paper provides data supporting the third of these three options, also demonstrating that the cultural contagion has now nearly reached saturation.  As well as logrolling, ethnic diasporas and the “semi-final effect” are also shown to influence the result of the contest.  Reform of the voting system to produce a contest which better rewards musical excellence, without suppressing the mass participation element, is therefore a complex problem.

The cultural profile of a chocolate in current Italian society: a corpus-based pilot study

Abstract: The current study aimed to highlight psychological associations (or EMUs) to chocolate in contemporary Italian society and compare the analytical possibilities offered by general and specialized corpora in a task of this kind. To these purposes, concordances were generated for the Italian words for chocolate in a specialized corpus about chocolate and in a general-purpose corpus, and the semantic environ­ment of these concordances was analyzed. Comparison between the two corpora highlighted what appear to be long-existing and well-established EMUs for chocolate in Italian society. It also suggested the possibility of evolution in the psychological associations of chocolate from the 1980s to 2005. From a method­ological perspective, the findings lend support to the following two considerations: 1. suitable data for cultural analysis can equally be retrieved from a very big general corpus, or a small-to-medium-sized specialized corpus, provided that they include a wide variety of texts by different authors; 2. in cultural analysis, the major concern in corpus creation, along with text variety, seems to be time-coverage.

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