Touch Events Research Articles

Stochastic Loewner evolution driven by Lévy processes

Standard stochastic Loewner evolution (SLE) is driven by a continuous Brownian motion,which then produces a continuous fractal trace. If jumps are added to the driving function,the trace branches. We consider a generalized SLE driven by a superposition of a Brownianmotion and a stable Lévy process. The situation is defined by the usual SLE parameter,κ, aswell as α, which defines the shape of the stable Lévy distribution. The resulting behaviour is characterized by twodescriptors: p, the probability that the trace self-intersects, and , the probability that it will approach arbitrarily close to doing so. Using Dynkin’s formula,these descriptors are shown to change qualitatively and singularly at critical values ofκ and α. It is reasonable to call such changes ‘phase transitions’. These transitions occur asκ passes through four (a well-known result) and asα passes through one (a new result). Numerical simulations are then used to explore theassociated touching and near-touching events.

Apoyo psicosocial en el parto y comportamientos de comunicación de la madre con el recién nacido

The birth a newborn baby can be one of the most touching events, not only for the mother and family, but also for those of us who help, accompany or observe it. There are several personal, family and social factors, together with some others related to the Health System, that influence the «sense of motherhood» . Some of them can be studied in order to improve the care and support that mother and child receive from the nurses and medical staff during childbirth. This work presented in this article is the initiative of a group of professionals interested in analysing midwives” involvement in the interactions established between mother and child at the moment of birth. We describe both behaviours in an etnographic qualitative study of eight cases. Proposals for the development of a protocol that could unify and regulate midwives” actions relative, basically, to pyhcological support are offered.

Sex differences in touch communication

Twenty male and 20 female students received training in the notation of touch events and recorded their own touches with others over a series of days. Females initiated more touches and were also involved in more total touching than males. Both males and females participated in more opposite‐sex than same‐sex touching. Females initiated more opposite‐sex touches and specifically more opposite‐sex control touches than males, contrary to Henley's theoretical outlook. Those who initiated more touches to females also received more touches from females, and females predisposed to talk more also initiated touch more. The findings are discussed in terms of “feminine‐appropriate/masculine‐inappropriate” and communication competence interpretations.