On delineating and integrating the study of variability and stability in personality psychology: Interpersonal trust as illustration

Although the person–situation debate is coming to an end, it is not yet clear how to integrate the two perspectives on personality nor what an integration would look like. The density distributions approach is proposed as a way to integrate the two perspectives while maintaining and delineating their respective contributions. Four requirements of an integration are proposed and the density distributions approach is shown to meet all four. This integration is illustrated with an experience-sampling study of interpersonal trust. Each individual varied his or her trust level considerably from interaction to interaction (sizeable intraindividual variability), yet maintained a stable average level of trust over many interactions (sizeable consistency). Manifestation of trust in daily life was predicted by the type of relationship and strongly positively predicted interaction quality.     

Oscillations and analogies. Thomas Young, MD, FRS, genius

Thomas Young is arguably one of the greatest geniuses who ever lived, but most people have never heard of him, though he was renowned in his own era. He did important work in a large variety of scientific disciplines, but that was his downfall. Given the specialization of the present era, physicists do not appreciate how important his work in linguistics was, linguists do not appreciate the importance of his work in psychology, and so on. Despite his obscurity today, Young nicely exemplifies the traits that one finds in a genius of the first order: tendency toward analogical thinking, high intelligence, an amazing capacity for hard work, extremely wide interests, distaste for traditional dogmas, and very high self-esteem.     

Effects of practice on variability, effects of variability on transfer

Five experiments examined how practice early in skill acquisition affected variability and accuracy during skill retention (Experiments 1-5) and skill transfer (Experiments 3, 4, 5). Lag constraints required that each path from apex to base of a computer-generated pyramid display differ from some number (the lag) of immediately prior paths. Location constraints specified end points at which paths must exit the pyramid. In all experiments, an early optimal period for acquiring a variability level was identified. Both low and high levels of variability were sustained during retention; high levels facilitated transfer. The results suggest that (a) early practice that requires high variability sensitizes learners to changes in condition and (b) such perception-performance links facilitate transfer by activating appropriate alternative strategies/schema or initiating their construction.     

We'll miss you Steve: how the death of a technology innovator emotionally impacts those who use and love his digital devices

The death of Apple co-founder Steven Jobs was accompanied by a period of public mourning. Reflections shared by both those he knew and those who were connected to him through the devices he pioneered were imbued with expressions of loss. The goal of the present research was to understand the grieving of those who knew Jobs through his devices, as a way of exploring how interpersonal emotions are shaped by relationships with technology. The findings from three studies conducted in the weeks after Jobs' death indicated demographic variability in mourning across the general population, suggesting that many people were more deeply affected by his passing. Latter studies highlighted the motivational factors that are related to the use of the Apple devices which were at play in shaping feelings of sadness and loss.     

Noise, information transmission, and force variability.

This study was designed to test the hypothesis derived from information theory that increases in the variability of motor responses result from increases in perceptual-motor noise. Young adults maintained isometric force for extended periods at different levels of their maximum voluntary contraction. Force variability (SD) increased exponentially as a function of force level. However, the signal-to-noise ratio (M/SD), an index of information transmission, as well as measures of noise in both the time (approximate entropy) and frequency (power spectrum) domains, changed according to an inverted U-shaped function over the range of force levels. These findings indicate that force variability is not directly related to noise but that force output noisiness is positively correlated with the amount of information transmitted.     

The Utopianism of Hamilton's State of Needs: on rights,deliberation, and the nature of politics

Abstract

This article explores the role and conception of politics in Lawrence Hamilton's The Political Philosophy of Needs (Cambridge, 2003), including his critique of the 'rights-preference couple' and of rights in general; his critique of deliberation; and his view regarding the role of political philosophy. It argues that his theory rests on a remarkably high epistemic, moral and political confidence in the state, or rather in what states might be capable of becoming; equally, it rests on an underexplored understanding of the nature of politics itself. The article also criticizes Hamilton's approach to needs by comparing it to the needs approach of Wiggins and the capabilities approach of Alkire, arguing that the difference is not as great as Hamilton believes. Finally, it is suggested that Hamilton needs additional elements to his argument to show how a state of needs could be psychologically and politically self-sustaining.     

A Spirit in Need of Rest: Luther's Melancholia,Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder,and Religiosity

Male melancholia, rooted in early childhood experiences of perceived mother-loss, is intrinsically linked to religiosity. The Protestant Reformer Martin Luther suffered from melancholia that was related to, and exacerbated by, a corresponding obsessive-compulsive disorder. This essay makes a case for Luther's melancholia being grounded in both childhood beatings (at least one of which was carried out by his mother) and his subsequent search for an identity. Luther's melancholia also gave rise to life-long struggles with obsessive-compulsive anxieties. His religion, in which he believed he had discovered both an identity and a means for relief from his inner struggles, actually exacerbated his melancholia. He realized as an older man that religion had indeed become his substitute obsession and that a major part of his self had died. An argument for how Luther's melancholia and obsessive-compulsive disorder could have been alleviated is offered.     

A Geneticist Responds

The theory of evolution challenges the traditional temporal pattern of creation, fall, and restoration that lies behind Christian soteriology. This paper explores the possibility of interpreting soteriology without tying it to this temporal pattern. To do so, it examines how salvation is presented in John Wesley's theology to see whether his soteriological concerns can be maintained when the temporal pattern is broken. Certain features of his theology allow a reconception of salvation in light of humans as having evolved to be biocultural.     

Effects of Noncontingent Reinforcement and Choice of Activity on Aggressive Behavior Maintained by Attention

Functional assessments identified that the grabbing behavior of a 24‐year‐old man with intellectual disability was maintained by social positive reinforcement, that is, attention. Aggression was more likely to occur when his social environment changed from high to low attention. An intervention that combined extinction with activity choice and noncontingent reinforcement was most effective at reducing grabbing. The intervention and beneficial effects were maintained over 17 months, although staff retraining was required at 6 and 16 months. Retraining was implemented successfully when aggression increased and procedural integrity had declined. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Behavioral variability as avoidance behavior

This study aimed to investigate whether variable patterns of responses can be acquired and maintained by negative reinforcement under an avoidance contingency. Six male Wistar rats were exposed to sessions in which behavioral variability was reinforced according to a Lag contingency: Sequences of three responses on two levers had to differ from one, two or three previous sequences for shocks to be avoided (Lag 1, Lag 2 and Lag 3, respectively). Performance under the Lag conditions was compared with performance on a Yoke condition in which the animals received the same reinforcement frequency and distribution as in the Lag condition but behavioral variability was not required. The results showed that most of the subjects varied their sequences under the Lag contingencies, avoiding shocks with relatively high probability (≥ 0.7). Under the Yoke procedure, responding continued to occur with high probability, but the behavioral variability decreased. These results suggest that behavioral variability can be negatively reinforced.     

Jung,the Wilderness,and the Call of the Wild

The publication of The Red Book reiterates how deeply connected to nature Jung was and how this connection emerged through his encounter with the spirit of the depths. This article reviews some of Jung's writings in regard to nature and suggests that the energy related to the earth that Jung expresses in The Red Book was continued in his ongoing work on his tower at Bolllingen. The author also reviews his own search for a deeper connection to nature and an understanding of his own ancestry. Reviewing the emergence of the value of wilderness in North America and the call to reclaim the wild, he considers the life of Englishman Archie Belaney, who took on the identity of a Native American, Grey Owl, and became one of Canada's first leading environmentalists.     

Duhem,the Arabs,and the history of cosmology

Duhem has generally been understood to have maintained that the major Greek astronomers were instrumentalists. This view has emerged mainly from a reading of his 1908 publication To Save the Phenomena. In it he sharply contrasted a sophisticated Greek interpretation of astronomical models (for Duhem this was that they were mathematical contrivances) with a naive insistence of the Arabs on their concrete reality. But in Le Système du monde, which began to appear in 1913, Duhem modified his views on Greek astronomy considerably; his more subtle understanding included the recognition that many Greeks subordinated mathematical astronomy to physical theory. But he could not completely repudiate his earlier views about Greek astronomy in part because his extreme nineteenth century prejudices led him to continue to insist on a clear-cut demarcation between Greek and Arabic astronomy. The inevitable result is a certain unevenness in the Système and some glaring inconsistencies.     

The End(s) of Philosophy: Rhetoric, Therapy and Wittgenstein's Pyrrhonism

In Culture and Value Wittgenstein remarks: ‘Thoughts that are at peace. That's what someone who philosophizes yearns for’. The desire for such conceptual tranquillity is a recurrent theme in Wittgenstein's work, and especially in his later ‘grammatical‐therapeutic’ philosophy. Some commentators (notably Rush Rhees and C. G. Luckhardt) have cautioned that emphasising this facet of Wittgenstein's work ‘trivialises’ philosophy – something which is at odds with Wittgenstein's own philosophical ‘seriousness’ (in particular his insistence that philosophy demands that one ‘Go the bloody hard way’). Drawing on a number of correlations between Wittgenstein's conception of philosophy and that of the Pyrrhonian Sceptics, in this paper I defend a strong ‘therapeutic’ reading of Wittgenstein, and show how this can be maintained without ‘trivialising’ philosophy.     

Behavior modification and human rights: A legacy of Edward Stanton Sulzer, 1930-1970

Edward Stanton Sulzer was born in New York City on June 4, 1930. He attended school in Laureltown, N.Y., until the age of 15, when, after two years of high school, he was admitted into the University of Chicago. Leaving prematurely due to his mother's death, he returned to New York to work in film production. Sulzer completed his undergraduate work at the City College of New York, studying film production and psychology. In 1953 he entered the doctoral program in clinical psychology at Teachers College, Columbia. Spending two years in the Army during his graduate training, his work was completed in 1958. He then joined the faculty of the Upstate Medical School of the State University of New York, Department of Psychiatry, moving on two years later to the Psychiatry Department at the University of Minnesota. In 1965 Sulzer moved to assume the directorship of the Behavior Modification Program, in the Rehabilitation Institute at Southern Illinois University, where he remained until his death on February 28, 1970.In observance of the 10th anniversary of the death of Edward Stanton Sulzer, these reminiscences are presented. They describe how an individual psychologist could affect the professional and personal lives of many. Edward Sulzer is described in terms of the environment that shaped his values, how they affected the actions of his students and clients, and how they are reflected in current social policy. The account leads to a conclusion that the actions of single individuals may influence the course of human events.     

The Relationship Between Perceived In‐Group Variability,Number of Contacts,and Identification1

In a field setting, we explored how the perceived variability of in‐groups is related to in‐group contacts and identification. Results from a mail questionnaire showed that up to 20 in‐group contacts, the number of in‐group contacts was positively related to in‐group identification, and both variables appeared to be negatively related to perceived in‐group variability. It is concluded that these results are more consistent with a social identity explanation of variability perceptions than with the familiarity explanation found for out‐group variability estimates.     

Menstrual synchrony can be assessed,inherent cycle variability notwithstanding: commentary on Schank (2001)

J. C. Schank (2001) argued that biases in the calculation of synchrony (due to inherent variability in the menstrual cycle) and in respondents' recall of menstrual dates can produce spurious results. In this commentary, the major flaws in J. C. Schank's arguments regarding the calculation of synchrony are presented. Low standard deviations (< 2.0) of interwomen cycle lengths were found in a reanalysis of the Bedouin family data (A. Weller & L. Weller, 1997). This obviates J. C. Schank's major assumption that a high degree of cycle variability exists and his concern that high variability produces a spurious increase of onset differences over time. Furthermore, research that has used random control groups has found significantly greater levels of synchrony in their experimental groups, refuting J. C. Schank's arguments.     

FREUD'S LETTERS TO FLIESS: FROM SEDUCTION TO SEXUAL BIOLOGY, FROM PSYCHOPATHOLOGY TO A CLINICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

The author describes the development of Freud's theory of neurosis from 1892 onwards, starting with his distinction between the actual neuroses and the psychoneuroses and his discovery of a specific, sexual aetiology for both, until which point it remained limited to pathology. The problem of the aetiology of perversion, however, confronted him with a paradox within the theory of seduction: how can an infantile sexual pleasure produce unpleasure when it is remembered at the time of puberty? This problem could not be solved within the framework of the seduction theory because the asexuality of childhood was essential to this theory. For an answer Freud had to turn to biology. He considered that the transformation of an infantile pleasure into unpleasure presupposed an organic repression of non‐genital sexual pleasure. This hypothesis of organic repression radically changed the anthropological claim of Freud's theory. As long as he was looking for a specific aetiology of neurosis and perversion, Freud's theory remained restricted to pathology. However, when he introduced infantile sexuality and its organic repression as universal organic processes, the strict distinction between normality and pathology could not be maintained. The author concludes that by turning to sexual biology, Freud transformed psychopathology into a clinical anthropology.     

Luck,Control, and Contrastive Explanation

This paper is aimed to show how the libertarian conception of free choice is mistaken or misleading by focusing on Robert Kane’s attempt to solve the problem of luck, which arguably constitutes the most serious challenge to libertarianism about free will. I will argue that either Kane’s solution to the problem of luck falls into some inconsistency or he must introduce the requirement of contrastive explanation into his account of plural voluntary control. Either way, Kane fails to show how his emphasis on the requirement of plural voluntary control is made consistent with his unswerving commitment to the requirement of the libertarian free will for a metaphysical indeterminism.     

Voluntarism,Atonement, and Duns Scotus

The two most important concepts in Duns Scotus's (1265/6‐1308) theology of the Atonement are satisfaction and merit. Just what these amount to and how they function in his theory are heavily conditioned by two more general commitments: Scotus's voluntarism, which includes the claim that nearly all of God's relations with the created order are contingent; and his formulation of the Franciscan Thesis, which holds that fixing the sin problem is not the primary purpose of God's Incarnation in Christ and that if Adam hadn't sinned God would have become incarnate anyway. In this essay I will discuss the theoretical background of Scotus's atonement theology—his voluntarism and his version of the Franciscan Thesis—before moving on to discuss his understanding of merit and satisfaction, how these are related, and how they relate to the theoretical background. I will engage some important recent scholarly attempts to position Scotus's Atonement theology as not quite as anti‐Anselmian as history has characterized it, arguing that one of these attributes to Scotus an understanding of merit which cannot be Scotus's in fact, since it entails a restriction on divine freedom that Scotus certainly would reject.