Does a quarterlife crisis exist?

In this study, the authors examined quarterlife crisis, defined in the popular press as an identity crisis that leaves recent college graduates depressed, anxious, and full of doubt. To determine if a unique crisis exists, 4 groups of young adults (recent high school [n = 23] and college [n = 117] graduates in the workforce, present undergraduate [n = 75], and graduate [n = 57] students) completed self-report measures assessing identity development, future time perspective, social support, coping, depression, anxiety, and job and life satisfaction. No support was found for a quarterlife crisis among these 4 groups. Working high school graduates displayed the highest anxiety, followed by present undergraduates. Depression was predicted by family support and identity commitment. Job satisfaction was associated with income and support from friends. Life satisfaction was associated with income, social support from friends and family, and identity commitment.     

Does the philosophy of medicine exist?

There has been a great deal of discussion, in this journal and others, about obstacles hindering the evolution of the philosophy of medicine. Such discussions presuppose that there is widespread agreement about what it is that constitutes the philosophy of medicine.Despite the fact that there is, and has been for decades, a great deal of literature, teaching and professional activity carried out explicitly in the name of the philosophy of medicine, this is not enough to establish that consensus exists as to the definition of the field. And even if consensus can be obtained as to what constitutes the philosophy of medicine, this does not mean that it exists as a field.     

Does Psi exist? Lack of replication of an anomalous process of information transfer.

D. J. Bem and C. Honorton (1994) recently presented in this journal a set of ganzfeld extrasensory perception (ESP) experiments conducted by C. Honorton that appeared to support the existence of a communication anomaly. In this article, the authors present a meta-analysis of 30 ganzfeld ESP studies from 7 independent laboratories adhering to the same stringent methodological guidelines that C. Honorton followed. The studies failed to confirm his main effect of participants scoring above chance on the ESP task, Stouffer z = 0.70, p = .24, one-tailed; M effect size (z/N1/2) = 0.013, SD = 0.23. The new studies included replication attempts of 3 out of 5 internal effects reported as statistically significant by D. J. Bem and C. Honorton. Only 1 was confirmed, and the authors found that D. J. Bem and C. Honorton were mistaken in describing the original effect as being statistically significant. The authors conclude that the ganzfeld technique does not at present offer a replicable method for producing ESP in the laboratory.     

Thematic roles: Core knowledge or linguistic construct?

Psychonomic Bulletin & Review - The status of thematic roles such as Agent and Patient in cognitive science is highly controversial: To some they are universal components of core knowledge, to...     

Does the corollary discharge of attention exist?

We discuss experimental support for the existence of a corollary discharge signal of attention movement control and its formulation in terms of the corollary discharge of attention model of attention movement (CODAM). The data is from fMRI, MEG and EEG activity observed about 200 ms after stimulus onset in various attention paradigms and in which the activity is mainly sited in parietal and extra-striate visual areas. Moreover the data arises from neural activity observed before report of a subject's experience occurs. The overall experimental support for the existence of a copy of the attention movement control signal generates, it is suggested, a viable route to explore the relation between this signal and human consciousness, as concluded in the paper.     

Does colour constancy exist?

For a stable visual world, the colours of objects should appear the same under different lights. This property of colour constancy has been assumed to be fundamental to vision, and many experimental attempts have been made to quantify it. I contend here, however, that the usual methods of measurement are either too coarse or concentrate not on colour constancy itself, but on other, complementary aspects of scene perception. Whether colour constancy exists other than in nominal terms remains unclear.     

Does 'mental kinesiophobia' exist?

In this study the relevance of the concept of mental kinesiophobia (respectively cogniphobia or fear of mental exertion) for clients with chronic stress problems was explored. It was hypothesized that cognitive, chronic stress complaints, such as concentration problems or decreased problem solving abilities, could be catastrophized as signs of heightened personal vulnerability, with a chance of becoming permanent. As a consequence, mental exertion is avoided. This line of reasoning comes from the existing concept of kinesiophobia. This concept describes the avoidance behavior in chronic benign pain patients and refers to their fear of inflicting irreversible bodily damage due to physical exertion.An illustrative case of cogniphobia is presented. In an explorative pilot-study it was demonstrated that chronically stressed clients scored significantly higher on an experimental questionnaire measuring avoidance tendencies for mental exertion, compared with actively working employees. Consequences for treatment and suggestions for further study are discussed.     

Does symptomatic schizophrenia exist?

The question if there are "symptomatic schizophrenias" has been discussed since the 20s. Schizophrenic psychoses caused be definable and well known brain diseases are presented. All schizophrenic symptoms and syndromes, the first rank symptoms (K. Schneider) too, occur in somatically founded psychoses. The group of paroxysmal transition syndromes in the sense of aura prolongata (continua) and the episodic schizophrenic psychoses in psychomotor epilepsy may be a model for the schizophrenia research. Vital threatening, so-called pernicious catatonic schizophrenias are found on the basis of infectious brain diseases, sometimes only diagnosed in autopsy. Beside acute and reversible symptomatic schizophrenic psychoses there are, even if rarely, recurrent and chronic courses of symptomatic schizophrenias. That certain conditions for the developing of symptomatic schizophrenias are rarely realised, could be an explanation for their rarity. Some findings indicate that the limbic system is significant for symptomatic (and idiopathic) schizophrenic psychoses and the pre- and postpsychotic basic stages determined by dynamic and cognitive basic symptoms, which are phenomenologically very similar to aura symptoms released by stereoelectroencephalographic depth recordings (Wieser). The characteristic features of marked fluctuation, discontinuity and insteadiness of the cognitive thought, perception, psychomotor and cenesthetic phenomena do not speak against an organic brain disorder provided that the traditional process hypothesis is abandoned in favor of a neurobiochemic disorder, fluctuating on its part depending on endogenous as well as psychic-reactive factors.     

Does virtual intimacy exist? A brief exploration into reported levels of intimacy in online relationships.

This study examined the levels of intimacy reported by individuals in face-to-face and computer-mediated (or "virtual") romantic relationships. As suggested by the media and promised by online dating services, some degree of intimacy was reported in computer-mediated relationships, but stronger intimacy was reported in all participants' face-to-face relationships. Results also indicated that individuals who had online, virtual relationships reported less intimacy in their own face-to-face relationships compared to individuals who had engaged exclusively in face-to-face relationships, suggesting that people may turn to virtual relating after challenges in their face-to-face experiences.     

Does the dark side of a calling exist? Examining potential negative effects

The present studies examined the potential dark side of perceiving and living a calling with diverse samples of employed adults. In Study 1, living a calling and life meaning were found to suppress the relation between perceiving a calling and life satisfaction, resulting in these variables being significantly, negatively related. This suggests that perceiving a calling may predict decreased well-being when it is not lived out and does not provide meaning. In Study 2, participants living a calling did not experience greater burnout, workaholism, or organizational exploitation. Additionally, counter to hypotheses, living a calling was found to be a significant buffer in the relation of burnout/exploitation and job satisfaction. Specifically, the slope of the relation between living a calling and job satisfaction was more pronounced with individuals experiencing high levels of burnout/exploitation. These findings suggest that living a calling may help individuals in difficult working conditions maintain job satisfaction.     

Does “g” exist?

Is the nature of intelligence best understood as a single thing (“g”), or as a set of orthogonal variables? It is argued that a set of orthogonal variables is most likely to explain intelligence. Higher-order constructs like metacomponents, Executive Functioning and “g” are suggested to inevitably result from complex systems having interrelated parts. While such constructs may provide indices of the efficiency of such systems, they do not explain how the systems function. Further, neither parsimony, the pervasiveness of such constructs, nor biological reductionism provide adequate justification for invoking higher-order constructs as explanations of intellectual functioning.     

Does the Chinese construct of guan export to the West?

This study reverses the usual process of assessing universality by examining whether a construct originating in non‐western cultures has functional relevance in the West. The construct of guan or “training” was proposed by Chao (1994) as reflecting important Chinese parenting practices also shared by other Confucian cultures. She proposed that this construct is more relevant to the understanding of outcomes among Asian‐American youth than constructs that have been developed in the West, such as “authoritative” parenting. The association among the behaviours incorporated in this construct and other “universal” parenting styles such as parental warmth has not been previously reported. Nor has there been a previous report of the prevalence and perceived desirability of guan behaviours from Western individuals. Participants in the present study were US (N = 118), Hong Kong (N = 171) and Pakistani (N = 98) nursing students. In all three cultures, guan items had adequate internal consistency (Cronbach's alphas ranging from .69 to .76), associated positively with parental warmth (Pearsons' r ranging from .37 to .52), and were seen as attributes of ideal parents. Mothers in all three cultures were perceived as showing more guan than fathers show. The associations between parental guan and the outcomes of perceived health, relationship harmony and life satisfaction were significant for the Asian participants. Tests of guan's functional relevance in the West had equivocal results with weak associations to positive outcomes in the West compared to Asia. However, the differences between cultures did not reach statistical significance. When the cultures were merged, parental training perceptions predicted a significant proportion of the variance in outcomes. Mothers' guan predicted self‐esteem in their children, whereas fathers' guan predicted life satisfaction. Although guan may have emerged from a Chinese cultural context, it appears to function similarly in many cultural systems, and may represent the Asian face of authoritative parenting.     

Does personal intelligence exist? Evidence from a new ability-based measure

Personal intelligence has been defined as the ability to reason about personality and personality-relevant information and to use that information to guide one's actions and more generally, one's life. We constructed an initial version of an ability-based measure to test whether personal intelligence can be measured and whether it exists as a unitary intelligence. In 3 studies (N = 241, 308, and 385), we administered this Test of Personal Intelligence (TOPI), composed of 4 sections, to undergraduates along with criterion measures. Results suggested that a personal intelligence can be measured, that it might exist as a unified area of mental abilities, and that it represents psychological qualities that have intriguing predictive aspects.     

Does a causal relation exist between the functional hemispheric asymmetries of visual processing subsystems?

Past research indicates that specific shape recognition and spatial-relations encoding rely on subsystems that exhibit right-hemisphere advantages, whereas abstract shape recognition and spatial-relations encoding rely on subsystems that exhibit left-hemisphere advantages. Given these apparent regularities, we tested whether asymmetries in shape processing are causally related to asymmetries in spatial-relations processing. We examined performance in four tasks using the same stimuli with divided-visual-field presentations. Importantly, the asymmetry observed in any one task did not correlate with the asymmetries observed in the other tasks in ways predicted by extant theories. Asymmetries in shape processing and spatial-relations encoding may not be due to a common causal force influencing multiple subsystems.     

Does directed exploration influence locomotor activity in a holeboard test?

The effects of three drugs, chosen for their differential effects on directed exploration and locomotion (ethanol, caffeine, and FG 7142), were examined on the locomotor activity of mice in a holeboard apparatus containing either a solid floor or one with four holes in it. The dose-related effect of all three drugs on locomotor activity was not changed by the presence of the holes, although activity was slightly higher when a solid floor was used. The results indicated that the two measures can vary independently and that the directed exploration component (head-dipping) of the holeboard test does not significantly influence the locomotor activity component.     

Does an iPod make you happy? An exploration of the effects of iPod ownership on life satisfaction

The Apple iPod is currently the undisputed leading product in the global MP3 player market. This competitive advantage is due to the design, high functionality, and perhaps most importantly, the ‘cool factor’ which Apple has managed to obtain with its products. This study explores if owning an iPod (as opposed to another brand of MP3 player) makes a difference in the perception of general life satisfaction. Using Diener et al.'s generic satisfaction with life scale (SWLS) to measure the dependent variable life satisfaction, a model with the key concepts usage, benefits, peer influence, design, iPod phenomenon, and iPod bubble has been developed and tested in a variety of ways, including regression analysis. The sample consisted of a multinational sample of 240+ young adults, aged 18–35 years. The demographic profiles of iPod and non‐iPod owners were very similar, but for iPod owners, 23 per cent of the variance in overall life satisfaction is explained by the key concepts used in this research. Key influencing variables for iPod owners are peer influence and design. For non‐iPod owners, the amount of variance explained by the independent variables was negligible. iPod owners also considered their MP3 players to be much ‘cooler’ than did non‐iPod owners. This article considers the managerial implications of these findings for Apple and for competing brands. The social implications of these findings and their significance are also discussed, and several potential areas for further research are highlighted. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.