Synergy between Positive Psychology and Indian Psychology? Reflections on Barriers and Pathways

There are points of convergences between Positive Psychology and Indian Psychology. But we do have to cross many barriers and travel some distance on converging pathways for the potential synergies between these fields to manifest. There are indicators in the global literature that Positive Psychology is maturing as an approach but this is yet to become very evident in the Indian research on Positive Psychology. Systematic efforts at discovering convergences between Indian Psychology and Positive Psychology can go a long way in enriching our understanding of well being.     

Hegel,the Trinity,and the ‘I’

The main goal of this paper is to argue the relevance of Hegel’s notion of the Trinity with respect to two aspects of Hegel’s idealism: the overcoming of subjectivism and his conception of the ‘I’. I contend that these two aspects are interconnected and that the Trinity is important to Hegel’s strategy for addressing these questions. I first address the problem of subjectivism by considering Hegel’s thought against the background of modern philosophy. I argue that the recognitive structure of Hegel’s idealism led him to give the Trinity a decisive role in his philosophical account. Next, I discuss the Trinity by analysing the three divine persons. This analysis paves the way for the conclusion, where I argue that the Trinity represents a model for re-thinking the ‘I’ in a way that overcomes a ‘naïve realist’ and a ‘subjective’ account of the self. I suggest that Hegel’s absolute idealism can be conceived as an approach to the ‘I’ that considers the role of acts of mutual recognition for the genesis of self-conscious thought, and that the Trinity is the Darstellung of the relational and recognitive structure of the ‘I’.     

Knowledge in Society as an Empirical Base for Indian Psychology

Indian society has enormous complexity and diversity of religion and culture. The Indian Psychology will be truly enriched if it explores and integrates these experiences at the individual and group levels. In addition there is perhaps something to learn from the Positive Psychology as to how to best utilize the knowledge in Indian society for the sake of humanity.     

Nothing Persuades Like Success: Reflections on Partially and Over-Successful Persuasion. A Reply to Debowska-Kozlowska

In this brief commentary of Kamila Debowska-Kozlowska’s insightful analysis of persuasive outcomes (Processing topics from the Beneficial Cognitive Model in partially and over-successful persuasion dialogues. Argumentation, 2014), I articulate some suggestions for future development of her ideas. My main claim is that, while instances of partially and over-successful persuasion are indeed worthy of further theoretical inquiry, the topical analysis proposed by Debowska-Kozlowska may benefit from integration with other approaches.     

Heidegger,Hermeneutics and History: Undermining Jeff Malpas’s Philosophy of Place

Most works about the philosophy of Martin Heidegger either disregard Heidegger’s attachment to National Socialism or assume the ‘minimalist’ view that his attachment was a brief political aberration of no consequence for his philosophy. This paper contends that the minimalist view is not only factually wrong but also that its assumption promotes methodological errors and poor philosophy. To assess this contention we examine two important texts from one of the more fertile fields in current philosophy: Jeff Malpas’s Heidegger’s Topology: Being, Place, World (2006) and Heidegger and the Thinking of Place (2012). Malpas claims that Heidegger’s rejection of National Socialism spurred, or was concomitant with, new directions in his philosophy. These claims are wrong. The paper concludes that any work about Heidegger’s philosophy must first acknowledge and understand his enduring attachment to National Socialism.     

Findings for a CBT Support Group for Latina Migrant Farmworkers in Western Colorado

Despite previous research findings that suggested that migrant farmworkers are at great risk for mental health problems, no published research has evaluated mental health interventions in migrant farmworkers. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate a culturally-responsive cognitive-behavioral support group for migrant farmworker women of Mexican descent. Six participants with elevated depression and migrant farmworker stress underwent a 6-session intervention conducted in Spanish by a licensed clinical psychologist and a lay health worker (promotora). Participants completed baseline, posttreatment and 6-month followup assessments. Baseline and outcome measures included the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Migrant Farmworker Stress Inventory, Personality Assessment Inventory Anxiety Scale, Beck Hopelessness Scale, and Rosenburg Self-Esteem Inventory. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Tests indicated significant reductions in depression, anxiety, migrant farmworker stress, and hopelessness and increased self-esteem scores at posttreatment and followup. Eighty-three percent of participants achieved clinically significant pretreatment-posttreatment change and 100 % achieved clinically significant pretreatment-followup change. Our overall findings provide support for the usage of culturally-responsive support groups as an effective short-term intervention for migrant farmworkers. Our use of a promotora appeared especially helpful in decreasing stigma and promoting trust. Although our intervention shows promise, future research should evaluate the intervention in a more controlled manner.     

Predictors of Depressive Symptoms Among Children Affected by HIV in Rural China: A 3-Year Longitudinal Study

The current study was designed to examine the trend of depression among children affected by HIV (n = 1,221) in rural China over a period of 3 years and to explore baseline psychosocial factors that can predict depressive symptoms at 1- and 2-year follow-ups. Baseline depression score, trusting relationship with caregivers, perceived public stigma against children affected by HIV, and future expectation at baseline positively predicted the 1-year follow-up depression, while children’ self-report health status, self-esteem, and perceived social support negatively predicted depression at 1-year follow-up survey. Depression and self-report health status at baseline significantly predicted depression at the 2-year follow-up. The data in the current study suggested that depressive symptoms were chronic or recurring among some children affected by HIV/AIDS. The findings also underscore the importance of early identification, early intervention, and ongoing counseling for mental health problems among children affected by HIV/AIDS. Future psychological support programs need to target both mental health symptoms and resilient factors that will help these children to cope with adverse life events associated with HIV/AIDS.     

Combining Item Response Theory and Diagnostic Classification Models: A Psychometric Model for Scaling Ability and Diagnosing Misconceptions

Traditional testing procedures typically utilize unidimensional item response theory (IRT) models to provide a single, continuous estimate of a student’s overall ability. Advances in psychometrics have focused on measuring multiple dimensions of ability to provide more detailed feedback for students, teachers, and other stakeholders. Diagnostic classification models (DCMs) provide multidimensional feedback by using categorical latent variables that represent distinct skills underlying a test that students may or may not have mastered. The Scaling Individuals and Classifying Misconceptions (SICM) model is presented as a combination of a unidimensional IRT model and a DCM where the categorical latent variables represent misconceptions instead of skills. In addition to an estimate of ability along a latent continuum, the SICM model provides multidimensional, diagnostic feedback in the form of statistical estimates of probabilities that students have certain misconceptions. Through an empirical data analysis, we show how this additional feedback can be used by stakeholders to tailor instruction for students’ needs. We also provide results from a simulation study that demonstrate that the SICM MCMC estimation algorithm yields reasonably accurate estimates under large-scale testing conditions.     

Parenting Adolescents: Examining the Factor Structure of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire for Adolescents

The Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (APQ) is a well studied assessment of parenting practices for school-age children, especially in relation to child externalizing behaviors. Given the developmental changes between school-age children and adolescents and subsequent changes to parenting approaches during that time, the utility of a public-accessed measure to span across a broad age range is of high clinical and empirical importance. This study investigated the psychometric properties of the APQ in a community sample of 376 parents of adolescents. In an Exploratory Factor Analysis the data suggested a 4-factor solution similar in composition to the original 5-factor model. Proposed factors for the APQ when given to parents of adolescents included Positive and Involved Parenting, Parental Monitoring, Discipline Practices, and Discipline Process.     

Risk Patterns and Correlated Brain Activities. Multidimensional Statistical Analysis of fMRI Data in Economic Decision Making Study

Decision making usually involves uncertainty and risk. Understanding which parts of the human brain are activated during decisions under risk and which neural processes underly (risky) investment decisions are important goals in neuroeconomics. Here, we analyze functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data on 17 subjects who were exposed to an investment decision task from Mohr, Biele, Krugel, Li, and Heekeren (in NeuroImage 49, 2556–2563, 2010b). We obtain a time series of three-dimensional images of the blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) fMRI signals. We apply a panel version of the dynamic semiparametric factor model (DSFM) presented in Park, Mammen, Wolfgang, and Borak (in Journal of the American Statistical Association 104(485), 284–298, 2009) and identify task-related activations in space and dynamics in time. With the panel DSFM (PDSFM) we can capture the dynamic behavior of the specific brain regions common for all subjects and represent the high-dimensional time-series data in easily interpretable low-dimensional dynamic factors without large loss of variability. Further, we classify the risk attitudes of all subjects based on the estimated low-dimensional time series. Our classification analysis successfully confirms the estimated risk attitudes derived directly from subjects’ decision behavior.     

A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Investigation of the External Correlates of Sluggish Cognitive Tempo and ADHD-Inattention Symptoms Dimensions

The objective was to determine if the external correlates of sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) and ADHD-inattention (IN) dimensions were the same in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Teachers and aides rated SCT, ADHD-IN, ADHD-hyperactivity/impulsivity (HI), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), and depression along with academic impairment in 758 Spanish children (55 % boys) on three occasions (twice at the end of the first grade year [6-week separation] and then again 12-months later at the end of the second grade year). Three of eight SCT symptoms showed substantial loadings on the SCT factor and substantially higher loadings on the SCT factor than the ADHD-IN factor for teachers and aides at each assessment (seems drowsy, thinking is slow, and slow moving). Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses yielded similar results with SCT and ADHD-IN factors having different and unique external correlates (higher scores on SCT predicted lower scores on ADHD-HI and ODD while higher scores on ADHD-IN predicted higher scores on ADHD-HI and ODD with SCT and ADHD-IN both uniquely predicting academic impairment and depression). Developmental and methodological reasons are discussed for the failure to find an inconsistent alertness SCT factor (daydreams, alertness fluctuates, absent-minded, loses train of though, and confused).     

Indian Psychology in Prospect

Responding to the comments on the paper “Positive Psychology and Indian Psychology in Need of Mutual Reinforcement”, the present paper provides further clarification to the meaning, substance and relevance of Indian psychology, the points of confluence and the sources of variance between it and positive psychology. It emphasizes that Indian psychology is psychology in the making that has enormous implications for broadening the scope of psychology. It goes on to suggest that humans are not mere biologically driven machines, but they are also consciousness manifesting beings. As such they need to be studied not only at the neurophysiological level but also from the perspective of consciousness as such. This opens up new doors to discover numerous hidden human potentials and how they may be harnessed for common good and individual happiness. To illustrate this, general contours of applied Indian psychology are drawn and their implications to health and wellness are outlined. This enables one to see the substantive areas for possible collaborative efforts by those working in the areas of positive psychology and Indian psychology.     

Improving Outcomes for Youth with ADHD: A Conceptual Framework for Combined Neurocognitive and Skill-Based Treatment Approaches

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent and chronic mental health condition that often results in substantial impairments throughout life. Although evidence-based pharmacological and psychosocial treatments exist for ADHD, effects of these treatments are acute, do not typically generalize into non-treated settings, rarely sustain over time, and insufficiently affect key areas of functional impairment (i.e., family, social, and academic functioning) and executive functioning. The limitations of current evidence-based treatments may be due to the inability of these treatments to address underlying neurocognitive deficits that are related to the symptoms of ADHD and associated areas of functional impairment. Although efforts have been made to directly target the underlying neurocognitive deficits of ADHD, extant neurocognitive interventions have shown limited efficacy, possibly due to misspecification of training targets and inadequate potency. We argue herein that despite these limitations, next-generation neurocognitive training programs that more precisely and potently target neurocognitive deficits may lead to optimal outcomes when used in combination with specific skill-based psychosocial treatments for ADHD. We discuss the rationale for such a combined treatment approach, prominent examples of this combined treatment approach for other mental health disorders, and potential combined treatment approaches for pediatric ADHD. Finally, we conclude with directions for future research necessary to develop a combined neurocognitive + skill-based treatment for youth with ADHD.     

Exogenous spatial precuing reliably modulates object processing but not object substitution masking

Object substitution masking (OSM) is used in behavioral and imaging studies to investigate processes associated with the formation of a conscious percept. Reportedly, OSM occurs only when visual attention is diffusely spread over a search display or focused away from the target location. Indeed, the presumed role of spatial attention is central to theoretical accounts of OSM and of visual processing more generally (Di Lollo, Enns, & Rensink, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 129:481–507, 2000). We report a series of five experiments in which valid spatial precuing is shown to enhance the ability of participants to accurately report a target but, in most cases, without affecting OSM. In only one experiment (Experiment 5) was a significant effect of precuing observed on masking. This is in contrast to the reliable effect shown across all five experiments in which precuing improved overall performance. The results are convergent with recent findings from Argyropoulos, Gellatly, and Pilling (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 39:646–661, 2013), which show that OSM is independent of the number of distractor items in a display. Our results demonstrate that OSM can operate independently of focal attention. Previous claims of the strong interrelationship between OSM and spatial attention are likely to have arisen from ceiling or floor artifacts that restricted measurable performance.     

Impact of Sluggish Cognitive Tempo and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms on Adults’ Quality of Life

The symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have been linked to dysfunction in numerous life domains for both children and adults. As such, it is likely that individuals with these and other related symptoms (e.g., sluggish cognitive tempo, SCT) may also experience impaired quality of life. The current study examines the association between ADHD and SCT symptoms and quality of life (QOL) in a community sample of adults. Quality of life data collected from 983 participants (M age = 45.6 years) were analyzed primarily through a series of hierarchical multiple regressions employing SCT and ADHD symptom clusters, demographic, and anxiety and depression scale variables as predictors. Results generally supported the hypothesis that ADHD and SCT symptoms would negatively associate with QOL. Amongst the indicators, inattention and SCT emerged as the strongest predictors of low QOL. These findings underscore the negative impact of ADHD symptoms in adulthood, the independent contribution of SCT, and the importance of considering QOL in prospective research and intervention.     

A brief scoring method for voice stress analysis

The Psychological Stress Evaluator (PSE) detects inaudible frequency changes in the human voice, and it is claimed that the pattern of these changes can provide a measure of psychophysiological arousal. A few studies have given some support to this hypothesis, but further clarifica tion is needed. One major technical problem in this research is that the traditional scoring esyStem is unreliable unless considerable numbers of scores are taken and averaged , The paper presents a conveniently brief scoring system which has fair reliahility, and which correlates significantly with a measure of Critical Flicker Fusion Threshold.     

Causal Decision Theory and EPR correlations

The paper argues that on three out of eight possible hypotheses about the EPR experiment we can construct novel and realistic decision problems on which (a) Causal Decision Theory and Evidential Decision Theory conflict (b) Causal Decision Theory and the EPR statistics conflict. We infer that anyone who fully accepts any of these three hypotheses has strong reasons to reject Causal Decision Theory. Finally, we extend the original construction to show that anyone who gives any of the three hypotheses any non-zero credence has strong reasons to reject Causal Decision Theory. However, we concede that no version of the Many Worlds Interpretation (Vaidman, in Zalta, E.N. (ed.), Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy 2014) gives rise to the conflicts that we point out.     

LQTS Parents’ Reflections About Genetic Risk Knowledge and their Need to Know or Not to Know their Children’s Carrier Status

Long QT syndrome (LQTS) is a contributor to unexplained deaths in infants (SIDS), children, teenagers and young adults. A gene test result may allow for individual tailored treatment, but also pose a burden of knowing one’s carrier status, with no treatment recommendation. Genetic risk knowledge in the case of LQTS can promote adjustment and coping, but also fear anxiety, ambivalence and moral dilemmas. This makes it challenging to respect both the right to know and the right not to know. The purpose of this study was to explore LQTS parents’ perception of genetic knowledge, and their need to know or not to know about their children’s carrier status. Qualitative, semi structured interviews were conducted with thirteen parents of LQTS-children. Results show that parents found it important to know the result of a gene test for LQTS including their children’s carrier status. The risk was framed and incorporated into their everyday life and their life perspectives. Pertinent moral dilemmas concerned information disclosure to children and relatives. Parents thought that early and gradual disclosure to children would promote coping. Parents’ moral dilemmas were rarely addressed during encounters with healthcare providers. The participants had several suggestions for improvement in that regard.     

CASPER: A personal computer package for exploring psychometrics

CASPER is a psychometrics software package suitable for instructional and research applications with IBM-PC-compatible computers. CASPER lets the user simulate or directly enter psychometric data. Numerous statistical analyses, file handling procedures, and graphics are included Analyses include factor analysis, multiple regression, correlation/partial correlation, moments analysis, reliability analysis, and item analysis.     

HyperCard administration of a block-design task

HyperCard (Atkinson, 1987) is a new development environment for the Macintosh that shows promise for use in psychological research and testing. In this paper, we discuss the development of HyperCard stackware with which a block-design task similar to that of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) can be administered. The reliability and validity of the computerized block-design task was evaluated by administering both the computerized task and the WAIS-R subtest to college undergraduates. Results indicated that the computerized task’s reliability compared favorably with that of the WAIS-R subtest. Validity coefficients were equivocal; although an elapsed-time measure showed moderate correlation between the tasks, the numbers of designs correctly completed in each condition were not significantly correlated.