Birth order, family structure and personality variables

The birth order and family structure variables assessed included first or only child, position in multi-child family, position in dyadic family, age of parents at birth of given child, whether reared by one or both parents, whether reared under permissive or authoritarian family atmosphere. The personality variables assessed included Sociability, Anxiety, Dominance, Superego, Phlegmatic Temperament, Involvement, Self-Regard and other scales measured by the Howarth Personality Questionnaire. One hundred seventy female and 142 male undergraduates were tested. Significant relationships found included: anxiety lower in firstborns; superego higher in firstborns; persistence higher in those not dominated by elder sibling; phlegmatic temperament higher in permissive families; involvement and phlegmatic temperament lower in single parent families; self-pride higher in the elder of a sibling pair; individual tolerance higher in children reared by both rather than single parent.     

Birth order and personality: Some empirical findings and a biobehavioral theory

The birth-order variables assessed included sex and number of siblings, assignment to 2- or 3-child family for separate sample analysis, family position as appropriate to given sample, spacing effect—was the birth of the second child spaced 4 years or more after the first child—dominance relationships in the family, sex of nearest siblings, sex of other siblings as appropriate, whether raised by both original parents, whether raised by foster parent(s). The personality variables assessed included sociability, anxiety, dominance, superego, phlegmatic temperament, involvement, self-regard and other scales measured by the new Howarth Personality Questionnaire. Samples of 50 for the 2-child families and 58 for the 3-child families were analyzed and it was found that: (a) in the 2-child families eldest children were less cooperative than younger, that those reporting dominance by another sibling were higher in state anxiety and this also applied to the younger of the pair, that those spaced in birth order were less afraid of being socially unacceptable, that those raised by both parents were higher in involvement; (b) in the 3-child families those dominated by a sibling, regardless of position, had more hypochondriac symptoms (a sign of anxiety), and that those spaced in birth order showed less cooperativeness. A biobehavioral theory to encompass biological-hormonal spacing effects and dominance as well as other intrafamilial behaviors was proposed.     

不同气质类型大学生注意集中性的实验研究

研究首先采用气质量表选择四种典型气质类型的大学生各16人共计64人,再采用划消实验对所选被试的注意集中性进行测试,力图探索大学生的不同气质类型与注意集中性的关系。研究结果发现:在划消速度上,粘液质明显快于胆汁质;在划消正确数上,胆汁质明显低于多血质和抑郁质;性别因素对划消速度和划消正确数的影响无显著差异。     

Pavlov's types of nervous system, Eysenck's typology and the Hippocrates-Galen temperaments: An empirical examination of the asserted correspondence of three temperament typologies

Both Pavlov and Eysenck equate their typologies with the Hippocrates-Galen temperaments. In Eysenck's system, the melancholic, choleric, phlegmatic and sanguine temperaments result from different combinations of the superfactors Extraversion (E) and Neuroticism (N). The Pavlovian types of nervous system (TNS) are based on configurations of the three nervous system properties of strength, mobility, and balance of the nervous processes of excitation and inhibition. The proclaimed identity of the three typologies allowed us to (a) derive and evaluate hypotheses regarding differences between the four Hippocrates-Galen temperaments with respect to strength, mobility, and balance of the nervous processes of excitation and inhibition, (b) deduce and test hypotheses regarding the relationship between the Eysenckian typology and Pavlov's TNS, and (c) derive hypotheses regarding the dimensional relationship between the superfactors E and N and the Pavlovian nervous system properties as measured by the Pavlovian Temperament Survey (PTS; Strelau et al., 1990, European Journal of Personality, 4, 209–235). The hypotheses were tested in three samples comprising 159, 102, and 112 adults, respectively. Most of the results were in line with the predictions. The main discrepancy refers to the finding that the sanguine temperament seems to be as unbalanced as the choleric temperament. However, whereas the low balance of the latter is due to weak inhibitory processes, the low balance of the former is due to unexpectedly strong excitatory processes in the sanguine temperament.     

气质与眼动控制的关系

本研究采用眼动追踪和问卷测量相结合的方法,对气质类型和眼动控制的关系进行了探讨。眼动实验为2（眼跳方向：朝向眼跳和反向眼跳）X 2（任务类型：重复眼跳和转换眼跳）组内设计;气质分数用陈会昌编制的《气质类型测试量表》测量。结果表明,气质分数与眼动特性之间存在显著的相关性,不同气质类型（神经活动类型）在抑制过程和任务重置过程中表现出不同的相互作用模式。具体而言,神经活动强度是一个基本维度,它与认知控制的抑制功能和转换功能都有着密切联系;而神经活动的灵活性和平衡性则分别是转换功能和抑制功能的重要条件。     

Pleasure and Aversion: Challenging the Conventional Dichotomy

Philosophy and its descendents in the behavioral sciences have traditionally divided incentives into those that are sought and those that are avoided. Positive incentives are held to be both attractive and memorable because of the direct effects of pleasure. Negative incentives are held to be unattractive but still memorable (the problem of pain) because they force unpleasant emotions on an individual by an unmotivated process, either a hardwired response (unconditioned response) or one substituted by association (conditioned response). Negative incentives are divided into those that are always avoided and those that are avoided only by higher mental processes—archetypically the passions, which are also thought of as hardwired or conditioned. Newer dichotomies within the negative have been proposed, hinging on whether a negative incentive is nevertheless sought (“wanted but not liked”) or on an incentive's being negative only because it is confining (the product of “rule worship”). The newer dichotomies have lacked motivational explanations, and there is reason to question conditioning in the motivational mechanism for the older ones.

Both experimental findings and the examination of common experience indicate that even the most aversive experiences, such as pain and panic, do not prevail in reflex fashion, but because of an urge to attend to them. The well-established hyperbolic curve in which prospective rewards are discounted implies a mechanism for such an urge, as well as for the “lower” incentives in the other dichotomies. The properties of these lower incentives are predicted by particular durations of temporary preferences on a continuum that stretches from fractions of a second to years.     

The stalking of psychotherapists by current or former clients: Beware of the insecurely attached!

Abstract

A survey of psychological therapists who worked in primary care showed that the incidence of psychotherapists being harassed or stalked by their current or former clients was more than twice the national average at 24%. The stalkers fell into three broad categories: those clients who were needy and made early attachments to their therapists; those experiencing erotic transference; and those with personality disorders, especially those with a narcissistic style. All of these are disorders of attachment. This paper discusses the neurobiological development of an insecure attachment and how that manifests during therapy in stalking behaviour. Psychotherapists who are aware of the dynamics within the therapeutic relationship can take preventative steps to inhibit the automatic fear response of a client who is insecurely attached and which may lead to stalking behaviour.

A survey of psychological therapists who worked in primary care showed that the incidence of psychotherapists being harassed or stalked by their current or former clients was more than twice the national average at 24%. The stalkers fell into three broad categories: those clients who were needy and made early attachments to their therapists; those experiencing erotic transference; and those with personality disorders, especially those with a narcissistic style. All of these are disorders of attachment. This paper discusses the neurobiological development of an insecure attachment and how that manifests during therapy in stalking behaviour. Psychotherapists who are aware of the dynamics within the therapeutic relationship can take preventative steps to inhibit the automatic fear response of a client who is insecurely attached and which may lead to stalking behaviour.     

What constitutes torture?: psychological impediments to an objective evaluation of enhanced interrogation tactics

Torture is prohibited by statutes worldwide, yet the legal definition of torture is almost invariably based on an inherently subjective judgment involving pain severity. In four experiments, we demonstrate that judgments of whether specific interrogation tactics constitute torture are subject to an empathy gap: People who are experiencing even a mild version of the specific pain produced by an interrogation tactic are more likely to classify that tactic as torture or as unethical than are those who are not experiencing pain. This discrepancy could result from an overestimation of the pain of torture by people in pain, an underestimation of the pain of torture by those not in pain, or both. The fourth experiment shows that the discrepancy results from an underestimation of pain by people who are not experiencing it. Given that legal standards guiding torture are typically established by people who are not in pain, this research suggests that practices that do constitute torture are likely to not be classified as such.     

死亡提醒效应的心理机制及影响因素

死亡提醒效应是指个体在死亡提醒后会产生世界观防御或自尊寻求的一种普遍现象。其心理机制是以死亡想法通达性为指标的潜在死亡焦虑,影响因素则包括年龄、宗教信仰、结构需求、自我控制、依恋类型等个体差异和不同的情境启动。未来研究应解释与死亡无直接关联的刺激可引发类似效应的原因,进一步阐释与证实潜在的死亡焦虑,并明确自尊对死亡提醒效应的影响。     

A comparison of individuals with unanswered callings to those with no calling at all

The purpose of this research was to compare the life-, job-, and health-related experiences of those who perceive an unanswered occupational calling to those who (1) are living a calling and (2) perceive no calling at all. Surveys containing measures of callings, work engagement, job involvement, career commitment, life and job satisfaction, turnover intentions, physical health and emotional well-being were administered to 378 American academics. As expected, academics with an answered occupational calling tended to report better job attitudes and domain-specific satisfaction and less withdrawal intentions than those who reported an unanswered occupational calling or no calling at all. Furthermore, those who did not have a calling to a particular vocation reported better life-, job-, and health-related outcomes than those experiencing an unanswered calling. Surprisingly, only those academics experiencing an unmet calling reported significantly poorer physical and psychological health as compared to the other two calling groups. These results are consistent with the self-determination theory, which predicts that those who are able to satisfy their basic psychological needs reap benefits in terms of psychological growth, optimal functioning, and wellbeing. The study contributes to the literature on callings by showing that having a calling is a benefit only if it is met, but can be a detriment when it is not as compared to having no calling at all.     

Happy Temperament? Four Types of Stimulation Control Linked to Four Types of Subjective Well-Being

In this person-oriented study 722 adolescents and adults filled out formal characteristics of behaviour—temperament inventory, satisfaction with life scale and positive and negative affect schedule. Using k-means clustering we assigned them to four subjective well-being (SWB) types: (1) achievers—high satisfaction, positive affective balance; (2) aspirers—low satisfaction, positive affective balance; (3) resigners—high satisfaction, negative affective balance; (4) frustrated—low satisfaction, negative affective balance; and to four temperament types denoting patterns of stimulation control (1) sanguine: high stimulation processing capacity (SPC) and high stimulation supply (StS); (2) melancholic: low SPC, low StS; (3) phlegmatic: high SPC, low StS; (4) choleric: low SPC, high StS. We compared stimulation control dimensions between SWB types and compared counts of SWB types across four profiles of temperament. SPC and StS were highest among achievers and lowest among the Frustrated, with aspirers and resigners in between. We found a clear correspondence between well-being structures and temperament types (a) the most common temperament among achievers was the sanguine, suggesting that this is the ‘happy temperament’, (b) among the Frustrated it was the melancholic (the ‘unhappy temperament’), (c) among resigners it was the choleric, suggesting that this ‘overstimulated temperament’ results in high satisfaction at the cost of lower affective balance, (d) among aspirers it was the Phlegmatic, suggesting that ‘understimulated temperament’, results in a good affective balance but lower satisfaction. Configurations of temperament dimensions within individuals affect the whole structure of SWB and can explain incongruence between cognitive and affective components of SWB.     

Acceptance of Conditional Suicide and Euthanasia among Adult Americans

ABSTRACT: Analysis of the attitudes of a 1977 cross-sectional sample of 1,530 American adults concerning euthanasia and suicide indicates that sex, age, and education are significant variables. Males, those who are younger and those who are better educated, are more likely to approve of euthanasia and suicide when a person has an incurable disease. Religious affiliation was not an important variable, although those who were frequent church-service attenders or who were high on religiosity were highly likely to reject euthanasia and suicide.     

Les décisions d’orientation dépendent-elles des stéréotypes sociaux ? Sous quelles conditions ?

IntroductionIn this research we want to show that influence of social stereotypes linked to the social background on the students’ orientation is not a social fate that cannot be ignored but that there really are conditions that allow to reduce or even suppress those effects. The objective is to test the hypothesis according to which the seniority of the teachers, their type of professional commitment and the fact of working or not in an area earmarked for special educational assistance (prioritary education zone) must allow to significantly reduce the stereotypes effects on the academic judgment.MethodWithin the framework of an experimental research lead in school, we have asked high school teachers to express propositions of continuing studies as well as success predictions from ficticious student files reaching the end of high school. The results confirm that the bias generally observed in academic judgments are reduced in professors having a seniority above 5 years compared to the ones having a seniority lower than 5 years, those who have a strong work commitment, like the “self made persons” or “social activists” types, compared to those having a lower type of work commitment like the “self investors” or “careerists” types and those working in an area earmarked for special educational assistance (prioritary education zone) compared to those who work outside these areas.ConclusionThis research shows that factors likely to limit the effects of social background stereotypes on academic judgments do exist.     

Seizure types, epilepsy syndromes, etiology, and diagnosis

The clinical manifestation of epileptic seizures may vary widely from patient to patient, depending on the region of the brain involved. Over the centuries, many seizure classification systems have been used, and the current most widely used classification system is that of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE). The ILAE system divides seizures into those of partial onset and those of generalized onset, depending on whether the initial clinical manifestations indicate that one cortical region or both hemispheres are involved at the onset of the seizure. Partial seizures are then divided into simple partial seizures, in which a fully conscious state is retained, or complex partial seizures, in which consciousness is impaired. A more recent classification system based purely on symptom features and signs has been proposed, and this system may provide advantages for localization, and especially for surgical evaluation. Epilepsy is a condition characterized by recurrent unprovoked seizures. Epilepsy may be idiopathic, cryptogenic, or symptomatic. Idiopathic epilepsies are generally genetic, and while many such syndromes have been described, advances in molecular genetics will undoubtedly reveal many more syndromes in the near future. Cryptogenic epilepsies are those in which an underlying cause is suspected, but the etiology remains undetected. Epilepsies for which there is an underlying structural cause or major metabolic derangement are considered symptomatic. Common causes and diagnostic evaluation are described in this article.     

Automaticity and eyewitness accuracy: a 10- to 12-second rule for distinguishing accurate from inaccurate positive identifications

Eyewitness researchers have shown that witnesses accurately choosing the culprit out of a lineup reach their decisions more quickly than those erroneously choosing an innocent individual. However, this research is silent regarding how quickly or slowly witnesses must be, in absolute terms, to indicate that they are accurate or inaccurate. Across 4 studies, the authors discovered that a time boundary of roughly 10 to 12 s best differentiated accurate from inaccurate positive identifications. Witnesses making their identification faster than 10 to 12 s were nearly 90% accurate; those taking longer were roughly 50% accurate. This finding is consistent with previous research showing that accurate witnesses are more likely than inaccurate witnesses to reach their decisions automatically, that is, quickly, without conscious thought or effort.     

Mean Girls: Provocative Clothing Leads to Intra-Sexual Competition between Females

This study aimed to investigate indirect aggression between females from an evolutionary perspective, considering indirect aggression as a mechanism of intra-sexual competition. Previous research suggests that females who are dressed provocatively, or appear ‘sexually available’, are more likely to be victims of indirect aggression from other females. Investigating this notion via an empirical measure and a word-selection task, this study involved a female confederate posing as a participant, who was dressed provocatively in one condition and conservatively in the other. Sixty-five females completed an intra-sexual competition scale and a word selection task in which they were able to select complimentary or derogatory phrases to describe the confederate. Making derogative comments is a common form of indirect aggression; therefore, those who selected derogatory phrases could be considered to be exhibiting indirect aggression. Consistent with our hypotheses, females in the provocative condition obtained significantly higher intra-sexual competition scores, selected more derogatory words, and less complimentary words than those in the conservative condition, indicating that females dressed provocatively are indirectly aggressed against to a greater extent than those that are not. This paper adds further support to the notion that indirect aggression is used by females as a method of intra-sexual competition, particularly towards provocatively dressed females.     

Abandon the dead donor rule or change the definition of death?

Research by Siminoff and colleagues reveals that many lay people in Ohio classify legally living persons in irreversible coma or persistent vegetative state (PVS) as dead that additional respondents, although classifying such patients as living, would be willing to procure organs from them. This paper analyzes possible implications of these findings for public policy. A majority would procure organs from those in irreversible coma or in PVS. Two strategies for legitimizing such procurement are suggested. One strategy would be to make exceptions to the dead donor rule permitting procurement from those in PVS or at least those who are in irreversible coma while continuing to classify them as living. Another strategy would be to further amend the definition of death to classify one or both groups as deceased, thus permitting procurement without violation of the dead donor rule. Permitting exceptions to the dead donor rule would require substantial changes in law--such as authorizing procuring surgeons to end the lives of patients by means of organ procurement--and would weaken societal prohibitions on killing. The paper suggests that it would be easier and less controversial to further amend the definition of death to classify those in irreversible coma and PVS as dead. Incorporation of a conscience clause to permit those whose religious or philosophical convictions support whole-brain or cardiac-based death pronouncement would avoid violating their beliefs while causing no more than minimal social problems. The paper questions whether those who would support an exception to the dead donor rule in these cases and those who would support a further amendment to the definition of death could reach agreement to adopt a public policy permitting organ procurement of those in irreversible coma or PVS when proper consent is obtained.     

Linguistic-pragmatic factors in interpreting disjunctions

' The connective or can be treated as an inclusive disjunction or else as an exclusive disjunction. Although researchers are aware of this distinction, few have examined the conditions under which each interpretation should be anticipated. Based on linguistic-pragmatic analyses, we assume that interpretations are initially inclusive before either (a) remaining so, or (b) becoming exclusive by way of an implicature (but not both). We point to a class of situations that ought to predispose disjunctions to inclusive interpretations and to situations that encourage exclusive interpretations. A disjunction's ultimate interpretation is based on its potential informativeness, where the interpretation of the disjunctive utterance having the smallest number of true conditions is considered most informative. Our investigation leads to five experiments employing arbitrary materials. Among the problems expected to encourage inclusive interpretations are those that present disjunctions in the antecedents of conditionals and in question forms. The best candidates to produce implicatures are those disjunctions that underdetermine an expected conjunctive conclusion, although other disjunctive utterances that are more informative as exclusive are discussed and tested.     

A study of visual temporal size contrast

Stimuli exposed successively with an interpolated larger or smaller stimulus (IS) are subject to size-contrast effects to a highly significant degree. While stimuli nearer IS are, in general, more affected than stimuli farther away, there is some indication of paradoxical distance effect (PDE): Stimuli somewhat farther from IS are more affected than those nearest IS. Intermediate IS has a splitting effect in that stimuli above are judged larger, and those below are judged smaller, thus verifying the results with IS below and above the series stimuli. The relation of these results to figural aftereffects is stressed.     

Discussion

Psychoanalysis is a challenging and difficult job, and the psychoanalyst, whatever he believes he is doing, is always trying to grapple with those challenges. He uses anything available to help, including scientific theories from neurobiology, cognitive psychology, or personality development, but those theories as science offer little more assistance than he gets from common sense. What they may offer is a symbol or mantra that assists in maintaining an optimal “analytic” stance or position toward the patient and the analytic process.

New concepts of “emotional memory” are flexible enough to be assimilated by any of the current approaches to psychoanalysis.