Physical attractiveness and health: comment on Weeden and Sabini (2005)

Evolutionary behavioral biology suggests that certain characteristics of the human face and body are important for mate preferences and are therefore subject to sexual selection. J. Weeden and J. Sabini identify a number of weaknesses in the association between traits' attractiveness and health. In contrast, the authors argue that (a) studies on preferences for physical characteristics that rely on 1 trait permit only limited interpretation, (b) limitations placed on J. Weeden and J. Sabini's review exclude important associations, (c) there are misconceptions in their treatment of some traits, and (d) their selected literature provides an inaccurate picture regarding effect size. The authors suggest that future research in this field should seek conceptual and methodological constancy in trait selection and in the evaluation of attractiveness- and health-related traits.     

The limitations of behavior-genetic analyses: comment on McGue, Elkins, Walden, and Iacono (2005)

This article takes issue with the behavior-genetic analysis of parenting style presented by M. McGue, I. Elkins, B. Walden, and W. G. Iacono. The author argues that the attribution of their findings to inherited genetic effects was without basis because McGue et al. never indicated how those genetic effects manifested themselves. Instead, McGue et al. neglected important, and inevitable, developmental effects that most developmental psychologists understand to influence parent and adolescent behavior. The author also suggests that there is great merit in adopting the approach of developmental systems theory in understanding McGue et al.'s findings in particular and all developmental phenomena in general.     

False memories and statistical decision theory: comment on Miller and Wolford (1999) and Roediger and McDermott (1999)

In an analysis of H. L. Roediger and K. B. McDermott's (1995) false-memory paradigm, M. B. Miller and G. L. Wolford (1999) argued that falsely recognized items occur because a bias toward calling such items "old" is created by their membership in a studied category. This interpretation was contested by Roediger and McDermott (1999). The authors of this article approach this issue as a statistical decision problem and observe that an explanation of false memory based on stored strengths and one based on decision process can have identical implications for data. Problems with equivalent formal models of this type can frequently be resolved by looking at the effects of other variables on the fitted estimates. The authors illustrate this analysis by examining the effects of presentation duration on the parameter estimates produced by models that instantiate the 2 explanations. Although the question remains open, the storage-based interpretation was found to be somewhat more plausible.     

Working memory and intelligence--their correlation and their relation: comment on Ackerman, Beier, and Boyle (2005)

On the basis of a meta-analysis of pairwise correlations between working memory tasks and cognitive ability measures, P. L. Ackerman, M. E. Beier, and M. O. Boyle (2005; see record 2004-22408-002) claimed that working memory capacity (WMC) shares less than 25% of its variance with general intelligence (g) and with reasoning ability. In this comment, the authors argue that this is an underestimation because of several methodological shortcomings and biases. A reanalysis of the data reported in Ackerman et al. using the correct statistical procedures demonstrates that g and WMC are very highly correlated. On a conceptual level, the authors point out that WMC should be regarded as an explanatory construct for intellectual abilities. Theories of working memory do not claim that WMC is isomorphic with intelligence factors but that it is a very strong predictor of reasoning ability and also predicts general fluid intelligence and g.     

Blood, breath, fears redux, and panic attacks: comment on Roth, Wilhelm, and Pettit (2005)

This article discusses the hyperventilation theory (HVT) of panic attacks (PAs) proposed by R. Ley in the context of criticisms raised by W. T. Roth, F. H. Wilhelm, and D. Pettit. Their interpretation of HVT is flawed by misunderstanding, misinterpretation, and oversimplification of the complex psychophysiological principles on which current HVT is based. Consequently, the "propositions" they derive are inappropriate. Further, Roth et al. disregarded/overlooked: (a) differences among types of PAs, (b) abundant empirical evidence that PA patients are distinguished by presence or absence of prominent respiratory symptoms (e.g., overbreathing), and (c) Ley's (1992b) classification of PAs based on 10 psychophysiological distinctions. The review by Roth et al. falls short of standards required to falsify HVT. Current HVT of PAs is tenable and testable.     

Social exclusion and the hierarchical defense system: comment on MacDonald and Leary (2005)

G. MacDonald and M. R. Leary hypothesized that physical pain and social exclusion share many affective features in common. In this comment, the author discusses the implications of J. A. Gray and N. McNaughton's (2000) hierarchical defense system model, which MacDonald and Leary used in the development of their theoretical claims. Issues are discussed that require, at least, clarification; but more substantive problems need closer consideration of hierarchically organized defense. It is argued that research findings may be better understood (a) by systems of interacting neural modules, which lead to state dissociations between affective states, and (b) by general modulatory influences on the entire defense system that lead to trait associations (i.e., personality) between physical pain and emotional distress.     

Working memory capacity and fluid intelligence are strongly related constructs: comment on Ackerman, Beier, and Boyle (2005)

The authors agree with P. L. Ackerman, M. E. Beier, and M. O. Boyle (2005; see record 2004-22408-002) that working memory capacity (WMC) is not isomorphic with general fluid intelligence (Gf) or reasoning ability. However, the WMC and Gf/reasoning constructs are more strongly associated than Ackerman et al. (2005) indicate, particularly when considering the outcomes of latent-variable studies. The authors' reanalysis of 14 such data sets from 10 published studies, representing more than 3,100 young-adult subjects, suggests a strong correlation between WMC and Gf/reasoning factors (median r=.72), indicating that the WMC and Gf constructs share approximately 50% of their variance. This comment also clarifies the authors' "executive attention" view of WMC, it demonstrates that WMC has greater discriminant validity than Ackerman et al. (2005) implied, and it suggests some future directions and challenges for the scientific study of the convergence of WMC, attention control, and intelligence.     

Distinguishing among models and goals in personality science: comment on Ashton and Lee (2005)

This comment notes a misrepresentation of work by Caprara and Cervone (2000) contained in a recent contribution to this journal (Ashton & Lee, 2005 ). This occurrence is taken as an opportunity to highlight a positive development in personality science: investigators' increasing awareness of distinctions among alternative conceptual models that address qualitatively distinct scientific goals that each fall within the confines of the professional field. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Validity and reliability of the Miller Forensic Assessment of Symptoms Test (M-FAST): comment on Veazey, et al. (2005)

Confidence intervals are provided for the validity coefficients calculated by Veazey, et al. for the M-FAST. Two coefficients alpha are also presented along with suggestions for different approaches to calculating the M-FAST internal consistency reliability.     

Evolution of life-history trade-offs in mate attractiveness and health: comment on Weeden and Sabini (2005)

J. Weeden and J. Sabini's finding of small to no relation between traits rated as attractive in a mate and health of that mate might be interpreted as consistent with C. Darwin's (1859) proposal that these traits are arbitrary signs of beauty. However, such a conclusion would be premature. A combination of consistent empirical findings with nonhuman species and theoretical reasons argues for a continued search for honest signals of genetic fitness and reproductive health in human mate choices. Moreover, (a) even quite small relationships can be important when viewed across generations, and (b) traits that make a potential mate attractive at one age can result in poor health or early death at a later age. These life-history trade-offs greatly complicate the empirical study of attractiveness-health relations, and their potential importance has been underestimated by J. Weeden and J. Sabini.     

A reminder about procedures needed to reliably produce perfect timesharing: comment on Lien, McCann, Ruthruff, and Proctor (2005)

M.-C. Lien, R. S. McCann, E. Ruthruff, and R. W. Proctor (2005) argued that simultaneous ideomotor-compatible choice tasks cannot be perfectly timeshared. Their conclusion is limited in generalizability for 2 reasons: (a) Their experiments did not include procedures that previous research has shown to be necessary for obtaining perfect timesharing (motivating subjects to perform the 2 tasks rapidly and simultaneously; homogeneous blocks of simultaneous stimuli for the 2 tasks), and (b) their experiments included a procedure that previous research has shown to interfere with perfect timesharing of simultaneous tasks (within-block variation of task interstimulus intervals). Also discussed here are problems in M.-C. Lien et al.'s (2005) analysis of slopes relating Task 2 latency to Task 1 latency and their advocacy of a central bottleneck theory that may not be disconfirmable.     

The relation between source memory and episodic memory: comment on siedlecki et Al. (2005)

On the basis of an interesting structural equation analysis, K. L. Siedlecki, T. A. Salthouse, and D. E. Berish argued that "it may not be meaningful to refer to source memory as a construct distinct from episodic memory" (p. 31). This commentary highlights that this same point could also be made on conceptual grounds. To suggest that source and episodic memory are distinct concepts would confound tasks with theoretical constructs. All episodic tasks involve making attributions about the origin of mental experiences (source monitoring). Conversely, source memory tasks are designed to investigate episodic memory. No task is special, but each may be useful, depending on the focus of interest.     

(Neuro)predictions,Dangerousness, and Retributivism

Through the criminal justice system so-called dangerous offenders are, besides the offence that they are being convicted of and sentenced to, also punished for acts that they have not done but that they are believe to be likely to commit in the future. The aim of this paper is to critically discuss whether some adherents of retributivism give a plausible rationale for punishing offenders more harshly if they, all else being equal, by means of predictions are believed to be more dangerous than other offenders. While consequentialism has no problem, at least in principle, with this use of predictions most retributivists have been opponents of punishing offenders on the basis of predictions. How can an offender deserve to be punished for something that he has not done? But some retributivists like Anthony Duff and Stephen Morse have argued in favor of punishing offenders who are considered to be dangerous in the future more harshly than non-dangerous offenders. After having reconstructed their arguments in detail, it will be argued that both Duff’s and Morse’s attempts to give a retributivistic justification have several shortcomings.     

Sample size and the detection of correlation--a signal detection account: comment on Kareev (2000) and Juslin and Olsson (2005)

Simulations examined the hypothesis that small samples can provide better grounds for inferring the existence of a population correlation, p, than can large samples. Samples of 5, 7, 10, 15, or 30 data pairs were drawn either from a population with p=0 or from one with p>0. When decision accuracy was assessed independently for each level of the decision criterion, there was a criterion-specific small-sample advantage. For liberal criteria, accuracy was greater for large than for small samples, but for conservative criteria, the opposite result occurred. There was no small-sample advantage when accuracy was measured as the area under a receiver operating characteristic curve or as the posterior probability of a hit. The results show that small-sample advantages can occur, but under limited conditions.     

Influence of postural regulation in male judokas' direction of falls: comment on Paillard, et al. (2005)

The survey of Paillard pinpoints three important areas of reflection: what new knowledge is added, what are the internal perspectives, and what are the external perspectives.     

Empirically supported psychotherapies: comment on Westen, Novotny, and Thompson-Brenner (2004)

D. Westen, C. M. Novotny, and H. Thompson-Brenner (2004; see record 2004-15935-005) suggested that efforts to identify empirically supported treatments are misguided because they are based on assumptions that are not appropriate for some types of treatment and patients. The authors of this comment argue that Westen and colleagues are simply incorrect when they assert that empirically supported treatments require that psychopathology must be highly malleable, that treatments must be brief, or that the samples studied are unrepresentative of the kinds of patients typically encountered in clinical practice--comorbidity is common in many clinical trials. Randomized controlled trials remain the most powerful way to test notions of causal agency.     

Gender, ethnicity, and career trajectories: a comment on Woodward (2010)

Woodward (2010) argued that Maria Rickers-Ovsiankina, Eugenia Hanfmann, and Tamara Dembo constituted a group of Jewish emigré psychologists who received substantial help in America from a "Jewish network" of patronage. This comment focuses on the historiographic problems and pitfalls of essentialized ethnic identification. There was no evidence that Maria Rickers-Ovsiankina was a Jew or that Eugenia Hanffman, raised Russian Orthodox, identified herself as a Jew, in contrast to Tamara Dembo, who did so. We argue that these women were part of an active network of Gestaltists, topologists, and Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues leaders, and that any help that they received may be explained by the shared theoretical and disciplinary outlook of these groups as opposed to a "Jewish network."