Re-visiting the competence/performance debate in the acquisition of the counting principles

Advocates of the "continuity hypothesis" have argued that innate non-verbal counting principles guide the acquisition of the verbal count list (Gelman & Galistel, 1978). Some studies have supported this hypothesis, but others have suggested that the counting principles must be constructed anew by each child. Defenders of the continuity hypothesis have argued that the studies that failed to support it obscured children's understanding of counting by making excessive demands on their fragile counting skills. We evaluated this claim by testing two-, three-, and four-year-olds both on "easy" tasks that have supported continuity and "hard" tasks that have argued against it. A few noteworthy exceptions notwithstanding, children who failed to show that they understood counting on the hard tasks also failed on the easy tasks. Therefore, our results are consistent with a growing body of evidence that shows that the count list as a representation of the positive integers transcends pre-verbal representations of number.     

Between the idea and the reality: A study of the counselling experiences of bereaved people who sense the presence of the deceased

There have been many theories of the process of loss and bereavement, from Freud, to the present day. Early theories of bereavement described a process which, following various stages and associated tasks, ended at the relinquishment of the bond to the deceased. In more recent years theories have taken different directions, identifying how bereaved people re‐learn life, recreate biographies, and continue relationships to the deceased. Some research studies of bereavement have investigated the counsellors’ perspective, but there are very few studies of the client's experience and most studies have focussed on outcomes of counselling. This qualitative study, using semi‐structured interviews, provides an insight into the bereaved client's perspective on the content and process of their counselling experiences. Taking as its focus the client's sense of the presence of the deceased, this study aimed to identify whether or how counsellors facilitate exploration of this experience and which theories they use in client work. The main finding is that 80% of the counsellors were not perceived by participants to have worked with them satisfactorily in relation to their sense of presence of the deceased or in relation to the story of the death itself.     

Factor analysis of the Dutch-language version of the MCMI-III

We analyzed the factor structure of the Dutch-language version of the MCMI-III (Millon, Millon, Davis, & Grossman, 2006) using exploratory factor analysis on data obtained from a heterogeneous White sample (n = 1,210). We identified 4 factors: General Maladjustment, Aggression/Social Deviance, Paranoid/Delusional Thinking, and Emotional Instability/Detachment. This structure was invariant across scale composition (linear dependent vs. independent scales), factor analytic method (principal factor vs. principal component solutions), and sample characteristics (gender 'male-female' and setting 'clinical-forensic.' Studies that have used previous MCMI (Millon, 1969/1983b) versions have also found 4 similar factors, whereas studies that have used the American version of the MCMI-III have only found 3 factors. However, differences between the Dutch and American version were completely determined by factor analytic decisions. The factor structure of the MCMI-III appeared to be cross-culturally invariant.     

Overview of the Flynn effect

Following WW2, various researchers found and reported secular gains in IQ, but it was not until additional reports appeared in the 1980s that researchers began to look for the cause or causes. It was quickly apparent that the gains were not limited to any group or nation, but the manifestation of the gains was different depending on time and place. For every discovery, there was a different or opposite result in a different data set. Gains have been large, small, variable, and even negative. Some researchers have found that the gains were on g, while more have found no g loading. Abstract test formats, such as the Raven have often shown the greatest gains, but gains have also appeared in tests of crystallized intelligence. Some data has shown greater gains for the lower half of the intelligence distribution, while others have shown greater gains in the top half, and others have shown equal gains at all levels. Hypotheses for the causes have included environmental factors, genetic effects, reduced fertility, and methodological dependence. Two models are discussed.     

Knowledge of the Crime Context: Improving the Understanding of Why the Cognitive Interview Works

Since the Cognitive Interview (CI) was devised under laboratory conditions (Geiselman, Fisher, MacKinnon, & Holland, 1985), researchers have performed many experiments where a variety of variables and conditions have been reported. Nevertheless, few studies have attempted to delve into the theoretical aspects on which the CI is based. A variable that might help us to improve our understanding of why the CI works is prior knowledge of the crime context. Some studies have included familar contexts and others unfamiliar ones, but no study has been performed to test the effect of the familiarity of the crime context as an independent variable. The aim of this research is to study the effect of prior knowledge on subjects' memory when they are interviewed by means of the CI in contrast to a Spanish Standard Interview (SSI). A significant effect of prior knowledge that subjects had of the context where the crime took place was expected, especially for those subjects who were interviewed by means of the CI. Results confirmed this hypothesis.     

Language and the Symptoms of Mental Illness Connection via Abstract Representations of the Self and the World

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to provide additional knowledge about the mediatory processes through which language contributes to the symptoms of mental illness. Although recent studies have provided insight about the relationship between language and the indicators of mental illness, the role of intervening variables in this connection has been ignored. The present investigation tested a structural equation model in which the need for the absolute truth about self and worry mediated the relationship of the gap between inner psychological experience and language with anxiety and depression. The results have provided support for the model and showed that the gap predicts both the need for absolute truth and worry which, in turn, predict the levels of anxiety and depression. The results have been discussed in the light of previous research, and implications for future research have also been considered.     

Critical role of the March of Dimes in the expansion of newborn screening

Expansion of newborn screening (NBS) has been driven primarily by a combination of advances in technology and medical treatment, and the sustained advocacy efforts of consumers and voluntary health organizations. The longstanding leadership of the March of Dimes has been credited by many as a critical factor in the expansion and improvement of state NBS programs. From the historic vantage point of four decades of March of Dimes involvement with newborn screening, this report reviews the unique origin of the first newborn screening test, and identifies from this point of origin several of the elements which still define the evolution of advocacy for NBS today. It also documents activities at the federal level and in seven states that have lead to expanded screening for newborns. Advances in NBS technology and medical treatment have informed policy development. Mobilization of volunteers and focused advocacy activities have brought about expansion of screening opportunities for newborns across the United States. But more work is needed. Continued application of the effective strategies identified in this report will help assure that all families have the best possible chance of assuring that their newborns do not have to suffer the complications of conditions that we know can be treated effectively.     

Non-reductivism and the metaphilosophy of mind

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses the metaphilosophical assumptions that have dominated analytic philosophy of mind, and how they gave rise to the central question that the best-known forms of non-reductivism available have sought to answer, namely: how can mind fit within nature? Its goal is to make room for forms of non-reductivism that have challenged the fruitfulness of this question, and which have taken a different approach to the so-called “placement” problem. Rather than trying to solve the placement problem, the forms of non-reductivism discussed in this paper have put pressure on the metaphilosophical assumptions that have given rise to the question of the place of mind in nature in the first instance.     

Those Who Have the Gold Make the Evidence: How the Pharmaceutical Industry Biases the Outcomes of Clinical Trials of Medications

Pharmaceutical companies fund the bulk of clinical research that is carried out on medications. Poor outcomes from these studies can have negative effects on sales of medicines. Previous research has shown that company funded research is much more likely to yield positive outcomes than research with any other sponsorship. The aim of this article is to investigate the possible ways in which bias can be introduced into research outcomes by drawing on concrete examples from the published literature. Poorer methodology in industry-funded research is not likely to account for the biases seen. Biases are introduced through a variety of measures including the choice of comparator agents, multiple publication of positive trials and non-publication of negative trials, reinterpreting data submitted to regulatory agencies, discordance between results and conclusions, conflict-of-interest leading to more positive conclusions, ghostwriting and the use of ??seeding?? trials. Thus far, efforts to contain bias have largely focused on more stringent rules regarding conflict-of-interest (COI) and clinical trial registries. There is no evidence that any measures that have been taken so far have stopped the biasing of clinical research and it??s not clear that they have even slowed down the process. Economic theory predicts that firms will try to bias the evidence base wherever its benefits exceed its costs. The examples given here confirm what theory predicts. What will be needed to curb and ultimately stop the bias that we have seen is a paradigm change in the way that we treat the relationship between pharmaceutical companies and the conduct and reporting of clinical trials.     

History of the Psychonomic Society IV: The development of the Psychonomic Society

Although there have been many changes in the Psychonomic Society since its founding in 1959, its basic characteristics as a trim organization focused on the conduct of annual scientific meetings and a publication program for scientific research remain unchanged. Because full membership is limited to those who have published appreciable original scientific research beyond the PhD, other means of quality control often have appeared unnecessary. Run by a Governing Board, which elects its own Chair, and a Secretary-Treasurer, the Psychonomic Society has avoided proliferation of administrative structure. Society leaders have worked to maintain a balance between responsible involvement with other organizations and a degree of independence that has enabled the Society to maintain its fundamental simplicity.     

Broadening the Study of the Self: Integrating the Study of Personal Identity and Cultural Identity

This article reviews what is known and what remains to be studied, regarding the association between personal identity and cultural identity. Although these two conceptions of identity have inspired separate literatures and have developed independently of one another, globalization and mass immigration have increased the need to study these two conceptions of identity together. The article puts forth recommendations for integrating the literatures on personal identity and cultural identity. These recommendations include using multidimensional constructs to represent both personal identity and cultural identity, refining the measurement of personal identity and of cultural identity, and of studying these conceptions of identity across various ethnic, cultural, and national groups.     

An evaluation of the effects of Rorschach EB style on the diagnostic utility of the Depression Index

Several empirical studies have found the Rorschach Depression Index (DEPI) to have questionable diagnostic utility. Studies using adolescent samples suggest that the DEPI has limited sensitivity and fails to differentiate effectively between adolescents with and without depression diagnoses. The present study was conducted to evaluate Viglione, Brager, and Haller's suggestion that the DEPI may have better discriminative ability for individuals with extratensive problem-solving styles, measured by the Rorschach EB (Erlebnistypus) variable, compared to those with introversive and ambitent styles. Comparisons were conducted between adolescents with depression-related diagnoses and adolescents with other diagnoses for each of the three EB groups. The results failed to support the hypothesized greater discriminative power of DEPI for depressed extratensives, and suggest caution in using the DEPI to evaluate adolescent depression.     

Reflections on the role of the analytic setting in the light of COVID-19

There have been many reflections, both individual and collective within our Institutes, on the effects on our work with patients caused by COVID-19 and the requirement to move suddenly from the setting of our own consulting rooms to working with patients online (see also, the previous issue of this Journal). This paper focuses on what we have learned from these experiences that can add to our knowledge about the role of the setting in analytic work. Drawing on Bleger’s (1967) seminal paper highlighting the usual setting as a mute projection carrier for primitive wishes and affects, the paper explores how different patients have reacted to the loss of the analyst as the guardian of the setting and in particular as an embodied presence. Some key questions and challenges for both patients and analysts during the pandemic, when ‘the setting begins to weep’, are explored.     

认知信息的详尽度与锚定对决策策略的影响

以191名大学生为被试,采用2×3的完全组间设计,探讨不同认知信息详尽度和有无锚定材料条件下大学生决策策略类型的选择。结果发现:(1)认知信息详尽度对被试的决策策略选择的影响显著,被试在低认知信息详尽度水平下倾向于选择采用维度比较策略,而在高认知信息详尽度水平下倾向于选择采用综合比较策略,并且倾向程度差异显著。(2)锚定效应对决策策略选择的影响不显著,认知信息详尽度与锚定的交互作用也不显著。     

面试预测效度和构想效度研究述评

面试是人才甄选中最常用的测量工具。大量研究证实,面试的预测效度比较理想,但不同类型面试的预测效度存在差异。虽然能够证实面试的预测效度较好,但对面试的测量构想却知之甚少。研究面试的构想效度,对于提高面试的递增效度有着重要的实践价值。相对人格成分而言,以往研究对面试能够测量到认知成分形成了更加一致地认识。     

Prognostic signs for the pastoral counselor from the life of Christ

Summary In this paper I have suggested examples of character traits in persons Jesus tells us about, or whom he dealt with, which can serve as suggestive material in determining the prognosis of persons either in or contemplating pastoral counseling. Among these I have given: first, the ability of a person to reach out, still trying to become life-related or to maintain the relations which he has already established; second, the capacity of the person for relationship, his being able to have feeling, interest, or concern for others, or reality beyond himself; and, third, I have indicated the idea of a person's being able to look at himself in an objective sense, not merely needing to live a defensive life, guardedly protecting his ego as though it could not tolerate any kind of a critical approach. In these concepts of self I believe we have the basic questions regarding the person's success or failure in the process of pastoral counseling.     

Evil,fine-tuning and the creation of the universe

Could God have created a better universe? Well, the fundamental scientific laws and parameters of the universe have to be within a certain miniscule range, for a life-sustaining universe to develop: the universe must be ‘Fine Tuned’. Therefore the ‘embryonic universe’ that came into existence with the ‘big bang’ had to be either exactly as it was or within a certain tiny range, for there to develop a life-sustaining universe. If it is better that there exist a life-sustaining universe than not, then it was better that the embryonic universe was one of this small set of very similar embryonic universes than that it was not. Furthermore, there are no firm grounds for claiming that of this small set of very similar embryonic universes, there is one which would have developed into a universe better than ours. Therefore there are no firm grounds for claiming that God could have created a better universe than ours.     

预期如何影响人们对不愉快事件的体验?

本研究以味觉和痛觉两种感觉通道的体验为对象,探讨预期效价和预期信心如何影响知觉体验的结果及其作用机制。通过基于味觉和痛觉的两个实验,发现预期会影响即时知觉体验,并且预期信心在其中起到调节作用——对预期充满信心时,即时体验和对结果的预期保持一致,预期越积极即时体验越好,预期越消极即时体验越差;而对预期缺乏信心时,即时体验和预期之间呈现背离趋势,预期越积极即时体验越差,预期越消极即时体验则越好。研究结果阐明了预期影响即时体验的机制,对我们理解身心关系也具有重要的理论意义。     

Learning from the past: Reflections on the role of history in the philosophy of science

In recent years philosophers of science have turned away from positivist programs for explicating scientific rationality through detailed accounts of scientific procedure and turned toward large-scale accounts of scientific change. One important motivation for this was better fit with the history of science. Paying particular attention to the large-scale theories of Lakatos and Laudan I argue that the history of science is no better accommodated by the new large-scale theories than it was by the earlier positivist philosophies of science; both are, in their different ways, parochial to our conception of rationality. I further argue that the goal of scientific methodology is not explaining the past but promoting good scientific practice, and on this the large-scale methodologies have no obvious a priori advantages over the positivist methodologies they have tried to replace.     

History of the Psychonomic Society III: The meetings of the Psychonomic Society

A primary function of the Psychonomic Society, founded in 1959, has been the conduct of scientific meetings. Its first 37 meetings have been held in 18 different cities, St. Louis being the most popular with 11 meetings. The 5 Chicago meetings have been held at 5 different sites. Although there have been some changes in format and procedure, there has been a general adherence to guidelines laid down by the Society’s founders whereby the format is kept simple, with a strong emphasis on the communication of results of scientific research.