Thought and purpose

The concepts of (i) being, (ii) change, (iii) causation, (iv) action, and (v) purpose are concepts of decreasing generality, in this sense: (a) each can be understood only in terms of its predecessor on the list, and (b) while the first applies to everything, the others, in order, have an increasingly narrow scope. Much Western philosophy has amounted to an attempt to reduce one or more of these to those that precede them, and thus eliminate them as concepts necessary for philosophical understanding, but all such attempts seem to have failed. Hume did not reduce (iii) to (ii), the numberless attempts to reduce (iv) to (iii) seem clearly to have failed, and, what very few seem as yet to have realized, the attempts to reduce (v) to (iv) are unpromising. Not only is agency necessary for understanding human behavior, it seems also necessary to understanding thought, and the same appears true of the concept of purpose.     

Paths from socioemotional behavior in middle childhood to personality in middle adulthood

Continuity in individual differences from socioemotional behavior in middle childhood to personality characteristics in middle adulthood was examined on the assumption that they share certain temperament-related elements. Socioemotional characteristics were measured using teacher ratings at ages 8 (N = 369; 53% males) and 14 (95% of the initial sample). Personality was assessed at age 42 (63% of the initial sample; 50% males) using a shortened version of the NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI); the Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP); and the Adult Temperament Questionnaire (ATQ). Three models were tested using structural equation modeling. The results confirmed paths (a) from behavioral activity to adult Extraversion and Openness (NEO-PI), sociability (KSP), and surgency (ATQ); (b) from well-controlled behavior to adult conformity (KSP) and Conscientiousness (NEO-PI); and (c) from negative emotionality to adult aggression (KSP). The paths were significant only for one gender, and more frequently for males than for females. The significant male paths from behavioral activity to all indicators of adult activity and from well-controlled behavior to adult conformity started at age 8, whereas significant female paths from behavioral activity to adult sociability and from well-controlled behavior to adult Conscientiousness started at age 14. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

Changing the working self alters the emotions prompted by recall

Results from three studies indicated that emotional responses to memories can be changed by altering the working self. In particular, these results showed that emotional reactions to memories: (1) were especially positive when memories were perceived to be central to the working self (Experiment 1); (2) were muted when the working self was changed by adopting a third-person perspective during recall (Experiment 1); (3) of an event in the life of each participant's mother weakened when an individual was induced to experience a self that felt less close to their mother (Experiment 2) and (4) of a childhood event provoked especially positive emotional reactions after exposure to a mortality salience manipulation that increased perceived self-worth (Experiment 3). The extent to which mother was included in the self (Experiment 2) and self-worth (Experiment 3) plausibly mediated the effects of the manipulations on participants' emotional reactions to recalled events.     

CONTRASTS AND INTERACTIONS REDUX:

Abstract— This reply to Abelson (this issue) and Petty, Fabrigar, Wegener, and Priester (this issue) is couched within the framework of five basic principles advising that we (1) hang on to what we predicted long enough to test it ( Tarzan's leap ), (2) be wary of beguiling statistical designs that may not address the question of interest (the Sirens' song), (3) not allow well-worn habits of thinking to ensnare our perceptions ( Lavoisier's crease ), (4) weigh the possibility of more than one correct hypothesis ( the dayyan's decree ), and (5) not confuse unplanned with planned contrasts ( the archer's aim ).     

Testing an integrated model of the work–family interface in Chinese employees: A longitudinal study

The purpose of this study was to examine an integrated model of the work–family interface (WFI) linking work–family demands (workload and family conflict), resources (supervisory support and family support) and role satisfaction in a Chinese context. The four‐factor structure of WFI comprises direction of influence (work to family vs family to work) and types of effect (work–family conflict vs work–family enrichment). A longitudinal design was used to collect data from 409 Chinese employees at three time points, separating measures of antecedents (T1), WFI (T2) and outcomes (T3) in time. The results based on structural equation modelling (SEM) reveal that: (1) the direction and types of effect were two underlying dimensions of the WFI, supporting the four‐factor structure; (2) demands were more strongly related to conflict, while resources were more strongly related to enrichment; (3) work–family conflict and enrichment were related to role satisfaction, regardless of the direction of influence.     

On Obscenity: The Thrill and Repulsion of the Morally Prohibited

The paper proceeds by criticising the central accounts of obscenity proffered by Feinberg, Scruton and the suggestive remarks of Nussbaum and goes on to argue for the following formal characterization of obscenity: x is appropriately judged obscene if and only if either (A) x is appropriately classified as a member of a form or class of objects whose authorized purpose is to solicit and commend to us cognitive-affective responses which are (1) internalized as morally prohibited and (2) does so in ways found to be or which are held to warrant repulsion and (3) does so in order to (a) indulge first order desires held to be morally prohibited or (b) indulge the desire to be morally transgres-sive or the desire to feel repulsed or (c) afford cognitive rewards or (d) any combination thereof or (B) x successfully elicits cognitive-affective responses which conform to conditions (1)–(3).     

Ear asymmetries in dichotic listening tasks which increase in difficulty

Accuracy and laterality of ear preference in repeating 2, 3 and 4 word pairs (WP) of dichotic stimuli in English and French were determined in 80 right-handed subjects (anglophone/francophone, male/female), who were tested in both their native language (L1) and nonnative language (L2). Relative performance accuracy decreased as a function of word pairs per trial (from 2 to 4) as well as language (from L1 to L2). Right-lateral preference in turn increased as a function of WP (from 2 to 4) as well as language (L1 to L2). Right-ear advantage (REA) in L2 decreased as a function of language proficiency (low to high). REA was observed in over 90% of subjects. A rationale for greater lateralization of L2 performance is offered.     

高、低强迫症状个体的词语再认差异

比较了高强迫症状（High obsessive compulsive symptom, HOC）和低强迫症状（Low obsessive compulsive symptom, LOC）被试对于不同类型词语（强迫症敏感词、情绪词和中性词）再认成绩和记忆信心的差异。结果发现,HOC组记忆保存量显著低于LOC组（p<0.05）,表明HOC组对强迫症敏感词存在一定的偏好;通过对被试反应信心的检测和信号侦察论的应用,发现HOC组对中性词再认正误的判断觉察能力（d’值）低于LOC组（边缘显著：p＝0.054）;在正确反应信心上,被试类型和词语类型间存在交互作用,F(1,22)=4.60,p<0.05。本研究认为HOC组辨别能力的缺损可能导致其记忆信心方面的降低,这种假设还需要进一步的认知和脑功能研究来证实。     

Complexity science: A framework for psychotherapy integration

The paradigm of complexity science provides a new way to address the problem of psychotherapy integration and allows us to bypass the various shortcomings of the linear-interventionist perspective. Nine criteria are outlined, which should be satisfied by any integrative approach to psychotherapy: (a) the use of complexity science to provide a meta-theoretical and generic understanding of change processes (from neuronal to social system levels); (b) a comprehensive and formalised modelling of change processes and personality development; (c) an integrative method of case formulation; (d) the ability to understand a variety of techniques in terms of basic change principles; (e) criteria to guide microdecisions; (f) the application of data-driven feedback and real-time monitoring of change dynamics; (g) standardised assessment of outcomes in naturalistic settings; (h) guidelines for training; and (i) strategies that are well-suited to science–practice integration. Using these criteria as a framework for evaluation, one may grasp the potential of complexity science to drive innovation in the pursuit of psychotherapy integration.     

Recursion, language, and starlings

It has been claimed that recursion is one of the properties that distinguishes human language from any other form of animal communication. Contrary to this claim, a recent study purports to demonstrate center-embedded recursion in starlings. I show that the performance of the birds in this study can be explained by a counting strategy, without any appreciation of center-embedding. To demonstrate that birds understand center-embedding of sequences of the form A(n) B(n) (such as A(1) A(2) B(2) B(1) , or A(3) A(4) A(5) B(5) B(4) B(3) ) would require not only that they discriminate such patterns from other patterns, but that they appreciate that elements must be bound from the outside in (thus, in the above examples, A(1) B(1) , A(2) B(2) , A(3) B(3) , A(4) B(4) , A(5) B(5) are bound pairs). This has not been shown in nonhuman species, and sentences with this structure are difficult even for humans to parse. There appears to be no evidence to date that nonhuman species understand recursion.     

Dampening of positive affect prospectively predicts depressive symptoms in non-clinical samples

Past research has convincingly shown that a ruminative response style to negative affect (NA) predicts concurrent and prospective levels of depressive symptoms. Recent findings suggest that how people respond to positive affect (PA) might also be involved in the development of depressive symptoms, although this has heretofore not been tested prospectively. Participants from two non-clinical samples (total N=487) completed measures of depressive symptoms, response styles to NA (negative rumination) and response styles to PA (positive rumination and mood dampening) at two assessments separated by a 3-month (Sample 1) and 5-month period (Sample 2). Results in both samples showed that increased dampening responses to PA predict depressive symptoms at follow-up, even when taking into account baseline depressive symptoms and ruminative responses to NA. The results suggest that (dampening) responses to PA add useful information above and beyond (ruminative) responses to NA in predicting depression symptoms prospectively.     

Double Skew-Dual Scaling: A Conjoint Scaling of Two Sets of Objects Related by a Dominance Matrix

Consider two sets of objects, {alpha(1), em leader, alpha(n)} and {beta(1), em leader, beta(m), such as n subjects solving m tasks, or n stimuli presented first and m stimuli presented second in a pairwise comparison experiment. Let any pair (alpha(i), beta(j)) be associated with a real number a(ij), interpreted as the degree of dominance of alpha(i) over beta(j) (e.g., the probability of alpha(i) relating in a certain way to beta(j)). Intuitively, the problem addressed in this paper is how to conjointly, in a "naturally" coordinated fashion, characterize the alpha-objects and beta-objects in terms of their overall tendency to dominate or be dominated. The gist of the solution is as follows. Let A denote the nxm matrix of a(ij) values, and let there be a class of monotonic transformations straight phi with nonnegative codomains. For a given straight phi, a complementary matrix B is defined so that straight phi(a(ij))+straight phi(b(ij))=const, and one computes vectors D(alpha) and D(beta) (the dominance values for alpha-objects and beta-objects) by solving the equations straight phi(A) straight phi(D(beta))/Sigma;straight phi(D(beta))=straight phi(D(alpha)) and straight phi(B(T)) straight phi(D(alpha))/Sigmastraight phi(D(alpha))=straight phi(D(beta)), where (T) is transposition, Sigma is the sum of elements, and straight phi applies elementwise. One also computes vectors S(alpha) and S(beta) (the subdominance values for alpha-objects and beta-objects) by solving the equations straight phi(B) straight phi(S(beta))/Sigmastraight phi(S(beta))=straight phi(S(alpha)) and straight phi(A(T)) straight phi(S(alpha))/Sigmastraight phi(S(alpha))=straight phi(S(beta)). The relationship between S-vectors and D-vectors is complex: intuitively, D(alpha) characterizes the tendency of an alpha-object to dominate beta-objects with large dominance values, whereas S(alpha) characterizes the tendency of an alpha-objects to fail to dominate beta-objects with large subdominance values. For classes containing more than one straight phi-transformation, one can choose an optimal straight phi as the one maximizing some measure of discrimination between individual elements of vectors straight phi(D(alpha)), straight phi(D(beta)), straight phi(S(alpha)), and straight phi(S(beta)), such as the product or minimum of these vectors' variances. The proposed analysis of dominance matrices has only superficial similarities with the classical dual scaling (Nishisato, 1980). Copyright 1999 Academic Press.     

More than a feeling: discrete emotions mediate the relationship between relative deprivation and reactions to workplace furloughs

A key insight from investigations of individual relative deprivation (IRD) is that people can experience objective disadvantages differently. In this study, university faculty (N = 953) who reported greater IRD in response to a mandatory furlough (i.e., involuntary pay reductions) were more likely to (a) voice options designed to improve the university (voice), (b) consider leaving their job (exit), and (c) neglect their work responsibilities (neglect), but were (d) less likely to express loyalty to the university (loyalty). Consistent with the emotions literature, (a) anger mediated the relationship between IRD and voice, (b) fear between IRD and exit, (c) sadness between IRD and neglect, and (d) gratitude between IRD and loyalty. IRD was inversely associated with self-reported physical and mental health via these different emotional pathways. These results show how discrete emotions can explain responses to IRD and, in turn, contribute to organizational viability and the health of its members.     

Dimensionality and validity of two scales measuring different aspects of self-esteem

Two self-esteem (SE) scales aimed to measure self-esteem–conceptualized primarily (a) as the individual's ego-integrated libidinous and aggressive drives and their derivatives (Basic SE), and (b) as the need to earn self-esteem by competence and others' appraisal (Earning SE)–were developed and factor analysed. In order to construct- and cross-validate the scales, they were related to other well-known personality scales as well as to a projective technique (TAT) in two independent samples of first semester psychology students ( n = 153, n = 82). The empirical factor structure coincided well with the theoretical formulations. Basic SE showed concurrent validity being highly correlated ( p < 0.001) with both Rosenberg's and Coopersmith's self-esteem scales and highly or moderately with Neuroticism, Extraversion (EPQ) and Test-Anxicty (TAS) in both samples. Earning SE gained some construct validation by its relation to Type-A scores (JAS) as well as to verbal fantasy stories on TAT-pictures measuring Need of Achievement.     

Coping with diversity in Religious Education: an overview

As a result of secularisation and increasing religious diversity, several European nation have states adapted their policy with regard to the organisation of Religious Education (RE) (or its equivalent) in state schools (schools funded and established by the state). In this article, different strategies will be outlined and evaluated: (1) the shift from confessional/catechetical to semi-confessional RE; (2) the possibility of exemption; (3) the organisation of an alternative, non-confessional, subject; (4) the expansion of RE subjects (multi-religious RE); (5) the shift from confessional to non-confessional RE; (6) the integration of information about religions in other school subjects. Based on a human rights perspective, the author argues why some of these strategies are preferable to others.     

Smoking and pain--a method of limits and sensory decision theory analysis

The effects of tobacco smoking on responses to electrical stimulation were studied according to a Method of Limits (ML) threshold analysis and a Sensory Decision Theory (SDT) analysis. For the ML procedure, Detection Threshold (DT), Pain Threshold (PT) and Tolerance Level (TL) measures were obtained. For the SDT procedure, nonparametric estimates of capacity to discriminate between stimulus intensities (P(A)) and response criterion (B) were calculated. There was no main effect of tobacco smoking on responses to electrical stimulation. Males had consistently higher ML thresholds than females in both the NS and S condition. Males also tended to increase in DT and PT after smoking. From a comparison between the effects of smoking on ML and SDT measures it was suggested that PT is related mainly to sensory factors and TL to response factors.     

Postural control after unexpected external perturbation: Effects of Parkinson’s disease subtype

Different clinical subtypes of Parkinson’s disease (PD) have long been recognized. Recent studies have focused on two PD subtypes: Postural Instability and Gait Difficulty (PIGD) and Tremor Dominant (TD). PIGD patients have greater difficulties in postural control in relation to TD. However, knowledge about the differences in reactive adjustment mechanisms following a perturbation in TD and PIGD is limited. This study aimed to compare reactive postural adjustments under unexpected external perturbation in TD, PIGD, and control group (CG) subjects. Forty-five individuals (15 TD, 15 PIGD, and 15 CG) participated in this study. Postural perturbation was applied by the posterior displacement of the support surface in an unexpected condition. The velocity (15 cm/s) and displacement (5 cm/s) of perturbation were the same for all participants. Center of pressure (CoP) and center of mass (CoM) were analyzed for two reactive windows after the perturbation (0–200 ms and 200–700 ms). The Bonferroni post hoc test indicated a higher range of CoP in the PIGD when compared to the CG (p = 0.021). The PIGD demonstrated greater time to recover the stable posture compared to the TD (p = 0.017) and CG (p = 0.003). Furthermore, the TD showed higher AP-acceleration peak of CoM when compared to the PIGD (p = 0.048) and CG (p = 0.013), and greater AP-acceleration range of CoM in relation to the CG (p = 0.022). These findings suggest that PD patients present worse reactive postural control after perturbation compared to healthy older individuals. CoP and CoM parameters are sensitive to understand and detect the differences in reactive postural mechanisms in PD subtypes.     

Masculinity,femininity, and androgyny: A methodological and theoretical critique

The three primary purposes of this investigation are: (1) to apply confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to responses from three instruments [Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI), Comrey Personality Scale (CPS), and Australian Sex Role Scale (ASRS) developed by Antill and his colleagues] designed to measure masculinity (M) and femininity (F); (2) to determine the correlation between M and F on each instrument and to relate the results to the design of the instrument; and (3) to describe a new theoretical model that posits global M and global F to be multifaceted, higher order constructs. When CFA was used to define one M and one F factor from responses to each instrument, the disattenuated correlations between M and F were +0.58 (BSRI), ?.50 (ASRS), and ?1.0 (CPS). Thus, responses from two instruments supported the separation of M and F, but differed in the direction of the correlation for the two traits, while the third provided remarkably strong support for a bipolar MF continuum. Despite the apparent inconsistency, the observed correlations were explicable in terms of the design of each instrument. While the two-factor model provided a reasonable fit for the BSRI, more complicated models were better able to fit responses to the ASRS and CPS. Results from this investigation and other research were used to formulate a new theoretical model.     

SLOTE ON RATIONAL DILEMMAS AND RATIONAL SUPEREROGATION

The so-called optimising conception of rationality includes (amongst other things) the following two claims: (i) that it is irrational to choose an option if you know there is a better one, and (ii) there are no situations in which an agent, through no practical fault of her own, cannot avoid acting irrationally. As part of his ongoing attempt to explain why we need to go beyond the optimising conception, Michael Slote discusses a number of examples in which it seems that (i) and (ii) are inconsistent. According to Slote, these situations seem to involve the existence of rational supererogation (a denial of (i)), or rational dilemmas (a denial of (ii)). The purpose of this paper is to examine Slote's arguments for these claims, and to propose an alternative solution to the problem he presents.     

Improved Insight into and Prediction of Network Dynamics by Combining VAR and Dimension Reduction

To understand within-person psychological processes, one may fit VAR(1) models (or continuous-time variants thereof) to multivariate time series and display the VAR(1) coefficients as a network. This approach has two major problems. First, the contemporaneous correlations between the variables will frequently be substantial, yielding multicollinearity issues. In addition, the shared effects of the variables are not included in the network. Consequently, VAR(1) networks can be hard to interpret. Second, crossvalidation results show that the highly parametrized VAR(1) model is prone to overfitting. In this article, we compare the pros and cons of two potential solutions to both problems. The first is to impose a lasso penalty on the VAR(1) coefficients, setting some of them to zero. The second, which has not yet been pursued in psychological network analysis, uses principal component VAR(1) (termed PC-VAR(1)). In this approach, the variables are first reduced to a few principal components, which are rotated toward simple structure; then VAR(1) analysis (or a continuous-time analog) is applied to the rotated components. Reanalyzing the data of a single participant of the COGITO study, we show that PC-VAR(1) has the better predictive performance and that networks based on PC-VAR(1) clearly represent both the lagged and the contemporaneous variable relations.