Reading times and adaptive styles among patients diagnosed with psychosis as assessed by the Serial Color-Word Test

The present study focuses on how patients diagnosed with psychosis deal with a conflicting situation. In the study, two groups of patients were assessed. One group consisted of patients diagnosed with psychosis (n = 41), while the comparison group (n = 135) consisted of inpatients diagnosed either with anorexia nervosa or with bulimia nervosa. The groups were assessed using the Serial Color Word Test (S-CWT), designed for studying an individual's successive adaptation over time to a conflicting situation. The S-CWT differentiated the two groups regarding both reading time and adaptive styles. Patients diagnosed with psychosis had longer reading times and an adaptive style that was deviant throughout the test, indicating poorer cognitive functioning and more serious psychopathology. These problems may in turn influence functioning in work or study and daily living, all of which are important in treatment planning.     

Humean dispositionalism

Humean metaphysics is characterized by a rejection of necessary connections between distinct existences. Dispositionalists claim that there are basic causal powers. The existence of such properties is widely held to be incompatible with the Humean rejection of necessary connections. In this paper I present a novel theory of causal powers that vindicates the dispositionalist claim that causal powers are basic, without embracing brute necessary connections. The key assumptions of the theory are that there are natural types of causal processes, and that manifestations of powers are identified with certain kinds of causal processes. From these assumptions, the modal features of powers are explained in terms of internal relations between powers themselves and the process-types in which powers are manifested.     

Parental Acceptance and Children’s Psychological Adjustment in the Context of Power and Prestige

On a sample of 313 nine- through 16-year-old Spanish children this study explored the question: Is the relation between paternal versus maternal acceptance and the psychological adjustment of offspring significantly affected by the level of interpersonal power and/or prestige of each parent within the family? The relationship between perceived parental acceptance and children’s psychological adjustment depends on which parent was perceived by children to have higher interpersonal power or prestige than the other. This trend was especially strong in families when mothers were perceived to have both higher power and higher prestige than fathers. The strongest overall contribution to children’s adjustment, however, was made in families where fathers were perceived to have both the highest power and the highest prestige.     

Differential Acculturation Among Pakistani American Immigrant Parents and Children

The purpose of this study was to explore relations between acculturation patterns of mothers and fathers, and parents and children. The sample consisted of 102 children (52 boys and 50 girls) and 204 parents (102 mothers and 102 fathers) drawn from three cities in the Eastern United States. Children ranged in age from nine through 13 years (M = 11 years). Mothers ranged in age from 29 through 50 years (M = 38 years), and fathers ranged in age from 32 through 56 years (M = 44 years). Measures used were Bicultural Attitude Scales for Parents and Children. Results showed significant correlations between the cultural orientation of mothers and fathers, as well as between parents and children. Results also showed that both parents (fathers and mothers) and children had a significantly greater orientation toward their heritage culture (Pakistan) than toward their host culture (the U.S.). But the level of orientation toward the heritage culture was significantly higher for parents than for children. In addition, boys showed significantly higher orientation toward the host culture than did girls.