Ernst Kris and the art of the mentally ill1

Ernst Kris, a gifted art historian as well as an eminent psychoanalyst, had little regard for the aesthetic value of the spontaneous artistic products of the mentally ill, considering them to be of interest only for the insight they might provide about the patient's psychopathology and unconscious conflicts. Recent scholarship and developments in the art world warrant a critical review of his position, which appears to have derived from his adherence to classical and Renaissance criteria. The works of two untrained and psychiatrically disturbed artists are offered as evidence of their potential aesthetic worth.     

Preliminary examination of a couple-based eating disorder prevention program

The purpose of the current study was to investigate a new dissonance-based prevention program that is based on the dual pathway model of eating disorders within the context of an individual's romantic relationship. A total of 209 dating couples participated in a couple-based prevention program or an assessment-only condition and completed measures of body dissatisfaction, thin-ideal internalization, disordered eating, negative affect, and relationship satisfaction at two time points (approximately one week apart) and approximately half of the sample completed 1-month follow-up measures. The prevention program significantly reduced several key risk factors for eating disorders such as environmental pressures to be thin, internalization of the thin and athletic ideals, state body dissatisfaction, and actual-ideal body discrepancy. Initial support was found for the inclusion of couples in eating disorder prevention programs as a successful way of addressing the thin ideal and its detrimental effects for women.     

Awareness and Preferences Regarding <Emphasis Type="Italic">BRCA1/2</Emphasis> Genetic Counseling and Testing Among Latinas and Non-Latina White Women at Increased Risk for Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer

This study was an investigation of awareness, cognitions, and psychosocial and educational needs related to genetic counseling and testing among Latinas and non-Latina whites at increased risk for having a BRCA1/2 mutation. Sixty-three Latina and eighty-four non-Latina white women completed telephone surveys employing a mixture of quantitative and qualitative questions assessing awareness, benefits, risks, barriers, and genetic counseling communication preferences regarding BRCA1/2 testing. Among participants who had not previously had genetic counseling/testing, 56.9% of Latinas (29/51) and 34.8% of non-Latina white participants (24/69) were unaware of the availability of BRCA1/2 testing. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, Latina ethnicity was the only statistically significant independent factor associated with lack of awareness (OR = 0.42; 95% CI = 0.19–0.35). No appreciable differences were noted between ethnic groups regarding perceived benefits of BRCA1/2 testing or desired genetic counseling topics. These findings underscore the importance of increasing awareness of cancer genetic counseling and genetic testing among both Latina and non-Latina white populations.     

Rats are sensitive to ambiguity

In the present study, we investigated response decisions made under conditions of incomplete information in rats. In Experiment 1, rats were trained on either a positive patterning (PP; A-, B-, AB+) or a negative patterning (NP; A+, B+, AB-) instrumental lever-press discrimination. Subjects that had learned an NP discrimination responded less to Cue A when Cue B was covered at test. The cover did not, however, affect test responses to Cue A in the PP condition. In Experiment 2, rats received concurrent training on both PP and NP discriminations. After concurrent training, responses to Cue A were different with B covered versus uncovered for both NP and PP discriminations. We discuss possible accounts for why exposure to a nonlinearly soluble discrimination (NP) may have affected sensitivity to cue ambiguity produced by the cover. These results have interesting implications for representational processes engaged in problem solving.     

Functional specialization within the striatum along both the dorsal/ventral and anterior/posterior axes during associative learning via reward and punishment

The goal of the present study was to elucidate the role of the human striatum in learning via reward and punishment during an associative learning task. Previous studies have identified the striatum as a critical component in the neural circuitry of reward-related learning. It remains unclear, however, under what task conditions, and to what extent, the striatum is modulated by punishment during an instrumental learning task. Using high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a reward- and punishment-based probabilistic associative learning task, we observed activity in the ventral putamen for stimuli learned via reward regardless of whether participants were correct or incorrect (i.e., outcome). In contrast, activity in the dorsal caudate was modulated by trials that received feedback--either correct reward or incorrect punishment trials. We also identified an anterior/posterior dissociation reflecting reward and punishment prediction error estimates. Additionally, differences in patterns of activity that correlated with the amount of training were identified along the anterior/posterior axis of the striatum. We suggest that unique subregions of the striatum--separated along both a dorsal/ventral and anterior/posterior axis--differentially participate in the learning of associations through reward and punishment.     

Career aspirations of youth: Untangling race/ethnicity, SES, and gender

This study examined the influence of gender, socioeconomic status, and race/ethnicity on the career aspirations of over 22,000 8th and 10th grade youth. The top five occupations identified by youth as aspirations included artist, lawyer, musician, FBI agent, and actor/actress. Top occupations were also reported for each gender × socioeconomic status × race/ethnicity group. Aspirations were coded by social prestige level, minimum education requirements, and median salary. Results revealed significant main effects for socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity as well as significant interaction effects. Further, significant gender main effects and a significant gender × ethnicity interaction were found for occupational prestige and educational requirements.     

Pragmatic encroachment,stakes, and religious knowledge

It is commonly held that epistemic standards for S’s knowledge that p are affected by practical considerations, such as what is at stake in decisions that are guided by that p. I defend a particular view as to why this is, that is referred to as “pragmatic encroachment.” I then discuss a “new argument against miracles” that uses stakes considerations in order to explore the conditions under which stakes affect the level of epistemic support that is required for knowledge. Finally, I generalize my results to include other religiously significant propositions such as “God exists” and “God does not exist.”     

Anatomic Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Developing Child and Adolescent Brain and Effects of Genetic Variation

Magnetic resonance imaging studies have begun to map effects of genetic variation on trajectories of brain development. Longitudinal studies of children and adolescents demonstrate a general pattern of childhood peaks of gray matter followed by adolescent declines, functional and structural increases in connectivity and integrative processing, and a changing balance between limbic/subcortical and frontal lobe functions, which extends well into young adulthood. Twin studies have demonstrated that genetic factors are responsible for a significant amount of variation in pediatric brain morphometry. Longitudinal studies have shown specific genetic polymorphisms affect rates of cortical changes associated with maturation. Although over-interpretation and premature application of neuroimaging findings for diagnostic purposes remains a risk, converging data from multiple imaging modalities is beginning to elucidate the influences of genetic factors on brain development and implications of maturational changes for cognition, emotion, and behavior.     

A mutual acculturation model of multicultural campus climate and acceptance of diversity

This study examines the relationship between college students' perceptions of their campus' multicultural climate and their acceptance of racial/ethnic diversity. A two-mediator model, based on acculturation principles, was successfully fit to survey data from 434 college students of diverse racial/ethnic heritage. Results showed that valuing positive interactions with members of ethnocultural groups other than one's own is a positive mediator and strength of ethnocultural identity is a (much less important) negative mediator of the relationship between student perceptions of multicultural campus programming and personal acceptance of diverse racial/ethnic groups. Furthermore, each mediator independently contributed to the prediction of such acceptance. Overall, the model accounts for about 25% of the variance in acceptance of diversity and was a better fit to the data than a reverse path model. Follow-up analyses, separately by ethnic group, showed that perceptions of campus programming predicted acceptance of diversity for the White subsample, but not for the Latino subsample. Nevertheless, the two acculturation-related constructs were important for both groups, with the model accounting for 28% and 24% of their respective variances in acceptance of diversity. Practical implications are drawn.