Beyond social deviance: substance use disorders and the dimensions of psychopathy

High rates of comorbidity between psychopathy and substance use disorders (SUD) have long been recognized. However, the extent to which relationships between SUD and psychopathy extends beyond shared relationship with general antisociality remains undetermined. We examined zero-order and unique relationships between the elements of psychopathy and four categories of SUD; alcohol, cannabis, cocaine, and opioid dependence. The sample consisted of 399 European American and African American male county jail inmates. The relationship between psychopathy and SUD extended beyond general antisociality to core features of the psychopathic personality. Relationships were relatively stable across ethnicity but were more generalized across SUD categories for European American inmates. The relationship between SUD and impulsive and irresponsible behavior was most consistent across categories of SUD; relationships with other elements of psychopathy varied according to category of SUD.     

Sex differences in risk sensitivity under positive and negative budgets and predictors of choice

The authors investigated sex differences in human risk sensitivity by using a computerized choice task with an energy budget analogue. In addition, they explored possible personality predictors of variance sensitivity. The authors modified the traditional energy budget model from those used in risk-sensitive foraging research with nonhuman animals for appropriate use with a human population. Participants chose between 2 computer icons, 1 yielding a fixed-point reward and the other offering variable points. Men were risk prone in the negative budget and risk averse in the positive budget. Women were risk averse in the negative budget. Personality was not predictive of risk-sensitive bias. Interpreting the results using an evolutionary model, the authors found support for a biological and environmental construct of risk-sensitive behavior.     

Learning and transfer of a relative phase pattern and a joint amplitude ratio in a rhythmic multijoint arm movement

According to the coordination dynamics perspective, one can characterize the learning of novel relative phase patterns as the formation of a stable attractor in the coordination landscape of the order parameter relative phase. The authors examined 18 participants' learning and transfer of a 90 degrees relative phase pattern and a 0.6-joint-amplitude ratio between the elbow and wrist. Variability in the relative phasing and the joint amplitude ratio between the elbow and wrist decreased with practice. Positive transfer of the 90 degrees relative phase pattern was not dependent on the learning arm (dominant or nondominant). Positive transfer of the joint amplitude ratio was dependent on the learning arm and the direction of transfer. The results demonstrated that relative phase is an order parameter that characterizes the coordination dynamics of learning and transferring multijoint arm movements, and they provide preliminary evidence that joint amplitude ratios act as order parameters in the learning and transfer of multijoint arm movements.     

Stochastic matching and the voluntary nature of choice

Attempts to characterize voluntary behavior have been ongoing for thousands of years. We provide experimental evidence that judgments of volition are based upon distributions of responses in relation to obtained rewards. Participants watched as responses, said to be made by "actors," appeared on a computer screen. The participant's task was to estimate how well each actor represented the voluntary choices emitted by a real person. In actuality, all actors' responses were generated by algorithms based on Baum's (1979) generalized matching function. We systematically varied the exponent values (sensitivity parameter) of these algorithms: some actors matched response proportions to received reinforcer proportions, others overmatched (predominantly chose the highest-valued alternative), and yet others undermatched (chose relatively equally among the alternatives). In each of five experiments, we found that the matchingactor's responses were judged most closely to approximate voluntary choice. We found also that judgments of high volition depended upon stochastic (or probabilistic) generation. Thus, stochastic responses that match reinforcer proportions best represent voluntary human choice.     

Are complex psychotherapies more effective than biofeedback, progressive muscle relaxation, or both? A meta-analysis

A meta-analysis of 26 studies was conducted to assess whether more complex forms of psychotherapy would be superior to control treatments of either biofeedback, progressive muscle relaxation, or both. Consistent with hypotheses, more complex treatments provided a small, significant improvement over biofeedback and progressive muscle relaxation (r = .09). A subset of the more complex behavioral treatments accounted for most of this small incremental effectiveness of more complex treatments (r = .15). Possible sources of this incremental effectiveness are discussed.     

Psychological Nominalism and the Plausibility of Sellars's Myth of Jones

Part of Sellars's general attack on the Myth of the Given is his endorsement of psychological nominalism, a view that implies that awareness of our own mental states is not given but must be earned. Sellars provides an account of how such awareness might have been earned with the Myth of Jones. Such an account is important for Sellars, for without it the Given can look necessary after all. But a problem with such accounts is that they can look extremely implausible. Sellars himself seems unconcerned to make his account plausible, and so others have stepped in here. But, I argue, they have done so in ways that fail to respect his psychological nominalism. This evinces, as well as reinforces, a lack of sensitivity to the scope of Sellars's attack on the Given, the aim of which is the dismantling of “the entire framework of givenness.” In this essay, I show how one can make Sellars's Myth of Jones plausible, while still respecting his psychological nominalism, by seeing how Jones's thought is governed by the norms of rationality as interpretability.     

Shape effects on memory for location

The participants were 40 students who were briefly presented 32 dot locations, one at a time, and attempted to reproduce each location after a short delay. Half of the participants completed the task with the surrounding shapes being a circle, a horizontal ellipse, and a vertical ellipse; for the other half, the surrounding shapes were a square, a triangle, and a pentagon. Elongation of the task field along an axis led to exaggerated bias along that axis, but the pattern of bias was fairly constant across the shapes. The data were modeled by assuming that bias in estimation was due to the weighting of spatial category prototypes. Modeling indicated that shape affected spacing of prototypes, but there was no evidence that it affected the number of prototypes. These results were consistent with use of a viewer-based frame of reference, with prototypes reflecting four spatial quadrants generated by left—right and up—down distinctions from the viewer’s perspective.     

Sense-of-the-Other: At the Core of Interpersonal Theory and Practice

All psychotherapy is interpersonal. The sense-of-the-other is at the core of the interpersonal approach. More than empathic regard or unconditional understanding, the sense-of-the-other involves the engagement of a person in the other’s life. The degree to which two people resonate with each other provides an estimate of this sense. The contributions of those who have laid the foundations for interpersonal theory, including Sullivan, Buber, Kaiser, and Vigotsky are presented. Then the applications of sense-of-the-other to several scenarios illustrate the power of this concept. Finally, a method for the psychotherapist and other human beings is provided by which people can recognize their impact on others and learn to use it benevolently.     

Providing Information to Parents of Children with Mental Health Problems: A Discrete Choice Conjoint Analysis of Professional Preferences

We used discrete choice conjoint analysis to model the ways 645 children’s mental health (CMH) professionals preferred to provide information to parents seeking CMH services. Participants completed 20 choice tasks presenting experimentally varied combinations of the study’s 14 4-level CMH information transfer attributes. Latent class analysis revealed three segments. Open Access professionals (32.2%) preferred that intake workers automatically provide all parents with CMH information. They preferred information prepared by professional organizations and located at accessible settings such as public schools. They responded favorably to the internet as a source of information for parents. Controlled Access professionals (22.2%) preferred information that was approved and recommended by a child’s therapist, prepared by an experienced clinician, and located at hospitals and CMH clinics. Process Sensitive professionals (45.6%) showed a stronger preference for active learning materials with parenting groups and therapist “coaching” calls supporting the knowledge transfer process. Simulations suggested that realizing the benefits of CMH information requires the development of knowledge transfer strategies that align the preferences of professionals with those of the families they serve.