Physicalism and our knowledge of intrinsic properties

This paper examines recent arguments by Rae Langton and David Lewis intended to prove Humility: the thesis that we have no knowledge of the intrinsic properties of substances. I argue that at best, these arguments are internally incoherent. They at once presuppose a strong version of physicalism according to which physical science is in a position to give a complete list of the fundamental properties of reality, and at the same time various metaphysical principles which in actuality challenge the completeness of the list of properties given by science. Although these arguments are unsound, their consideration enables us to draw important conclusions regarding the tension between the metaphysician's practice of positing intrinsic properties that give colour to the world, and the scientific attempt at giving a complete account of all phenomena.     

Video Intervention for Child and Caregiver Distress Related to the Child Sexual Abuse Medical Examination: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study

Children who disclose child sexual abuse are often referred for a comprehensive medical exam to ensure physical well-being and gather evidence. This study examined a brief, developmentally appropriate, psychoeducational video designed to instruct children and caregivers about the exam procedures and coping strategies to be used during the exam. Sixty-nine children ages 4–15 and their caregivers were randomly assigned to view the psychoeducational video (n = 35) or to receive standard practice (n = 34). Distress before, during, and after the exam was assessed in both children and caregiver, as were measures of satisfaction and knowledge about the investigation process and coping strategies. Consistent with hypotheses, results indicated that the video intervention was well-received by families, increased caregiver knowledge, and decreased stress during the examination. Caregiver and child distress decreased from pre to post examination across both conditions, and, unexpectedly, there were no significant differences in these decreases between groups. Overall results from this pilot study are promising in supporting a cost-effective and brief early intervention approach at the time of the medical examination for child sexual abuse for children and their caregivers.     

Exploring the Within-Person Coupling of Reading Vision and Cognition in the Elderly

ABSTRACT

This study examined the within-person relationship between reading vision and cognitive functioning. Analysis was conducted on 36 community-dwelling elderly (age range?=?60–87) who completed a reading vision task and three cognitive tests (i.e., Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Task (AVLT), Letter Series, and Number Comparison) twice a day over 60 consecutive days. Significant within-person variability was found for the reading vision measure. Additionally, a main effect was found for reading vision and performance on the AVLT and Number Comparison task; such that on occasions when reading vision was poor, cognitive performance suffered.     

Prompt Density,Rate of Reinforcement,and the Persistence of Manding

The Psychological Record - Previous research has documented the effects of prompting mands at a relatively high rate (i.e., rich schedule) or low rate (i.e., lean schedule). These previous studies...     

Effects of September 11 on patients with obsessive compulsive disorder

Effects of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the USA were investigated in 25 patients with obsessive compulsive disorder and 27 normal controls 4-6 months after the attacks. Participants completed a 15-item questionnaire to retrospectively assess changes in mood, cognition, behavior and somatic complaints since September 11, 2001. Overall, both patients with obsessive compulsive disorder and normal controls reported minor changes in mood, behavior and somatic complaints. However, normal controls reported severe to extreme initial impact, slightly more cognitive symptoms (uncertainty about the future, intrusive recollections and greater desire to be with loved ones) and a slightly greater degree of overall impact on emotion and behavior at 1, 2 and 3 months after September 11 than did patients with obsessive compulsive disorder. Results support previous research that has found a relatively minor lasting impact of September 11 on both clinical and normal populations. Differences in cognition and coping mechanisms between normal controls and patients with obsessive compulsive disorder are proposed.     

The communicative functions of touch in humans, nonhuman primates, and rats: a review and synthesis of the empirical research

Although touch is one of the most neglected modalities of communication, several lines of research bear on the important communicative functions served by the modality. The authors highlighted the importance of touch by reviewing and synthesizing the literatures pertaining to the communicative functions served by touch among humans, nonhuman primates, and rats. In humans, the authors focused on the role that touch plays in emotional communication, attachment, bonding, compliance, power, intimacy, hedonics, and liking. In nonhuman primates, the authors examined the relations among touch and status, stress, reconciliation, sexual relations, and attachment. In rats, the authors focused on the role that touch plays in emotion, learning and memory, novelty seeking, stress, and attachment. The authors also highlighted the potential phylogenetic and ontogenetic continuities and discussed suggestions for future research.     

Obsessive-compulsive disorder subtypes: an attempted replication and extension of a symptom-based taxonomy

A symptom-based subgroup taxonomy for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) was evaluated and refined. The Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale symptom checklist was scored and cluster analysis was conducted with a sample of OCD patients (N = 114). Results were compared to Calamari et al.'s (Behaviour Research and Therapy 37 (1999) 113) five subgroup model. Rules for determining the number of subgroups supported a more complex model. In between sample comparisons, a stable contamination subgroup was found in both a five and seven subgroup taxonomy. Between sample stability was not as strong for Harming, Obsessionals, Symmetry, and Certainty subgroups. Hoarding, as a distinctive subgroup, was unstable in separate samples. When the Calamari et al. sample and the present sample were combined (N = 220), we found a reliable Hoarding subgroup. More interpretable and stable models emerged with the combined samples suggesting that large clinical samples are needed to identify OCD subgroups. Greater support was found for a seven subgroup taxonomy based subgroup interpretability and validation measure differences. The potential utility of symptom-based subgroup models of OCD and alternative approaches are discussed. Identification of reliable and valid OCD subtypes may advance theory and treatment.     

A test of psychotherapists' and nontherapists' recognition of correct and incorrect process in managing client resistance

Objective

Psychotherapist management of client resistance (i.e., opposition to change or the therapy process) has a significant impact on therapy outcomes. This study aimed at assessing psychotherapists' and nontherapists' abilities to recognise empirically supported correct and erroneous therapist responses to client resistance.

Method

Seventy-eight therapists and 111 nontherapists completed a rapidly administered novel skills test, Therapist Errors in Resistance Management (TERM), assessing recognition of correct and erroneous resistance management.

Results

Participants were, on average, less than half as accurate at recognising therapist errors (recognised below chance levels) compared with correct therapist responses to resistance (recognised above chance levels). Therapists outperformed nontherapists in accurate recognition of therapist responding. However, among the therapist group, greater clinical experience did not predict superior recognition of therapist errors.

Conclusion

These results indicate that therapists and nontherapists alike may have difficulty detecting erroneous therapist responses to resistance, tending to mistake empirically contraindicated directive responses for correct responding. This may reflect the difficult and unintuitive nature of correct resistance responding and may suggest a need for increased training in process acuity and resistance management in therapist education.     

The impact of conventional versus robust norming on cognitive characterization and clinical classification of MCI and dementia

We examined the impact of conventional versus robust normative approaches on cognitive characterization and clinical classification of MCI versus dementia. The sample included participants from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center Uniform Data Set. Separate demographically adjusted z-scores for cognitive tests were derived from conventional (n = 4273) and robust (n = 602) normative groups. To assess the impact of deriving scores from a conventional versus robust normative group on cognitive characterization, we examined likelihood of having a low score on each neuropsychological test. Next, we created receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for the ability of normed scores derived from each normative group to differentiate between MCI (n = 3570) and dementia (n = 1564). We examined the impact of choice of normative group on classification accuracy by comparing sensitivity and specificity values and areas under the curves (AUC). Compared with using a conventional normative group, using a robust normative group resulted in a higher likelihood of low cognitive scores for individuals classified with MCI and dementia. Comparison of the classification accuracy for distinguishing MCI from dementia did not suggest a statistically significant advantage for either normative approach (Z = −0.29, p = .77; AUC = 0.86 for conventional and AUC = 0.86 for robust). In summary, these results indicate that using a robust normative group increases the likelihood of characterizing cognitive performance as low. However, there is not a clear advantage of using a robust over a conventional normative group when differentiating between MCI and dementia.