Debiasing of Pessimistic Judgments Associated with Anxiety: A Test of the Availability Heuristic

This investigation directly tested the Consider-An-Alternative debiasing procedure and the reduction of pessimistic threat-related judgments associated with anxiety. Two separate generation interventions were included to test the availability heuristic as a possible explanation of the debiasing effect. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three interventions and probability estimates of future threat-related events were completed in a repeated measures experimental design. Level of trait anxiety was measured to assign participants to “normal” and highly anxious groups. The data were analyzed in a 3 × 2 × 2 mixed factorial repeated measures ANOVA. The results found that only the short debiasing intervention showed a significant reduction of pessimistic judgments in comparison to the control group. The results were interpreted as supporting the availability heuristic as an explanation of the debiasing effect. Further analysis also suggested that the content of recall may be as important to the debiasing effect as ease of recall.     

Interface of psychology and religion: Trends and developments

Historically speaking, psychology, as a human science discipline, has neglected the study of religion and its profound impact on human behaviour and thought processes. This paper briefly discusses why psychology must study religion and examines attitudes that psychologists and religionists hold toward each other. Empirical studies are quoted, showing a powerful relationship between religion and human adjustment. A literature review on recent developments between the two disciplines is also given. It is concluded that despite historical animosities, there is an increasingly favorable interface between the two disciplines and that given certain conditions this trend is likely to become stronger in the future.     

Differences in high and low anxiety sensitive women's responses to a laboratory-based cold pressor task

Anxiety sensitivity (AS) has been linked to a variety of disabling chronic health conditions, including pain-related conditions. A recent study has found that healthy women with high AS reported significantly higher levels of sensory and affective pain on an experimental cold pressor task compared to women with low AS. However, this study found no differences between AS groups for pain tolerance or pain threshold. In the present study, which was designed to replicate and extend these findings, 90 undergraduate university women were selected for inclusion in 1 of 2 AS groups (high or low) based on their screening scores on a 16-item measure of AS. Participants were tested individually on a lab-based cold pressor task using a variety of self-report and observer-measured variables. Data analyses revealed that, as expected, the high AS participants reported significantly more fear in response to the cold pressor on a relevant item of the McGill Pain Questionnaire-Short Form (SF-MPQ) than did the low AS participants. Also as expected, the high AS participants reported more pain in response to the cold pressor on the Present Pain Index (PPI) of the SF-MPQ than did the low AS participants. High AS participants did not differ from low AS participants on other aspects of the cold pressor response (e.g. pain threshold, pain tolerance, pain recovery). These results support the role of pain-related fear as a mediating variable between AS and increased perceived pain intensity.     

Adapting Cognitive Processing Therapy to Treat Co-Occurring Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury: A Case Study

This case study aims to provide evidence for the effectiveness of adapting a particular manualized cognitive behavioral therapy intervention to treat co-occurring posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). This study presents the treatment of a woman who experienced co-occurring mTBI and PTSD following a motor vehicle accident, a dual diagnosis that was established through a flexible assessment approach involving interviews as well as standardized psychological, neuropsychological, and neurobehavioral testing. Treatment planning led to a-priori adaptation of Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) to treat both her PTSD symptoms and the sequelae associated with her mTBI. The therapist maintained fidelity to the manualized structure and content of CPT protocol, adapting portions of the treatment to add specific emphasis on issues of identity confusion and role loss in service of addressing these common functional impairments that can accompany mTBI. Discussion focuses on application of CPT for future treatment of comorbid PTSD and TBI amidst complicating factors, including role losses and medical and safety issues. This case study is especially relevant due to the prevalence of co-occurring PTSD and TBI across a variety of populations.     

Spelling HUMBLE with U and ME: The role of perceived humility in intimate partner relationships

Humility predicts relationship satisfaction, partially mediated by commitment, in college students. The present study tested this mediation in a non-college sample of participants who have been in exclusive relationships for at least three months (N = 349). We supported a partial mediation model in predicting relationship satisfaction (Hypothesis 1). After controlling for commitment, accurate view of self was the most important factor in predicting relational satisfaction (Hypothesis 2). A simultaneous meditational analysis revealed that perceived humility predicted relationship satisfaction, mediated by gratitude in relationships (Hypothesis 3). A multiple regression analysis revealed that after controlling for personal virtues, perceiving humility in one’s partner predicted additional variance in relational satisfaction (Hypothesis 4). Our study provided support for a mediational model, but do not allow causal inferences because of cross-sectional design. Thus, we recommend that future studies include longitudinal studies to investigate the meditational models we observed.     

Assessing decision making in young adult romantic relationships

Romantic relationships among young adults are rich with ambiguity and without a clear, universal progression emphasizing the need for active decision making. Lack of active decision making in romantic relationships can lead to increases in constraints (e.g. pregnancy, shared living space or finances) that promote the continuation of relationships that would have otherwise ended, leading to increased risk of relationship distress. Because there is no available assessment of thoughtfulness regarding relationship decisions, the authors of the present studies report data on the development of one such scale, the Relationship Deciding Scale (RDS). Study 1 (N = 995) reveals the factor structure of the RDS and provides reliability data for the emergent subscales. In Study 2 (N = 963), the obtained three-factor structure (Relationship Confidence, Knowledge of Warning Signs, and Deciding) is tested via confirmatory factor analysis, demonstrates convergent and discriminant validity, and is shown to predict relationship characteristics 14 weeks later. Study 3 (N = 805) shows the sensitivity of the three factors to change through examination of the influence of a semester-long intervention targeted at increasing decision making in relationships. Use of this scale for identifying and intervening with couples or individuals who lack active decision making in relationships may decrease their risk for future relationship distress.     

Improvements in hippocampal-dependent learning and decremental attention in 5-HT(3) receptor overexpressing mice

The 5-HT3 receptor for serotonin is expressed within limbic structures and is known to modulate neurotransmitter release, suggesting that this receptor may influence learning and memory. Perturbations in serotonergic neurotransmission lead to changes in the ability to attend, learn, and remember. To examine the role of 5-HT3 receptors in learning, memory, and attention, 5-HT3 receptor overexpressing (5-HT3-OE) transgenic mice and their wild-type littermates (WT) were tested in Pavlovian contextual and cued fear conditioning, fear extinction, and latent inhibition (LI) paradigms. Prepulse inhibition (PPI) was assessed to reveal changes in sensorimotor gating. Additionally, anxious behaviors, shock sensitivity, and reactions to novel stimuli were evaluated. 5-HT3-OE mice displayed enhanced contextual conditioning, whereas cued conditioning remained the same as that of WT mice. 5-HT3-OE mice did not differ from WT in extinction rates to either the context or cue. LI was enhanced for 5-HT3-OE mice compared to WT. PPI remained unchanged. No differences in sensitivity to footshock or startle were found. However, 5-HT3-OE mice demonstrated heightened exploratory behavior in response to novel environmental stimuli and decreased anxiety as measured in the elevated plus-maze. Results indicate that overexpression of the 5-HT3 receptor in mouse forebrain results in enhanced hippocampal-dependent learning and attention. Enhanced inspective behavior in response to novelty may contribute to the observed improvements in learning, memory, and attention due to 5-HT3 receptor overexpression.     

Marital Conflict as a Mediator of the Longitudinal Connections between Maternal Emotional Distress and Early Adolescent Maladjustment

In this study, we examined the longitudinal relations among maternal emotional distress, marital conflict, and early adolescent externalizing behaviors and internalizing symptoms during the transition to adolescence. 3 years of self-report data were collected from 136 married mothers and their children, beginning when the children were in 5th grade. Structural equations modeling with latent variables were conducted to examine the nature and directionality of paths between constructs. For mothers, results indicated that marital conflict mediated the relation between prior maternal emotional distress and subsequent early adolescent externalizing behaviors and internalizing symptoms. For early adolescents, a mediating pattern was seen only for externalizing behaviors. In testing the reverse pattern of effects for mothers, marital conflict mediated the relation between prior early adolescent externalizing behaviors and subsequent maternal emotional distress whereas only an indirect pattern of effects existed for internalizing symptoms. Thus, we identified dynamic patterns of familial relations that accounted for the diminished well-being of both early adolescents and their mothers, suggesting that prevention and intervention work during the transition to adolescence should focus on multiple components of family functioning.     

A Priori Causal Models of Natural Selection

Plato articulates a deep perplexity about inquiry in ‘Meno's Paradox’—the claim that one can inquire neither into what one knows, nor into what one does not know. Although some commentators have wrestled with the paradox itself, many suppose that the paradox of inquiry is special to Plato, arising from peculiarities of the Socratic elenchus or of Platonic epistemology. But there is nothing peculiarly Platonic in this puzzle. For it arises, too, in classical Indian philosophical discussions, where it is formulated with great clarity, and analysed in a way that casts it in a new light. We present three treatments of the puzzle in Indian philosophy, as a way of refining and sharpening our understanding of the paradox, before turning to the most radical of the Indian philosophers to tackle it. The Indian philosophers who are optimistic that the paradox can be resolved appeal to the existence of prior beliefs, and to the resources embedded in language to explain how we can investigate, and so move from ignorance to knowledge. Highlighting this structural feature of inquiry, however, allows the pessimist philosopher to demonstrate that the paradox stands. The incoherence of inquiry is rooted in the very idea of aiming our desires at the unknown. Asking questions and giving answers rests on referential intentions targeting objects in a region of epistemic darkness, and so our ‘inquiry sceptic’ also finds structurally similar forms of incoherence in the pragmatics of interrogative discourse.