Examination of the Psychometric Properties of the Spiritual Fitness Assessment

Using a sample of 196 undergraduate students, the present study investigated the psychometric properties of the Spiritual Fitness Assessment, a measure of spiritual fitness designed for use by health and fitness professionals. Examination of inter-item consistency produced satisfactory alpha coefficients for the total test and its three subscales. Correlations of the SFA with measures of spirituality and spiritual well-being provide support for convergent validity. Significant positive correlations with a measure of self-esteem suggest that the test has satisfactory criterion validity. Correlations with age, sex, and a measure of social desirability indicate that the SFA is significantly, though only moderately, affected by demographic variables and motivated response tendencies. Factor analysis of the SFA items indicate that the test is factorially complex and subscales may need to be refined to better measure their intended constructs. Overall, the results of the study suggest that the test may be useful for evaluations of spiritual fitness. Further research with samples drawn from different populations is needed on the test to better establish its reliability and validity.     

Competitive equilibrium with intuitionistic agents

This paper studies an economy whose agents perceive their consumption possibilities subjectively, and whose preferences are defined on what they subjectively experience, rather than on those alternatives that are objectively present. The model of agents’ perceptions is based on intuitionistic logic. Roughly, this means that agents reason constructively: a solution to a problem exists only if there is a construction by which the problem can be solved. The theorems that can be proved determine how an agent perceives a set of alternatives. A dual model relates perceived alternatives to a shared language, which the agents use in trading. So perceptions relate objective alternatives to an agent’s subjective view of them, and reporting dually relates an agent’s subjective world to a shared language. It turns out that an appropriately modified notion of competitive equilibrium always exists. However, in contrast with standard results in economic theory, competitive equilibrium need not be efficient.     

Defeasible reasoning and informal fallacies

This paper argues that some traditional fallacies should be considered as reasonable arguments when used as part of a properly conducted dialog. It is shown that argumentation schemes, formal dialog models, and profiles of dialog are useful tools for studying properties of defeasible reasoning and fallacies. It is explained how defeasible reasoning of the most common sort can deteriorate into fallacious argumentation in some instances. Conditions are formulated that can be used as normative tools to judge whether a given defeasible argument is fallacious or not. It is shown that three leading violations of proper dialog standards for defeasible reasoning necessary to see how fallacies work are: (a) improper failure to retract a commitment, (b) failure of openness to defeat, and (c) illicit reversal of burden of proof.     

Viewing time through the lens of the self: The fit effect of self‐construal and temporal distance on task perception

This paper describes how different self‐construals influence people's perception of temporal distance and in turn their task evaluation. We hypothesize that people with a more accessible interdependent (vs. independent) self‐construal perceive future events as temporally more proximal, and that people's reaction toward a task is intensified when the temporal distance to the task matches (vs. mismatches) their self‐construal. Across four studies, we showed that individuals with a more accessible interdependent self‐construal (Study 1) and East Asians (Study 2) perceived future events as more proximal than those with a more accessible independent self‐construal and European Americans. Further, when considering a task at a temporal distance that fits their self‐construal, individuals perceived a pleasant task as more motivating (Study 3) and an unpleasant task as less motivating (Study 4).

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Is objectification always harmful? Reactions to objectifying images and feedback as a function of self-objectification and mortality salience

From the perspective of terror management theory, awareness of death induces a need for validation of important values. Thus, for women who place a high value on their appearance (e.g., high self-objectifiers), mortality salience should increase positive reactions to objectifying experiences relative to women who do not highly value appearance. Two studies supported this hypothesis. Self-objectification moderated favorable reactions to objectifying stimuli (Study 1) and state self-esteem in response to an objectifying comment (Study 2) when women were primed with death. Together, the studies illustrate the complexity of reactions to objectification and, by highlighting conditions in which objectification serves a psychological function, help to explain the pervasiveness of the phenomena.     

Parts, cavities, and object representation in infancy

Part representation is not only critical to object perception but also plays a key role in a number of basic visual cognition functions, such as figure-ground segregation, allocation of attention, and memory for shapes. Yet, virtually nothing is known about the development of part representation. If parts are fundamental components of object shape representation early in life, then the infant visual system should give priority to parts over other aspects of objects. We tested this hypothesis by examining whether part shapes are more salient than cavity shapes to infants. Five-month-olds were habituated to a stimulus that contained a part and a cavity. In a subsequent novelty preference test, 5-month-olds exhibited a preference for the cavity shape, indicating that part shapes were more salient than cavity shapes during habituation. The differential processing of part versus cavity contours in infancy is consistent with theory and empirical findings in the literature on adult figure-ground perception and indicates that basic aspects of part-based object processing are evident early in life.     

Mental contrasting facilitates academic performance in school children

Two brief intervention studies tested whether teaching students to mentally contrast a desired future with its present reality resulted in better academic performance than teaching students to only think about the desired future. German elementary school children (N = 49; Study 1) and US middle school children (N = 63; Study 2) from low-income neighborhoods who were taught mental contrasting achieved comparatively higher scores in learning foreign language vocabulary words after 2 weeks or 4 days, respectively. Results have implications for research on the self-regulation of commitment to solve assigned tasks in classroom settings, and for increasing academic performance in school children in low-income areas.     

A Neurathian Conception of the Unity of Science

An historically important conception of the unity of science is explanatory reductionism, according to which the unity of science is achieved by explaining all laws of science in terms of their connection to microphysical law. There is, however, a separate tradition that advocates the unity of science. According to that tradition, the unity of science consists of the coordination of diverse fields of science, none of which is taken to have privileged epistemic status. This alternate conception has roots in Otto Neurath’s notion of unified science. In this paper, I develop a version of the coordination approach to unity that is inspired by Neurath’s views. The resulting conception of the unity of science achieves aims similar to those of explanatory reductionism, but does so in a radically different way. As a result, it is immune to the criticisms facing explanatory reductionism. This conception of unity is also importantly different from the view that science is disunified, and I conclude by demonstrating how it accords better with scientific practice than do conceptions of the disunity of science.     

PTSD,comorbid depression,and the cortisol waking response in victims of intimate partner violence: preliminary evidence

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) are two highly comorbid and debilitating disorders experienced by more than half of intimate partner violence victims (IPV). Hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) abnormalities are common in both disorders, though the direction of abnormalities often differs. The present study examined the relationship between comorbid PTSD and MDD, and the (salivary) cortisol waking response in 104 recently abused IPV victims. Waking cortisol levels, area under the waking curve with respect to ground (AUCg), and AUC with respect to increase (AUCi) were examined to determine the relation of HPA dynamics to comorbidity for basal versus more dynamic measures. Prior to accounting for comorbidity, women with PTSD or MDD showed significantly greater AUCi than women without the respective disorder. Accounting for comorbidity, PTSD only did not differ from other groups, while MDD only and PTSD + MDD showed greater AUCi than women with neither disorder. Results were nonsignificant for waking cortisol levels or AUCg. Results suggest that MDD drives elevated waking cortisol response, but not basal cortisol activity in recently abused IPV victims. Results demonstrate the importance of examining comorbid diagnoses and HPA activity from a dynamic perspective. Therapeutic implications are discussed.