Conflict(s) of Interest in Peer Review: Its Origins and Possible Solutions

Scientific communication takes place at two registers: first, interactions with colleagues in close proximity—members of a network, school of thought or circle; second, depersonalised transactions among a potentially unlimited number of scholars can be involved (e.g., author and readers). The interference between the two registers in the process of peer review produces a drift toward conflict of interest. Three particular cases of peer review are differentiated: journal submissions, grant applications and applications for tenure. The current conflict of interest policies do not cover all these areas. Furthermore, they have a number of flaws, which involves an excessive reliance on scholars’ personal integrity. Conflicts of interest could be managed more efficiently if several elements and rules of the judicial process were accepted in science. The analysis relies on both primary and secondary data with a particular focus on Canada.     

Danger and safety: The analyst as analytic subject

Abstract

This paper considers questions of danger and safety in the analytic relationship in light of the contemporary recognition of analysis as a co-participatory process. In the interest of safety, the psychoanalyst has the responsibility to be persistently curious, particularly about the problems derived from his contact with the analysand. Information about the analyst's impact must be taken to heart; it must be experientially considered. As the process unfolds, the analyst presumes that a portion of its effect will be negative. The analyst aspires not to preempt all negative impact but to create an analytic environment in which the analysand's conscious and unconscious communications about impact may be attended to. The analyst's ability to receive such information is crucial in the establishment of a reliable process capable of addressing and surviving the unanticipated dangers that inevitably emerge and securing the analysand for further self articulation. The analyst can simultaneously attend to being the analyst and being a subject of analysis by regarding all communications from the analysand as representing, at least in part, interpretations of the analyst and the analyst's participation. Illustrative material is presented.     

A regression tree of the aptitudes,personality, and academic performance relationship

This study suggests regression trees as a complementary tool to regression and SEM to respond to questions related with the influence of intelligence, personality, and their interplay on academic performance. Data from 818 secondary education students (402 girls and 416 boys) in aptitudes, personality, and academic performance in four learning areas: language (Catalan and Spanish) and science (Natural and Mathematics) were modelled with this technique. Two hypotheses articulated the presentation of this methodology. Aptitudes were much more relevant than personality to explain variance in academic performance. Verbal aptitude was particularly more relevant for girls than for boys.     

The Role of Short-Term Memory in Semantic Priming

Two theories of priming were compared: spreading activation theories, in particular ACT* (J. R. Anderson, 1983), and compound-cue theories (R. Ratcliff & G. McKoon, 1988). Whereas ACT* assumes that priming is a result of diffusing activation in long-term memory, compound-cue models suggest that priming results from a formation process of prime and target in short-term memory. Thirty-eight participants took part in a study that combined a digit span task with a double lexical decision task consisting of a prime and a target item. Digit span length (low, medium, and high) and prime type (related or unrelated word or nonword) were both within-subject variables. As expected, results showed significant priming effects. In favor of ACT*, no interaction between digit span length and prime type was found. Additionally, a nonword inhibition effect (unrelated versus nonword prime) was found, which was predicted by compound-cue theories. This finding is discussed in terms of the process interference and response competition hypotheses.     

Dimensionality of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Its Relationships With the Three-and the Five-Factor Personality Models

The interpersonal correlates of the Guilt Inventory (Kugler &; Jones, 1992), which yields scores for state guilt, trait guilt, and moral standards, were assessed. Data collection addressed three issues including the relationships among Guilt Inventory scores and measures of: (a) interpersonal emotions and traits (e.g., shyness, self-consciousness, anger, etc.); (b) the social support network; and (c) ratings of trait guilt, moral standards, and relevant adjectives by friends and family members. Results indicated that trait and state guilt scores were significantly related to various interpersonal measures, most particularly, depression, anxiety, shyness, and loneliness, but only modestly related to satisfaction with social support. Moral standards were generally unrelated to these variables. Others tended to rate participants higher on trait guilt negatively (e.g., higher on contemptuous, angry, guilty, etc.), and participants higher on moral standards in socially acceptable terms (e.g., higher on prompt, self-reliant, moral, and religious). Results are interpreted in view of the frequently cited distinction between social and nonsocial emotions.     

The Impact Message Inventory–Circumplex (IMI–C): A Replication Study of Its Circumplex Structure in a Dutch Sample

The 56-items Impact Message Inventory–Circumplex (IMI–C) has been developed to describe the interpersonal styles of target persons in terms of the 2-dimensional interpersonal circle, divided in 8 subscales (octants). The IMI–C is based on the assumption that a target person's interpersonal styles can validly be measured by assessing the internal (cognitive and emotional) reactions of the IMI–C respondent (e.g., therapists), interacting with the target person (e.g., psychotherapy patients). This replication study tested the circumplexity of a computer-delivered Dutch IMI–C. The computer-delivered Dutch IMI–C approached circumplexity in a large clinical sample (N = 812) of psychotherapy and psychiatric patients, after removing 3 items from the Submissive octant scale. These 3 items clearly disturbed the IMI–C circumplex structure. It is concluded that, even with the inevitable problem of nested data, circumplexity was approached sufficiently to justify the interpretation of the IMI–C at the octant level, provided that the 3 troublesome Submissive items are removed from the calculations of octant scores. Our replication test of the Dutch IMI–C circumplexity might be an impetus for researchers in the United States to invest in the further validation of the original American version.     

Psychological factors in hiv testing among sexually transmitted disease clinic patients: An exploratory study

Abstract

Substantial numbers of persons at risk for HIV infection do not seek HIV testing and factors influencing testing decisions are not well understood. To identify psychological characteristics of persons who remain unwilling to receive HIV testing, we surveyed patients of an inner-city sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic (n = 181). Participants completed an anonymous survey and were grouped on the basis of HIV testing history and compared on measures of testing perceptions, attitudes, and decision making influences. Results showed that untested participants feared testing and had a sense of not knowing if they needed to be tested. In contrast, participants who were getting tested believed that testing would help them feel better about their health. Results also showed that participants lacked accurate information about some HIV testing procedures. We conclude that identifying concerns which inhibit seeking HIV testing can be useful in developing effective methods of promoting HIV testing.     

Health-related quality of life among people living with hiv disease in small communities and rural areas

Abstract

While many studies have examined the life quality of HIV-infected persons in large metropolitan areas, few studies have investigated quality of life issues among persons living with HIV disease in America's small and rural communities. In the present study, 78 people living with HIV/AIDS in small and rural communities (i.e., populations <25,000) reported on their health-related quality of life. Many respondents reported decreased social, emotional, functional, and physical well-being. Results revealed that participants' emotional well-being and the quality of their relationship with their doctor were related to their overall quality of life. The majority of participants (73%) expressed interest in participating in a telephone-linked support group involving other people living with HIV designed to improve quality of life.     

Event countertransference and vicarious traumatization: Theoretically valid and clinically useful concepts?

The event countertransference and vicarious traumatization concepts have been introduced in the 1990s to describe the adverse emotional impacts that working with severely traumatized patients may have for the helping professional. These concepts are increasingly popular among trauma therapists. The present paper critically discusses the empirical evidence, theoretical validity and clinical utility of both concepts. Vulnerable trauma therapists may too eagerly embrace the event countertransference and vicarious traumatization perspectives as a cover up for their own failures. Interpersonal communication theory is suggested as a more useful conceptual framework for the analysis of countertransference reactions in therapies with severely traumatized patients.     

Neurotic Nucleus and Test Anxiety

Undergraduate university students (N = 103) participated in a study of the relationship between test anxiety and the variables of trait anxiety, self-esteem, locus of control, mental ability, and gender. Results indicated bivariate associations between total test anxiety and the other measures except for mental ability. Further analyses revealed independent relationships between the “worry” component of test anxiety and the variables of trait anxiety, intemality, chance, and mental ability. We also found independent associations between the “emotionality” aspect of test anxiety and the measures of trait anxiety and chance.