Relationship of posttraumatic growth to symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression: A pilot study of Iraqi students

Posttraumatic growth (PTG) and psychopathology are common outcomes following exposure to adversity and trauma. We examined the relationship of PTG to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression in a group of young Iraqi students with war trauma exposure. These young Iraqis had experienced an average of 13 different war‐related adversities. The prevalence of probable PTSD was 17.2% and probable depression 23.1%. PTSD was associated with higher and depression with lower PTG. In addition, the relationship between PTG and PTSD was stronger among males than females. Although PTSD and depression were relatively common, they were related to PTG in opposite directions.     

Text–Picture Integration: How Delayed Testing Moderates Recognition of Pictorial Information in Multimedia Learning

When learning with multimedia, text and pictures are assumed to be integrated with each other. Arndt, Schüler, and Scheiter (Learning & Instruction, 35, 62–72, 2015) confirmed the process of text picture integration for sentence recognition, not, however, for picture recognition. The current paper investigates the underlying reasons for the latter finding. Two experiments are reported, where subjects memorized text–picture stimuli that differed in the specificity of information contained in either sentences or pictures. In a subsequent picture recognition test, subjects showed no integration effect after a 30‐minute delay (Experiments 1 and 2), but only after a 1‐week delay (Experiment 2). Furthermore, eye‐tracking data showed that participants sufficiently processed the pictures during learning (Experiment 1). This data pattern speaks in favor of the assumption that after a short delay participants had available a short‐lived pictorial surface representation, which masked the integration effect for pictorial recognition.Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exploring Factor Model Parameters across Continuous Variables with Local Structural Equation Models

Using an empirical data set, we investigated variation in factor model parameters across a continuous moderator variable and demonstrated three modeling approaches: multiple-group mean and covariance structure (MGMCS) analyses, local structural equation modeling (LSEM), and moderated factor analysis (MFA). We focused on how to study variation in factor model parameters as a function of continuous variables such as age, socioeconomic status, ability levels, acculturation, and so forth. Specifically, we formalized the LSEM approach in detail as compared with previous work and investigated its statistical properties with an analytical derivation and a simulation study. We also provide code for the easy implementation of LSEM. The illustration of methods was based on cross-sectional cognitive ability data from individuals ranging in age from 4 to 23 years. Variations in factor loadings across age were examined with regard to the age differentiation hypothesis. LSEM and MFA converged with respect to the conclusions. When there was a broad age range within groups and varying relations between the indicator variables and the common factor across age, MGMCS produced distorted parameter estimates. We discuss the pros of LSEM compared with MFA and recommend using the two tools as complementary approaches for investigating moderation in factor model parameters.     

History,Theory, and Ideology

This review article argues that the critique of contemporary discourses about religious self-improvement offered by Craig Martin cannot bear the claim that the notion of individual religion must be dropped. On the one hand, comparable phenomena are not restricted to a Western present, and, on the other, they do not disprove the utility of heuristic terms like religion or individualisation. However, a religious semantic of entrepreneurship might be a phenomenon well worth further research.     

On destructiveness in the analyst

The paper describes the therapeutic relationship, specifically the countertransference enactments of the analyst whose own destructive impulses were inevitably mobilised in the treatment of a narcissistically disturbed patient. They are discussed in the light of other authors’ theoretical understanding of the described dynamics. The societal context of the analyst’s work is being discussed.     

Boolos and the Metamathematics of Quine's Definitions of Logical Truth and Consequence

The paper is concerned with Quine's substitutional account of logical truth. The critique of Quine's definition tends to focus on miscellaneous odds and ends, such as problems with identity. However, in an appendix to his influential article On Second Order Logic, George Boolos offered an ingenious argument that seems to diminish Quine's account of logical truth on a deeper level. In the article he shows that Quine's substitutional account of logical truth cannot be generalized properly to the general concept of logical consequence. The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to introduce the reader to the metamathematics of Quine's substitutional definition of logical truth; second, to make Boolos' result accessible to a broader audience by giving a detailed and self-contained presentation of his proof; and, finally, to discuss some of the possible implications and how a defender of the Quinean concepts might react to the challenge posed by Boolos' result.     

Flow and enjoyment beyond skill-demand balance: The role of game pacing curves and personality

According to flow theory, skill-demand balance is optimal for flow. Experimentally, balance has been tested only against strong overload and strong boredom. We assessed flow and enjoyment as distinct experiences and expected that they (a) are not optimized by constant balance, (b) experimentally dissociate, and (c) are supported by different personality traits. Beyond a constant balance condition (“balance”), we realized two dynamic pacing conditions where demands fluctuated through short breaks: one condition without overload (“dynamic medium”) and another with slight overload (“dynamic high”). Consistent with assumptions, constant balance was not optimal for flow (balance ≤ dynamic medium < dynamic high) and enjoyment (balance ≤ dynamic high < dynamic medium). Action orientation enabled high flow even under the suboptimal condition of balance. Sensation seeking increased enjoyment under the suboptimal but arousing dynamic high condition. We discuss dynamic changes in positive affect (seeking and mastering challenge) as an integral part of flow.     

Asymmetric transfer effects between cognitive and affective task disturbances

Task-irrelevant features of a stimulus can disturb performance on a given task, and this can occur for cognitive reasons such as irrelevant stimulus position, and affective reasons such as high stimulus valence. The human brain adapts to such disturbances in order to ensure successful task performance. Adaptations can occur in a transient manner in response to recent events, and they can also be sustained to account for overall probabilities of disturbances. Here, we study the mutual interplay between affective and cognitive task disturbances under conditions of sustained conflict adaptation. More precisely, we examined the trajectory of finger movements in a speeded classification task and investigated whether adaptation to a high probability of spatial disturbances transfers to the impact of affective disturbances (Experiment 1) and whether adaptation to a high probability of affective disturbances transfers to the impact of spatial disturbances (Experiment 2). Our observations point towards an asymmetric transfer from adaptation to affective onto the processing of cognitive disturbances, but not the other way around.