Emotional valence and physical space: limits of interaction

According to the body-specificity hypothesis, people associate positive things with the side of space that corresponds to their dominant hand and negative things with the side corresponding to their nondominant hand. Our aim was to find out whether this association holds also true for a response time study using linguistic stimuli, and whether such an association is activated automatically. Four experiments explored this association using positive and negative words. In Exp. 1, right-handers made a lexical judgment by pressing a left or right key. Attention was not explicitly drawn to the valence of the stimuli. No valence-by-side interaction emerged. In Exp. 2 and 3, right-handers and left-handers made a valence judgment by pressing a left or a right key. A valence-by-side interaction emerged: For positive words, responses were faster when participants responded with their dominant hand, whereas for negative words, responses were faster for the nondominant hand. Exp. 4 required a valence judgment without stating an explicit mapping of valence and side. No valence-by-side interaction emerged. The experiments provide evidence for an association between response side and valence, which, however, does not seem to be activated automatically but rather requires a task with an explicit response mapping to occur.     

Does Moral Virtue Require Knowledge? A Response to Julia Driver

A long-standing tenet of virtue theory is that moral virtue and knowledge are connected in some important way. Julia Driver attacks the traditional assumption that virtue requires knowledge. I argue that the examples of virtues of ignorance Driver offers are not compelling and that the idea that knowledge is required for virtue has been taken to be foundational for virtue theory for good reason. I propose that we understand modesty as involving three conditions: 1) having genuine accomplishments, 2) being aware of the value of these accomplishments, and 3) having a disposition to refrain from putting forward one’s accomplishments. When we understand modesty this way, we can properly identify genuine cases of modesty and see how modesty requires knowledge. Something similar can be said about other alleged virtues of ignorance. With the proposal in place, we have no serious reason to think that moral virtue requires ignorance. Additionally, we have good reasons for thinking that acting virtuously requires having good intentions and that a necessary condition of having a virtue is having knowledge. Although some might take these results to be trivial or obviously true, I think the Julia Driver’s challenge should not be dismissed out of hand. Even though there are some reasons for thinking that some situations suggest that knowledge and virtue can be separated from one another, close analysis reveals this impression is only surface deep.     

Images: Preliminary scale construction

Abstract

In a series of papers, Bagarozzi and Giddings outlined a theoretical model of mate selection and marital interaction based upon principles of cognitive matching (Bagarozzi, 1982, 1986; Bagarozzi&Giddings, 1983, 1984). Briefly, this theory postulates that individuals seek out, develop intimate relationships with, and eventually marry persons whom they perceive to: (a) possess specific personality traits, qualities and characteristics; (b) share similar values, beliefs, and ideas concerning husband/wife roles; and (c) subscribe to a similar set of rules and assumptions governing interpersonal power, distributive justice, and the exchange of value messages between intimates. Essentially, one marries a person whom he/she perceives to fit an internal cognitive model or schema of an “ideal spouse.” The term “ideal” does not denote perfection. It merely represents an enduring image that becomes a standard against which all prospective mates are judged and evaluated. This cognitive matching takes place at both conscious and unconscious levels of awareness.     

Nonverbal signals speak up: Association between perceptual nonverbal dominance and emotional intelligence

Emotional communication uses verbal and nonverbal means. In case of conflicting signals, nonverbal information is assumed to have a stronger impact. It is unclear, however, whether perceptual nonverbal dominance varies between individuals and whether it is linked to emotional intelligence. Using audiovisual stimulus material comprising verbal and nonverbal emotional cues that were varied independently, perceptual nonverbal dominance profiles and their relations to emotional intelligence were examined. Nonverbal dominance was found in every participant, ranging from 55 to 100%. Moreover, emotional intelligence, particularly the ability to understand emotions, correlated positively with nonverbal dominance. Furthermore, higher overall emotional intelligence as well as a higher ability to understand emotions were linked to smaller reaction time differences between emotionally incongruent and congruent stimuli. The association between perceptual nonverbal dominance and emotional intelligence, and more specifically the ability to understand emotions, might reflect an adaptive process driven by the experience of higher authenticity in nonverbal cues.     

An Exemplary Life? A Personal Construct Analysis of the Autobiography of Rudolf Hoess,Commandant of Auschwitz

This article analyzes the autobiography of Rudolf Hoess, commandant of Auschwitz. Textual grid, ABC, and self-characterization analyses of the autobiography are used to construe Hoess's writing. The textual grid analysis suggests that Hoess saw his adult self as being different from others but his young self as similar to Jews. Conflicts in self-construing are identified. The ABC analysis indicates that, from his perspective, it made sense for Hoess to choose not to leave the concentration camp service. The self-characterization analysis focuses on whether Hoess experienced Kellyan guilt and it suggests that he did, but in unexpected contexts.     

Construction by Interpersonal Context and Relationship to Psychological Outcomes

The repertory grid was used to elicit personal constructs with 10 elements, including three interpersonal self roles, in 33 participants (age M = 20.79, SD = 2.70). Each participant also rated a selection of supplied personality trait constructs and completed several psychological outcome measures. The distance between the self roles was associated with higher levels of anxiety for both personal and the supplied trait constructs, and was also related to greater cognitive complexity for personal constructs. The lack of statistical association between anxiety and cognitive complexity, however, suggested the distance relationships to each outcome are due to some other factor. Based on previous research findings, the overall pattern of results suggests that the grid distances between each interpersonal self is a due to the individual's behavioral flexibility or situational changeability. The findings demonstrate the importance of distinguishing between personal and supplied trait constructs.     

A Personal Construct Approach to Understanding Stress in Mothers of Children Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders

This study explored the contribution of personal construct psychology (PCP) and the repertory grid technique to understanding stress when raising a child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Associations between child level of functional impairment, parenting stress, psychological distress, and maternal construing were examined in mothers of 25 children diagnosed with ASD. Results suggest that a personal construct perspective may help delineate factors involved in parent adjustment to ASD.     

Early Childhood Assessments of Community Pediatric Professionals Predict Autism Spectrum and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Problems

For clinically referred children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) several early indicators have been described. However, knowledge is lacking on early markers of less severe variants of ASD and ADHD from the general population. The aim of the present study is to identify early indicators of high risk groups for ASD and ADHD problems based on routine data from community pediatric services between infancy and age four. Data are from 1,816 participants who take part in Tracking Adolescents’ Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS), a longitudinal study. Information on early developmental factors was extracted from charts of routine Preventive Child Healthcare (PCH) visits. To assess ASD and ADHD problems, respectively, we used the Children’s Social Behavior Questionnaire (CSBQ) and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), filled out by parents three times between the ages of 11 and 17. Note that these are parent ratings and not diagnostic instruments performed by trained clinicians. Male gender, low birth weight, low level of education of the mother, social, behavioral, language, psychomotor and eating problems significantly predicted ASD problems (odds ratios (OR) between 1.34 and 2.41). ADHD problems were also predicted by male gender and low level of education of the mother and by maternal smoking during pregnancy, good gross motor skills in first year, early attention and hyperactivity problems, and absence of parent-reported positive behavior (ORs between 1.36 and 1.74). Routine data on early childhood from PCH services are predictive for ASD and ADHD problems in adolescents in the general population. The PCH services are a useful setting to identify high risk groups, and to monitor them subsequently.     

The concept of energy in psychoanalytic theory

Freud's early attempts to account for repression and for the occurrence of neurotic symptoms in terms of detachable and displaceable quantities of affect‐charge (cathexis) has continued to be a basic aspect of psychoanalytic theory. This is unfortunate since the account is inadequate and its central concept, that of a quantity of energy, is unsuited to the task at hand. We see that, despite the appropriateness of describing neurotic behavior in dynamic/economic terms, the use of energy concepts on the theoretical level is an explanatory dead‐end.