Glaubhaftigkeitsbegutachtung bei Persönlichkeitsstörungen

Credibility assessment of incriminating declarations by witnesses with a personality disorder have become an increasingly important topic of statement psychology over the past years. Relevant problems along the assessment process and arising questions as well as consequences for jurisdiction are discussed.     

Mood state-dependent memory: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Published research (from 1975 to 1985) on mood state-dependent memory is examined with meta-analytical techniques. Research on mood-congruent memory is also examined when relevant to a mood state-dependent hypothesis. Effect sizes are shown to vary systematically as a function of several variables. Mood state-dependent memory is more often observed with positive rather then negative moods. Also, the strongest effects were found in studies that: (a) used real-life events as the material to be retrieved; (b) selected contrasting moods, i.e. positive vs. negative rather than simply positive or negative vs. neutral moods; (c) used mood states that were specific to the items; (d) lasted longer; (e) had smaller sample size; (f) selected subjects according to direct mood criteria; (g) paid subjects for their participation in the experiment; and (h) used adults rather than students or children. Present findings are consistent with other reviews and with common theories of mood state-dependent memory. However, the findings also highlight the importance of methodological variables, more particularly variables related to the degree of commitment of subjects to the experiment, and variables related to the nature and complexity of the experimental environment. Two dimensions, realism of the experiment and demand sensitivity, compete to account for the methodological results and for some of the theoretical results.     

RELATIONAL HEALTH, ATTACHMENT, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS IN COLLEGE WOMEN AND MEN

This study examines relational health, parental attachment, and psychological distress in college men and women from the perspective of the relational-cultural model ( Jordan, Kaplan, Miller, Stiver, & Surrey, 1991 ; Miller, 1984 ). Peer, mentor, and community relationships, as well as secure parental attachment and year in school, were hypothesized to predict psychological distress, although predictive patterns were expected to differ in women and men. Overall, results supported the hypotheses. Secure parental attachment predicted decreased distress for both women and men. Authentic, empowered, and engaged community relationships significantly predicted decreased distress for women and men. However, for women, peer relational quality was also a significant predictor. The relational-cultural model, which suggests that differentiation and the "felt sense of self" ( Jordan, 1997 , p. 15) evolve through meaningful connections with others rather than as a result of the separation-individuation process, is applied as a framework for interpreting the findings.     

Happiness as the constitutive principle of action in Thomas Aquinas

Constitutivism locates the ground of practical normativity in features constitutive of rational agency and rests on the concept of a constitutive norm – a norm that is internal to a thing such that it both defines and measures it. In this essay, I argue that Aquinas understands happiness as the constitutive principle of human action, since happiness is the end that both defines and measures it. Turning to the thought of Aquinas opens up new possibilities for constitutivism by showing how the constitutive principle of action can be the ground of a practical realism in ethics.