Clinical Pragmatism in Bioethics: A Pastoral Approach

This paper addresses the integration of the philosophical school of American Pragmatism, as articulated by John Dewey and others, with the disciplines of bioethics and pastoral care. It suggests new avenues for theological reflection in the bioethical enterprise. It was first presented as the inaugural Anton. T. Boisen Lecture in Pastoral Care and Education in 2004 under the auspices of Continuum Hospice Care, New York.Curtis W. Hart, M.Div., is Director of Pastoral Care and Education, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medical Center and Lecturer in Public Health, Medicine and Psychiatry, Division of Medical Ethics at Weill Medical College, Cornell University. Correspondence to Curtis W. Hart, Cuh9001@nyp.org.     

Hiroshima and the King of Tyre

This paper—originally a sermon––addresses issues involved with nuclear idolatry from a biblical perspective. It utilizes psychological understanding and historical narrative as a context for theological reflection. It thus places depth psychological insight in service of social ethics. It was delivered at the Church of the Epiphany, Manhattan, New York, on August 14, 2005. The Rev. Curtis Hart, M.Div, is Director of Pastoral Care and Education, and Lecturer in Public Health, Medicine,and Psychiatry, Division of Medical Ethics, at the Weill Cornell Center of New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.     

Relating Personality and Creativity: Considering What and How We Measure

Creativity is a complex construct that is conceptualized and measured in multiple ways. This study examined the relationship between creativity and personality taking this into account. It was hypothesized that applying different conceptions and measures would cause variation in the creativity–personality relationship. The participants (N = 224) were undergraduate students and completed six creativity measures, a personality inventory, and a demographic questionnaire. Personality predicted more creative production (R² = .277) than creative potential (R² = .176) and more self‐reported creativity (R² = .348) than that which was externally rated (R² = .149). Openness was most consistently and strongly related to creativity, but other personality factors varied in their influence and some demonstrated suppression effects. Overall, the results suggest that despite relatively small effects of personality on creativity, there appear to be meaningful differences in the relationships depending on conception and measurement. Implications for educational settings and future research are discussed.     

Temporal Relations in Daily-Reported Maternal Mood and Disruptive Child Behavior

Examined temporal relations between maternal mood and disruptive child behaviour using daily assessments of 30 mother-child dyads carried out over 8 consecutive weeks (623 pooled observations). Pooled time-series analyses showed synchronous fluctuation in child behaviour and maternal distress. Time-lagged models showed temporal relations between maternal and child outcomes that changed according to the type of maternal mood and child behaviour being reported. Controlling for cross-sectional relations, maternal anger and fatigue were related to previous child inattentive/impulsive/overactive behaviour (IO) and maternal confusion related to previous child oppositional/defiant behaviour (OD). However, maternal depression, low vigour, anger, and anxiety each predicted subsequent child IO and maternal confusion and anxiety each predicted subsequent child OD. Mutual influences on maternal and child functioning were interpreted in the context of interpersonal mechanisms that mediate psychological problems within families and their implications for treatment.     

California verbal learning test indicators of Malingered Neurocognitive Dysfunction: sensitivity and specificity in traumatic brain injury

The present study used well-defined traumatic brain injury (TBI) and mixed neurological (other than TBI) and psychiatric samples to examine the specificity and sensitivity to Malingered Neurocognitive Dysfunction (MND) of four individual California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) variables and eight composite CVLT malingering indicators. Participants were 275 traumatic brain injury and 352 general clinical patients seen for neuropsychological evaluation. The TBI patients were assigned to one of five groups using the Slick, Sherman, and Iverson (1999) criteria: no incentive, incentive only, suspect, and malingering (both Probable MND and Definite MND). Within TBI, persons with the strongest evidence for malingering (Probable and Definite) had the most extreme scores. Good sensitivity (approximately 50%) in the context of excellent specificity (> 95%) was found in the TBI samples. Issues related to the appropriate clinical application of these data are discussed.     

16PF in screening for appropriateness of mentors

The utility of the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire, Fifth Edition (16PF) as an indicator of mentor effectiveness was examined. A random sample of the 16PF scores of 74 mentors was drawn from a population of 837 mentors from Big Brothers Big Sisters. Caseworkers rated mentor's effectiveness using a rubric developed for this purpose. The rubric showed good interrater agreement. Caseworkers' ratings of mentor's effectiveness was used to rate mentors systematically as appropriate or inappropriate. The 16PF scores of mentors were compared at an alpha level of .05 for appropriate and inappropriate groups using independent t tests and multivariate analyses of variance, which reflected significant differences between male and female mentors on Factors E and Q3. Significant differences were also found between "appropriate" and "inappropriate" mentors on Factors L and Q4. These differences reflected only moderate effect sizes and lacked practical significance or meaning. The results suggest that, while the 16PF discriminates statistically between "appropriate" and "inappropriate" mentors, in terms of practical significance, the questionnaire is not particularly useful as an initial screening tool.