Catching ghosts

There are few psychoanalytically informed, first-person commentaries on the creative process of writing fiction. In this paper, the author, a psychoanalyst with a parallel career as a children's book writer, explores his associations, autobiographical details, and related theoretical constructs as they relate to the writing of one of his published picture book texts. Lastly, he questions whether a piece of fiction not only illustrates the writer's current and past history, but also points to the writer's future psychological potentialities.     

The list length effect in recognition memory: an analysis of potential confounds

The list length effect in recognition memory refers to the finding that recognition performance for a short list is superior to that for a long list. The list length effect is consistent with the predictions of item noise models, but context noise models predict no effect. Recently, it has been argued that if potential confounds are controlled, the list length effect is eliminated. We report the results of two experiments in which we looked at the role of attention and the remember–know task in the detection of the list length effect. We conclude that there is no list length effect when potential confounds are controlled and that it is the design used to control for attention that is most vital.     

Individual differences in a within-subjects risky-choice framing study

A within-subjects study investigated several different risky-choice framing problems patterned after Kahneman and Tversky’s classic economic game, the Asian Disease problem, but included variations to increase generality. Risk-style and thinking-style were utilized to predict individual differences in response to the framing problems. Significant framing effects were found at both the item and composite level. Individual difference effects were rare when framing was strictly defined as a preference reversal. When a more encompassing preference shift defined framing, risk-averse individuals (measured by the Choice Dilemmas Questionnaire) and those scoring high on experiential (heuristic) thinking were more likely to show a framing effect. Discussion focuses on the meaning of these results in terms of individual susceptibility to framing.     

Examining patients' and other group members' agreement about their alliance to the group as a whole and changes in patient symptoms using response surface analysis

There is a lack of research examining patients' and other group members' agreement about their therapeutic alliance. In the present study, the person-group (P-G) fit model was adopted to predict that the group member symptom reduction will be greater when the group member's and the other group members' perceptions of their alliance to the group-as-a-whole fit and are high. In addition, the effect of disagreement between the group member and the other group members in their perceptions of the group alliance on the individual's outcome was investigated by using response surface analysis. Thirty-two patients from 5 long-term (> 1 year) psychodynamic group treatments were studied. Participants filled out the California Psychotherapy Alliance Scale-Group (CALPAS-G; Gaston & Marmar, 1993) and the Outcome Questionnaire-45 (OQ-45; Lambert et al., 1996) monthly over the course of group treatment until termination. As hypothesized, patient's symptom reduction was greater when there was agreement between the group member and the other group members that their alliance to the group as a whole was strong. Contrary to the authors' hypothesis, a lack agreement on alliance to the group as a whole between the patient and the other group members was not related to less symptom reduction, as lack of fit increased, symptom reduction decreased. Also contrary to the authors' hypothesis, when other group members saw their alliance to the group as a whole as stronger than did the patient, there was increased symptom reduction. The findings suggest that the P-G fit model may be a useful strategy to examine group process variables in the psychotherapy context.     

Relationships among client and counselor agreement about the working alliance, session evaluations, and change in client symptoms using response surface analysis

Two studies explored how counselor and client agreement on the therapy alliance, at the beginning of treatment, influenced early session evaluations and symptom change. Unlike prior studies that operationalized alliance convergence as either a profile similarity correlation or a difference score, the present study used polynomial regression and response surface analysis to examine agreement. Study 1 explored the impact of working alliance congruence on session depth and smoothness at the 3rd session of treatment with 36 client-counselor dyads. Results revealed that session smoothness was greater when clients' and therapists' perceptions of the working alliance were in agreement and high compared with when they were in agreement and low. In addition, clients rated sessions less smooth when their ratings of the alliance were lower than their therapists' ratings of the alliance, and they rated sessions as more smooth when their ratings of the alliance were higher than their therapists' ratings of the alliance. The authors did not find a significant relationship with session depth. In Study 2, the authors explored the impact of working alliance congruence, at the 3rd session of therapy, on symptom change for 63 client-counselor dyads. Results revealed that as the therapist and client have more positive agreement on the perceived alliance at the beginning of the treatment, there is greater symptom change. The authors also found that the consequences of alliance disagreement are the same regardless of who rated the alliance higher than the other. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

How the Bayesians got their beliefs (and what those beliefs actually are): comment on Bowers and Davis (2012)

Bowers and Davis (2012) criticize Bayesian modelers for telling "just so" stories about cognition and neuroscience. Their criticisms are weakened by not giving an accurate characterization of the motivation behind Bayesian modeling or the ways in which Bayesian models are used and by not evaluating this theoretical framework against specific alternatives. We address these points by clarifying our beliefs about the goals and status of Bayesian models and by identifying what we view as the unique merits of the Bayesian approach.     

Presidential Leadership Style and the Political Use of Force

A growing body of work seeks to explain the lack of clear evidence for the diversionary use of force by casting doubt on such strategies' attractiveness for policy makers: while domestic political and economic problems may provide incentives for diversion, such strategies involve political and military risks that frequently outweigh these incentives. Such theories correctly identify the objective risks involved in diversion but do not account for variation in leaders' risk‐taking propensities. We develop a “first image” theory of diversion that suggests a key psychological variable (locus of control) shapes leaders' willingness to engage in risky diversionary strategies. A statistical analysis of the American use of force, 1953–2000, finds strong support for this model. We conclude that the lack of clear evidence for diversion in general is a reflection of the contingent nature of the phenomenon and call for greater attention to how agents and structures interact to produce policy behavior.     

Scared stiff: The influence of anxiety on the perception of action capabilities

Influences on the perception of affordances (i.e., opportunities for actions) have been primarily studied by manipulating the functional morphology of the body. However, affordances are not just determined by the functional morphology of the perceiver, but also by the physiological state of the perceiver. States of anxiety have been shown to lead to marked changes in individuals' physiological state and their behaviour. To assess the influence of emotional state on affordance perception, the perception of action capabilities in near space was examined after participants completed an anxiety-provoking task. Anxiety was induced immediately prior to tasks that assessed participants' perceived reaching ability in Experiment 1, grasping ability in Experiment 2, and the ability to pass their hands through apertures in Experiment 3. Results indicated that those participants who experienced changes in anxiety underestimated their reaching, grasping, and passing ability compared to non-anxious participants. In other words, anxious participants were more conservative in their estimations of their action capabilities. These results suggest that anxiety influences the perception for affordances in near space and are consistent with the notion that anxiety induces withdrawal behaviours.     

An assessment of body appreciation and its relationship to sexual function in women

Objectification theory posits internalization of an observer's gaze may negatively impact women's feelings about their bodies, which may subsequently affect their sexual function. Subjective body image and body size (i.e., body mass index [BMI]) have mixed relationships to women's sexuality, but assessment of positive body image as a sign of resistance to objectification has not been researched. This study explored relations between body appreciation and sexual function in women and assessed whether body size impacted this relationship. Cross-sectional data were collected online from 247 women, ages 18 to 58. Body appreciation scores were modestly negatively correlated with BMI, while BMI was not related to sexual function scores. After controlling for sexual orientation, partner status, and age, body appreciation predicted the arousal, orgasm, and satisfaction aspects of sexual function. Practitioners’ encouragement of body appreciation may improve sexual function in a way that encouraging a reduction in body size may not.     

The Role of Threat in Attitudes Toward Affirmative Action and Its Beneficiaries1

This set of two studies employed the integrated threat theory to examine attitudes toward affirmative action (AA). The first study found that opposition to the policy of AA was predicted by realistic threats, symbolic threats, and personal relevance; while attitudes toward the beneficiaries of AA were predicted by three of the four threat variables (symbolic threats, intergroup anxiety, and negative stereotypes), and in‐group identity. The second study replicated and expanded on the first study and found that the effects of several individual‐difference variables (racism, anti‐Black affect, and political conservatism) on opposition to AA were mediated by three of the threats in the integrated threat theory (realistic threats, symbolic threats, and negative stereotypes). The implications of the results are discussed.