Lateral masking in cycling displays: the relative importance of separation, flanker duration, and interstimulus interval for object-mediated updating

A central bar repeatedly presented in alternation with two flanking bars can lead to the disappearance of the central bar. Recently it has been suggested that this masking effect could be explained by object-mediated updating: the information from the central bar is integrated into the representation of the flankers, leading not only to the disappearance of the central bar as a separate object, but also to the perception of the flankers in apparent motion between their real position and the position of the central bar. This account suggests that the visibility of the central bar should depend on the same factors as those that influence the construction and maintenance of object representations. Therefore separation between central bar and flankers should not influence visibility as long as the time interval between them is adequate to make an interpretation of the scene in terms of one object moving from one location to the other possible location. We found that if the time interval between the central bar and the flankers is neither too short nor too long, the central bar becomes invisible even at large separations. These findings are inconsistent with traditional accounts of the cycling lateral masking displays in terms of local inhibitory mechanisms.     

Measuring “intuition” in the SRT generation task

We address some concerns related to the use of post-trial attribution judgments, originally developed for artificial grammar learning (AGL), during the version of the serial reaction time (SRT) task used by Fu, Dienes, and Fu (2010). In particular, intuition attributions, which are central to Fu et al.’s arguments, seem problematic: This attribution is likely to be made when stimuli contain several competing sources of information to which subjective feelings could be attributed. The interpretation of intuition attributions in Fu et al.’s SRT generation task is problematic because the procedure involved a 2-element sequence where items varied only in position. In our view, responses categorised as intuitions might have been a variety of guess response where neither judgement knowledge nor structural knowledge were conscious. The results would then be compatible with previous findings showing that people can control the use of unconscious structural knowledge even when judgement knowledge is unconscious.     

Features,as well as space and time,guide object persistence

What role do surface features (e.g., color) play in the establishment and maintenance of episodic representations of objects (object files)? Mitroff and Alvarez (2007) showed that stimuli that were linked by a continuous spatiotemporal history yielded object-specific preview benefits—a standard index of object files—whereas stimuli linked only by shared surface features did not. Here, it is shown that abruptly changing the features of an object that has been established on the basis of spatiotemporal history can disrupt object-specific preview benefits (Experiments 1 and 2). Moreover, under some conditions, feature match alone can give rise to the preview benefits (Experiment 3). These results indicate that surface features, as well as spatiotemporal factors, play an important role in establishing and maintaining episodic object representations.     

A new approach to the assessment of structural personality pathology: Theory-driven profile interpretation of the Dutch Short Form of the MMPI

This article presents a new approach to the assessment of structural personality pathology: theory-driven profile interpretation of the Dutch Short Form of the MMPI (DSFM). The assessment method integrates results of a self-report personality questionnaire with psychodynamic theoretical concepts to yield a working hypothesis about underlying structural features of personality. As an illustration, results of a validation study with psychotic phenomena in projective drawings as the external criterion are described. Results show that the DSFM profiles, that are presumed to measure psychotic vulnerability predict psychotic phenomena in projective drawings, after statistically controlling for the effect of age, the single scales that are being used to construct the profiles and their statistical interaction.Results suggest that theory-driven profile interpretation of the DSFM may be considered a time and cost efficient method to derive a working hypothesis about structural vulnerability.     

Ontological Phenomenology: The Philosophical Project of Hedwig Conrad-Martius

The special importance of the system of Hedwig Conrad-Martius lies in that she takes up the ideas of her teacher Husserl and pursues them on an independent path of phenomenology carefully anchored in the history of philosophy. This above all made possible the philosophical grasping of the then revolutionary findings in the modern natural sciences, especially in physics and medicine. The question concerning the border between the natural sciences and philosophy is today still debated with just as much urgency—indeed, ethically with even more urgency—as it was in her time. By virtue of this alone, her ideas can be of great help to us. The natural scientific progress made since her time does not, however, present a barrier; rather it corresponds to the spirit of phenomenology: not to produce results with rigid intellectual frameworks, but to make available a tool with which the world in its diversity—and thus also for its modern, ever-changing issues—can be disclosed ever anew. The essay will consist of an overview of the life of Hedwig Conrad-Martius, an introduction to the essential ideas of her work: her concept of essence and her formulation of phenomenological ideation [Wesensschau], a brief sketch of her epistemology and an exposition of her ontological conception of “real ontology” [Realontologie].

Money Attitudes and Emotional Intelligence

As the notion of money tends to be imbued with salient emotions, it is plausible that emotional intelligence (EI) has a bearing on the efficacy to cope with emotion-eliciting issues involving money. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the extent to which money attitudes relate to EI. The study included a sample of 212 respondents who filled out a questionnaire with items of the Money Attitude Scale (MAS) developed by Yamauchi and Templer (1982) . The questionnaire further contained a test of EI performance consisting of judging emotions in facial expressions, and of self-report measures considered to be subscales of EI. Results suggested that high levels of EI imply a less pronounced orientation toward money and a greater sense of economic self-efficacy. Furthermore, money orientation seemed to be linked to worse adjustment of work vs. family/leisure time.     

Suicide prevention in the psychiatric hospital

It is currently impossible to distinguish between patients with depression who will make a suicide attempt and those who will not. Prevention, therefore, must be based on the assumption that any patient with more than mild symptoms of depression is at risk of suicide, and can only be effective if it is applicable to all patients with moderate to severe depression. A treatment strategy that differentiated between regressive and progressive therapeutic measures was developed for patients admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Regressive, as opposed to progressive, treatment meant that the patient was temporarily relieved of virtually all responsibilities for self and others. Progressive measures were strictly avoided for all patients with symptoms of depression, regardless of the primary diagnosis. This strategy was tested on 5,149 inpatients and day patients over a period of 6.25 years and compared with 6,891 patients over the 15.75 years prior to this period. The suicide rate was 97 (per 100,000 admissions) compared with 319 in the previous period. The treatment method appears to be able to reduce the suicide rate. Although this result was achieved with hospital patients, it suggests that a regressive treatment method could be promising if developed for outpatient treatment as well.