Personality characteristics as a function of frequency and type of substance use

Problematic and unhealthy personality characteristics have typically been the focus of researchers interested in the possible causes of substance use/abuse. Recent research has begun to identify differences between individuals based upon frequency of use, with indications that moderate users may have "healthier" characteristics than either abstainers or regular users. The present study was conducted in a rural setting and compared personality structure (based on the California Psychological Inventory) among three groups of college students: abstainers, experimenters, and regular users. The comparisons were conducted as a function of all illicit substance use (excluding alcohol) and for alcohol use only. Minimal support was obtained for the above hypothesis when comparing the three groups on illicit substance use. When comparing the three groups on alcohol use only, support for the theory was identified, with fewer differences found between the experimenters and the abstainers than between the experimenters and the regular users. It is suggested that rural use of psychoactive substances may be more limited to alcohol due to easier availability and less stigma. Data supporting the "healthier" personality structure of moderate users of alcohol would thus be more likely in rural settings even though such use would still be "risky" behavior given its illegality for individuals under age 21. The need for adaptations to current treatment approaches is suggested.     

Confirmatory factor analysis of ITPA models with language-impaired children

The major objective of the current investigation was to provide an evaluation of the validity of the ITPA for language-impaired children using confirmatory factor analysis. In addition to an examination of the validity of the traditional ITPA models, a new model is tested. The new model is based on considerations of the structural complexity of the ITPA subtests. and allows one to interpret ITPA results in processing terms. The results suggest that four-factor models provided the best representation of the ITPA scores in language-impaired children. Compared with the traditional ITPA models, the new model showed either an improved or equal goodness of fit. Language-impaired children tested with the ITPA (n = 100) exhibited a profile pattern suggesting that subtests with low processing demands are "easier" than tests with high processing demands. Thus, the present study supports the contention that language-impaired children suffer from constraints on information processing.     

Evidence for role-neutral initial processing of metaphors

Two models of metaphor processing are contrasted. The structure-mapping model postulates an initially role-neutral alignment process, followed by directional projection of inferences. The attributive categorization model postulates role-specific processing throughout comprehension. To test between these models, the early stages of metaphor comprehension were probed using a technique based on S. Glucksberg, P. Gildea, and H. Bookin's (1982) finding that metaphorical meaning interferes with literal truthfulness judgments. In Experiment 1, interference effects did not differ between normal metaphors and metaphors with reversed terms, suggesting that initial processing is role-neutral. In Experiment 2, we again found no role dependence in interference effects, even for highly conventional metaphors. In Experiment 3, it was verified that (a) full comprehension is role-sensitive and (b) full comprehension reaction times (RTs) are far longer than interference RTs, buttressing the claim that interference is an early-stage effect. Overall, the results support the structure-mapping model of metaphor processing.     

暴力的哲学还是哲学的暴力?--与冈特·嫩宁的谈话

布洛赫重申自己是一个马克思主义哲学家.对他来说,唯物主义问题并不是简单的唯物主义问题,马克思主义中一开始就包含了唯心主义,哲学的最伟大业绩多半是唯心主义思想家完成的.暴力是阶级社会特有的现象,国家乃是暴力的潜力本身,国家的消亡是一个无暴力的、和平的过程.被压迫者的革命运动依然存在,大学生运动不会消亡.无神论与基督教并不是二者择一的问题,无神论与基督教的对话也不是一场徒劳的对话.世界过程本身处于过程之中,而这一过程尚未被获取,但也尚未被挫败."已知的希望"取决于把科学投入于希望的国度之中.存在第二真理,即乌托邦的-具体的真理问题,这是真理所固有的问题.     

Mood-congruent attentional bias in dysphoria: maintained attention to and impaired disengagement from negative information

Attentional bias to negative information has been proposed to be a cognitive vulnerability factor for the development of depression. In 2 experiments, the authors examined mood-congruent attentional bias in dysphoria. In both experiments, dysphoric and nondysphoric participants performed an attentional task with negative, positive, and neutral word cues preceding a target. Targets appeared either at the same or at the opposite location of the cue. Overall, results indicate that dysphoric participants show maintained attention for negative words at longer stimulus presentations, which is probably caused by impaired attentional disengagement from negative words. Furthermore, nondysphoric participants maintain their attention more strongly to positive words. These results are discussed in relation to recent developments in the pathogenesis and treatment of depression.     

In Defense of Indexicalism:Comments on Davis

Wayne Davis (2004) argues against the thesis that knowledge claims are indexical, and he presents an alternative account of the contextual variability of our use of S knows p. In this commentary I focus on the following three points. First, I want to supplement Daviss considerations about the inability of indexicalism to deal with skeptical paradoxes by considering what the consequence would be if the indexicalists explanation of these paradoxes were satisfactory. Second, I am going to take a brief look at Daviss alternative theory. Third, in the main part of my commentary I try to show that indexicalism may be true in spite of the linguistic evidence Davis presents against it.     

The necessity and the value of placebo

The use of placebo in clinical trials has been repeatedly challenged as being unacceptable from an ethical point of view. The present paper responds to this criticism by taking up the issue in the light of the pertinent provisions of the Helsinki Declaration. Examples from different therapeutic areas are given that highlight the importance of placebo in situations in which its use is acceptable according to the Declaration. Particular emphasis is given to the question of active control trials, which, under conditions of low assay sensitivity, may become an ethically less acceptable approach than the use of a placebo control. An earlier version of this paper was presented at an international conference, “Placebo: Its Action and Place in Health Research Today,” held in Warsaw, Poland on 12–13 April, 2003.     

Does imminent threat capture and hold attention?

According to models of attention and emotion, threat captures and holds attention. In behavioral tasks, robust evidence has been found for attentional holding but not for attentional capture by threat. An important explanation for the absence of attentional capture effects is that the visual stimuli used posed no genuine threat. The present study investigated whether visual cues that signal an aversive white noise can elicit attentional capture and holding effects. Cues presented in an attentional task were simultaneously provided with a threat value through an aversive conditioning procedure. Response latencies showed that threatening cues captured and held attention. These results support recent views on attention to threat, proposing that imminent threat captures attention in everyone.