The main features of value experience

Conclusion This brings us not only to the conclusion of my list of eight features proposed as being common to all or most value experience, but also to a reminder of its purpose. First, I hope that, in the spirit of Husserl's dictum, to the things themselves, this proposal will initiate a discussion of a basic research type of question, namely: What are the main features of value experience? Second, I hope that the fruits of such a discussion might eventually contribute to the working out of a metatheory for value inquiry: a theory about criteria of adequacy for any general theory of value.In a paper of this scope it is obvious that one cannot even begin to discuss all the points and subpoints made in the manner in which they deserve. Much less can one defend all, or even any, of its claims with the kind of logical rigor and linguistic fastidiousness which have come to be the norm in most Anglo-American philosophy today. As a counterbalance to a tendency in some professional circles to making adherence to this norm the end of, rather than merely a means for, philosophic understanding, I have offered this paper after the spirit of Socrates and Plato, who certainly appreciated appropriate logical rigor and linguistic tidiness. Philosophy was nevertheless always for them first and foremost a mutual adventure of exploration into value through significant dialogue. Thus, rather than submitting one more piece of logic or language to the microscope, it has been my purpose to go exploring this time with a telescope. I cordially invite other seekers to join me and to challenge my findings.Presidential Address delivered to the American Society for Value Inquiry meeting at the Denver Hilton, Denver, 19–20 April 1979. I wish to thank Gene G. James, Richard T. Hull, and Murray S. Hunt for helpful comments on an early draft of this paper.     

The effects of Δ9 THC on cutaneous sensitivity and its relation to personality

Pain threshold/tolerance and vibration perception were studied in a sample of female frequent and infrequent cannabis users. Interactions with personality characteristics were examined using the EPI. Performance on all measures was investigated after oral administration of either 10mgΔ⁹ THC or 20 mg Δ⁹ THC. Results indicated that while the 10mg dosage produced no consistent changes in cutaneous sensory response, the 20 mg dosage was followed by lowering of the vibration threshold. Frequent and infrequent cannabis users differed in their response to the pain stimulus (pain tolerance scores were higher among infrequent users). They also differed with respect to the personality measure (frequent users had lower E, N and L scores). The findings provide experimental support for cannabis users' reports of enhanced sensory awareness consequent to drug intake. The results also show that frequent and infrequent cannabis users differ in pain response and personality characteristics.     

Problem Solvers Adjust Cognitive Offloading Based on Performance Goals

When incorporating the environment into mental processing (cf., cognitive offloading), one creates novel cognitive strategies that have the potential to improve task performance. Improved performance can, for example, mean faster problem solving, more accurate solutions, or even higher grades at university.¹ Although cognitive offloading has frequently been associated with improved performance, it is yet unclear how flexible problem solvers are at matching their offloading habits with their current performance goals (can people improve goal‐related instead of generic performance, e.g., when being in a hurry and aiming for a “quick and dirty” solution?). Here, we asked participants to solve a cognitive task, provided them with different goals—maximizing speed (SPD) or accuracy (ACC), respectively—and measured how frequently (Experiment 1) and how proficiently (Experiment 2) they made use of a novel external resource to support their cognitive processing. Experiment 1 showed that offloading behavior varied with goals: Participants offloaded less in the SPD than in the ACC condition. Experiment 2 showed that this differential offloading behavior was associated with high goal‐related performance: fast answers in the SPD, accurate answers in the ACC condition. Simultaneously, goal‐unrelated performance was sacrificed: inaccurate answers in the SPD, slow answers in the ACC condition. The findings support the notion of humans as canny offloaders who are able to successfully incorporate their environment in pursuit of their current cognitive goals. Future efforts should be focused on the finding's generalizability, for example, to settings without feedback or with high mental workload.     

The use of safety behaviours to manage intrusive memories in depression

Cognitive models of clinical disorders conceptualise cognitive and behavioural safety-seeking behaviours as central to symptom persistence because they prevent disconfirmation of key maintaining beliefs. Despite growing evidence of the role of negative beliefs about intrusive memories in depression, it remains unclear why such beliefs persist. Accordingly, we examined whether safety behaviours in response to unhelpful beliefs about intrusive memories might play a role in their maintenance. Eighteen high dysphoric (i.e., BDI-II12) individuals who reported an intrusive negative autobiographical memory in the past week completed a battery of measures about their memory, associated negative beliefs and safety behaviours adopted in response to their beliefs. The most commonly endorsed beliefs reflected themes of wanting to control memories (e.g., ‘I should be able to rid my mind of this memory’) and self-deprecation about experiencing them (e.g., ‘Because I can’t control this memory, I am a weak person’). The beliefs prompted a range of safety behaviours, with cognitive distraction being the most common. The findings demonstrate that safety behaviours are common in response to maladaptive beliefs about intrusive memories. Treatment developments in this area are needed, and should incorporate strategies to challenge beliefs about memories, reduce the use of safety behaviours, and promote processing of intrusive memories.     

Decision Making in Social Context in Patients with Suicide Attempt History

Decision making has been found to be altered in suicide attempters, but little is known of their performance in social contexts. Twenty‐seven depressed suicide attempters (DSA), 25 nonsuicidal depressed patients (DP), and 60 healthy participants (HC) were evaluated by a decision‐making task in social context . Results indicated DSA and DP obtained lower gains and invested more money with angry partners. DSA were found to invest less money than DP and HC with happy partners. DSA showed insensitivity toward rewards/punishment contingency, and they did not use the socioemotional stimuli to guide their decisions.     

Personal Dispositions and Shift‐Work Tolerance: A Longitudinal Study of Municipality Shift Workers

The aim of this study was to investigate how dispositional resistance to change and neuroticism could predict shift‐work tolerance (SWT) over a period of 6 months. Electronic questionnaires were completed by 74 shift workers employed in a municipality in Norway in January 2013 (1st wave of data collection) and in June 2013 (2nd wave of data collection). The findings suggest that individual differences, especially neuroticism, can predict SWT over a period of 6 months.