Personality and affect characteristics of outpatients with depression

This investigation was designed to examine the relationship between depression severity and personality disorders measured by the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (Millon, 1987) and affectivity measured by the Positive Affectivity/Negative Affectivity Schedule (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). Discriminant analyses were employed to identify the personality and affective dimensions that maximally discriminate between 4 different levels of depressive severity. Differences between the 4 levels of depressive severity are suggestive of unique patterns of personality characteristics. Discriminant analysis showed that 74.8% of the cases were correctly classified by a single linear discriminant function, and that 61% of the variance in depression severity was accounted for by selected personality and affect variables. Results extend current conceptualizations of comorbidity and are discussed with respect to depression severity.     

Is Connectedness Necessary to What Matters in Survival

The standard version of the psychological criterion or theory of personal identity takes it that psychological connectedness is not necessary for personal identity, or for what matters in survival. That is, a future person can be you, and/or have what matters in survival for you, even though there is no psychological connectedness between you and that future person. David Lewis, however, holds that psychological connectedness is necessary to both identity and what matters (which he takes to coincide). This entails, Lewis acknowledges, that if a human body were to live longer than connectedness lasts, then that body would 'embody' or 'constitute' a different person later on than it did to begin with. Moreover, Lewis accepts, a body may embody more than one person at any one time. Lewis claims that this can be reconciled to some degree with common sense if we count by person stages rather than by persons. I show, though, that Lewis' view cannot be salvaged in this way, and, moreover, that it leads to further absurdities. I conclude that as an account of identity and of what matters in survival, it is highly implausible, and most unsatisfactory.     

The Impact of Group Work on Offender Adolescents

The impact of personal construct and psychodynamic group work on the psychosocial functioning of offender adolescents was evaluated. The repeated measures design involved 3 data collections. Data from 102 participants included measures of 5 pairs of maturational processes and 5 psychological states. Group work was effective immediately after terminating treatment in increasing helpful maturational processes and in reducing the less helpful maturational processes. The group work was also effective to some extent in reducing less helpful psychological states. The implications of this research for future interventions and its evaluation are discussed.     

The Truth Will Set You Free: Towards the Religious Study of Science

This article explores the notion that science can be viewed as a religion and that our understanding of science will be enhanced, if we study it in the same manner that we use to study any other religion. More specifically, it builds on concepts developed by Max Weber in his analysis of salvation religions to describe some ways in which science promises liberation and the institutional conditions under which that liberation will take place. While to a certain extent this exploration might be viewed as an effort to demythologize science, it is not an attack on science, as much as it is an attempt to demonstrate the potential benefits of opening up the scientific enterprise to more thorough and creative external examination.     

Does a Marriage Ideal Exist? Using Q-Sort Methodology to Compare Young Adults’ and Professional Educators’ Views on Healthy Marriages

This study sought to understand whether young adults and family educators share beliefs about the components of a successful relationship. Young adults viewed successful relationships as having partners who agree on most issues. Educators characterized successful partners as exhibiting positive communication patterns and using relationship maintenance strategies. A third prototype included young adults and educators who described successful relationships in terms of agreement and problem solving behaviors. Implications for researchers and practitioners conclude the article.     

To Be,or Not to Be,Linear: An expanded representation of personality and its relationship to leadership performance

In this study, we tested for a set of complex, nonlinear relationships between derailing/dark side personality composites and leadership performance using two independent samples of managers/leaders (N=1306 and N=290 for Study 1 and 2, respectively). Based on the structure and characteristics of the derailing/dark side trait composites, we expected the relationship between these composites and leadership performance would best be described with an inverted U function. In Study 1, we found evidence of a nonlinear relationship between the derailing composite, as measured by the Global Personality Inventory^©, and behaviorally based, structured ratings of leadership performance in an assessment center. Similarly, Study 2 found evidence for a nonlinear relationship between dark side composites, as measured by the Hogan Development Survey^©, and supervisory/other ratings of leadership performance. We discuss the implications of these complex, nonlinear findings with respect to the continued use of personality for the selection and promotion of future leaders. Limitations of the current study and directions for future research are noted.     

What I Wish I Knew Then...Reflections from Personal Experiences in Counseling about Down Syndrome

Sharing the news about a newborn baby’s diagnosis of Down syndrome with families is a scenario genetic counselors frequently face. Yet often we may feel uncomfortable or unsure how to best support families in this setting in a way that will foster competence and resilience. This commentary is a reflection of one genetic counselor’s experiences in counseling about Down syndrome over the course of her career and how her thinking has transitioned from a medical based model of disability to a more individual and family-focused model. Ideas and suggestions are offered that genetic counselors can incorporate into their practice.     

Bilateral entorhinal cortex lesions impair acquisition of delayed spatial alternation in rats

Entorhinal cortex lesions induce significant reorganization of several homotypic and heterotypic inputs to the hippocampus. This investigation determined whether surviving heterotypic inputs after bilateral entorhinal lesions would support the acquisition of a learned alternation task. Rats with entorhinal lesions or sham operations were trained to acquire a spatial alternation task. Although the sham-operated rats acquired the task within about 3 weeks postsurgery, rats with bilateral entorhinal lesions failed to learn the task after 12 consecutive weeks of training despite heterotypic sprouting of the cholinergic septodentate pathway and the expansion of the commissural/associational fiber plexus within the dentate gyrus. Thus, heterotypic sprouting failed to ameliorate significantly the effects of bilateral entorhinal lesions. Rather, entorhinal lesions produced a persistent impairment of spatial memory, characterized by a mixture of random error production and perseverative responding.     

Cognitive representation of challenging behaviour among staff working with adults with learning disabilities

Cognitive representations of illness have been identified as a determinant of therapeutic outcomes in a variety of health care settings. This paper describes the development of a Likert-type questionnaire to assess how the concept of challenging behaviour is cognitively represented in staff working with adults with learning disabilities. The Challenging Behaviour Representation Questionnaire (CBRQ) was theoretically derived, drawing on two existing measures: the Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ) and the Challenging Behaviour Attributions Scale (CHABA). Items for the questionnaire were generated from responses by 300 direct care staff. The questionnaire shows acceptable levels of internal and external reliability. The questionnaire has face validity and a measure of concurrent validity. There is evidence that challenging behaviour is cognitively represented in care staff in a multi-dimensional way, consistent with other studies in health psychology. This has implications for future staff training in this area.