Neurophysiological evidence for disturbances of conflict processing in patients with schizophrenia

Deficits in cognition are a hallmark of schizophrenia. In the present study, the authors investigated the effects of schizophrenia on the neural correlates of conflict processing in a single-trial version of the Stroop task by using event-related brain potentials. Relative to matched controls, patients with schizophrenia showed increased Stroop interference in response time, but this effect was eliminated when the effect of response slowing was controlled. In controls, conflict processing was associated with a negative wave peaking between 400 and 500 ms (N450) and conflict sustained potential (SP) peaking between 600 and 800 ms after stimulus onset. In patients with schizophrenia, the amplitude of the N450 was significantly attenuated and the conflict SP was absent. These results provide evidence for the existence of altered neural processes associated with conflict processing that may be associated with dysfunction of the anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex in patients with schizophrenia.     

The warpy thoughts scale: a new 20-item instrument to measure dysfunctional attitudes

Cognitive theories of psychopathology propose that specific negative cognitive schema held by individuals can increase their likelihood of experiencing depressive episodes. While it has been argued that such dysfunctional attitudes are state measures that occur primarily during periods of depression, a range of research has supported the view that holding dysfunctional attitudes is ongoing, persisting prior to and following depressive episodes. To date, the need for a parsimonious measure of dysfunctional attitudes has not been well addressed. Using data provided by 4545 participants in a free on-line cognitive behavioural therapy program, MoodGYM, we have developed the Warpy Thoughts Scale (WTS), a 20-item instrument measuring dysfunctional attitudes. This scale provides 3 first order factors (Relationships, Achievements and Entitlements) and a higher order factor, Warpy Thoughts, from which a Warpy Thoughts score can be obtained. Confirmatory factor analyses on this model indicated that it provides robust results for men and women and for individuals in a wide range of ages. WTS scores were moderately correlated with levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms (0.39 and 0.40, respectively) and explained up to one-fifth of the variance of these mental health measures. Further validation of the WTS against other measures of dysfunctional thoughts is required.     

Group conversion versus group expansion as modes of change in majority and minority positions: all losses hurt but only some gains gratify

This study examined reactions to minority and majority positions that were either stable or reversed through group conversion that transformed opponents (supporters) of the minority (majority) into supporters (opponents) or through group expansion that brought new supporters (opponents) for the minority (majority) into the group. Minorities who became majorities through group expansion, compared with those who changed through group conversion, perceived their supporters and the overall group as significantly more similar to the self, and had significantly higher expectations for future positive interactions within the group. Perception of similarity with the supporters mediated the effect of the experimental conditions on perception of the overall group-self similarity. Implications of changes through conversion and expansion for the functioning of social groups are discussed.     

Profile of cognitive deficits and associations with depressive symptoms and intelligence in chronic early‐onset schizophrenia patients

Cognitive deficits in several domains have been demonstrated in early‐onset schizophrenia patients but their profile and relation to depressive symptoms and intelligence need further characterization. The purpose was to characterize the profile of cognitive deficits in chronic, early‐onset schizophrenia patients, assess the potential associations with depressive symptom severity, and examine whether cognitive deficits within several domains reflect intelligence impairments. This study compared attention, visual‐construction, aspects of visual and verbal memory, and executive functions in chronic, early‐onset schizophrenia patients (mean age = 20.7 years) (N = 18) and healthy controls (N = 38). Schizophrenia diagnoses were established at the time of the patients' first clinical presentation during childhood or adolescence and were confirmed five years later. In the chronic phase of early‐onset schizophrenia, significant deficits were observed in all specific cognitive functions. The profile of cognitive deficits was jagged, and visual‐construction, attention, and one aspect of verbal memory (verbal stories recall) were differentially impaired. Deficits of visual recall, visual recognition, and executive functions were accounted for by deficits in intelligence, while this was not the case for deficits of verbal recall of stories or attention. No significant associations were observed between the severity of cognitive deficits and that of depressive symptoms. Chronic, early‐onset schizophrenia is characterized by a broad and jagged profile of cognitive deficits. Deficits of attention and verbal recall of stories appear not to be accounted for by deficits in intelligence, and the severity of cognitive deficits seems independent from that of depressive symptoms     

Early Adolescents' Values About Their Pets

The essays of adolescent boys and girls (N = 354) explaining their decisions to save a pet in the event of a fire were examined by content analysis for the adolescents' underlying value orientations. Hedonistic utility, a moral value characteristic of the second of Kohlberg's (1976) moral development stages, was the primary value underlying adolescents' choices.     

What Does (the Young) Heidegger Mean by the Seinsfrage ?

Heidegger's central concern is the question of being (Seinsfrage). The paper reconstructs this question at least for the young (pre- Kehre) Heidegger in the light of two interconnected hypotheses: (1) the substantial content of the question of being can be identified by seeing it as a response to (Marburg) neo-Kantianism; and (2) this content centres around the claim that, pace the neo-Kantians, 'epistemological' concerns are grounded in 'ontological' ones, for which reason 'ontology' must precede 'epistemology' as a form of philosophical inquiry. In section I the general position of (Marburg) neo-Kantianism is sketched. In section II the implications of the neo-Kantian position for the concepts of truth and reality, reason, and experience, are outlined; significant similarities to Sellars, Davidson, and Brandom are revealed. Finally, in section III Heidegger's analysis of everydayness is shown to yield a distinct critique of the neo-Kantian relativization of the concept of the real to the theoretically knowable. From this critique it emerges why Heidegger thinks that 'ontology' precedes 'epistemology'. The project of fundamental ontology marked by the question of being thus shows itself to be at least in part a response to the aporia of Marburg neo-Kantianism.     

REESTABLISHING “THE SOCIAL” IN RESEARCH ON DEMOCRATIC PROCESSES: MID‐CENTURY VOTER STUDIES AND PAUL F. LAZARSFELD'S ALTERNATIVE VISION

Voter studies conducted in the United States during the first decades after World War II transformed social scientific research on democracy. Especially important were the rapid innovations in survey research methods developed by two prominent research centers at Columbia University and the University of Michigan. This article argues that the Columbia and Michigan voter studies presented two visions for research on democracy. Where the Michigan research produced quantitative measures expressing the ‘political behavior’ of the electorate, the Columbia studies, and especially Paul F. Lazarsfeld, presented an alternative vision for qualitative research on political choice. Largely ignored by later voter studies, this vision prefigured much contemporary research on democracy that embraces a qualitative or interpretive approach. This article reconstructs Lazarsfeld's alternative vision, describes the institutional context in which scholars disregarded it in favor of formal quantitative models, and argues for its recognition as a forerunner to qualitative research on democratic processes.     

Intensive OutPatient Therapy for Clergy Burnout: How Much Difference Can a Week Make?

A pre-test and post-test quasi-experimental matched pairs design was used to assess the effectiveness of a week-long multi-therapist intensive outpatient intervention process with clergy suffering from depression and burnout. Participants (n = 23) in the “Clergy in Kairos” program of the Pastoral Institute (Muse in J Pastor Care Couns 61(3):183–195, 2007) constituted the experimental variable. Clergy surveyed from United Methodist and Presbyterian denominations (n = 121) provided a control group from which 23 respondents were selected whose pre-test scores in depression and burnout were statistically equivalent to those in the experimental group. The treatment group consisted of clergy from three denominations who self-selected (or in some cases were referred by denominational officials) into the program. At the outset, clergy in both groups reported equivalent levels of conflict, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and depression. At the 6-months follow-up, clergy in the experimental group showed significant improvement of depression, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization scores. By contrast, there was no change in the burnout and depression scores in the control group at 6-months post-test. Findings suggest the usefulness of a week-long multi-therapist intensive outpatient intervention in reducing burnout and depression.     

Conciliation,Uniqueness and Rational Toxicity1

Conciliationism holds that disagreement of apparent epistemic peers often substantially undermines rational confidence in our opinions. Uniqueness principles say that there is at most one maximally rational doxastic response to any given batch of total evidence. The two views are often thought to be tightly connected. This paper distinguishes two ways of motivating conciliationism, and two ways that conciliationism may be undermined by permissive accounts of rationality (those that deny uniqueness). It shows how conciliationism can flourish under certain strongly permissive accounts of rationality. This occurs when the motivation for conciliationism does not come (as is sometimes supposed) from taking disagreement as evidence of one's own rational failings. However, divorcing the motive for conciliating from worries about rationality does not remove a feature of conciliationism that some find troubling: that conciliationism can lead to cases of “rational toxicity,” in which the most rational response to one's evidence involves violating some rational ideal.     

Is Religiousness Associated with Better Lifestyle and Health Among Danes? Findings from SHARE

Journal of Religion and Health - Evidence of a possible association between religion and health in secular societies is sparse. We therefore conducted a nationwide study using data from 1596 Danes...