Suspicion of ulterior motivation and the correspondence bias

Three studies examined the hypothesis that when perceivers learn of the existence of multiple, plausibly rival motives for an actor's behavior, they are less likely to fall prey to the correspondence bias than when they learn of the existence of situational factors that may have constrained the actor's behavior. In the first 2 studies, Ss who learned that an actor was instructed to behave as he did drew inferences that corresponded to his behavior. In contrast, Ss who were led to suspect that an actor's behavior may have been motivated by a desire to ingratiate (Study 1), or by a desire to avoid an unwanted job (Study 2), resisted the correspondence bias. The 3rd study demonstrated that these differences were not due to a general unwillingness on the part of suspicious perceivers to make dispositional inferences. The implications that these results have for understanding attribution theory are discussed.     

Using the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory's Scale B and the MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale to identify alcoholics with concurrent psychiatric diagnoses

The ability of the MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale (MAC) and Scale B of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) to discriminate independently defined alcoholics with psychiatric diagnoses from other psychiatric patients was examined for males and all alcoholics, using three different criteria of alcoholism. The MAC identified from 80% to 87% of male alcoholics and 76% to 82% of all alcoholics, and from 25% to 52% of male nonalcoholics and 55% to 75% of all nonalcoholics, resulting in a large number of false positives. Scale B identified from 31% to 60% of male alcoholics and 33% to 43% of all alcoholics, and from 73% to 85% of male nonalcoholics and 85% to 94% of all nonalcoholics. The operating characteristics of Scale B showed that it was not as efficient in identifying alcoholics as previous work had indicated. We suggest that Scale B should not be used and the MAC should be used cautiously to discriminate alcoholics with psychiatric disorders from patients without alcoholism.     

Rationalising conventions

Conformity by an agent to a convention to which the agent is a party is rational only if the agent prefers to conform given the other parties conform and believes the others will conform. But this justification is inadequate; what, for example, is the justification for this belief? The required rational justification requires recourse to (a) preferences for general conformity (as opposed to merely conditional preferences for one's own conformity) and (b) procedures. An agent adopts a procedure when he chooses to perform a whole set of future actions, as opposed to a single action.     

A further validation of the bem sex role inventory: A multitrait-multimethod study

The present study used a multitrait-multimethod technique [D.T. Campbell and D. W. Fiske (1959) “Convergent and Discriminant Validation by the Multitrait-Multimethod Matrix,” Psychological Bulletin, 56, 81–105] to examine Bem's [(1974) “The Measurement of Psychological Androgyny,” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 152–162] use of an instrumental-expressive dichotomy to conceptualize the Masculinity and Femininity scales of the Bem Sex Role Inventory as statistically orthogonal constructs. Results indicate that while perhaps reliable, masculinity and femininity lack clear convergent and discriminant validity. Therefore, Bem's contention that masculinity and femininity are orthogonal constructs is questioned. Results are discussed in light of trait- vs. method-driven research.     

The Future of Psychology in Medicaid's Health Delivery System for People with Disabilities

State Medicaid programs are rapidly converting fee-for-service health delivery systems to managed care for people with disabilities. In theory, managed care models of health delivery will substantially improve the quality of care for people with disabilities, but in reality, few successful models exist. This period of transition holds both opportunities and challenges for psychologists in medical settings. Because Medicaid reforms for people with disabilities may herald similar reforms for both the public and the private sectors, psychology's response will determine its role in the future of health care delivery for this population. Changes in training and increased attention to outcomes research, innovations in practice, and advocacy will be the keys to success.     

The Ramsey Test and Conditional Semantics

Proponents of the projection strategy take an epistemic rule for the evaluation of English conditionals, the Ramsey test, as clue to the truth-conditional semantics of conditionals. They also construe English conditionals as stronger than the material conditional. Given plausible assumptions, however, the Ramsey test induces the semantics of the material conditional. The alleged link between Ramsey test and truth conditions stronger than those of the material conditional can be saved by construing conditionals as ternary, rather than binary, propositional functions with a hidden contextual parameter. But such a ternary construal raises problems of its own.     

Superintuitionistic Companions of Classical Modal Logics

This paper investigates partitions of lattices of modal logics based on superintuitionistic logics which are defined by forming, for each superintuitionistic logic L and classical modal logic , the set L[] of L-companions of . Here L[] consists of those modal logics whose non-modal fragments coincide with L and which axiomatize if the law of excluded middle p V p is added. Questions addressed are, for instance, whether there exist logics with the disjunction property in L[], whether L[] contains a smallest element, and whether L[] contains lower covers of . Positive solutions as concerns the last question show that there are (uncountably many) superclean modal logics based on intuitionistic logic in the sense of Vakarelov [28]. Thus a number of problems stated in [28] are solved. As a technical tool the paper develops the splitting technique for lattices of modal logics based on superintuitionistic logics and ap plies duality theory from [34].     

Simulation and Transfer Results in Modal Logic – A Survey

This papers gives a survey of recent results about simulations of one class of modal logics by another class and of the transfer of properties of modal logics under extensions of the underlying modal language. We discuss: the transfer from normal polymodal logics to their fusions, the transfer from normal modal logics to their extensions by adding the universal modality, and the transfer from normal monomodal logics to minimal tense extensions. Likewise, we discuss simulations of normal polymodal logics by normal monomodal logics, of nominals and the difference operator by normal operators, of monotonic monomodal logics by normal bimodal logics, of polyadic normal modal logics by polymodal normal modal logics, and of intuitionistic modal logics by normal bimodal logics.     

Clinical pragmatism: a method of moral problem solving

This paper presents a method of moral problem solving in clinical practice that is inspired by the philosophy of John Dewey. This method, called "clinical pragmatism," integrates clinical and ethical decision making. Clinical pragmatism focuses on the interpersonal processes of assessment and consensus formation as well as the ethical analysis of relevant moral considerations. The steps in this method are delineated and then illustrated through a detailed case study. The implications of clinical pragmatism for the use of principles in moral problem solving are discussed.     

Hippocampal synaptic plasticity during instrumental learning

present research examined the role of hippocampal NMDA-dependent synaptic potentiation on appetitive instrumental conditioning under a continuous reinforcement schedule. In the first experiment, low (.025 mg.kg) or moderate (.05 mg/kg) dosages of the NMDA receptor antagonist, MK801, failed to increase the number of training days required to reach acquisition criterion; number of training days required to reach criterion for extinction were also unaffected. In the second experiment, a higher dosage (.10 mg/kg) of MK801 or induction of long-term potentiation failed to alter the number of responses occurring during acquisition. These data suggest that hippocampal synaptic potentiation does not play a prominent role in instrumental learning with simple contingency conditions. It is suggested that hippocampal LTP reflects a perceptual process that contributes differentially to spatial cognition, classical and instrumental conditioning.