Exteroceptive control of response under delayed reinforcement

Three white rats, after 50 continuous reinforcements, were exposed successively, under dim illumination, to reinforcement delays of 1, 3, 5, 7.5, 10, 15, and 20 sec, with prolonged training at the 20-sec level. Behavior was maintained at each level, and an increase in interval was accompanied by an increase in post-reinforcement pause. Subsequently, under both 20- and 30-sec delays, the animals were tested during half of each daily session to determine the effect of introducing darkness during each delay interval. The result of this stimulus “support” was to regularize and increase response rate for each animal at both interval values.     

Health anxiety and hypochondriasis in the light of DSM-5

Background: In the DSM-5, the diagnosis of hypochondriasis was replaced by two new diagnositic entities: somatic symptom disorder (SSD) and illness anxiety disorder (IAD). Both diagnoses share high health anxiety as a common criterion, but additonal somatic symptoms are only required for SSD but not IAD. Design: Our aim was to provide empirical evidence for the validity of these new diagnoses using data from a case–control study of highly health-anxious (n = 96), depressed (n = 52), and healthy (n = 52) individuals. Results: The individuals originally diagnosed as DSM-IV hypochondriasis predominantly met criteria for SSD (74%) and rarely for IAD (26%). Individuals with SSD were more impaired, had more often comorbid panic and generalized anxiety disorders, and had more medical consultations as those with IAD. Yet, no significant differences were found between SSD and IAD with regard to levels of health anxiety, other hypochondriacial characteristics, illness behavior, somatic symptom attributions, and physical concerns, whereas both groups differed significantly from clinical and healthy controls in all of these variables. Conclusion: These results do not support the proposed splitting of health anxiety/hypochondriasis into two diagnoses. Further validation studies with larger samples and additional control groups are warranted to prove the validity of the new diagnoses.     

Specters of Liberation: Great Refusals in the New World Order; Martin J. Beck Matuštík

Continental Philosophy Review -     

Spatial But Not Oculomotor Information Biases Perceptual Memory: Evidence From Face Perception and Cognitive Modeling

Recent research put forward the hypothesis that eye movements are integrated in memory representations and are reactivated when later recalled. However, “looking back to nothing” during recall might be a consequence of spatial memory retrieval. Here, we aimed at distinguishing between the effect of spatial and oculomotor information on perceptual memory. Participants’ task was to judge whether a morph looked rather like the first or second previously presented face. Crucially, faces and morphs were presented in a way that the morph reactivated oculomotor and/or spatial information associated with one of the previously encoded faces. Perceptual face memory was largely influenced by these manipulations. We considered a simple computational model with an excellent match (4.3% error) that expresses these biases as a linear combination of recency, saccade, and location. Surprisingly, saccades did not play a role. The results suggest that spatial and temporal rather than oculomotor information biases perceptual face memory.     

A Phonological Existential Analysis to the Book of Job

This current article “A Phonological Existential Analysis to the Book of Job” explores the various ways that Job’s friends attempted to help him deal with his grief. Dr. Johnson is able to identify the various stages of grief that Job goes through and correlate each stage and the response from the friends in current psychological terms. It becomes clear that various practices of modern psychotherapy can be seen in each response from Job’s friends. It is reasonable to conclude that the responses from Job’s friends were part of the therapeutic process that moved Job to a state of rationality and wholeness. While the article approaches the Book of Job from a psychotherapeutic standpoint, it does not distract for the spiritual teachings found in the document. Fred Johnson is licensed as a counseling psychologist and is certified as a school psychologist. Dr. Johnson has worked many over 15 years as a private practicing family therapist and behavior specialist. Dr. Johnson completed his doctorate in counseling psychologist at the University of Louisville and attended Southern Baptist Theological Seminary obtaining a degree in pastoral psychology. He currently owns Educational Resource Services, a company that is dedicated to providing seminars in classroom behavior management throughout the United States and Canada. Dr. Johnson has published two books, Effective Discipline for the Difficult Child and From Chaos to Control: Managing Disruptive Classroom Behavior. He has also published several research studies, including ones dealing with the role of the ministers and a pastoral approach to divorce.