Cognitive-behavioural approaches in the treatment of hypochondriasis: six single case cross-over studies.

This study evaluates a cognitive and a behavioural treatment protocol for hypochondrical complaints. In a cross-over design, six patients with a primary diagnosis of hypochondriasis were treated. Three of them first received a block of behavioural therapy (exposure in vivo and response prevention), followed by a block of cognitive therapy. The other three patients were first treated with cognitive therapy followed by behavioural therapy. The results were promising: four patients made significant improvements. The behavioural therapy sessions appeared to account more often for improvement than did the cognitive sessions. The sequence of behavioural therapy followed by cognitive therapy tended to be more successful than the other way around. The results of these six case studies suggest that exposure in vivo with response prevention and cognitive therapy may both be useful in the treatment of hypochondriasis. A journal controlled study is recommended.     

The formalization of Interpretability

This paper contains a careful derivation of principles of Interpretability Logic valid in extensions of I₀+₁.     

An exploration of spiritual superiority: The paradox of self‐enhancement

Spiritual training is assumed to reduce self‐enhancement, but may have the paradoxical effect of boosting superiority feelings. It can thus operate like other self‐enhancement tools and contribute to a contingent self‐worth that depends on one's spiritual accomplishments. In three studies (N = 533, N = 2,223, N = 965), a brief measure of spiritual superiority showed good internal consistency and discriminant validity. As predicted, it was distinctly related to spiritual contingency of self‐worth, illustrating that the self‐enhancement function of spirituality is similar to other contingency domains. It was correlated with self‐esteem and, more strongly, with communal narcissism, corroborating the notion of spiritual narcissism. Spiritual Superiority scores were consistently higher among energetically trained participants than mindfulness trainees and were associated with supernatural overconfidence and self‐ascribed spiritual guidance. Our results illustrate that the self‐enhancement motive is powerful and deeply ingrained so that it can hijack methods intended to transcend the ego and, instead, adopt them to its own service.     

What other's disappointment may do to selfish people: emotion and social value orientation in a negotiation context

The authors examined whether individual differences in social value orientation moderate responses to other's expressions of disappointment in negotiation. The literature suggested competing hypotheses: First, prosocials are more responsive to other's disappointment because they have a greater concern for other; second, proselfs are more responsive because they see other's disappointment as a threat to their own outcomes. Results of a computer-mediated negotiation in which a simulated opponent expressed disappointment, no emotion, or anger supported the second prediction: Proselfs conceded more to a disappointed opponent than to a neutral or angry one, whereas prosocials were unaffected by the other's emotion. This effect was mediated by participants' motivation to satisfy the other's needs, which disappointment triggered more strongly in proselfs than in prosocials. Implications for theorizing on emotion, social value orientation, and negotiation are discussed.     

Get angry, get out: The interpersonal effects of anger communication in multiparty negotiation

Research on multiparty negotiation has investigated how parties form coalitions to secure payoffs but has not addressed how emotions may affect such coalition decisions. Extending research on bilateral negotiations which has generally argued that it is beneficial to communicate anger, we argue that it constitutes a considerable risk when there are more than two people present at the negotiation table. Using a computer-mediated coalition game we show that communicating anger is a risky strategy in multiparty bargaining. The main findings of three studies were that participants: (1) form negative impressions of players who communicate anger and therefore (2) exclude such players from coalitions and from obtaining a payoff share, but (3) make considerable concessions on those rare occasions that they choose to form a coalition with an angry player, or (4) when they had to form a coalition with an angry player. We discuss the implications of these results for theorizing on emotions, negotiations, and coalition formation.     

A low-cost video game applied for training of upper extremity function in children with cerebral palsy: a pilot study

The aim of the present study was to determine the user satisfaction of the EyeToy for the training of the upper limb in children with cerebral palsy (CP). User satisfaction was measured in 12 children with CP, using a postexperience questionnaire, primarily based on a presence questionnaire. In general, children with CP were satisfied with and motivated by the EyeToy training. In addition, a first evaluation study was performed to determine the effect of this training method on the upper limb function. Ten children with CP were randomly assigned to the intervention (mean age 11 years, 9 months; SD 2,3) and the control group (mean age 12 years, 3 months; SD 3,2). After a treatment period of 6 weeks, the intervention group completed a user satisfaction questionnaire. Functional outcome was measured using the Melbourne Assessment scores. Percentage scores of the Melbourne Assessment of 7 of the 10 children were the same or changed only 1% to 2% from baseline to followup. However, in the experimental group, two children improved more, 9% and 13% respectively. In conclusion, it can be said that the EyeToy is a motivational training tool for the training of children with CP and has the potential to improve upper extremity function.     

On the dominance of whole-word knowledge in reading aloud

The localist dual-route model of visual word recognition assumes a routine thataddresses the pronunciation of all words known to the reader (the lexical-semantic pathway) and another routine, operating in parallel, thatassembles pronunciations on the basis of sublexical spelling-sound correspondences. The present experiment exploits theexception effect (in which words that are atypical in terms of their spelling-sound correspondences are named more slowly than typical ones) because it is considered a marker of the joint operation of these two routines. Participants named high- and lowfrequency regular and exception words that were repeated across two blocks of trials. The widely reported interaction between regularity and word frequency is present in Block 1 but is reduced in magnitude in Block 2. DRC, an implemented dual-route model, simulates the data. Taken in conjunction with other reports, the results provide further evidence for a double dissociation between addressed and assembled routines and are consistent with the view that skill in recognizing printed words known to the reader reflects the dominance of orthographic over phonological processing.     

The Interpretability Logic of all Reasonable Arithmetical Theories

This paper is a presentation of astatus quæstionis, to wit of the problemof the interpretability logic of all reasonablearithmetical theories.We present both the arithmetical side and themodal side of the question.Dedicated to Dick de Jongh on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

How Emotions Regulate Social Life: The Emotions as Social Information (EASI) Model

ABSTRACT— The idea that emotions regulate social interaction is increasingly popular. But exactly how do emotions do this? To address this question, I draw on research on the interpersonal effects of emotions on behavior in personal relationships, parent–child interactions, conflict, negotiation, and leadership, and propose a new framework that can account for existing findings and guide future research: the emotions as social information (EASI) model. I demonstrate that emotional expressions affect observers' behavior by triggering inferential processes and/or affective reactions in them. The predictive strength of these two processes—which may inspire different behaviors—depends on the observer's information processing and on social-relational factors. Examples of moderators that determine the relative predictive strength of inferences and affective reactions include power, need for cognitive closure, time pressure, display rules, and the appropriateness and target of the emotional expression, which are all discussed.     

Fit between decision mode and processing style predicts subjective value of chosen alternatives

Intuition is associated with a global processing style, whereas deliberation is associated with a local processing style. Drawing on previous research on the effects of decisional fit on the subjective value attached to chosen alternatives, we examined the possibility that a fit between processing style and decision mode results in greater subjective value than a lack of fit. In three experiments employing various combinations of naturally occurring and experimentally manipulated processing styles and decision modes, we found that when congruence was high (i.e., global processing style and intuitive judgment, or local processing style and deliberative judgment), participants judged their chosen item to be more expensive than when congruence was low. These findings indicate that increased fit resulted in higher estimated value. We discuss implications for judgment and decision‐making.