Most people do not ignore salient invalid cues in memory-based decisions

Former experimental studies have shown that decisions from memory tend to rely only on a few cues, following simple noncompensatory heuristics like "take the best." However, it has also repeatedly been demonstrated that a pictorial, as opposed to a verbal, representation of cue information fosters the inclusion of more cues in compensatory strategies, suggesting a facilitated retrieval of cue patterns. These studies did not properly control for visual salience of cues, however. In the experiment reported here, the cue salience hierarchy established in a pilot study was either congruent or incongruent with the validity order of the cues. Only the latter condition increased compensatory decision making, suggesting that the apparent representational format effect is, rather, a salience effect: Participants automatically retrieve and incorporate salient cues irrespective of their validity. Results are discussed with respect to reaction time data.     

Misserfolge in der station?ren Therapie von Patienten mit Pers?nlichkeitsst?rungen

While psychotherapy has proven its efficacy and effectiveness in the treatment of personality disorders (PD) there is a lack of studies on treatment failure, i.e. non-response or deterioration of psychopathology. In a naturalistic approach the failed treatment of1,239 inpatients with PD was studied by means of direct and indirect assessment of change from patient and therapist perspectives. For indirect assessment the global severity index of the symptom checklist SCL-90-R (self-report by patients) and the impairment severity score (judgement by therapists) were used. Depending on the method between 11% and 31% of inpatients did not show any relevant improvement in symptoms but concordance between the methods was poor (Cohen’s kappa between 0.10 and 0.30). Patients with treatment failure did not differ from those with successful treatment with respect to sociodemographic and clinical features. The findings are discussed with respect to methodological limitations but also reflect possible clinical and therapeutic implications as well as future research approaches.     

Means–end comprehension in four parrot species: explained by social complexity

A comparative approach is required to investigate the evolutionary origins of cognitive abilities. In this paper, we compare the performance of four parrot species, spectacled parrotlets (Forpus conspicillatus), rainbow lorikeets (Trichoglossus haematodus), green-winged macaws (Ara chloroptera) and sulphur-crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita triton) in standardized string-pulling and string-choice paradigms. We varied the spatial relationship between the strings, the presence of a reward and the physical contact between the string and the reward to test different cognitive skills requiring means–end comprehension. The species tested showed a high individual and inter-specific variation in their ability to solve the tasks. Spectacled parrotlets performed best among the four species and solved the most complex choice tasks, namely crossed-string task and broken-string task, spontaneously. In contrast, macaws and cockatoos failed to identify the correct string in these two tasks. The rainbow lorikeets were outperformed by the parrotlets, but outperformed in turn the macaws and the cockatoos. The findings can be best explained by the variation in social complexity among species, rather than in their ecology.     

Idiopathic Environmental Intolerance: A Treatment Model

Idiopathic environmental intolerance (IEI) refers to a health condition characterized by the presence of multiple symptoms in different organ systems in response to a variety of environmental cues, such as chemical exposures, electromagnetic radiation, infrasound from windmill farms, (parts of) buildings, foods, etc. Typically, the symptoms arise in response to triggers and at dosages that do not cause symptoms in the majority of people, and no clear link with any physiological dysfunction can be found. The condition varies in a dimensional way from very mild, for which no medical help is sought, to very disabling, compromising normal life. The condition is controversial, but several indications strongly suggest that the symptoms result from nocebo mechanisms. Currently, different psychological treatments are explored, but they are generally not based on a clear understanding of the aetiopathological mechanisms and the treatment effects are not well documented. In the present paper, we describe a treatment protocol based on a comprehensive explanatory model of IEI. The goal is to contribute to standardized, mechanism-based treatments as a basis for more systematic treatment studies.     

Cognitive mapping approach analyzing societal decision‐making

Cognitive mapping (CM) approach is reviewed, and the method is applied in analyzing an important case of societal decision‐making. It is shown that CM is an effective way of representing argumentation, consequences, and the linkage between the concepts. The method integrates causal modelling and rational choice theory with parts of cognitive psychology. CM allows for a systematic arguing of issues. The decision‐making problem described here concerns building a new nuclear power plant in Finland. There occurred strong proponents representing mainly the industry and technocratic and engineering experts, and an equally strong resistance represented by ordinary citizens, parliamentarians, and experts. The argumentation went ten years pro and cons before the parliament in 1993 decided against building the proposed nuclear power plant. It gives an ideal case to study the argumentation and contradictions there in as a whole by developing and applying a cognitive mapping approach.