General problems of questioning research

Summary This paper outlines certain minimum conditions for setting up experimental research on questioning. A discussion is given of the problems involved in using the same kinds of question as in natural interactions, creating a naturalistic exchange between questioner and respondent, and enabling people to use other inquiry strategies besides questioning. It is argued that these issues merit attention not only because of methodological concerns, but also because they are likely to lead to important insights about questioning.     

Zu Einem Methodologischen Interpretationskonstruktionismus

Interpretari necesse est (Interpretation is necessary). This slogan is summarizing the methodological and epistemological essay concentrating on what can be called a transcendental interpretationism and a methodological interpretationism. This approach is combining a pragmatic interpretive approach with a constitutional quasi Kantian but more pluralistic and flexible epistemology. It takes up the assets of Nietzsches radical interpretationism without ending up in an interpretationist idealism. Though a basic fundamental insight is a statement of the interpretation-impragnatedness of any knowledge and experience whatsoever, there is nevertheless a possibility to combine a kind of critical realism with this interpretationist approach. Though we are always obliged to use interpretation-dependent epistemological schemata and concepts as well as theories (we have no non-interpretive concepts, theories and ways of gaining and constructing knowledge), we have still, for practical reasons, to presuppose an external independent world which can however only be described in interpretation-dependent terms. Even this epistemological model is certainly an interpretive one. If we distinguish between different levels of more or less variable interpretations (we cannot, by our very biological constitution, change primary interpretations built in to our biological constitution and make-up of sense-organs etc.), we can analyse and define truth as a relation between different levels and types of interpretations. The ideal of truth makes some sense of a concept of correspondence, though in the last analysis it is a combination of coherence-theoretical and pragmatic-constructivist ideas. — The model of an epistemological interpretationism has the advantage (by contradistinction, e.g., with critical rationalism) to be consistently applied to itself: The interpretive epistemology is certainly but an interpretational model itself. — The sketched interpretationism has certain similarities with Nelson Goodman's constructive interpretive pluralism and Hilary Putnam's internal realism, although there are slight, but decisive differences to be carefully observed. The differences have to do with the mentioned practical realism and the presupposition of one world in which we live. The similarities are greater with respect to internal realism. A decisive difference is only that you cannot, according to methodological and transcendental interpretationism, compel somebody towards the uniqueness of language use. There are always degrees of freedom and variation to change the usage of signs. There is no socially intended uniqueness and compulsory usage of signs and their meanings. Even within the language community the rules are always only conventionally realized and actualized. There is no real correspondence between signs and signs (or interpretive constructs, for that matter). Any correspondence whatsoever can only refer to interpretational constructs itself. Any classification, verification, selection and identification of facts, even any thinking of data and facts as such is in the last analysis dependent on interpretations. Even the conception of an epistemological subject is but an interpretational construct on a higher level.     

Cognitive orientation and physical disease or health

This paper deals with a new approach to physical disease and health based on the theory of cognitive orientation (CO) (Kreitler and Kreitler, 1976, 1982). It presents an outline of the theory which is a comprehensive cognitive-motivational model of behaviour describing how cognitive contents and processes bring about the elicitation of behaviour. The theory generated a methodology for the prediction of behaviour that has been applied in different domains ofhealth psychology. Studies are described dealing with behaviours affecting health (quitting smoking, smoking, overeating, undergoing examinations for the early detection of breast cancer), behaviours of the individual in the role of sick person (hospitalization for safeguarding pregnancy, getting information on a cancer ward), aetiologies of physiopathologies (coronary heart disease, diabetes, vaginal infections) and disorders (menstrual and sexual disorders, and infertility in women), recovery and rehabilitation (from chronic pain, and following MI), and general health orientation. Finally, the outlines of an emergent CO model of physiopathology are presented, specifying how cognitions affect health, and in which sense the processes involved in physiopathology resemble and differ from those involved in the elicitation of overt behaviours.     

A Counterexample to Six Fundamental Principles of Belief Formation

In recent years there has been a growing consensus that ordinary reasoning does not conform to the laws of classical logic, but is rather nonmonotonic in the sense that conclusions previously drawn may well be removed upon acquiring further information. Even so, rational belief formation has up to now been modelled as conforming to some fundamental principles that are classically valid. The counterexample described in this paper suggests that a number of the most cherished of these principles should not be regarded as valid for commonsense reasoning. An explanation of this puzzling failure is given, arguing that a problem in the theory of rational choice transfers to the realm of belief formation.     

Comparison of Mothers', Fathers', and Teachers' Reports on Problem Behavior in 5- to 6-Year-Old Children

Evidence exists that there is low agreement between multiple informants reporting on children's and adolescents' behavior problems. Few studies, however, focus on agreement between informants in specific age groups. This study examined correspondence and disagreement between mother, father, and teacher reports of problem behavior by analyzing CBCL and TRF data of 2 nonclinical samples of 5- to 6-year-old preschool children (N = 424). Findings indicated that interrater agreement was low to moderate. This was shown by the intercorrelations, the explained variance in regression analyses and the little overlap in the number of children rated as behaviorally disturbed by all 3 informants. Agreement between mother and father reports was highest, whereas agreement between mother and teacher reports was lowest. Disagreement between informants was highest for internalizing problems. Potential explanations for the lack of agreement are discussed. Guidelines are formulated to refine assessment and optimize clinical decision-making processes.     

Visuo-spatial working memory span: a sensitive measure of cognitive deficits in children with ADHD.

Working memory (WM) has been hypothesised to be impaired in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, there are few studies reported on tests measuring visuo-spatial WM (VSWM) in ADHD. Some of these studies used paradigms including episodic memory, others only used low memory loads. In the present study we used a VSWM test that has not been used previously in ADHD research. The sensitivity of the VSWM test and a choice reaction time (CRT) test was evaluated in a pilot study by comparing them to two commonly used tests in ADHD-research; the Continuous Performance Test (CPT) and a Go/no-go test, in children with and without ADHD. The groups differed significantly in performance on the VSWM test (P < .01) and CRT (P < .05) but not on the CPT (P > .1) or on the Go/no-go test (P > .1). The results from the VSWM and CRT tests were replicated in a larger sample of participants (80 boys; 27 boys with ADHD and 53 controls, mean age 11.4 years). The difference between the groups was significant for both the VSWM test (P < .01) and the CRT test (P < .01). The effect size (ES) of the VSWM test was 1.34. There was a significant age-by-group interaction on the VSWM test, with larger group differences for the older children (P < .01). Our results show that the VSWM test is a sensitive measure of cognitive deficits in ADHD and it supports the hypothesis that deficits in VSWM is a major component of ADHD.     

Optimism and pessimism as predictors of change in health after death or onset of severe illness in family.

The authors prospectively examined changes in health after a major life event (death or onset of severe illness in family) among 5,007 employees (mean age=44.8 years) whose optimism and pessimism levels were assessed in 1997 and major life events in 2000. Health was indicated by sickness absence days during a period covering 36 months prior to the event and 18 months after the event. Increase in sick days after the event was smaller and returned to the prevent level more quickly among highly optimistic individuals than among their counterparts with low optimism. Parallel changes were not observed in relation to pessimism. These findings suggest that optimism may reduce the risk of health problems and may be related to a faster recovery after a major life event.     

A psychometric evaluation of the Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire (TMCQ) in a Swedish sample

Personality is generally considered to be biologically founded in temperament, and temperamental qualities have proven to be relatively stable across childhood and into adulthood (Caspi, Roberts & Shiner, 2005 ). Temperament predicts important developmental outcomes such as academic performance (Muris, 2006 ), and social functioning (Eisenberg, Fabes, Guthrie & Reiser, 2000 ), and it has also been found to be strongly related to the etiology and maintenance of internalizing and externalizing psychopathology in children (Muris, Meesters & Blijlevens, 2007 ; Nigg, 2006 ). To allow for the possibility of making early interventions, identification of potential risk factors (such as temperamental dispositions) is of great importance (Rettew & McKee, 2005 ). As temperament is multidimensional and has many different manifestations, parents and teachers are valuable sources in providing information about children's temperament (Rothbart & Bates, 2006 ; Tackett, Slobodskaya, Mar et al., 2012 ), and caregiver questionnaires are frequently used in child personality research. However, such questionnaires are only useful if their reliability and validity have been established. The aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire (TMCQ; Simonds, Kieras, Rueda & Rothbart, 2007 ), which focuses specifically on the ages between 7 and 11 years. The TMCQ is the least validated of the Rothbart measures, and although reliability data have been presented, together with some validity data, for a computerized self‐report version of the questionnaire (Simonds & Rothbart, 2004 ), information about the reliability and validity for the caregiver version is scant. In the present paper, we report such data for a Swedish sample.     

Buddhist Meditation as a Mystical Practice

Philosophia - On the basis of many years of personal experience the paper describes Buddhist meditation (Zazen, Vipassanā) as a mystical practice. After a short discussion of the role of some...