Consensus and normative validity 1

A weak and a strong version of discourse theory can be distinguished. In the strong version the only source of normative validity in the nonspecific sense is rational consensus, where all parties concerned accept a norm for the same reasons, which are rationally convincing in the same way for all. In the weak version both rational and overlapping consensus can be sources of validity in the nonspecific sense. It is argued that the weak version is the more adequate, since it can accommodate cases which the strong version cannot, and which it is unreasonable to view as cases of compromise. Discourse theory needs a weaker general discourse principle and a more flexible notion of normative consensus than is found in Habermas's Between Facts and Norms (1996).     

Posttraumatische Belastungsstörung

There are some problems concerning the concepts of trauma-related disorders and especially the category of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with respect to classification, diagnosis and epidemiological findings, which can only be understood within the historical framework of the development. Even current diagnostic systems, such as the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders version 4 (DSM-IV) and the international classification of diseases version 10 (ICD-10) differ in the classification of these disorders which led to higher prevalence rates being achieved with ICD-10. The diagnostic algorithms have been opened to included subsyndromal PTSD as well as complex PTSD including more severe psychiatric disorders.     

Individual differences in spatial configuration learning predict the occurrence of intrusive memories

The dual-representation model of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Brewin, Gregory, Lipton, & Burgess, Psychological Review, 117, 210-232 2010) argues that intrusions occur when people fail to construct context-based representations during adverse experiences. The present study tested a specific prediction flowing from this model. In particular, we investigated whether the efficiency of temporal-lobe-based spatial configuration learning would account for individual differences in intrusive experiences and physiological reactivity in the laboratory. Participants (N = 82) completed the contextual cuing paradigm, which assesses spatial configuration learning that is believed to depend on associative encoding in the parahippocampus. They were then shown a trauma film. Afterward, startle responses were quantified during presentation of trauma reminder pictures versus unrelated neutral and emotional pictures. PTSD symptoms were recorded in the week following participation. Better configuration learning performance was associated with fewer perceptual intrusions, r = ?.33, p < .01, but was unrelated to physiological responses to trauma reminder images (ps > .46) and had no direct effect on intrusion-related distress and overall PTSD symptoms, rs > ?.12, ps > .29. However, configuration learning performance tended to be associated with reduced physiological responses to unrelated negative images, r = ?.20, p = .07. Thus, while spatial configuration learning appears to be unrelated to affective responding to trauma reminders, our overall findings support the idea that the context-based memory system helps to reduce intrusions.     

Current themes in organizational change

Research in leadership effectiveness has paid less attention to the role of leader fairness than probably it should have. More recently, this has started to change. To capture this development, we review the empirical literature in leadership and fairness to define the field of leadership and fairness, to assess the state of the art, and to identify a research agenda for future efforts in the field. The review shows that leader distributive, procedural, and especially interactional fairness are positively associated with criteria of leadership effectiveness. More scarce and scattered evidence also suggests that fairness considerations help explain the effectiveness of other aspects of leadership, and that leader fairness and other aspects of leadership, or the leadership context, may interact in predicting leadership effectiveness. We conclude that future research should especially focus on interaction effects of leader fairness and other aspects of leadership, and on the processes mediating these effects.     

Dystonien

A fruitless debate as to whether dystonias are an organic or psychogenic condition has dominated the scientific approach to psychiatric issues in dystonias. E.g., spasmodic torticollis (ST) was once considered “neurotic”, whereas today rather the notion of reactive psychiatric disorders in ST prevails. In our review current clinical and etiological findings in this area are presented focussed on spasmodic torticollis in order to discuss the extent and quality of psychiatric comorbidity as well as the interaction between psychological and somatic factors. Finally, typical clinical cases are presented and discussed within a multidimensional psychotherapeutic and a psychoanalytically-oriented treatment approach.     

Odor as a conditioned inhibitor: Applicability of the Rescorla-Wagner model to feeding behavior

Hooded rats were given conditioned inhibition training in which the taste of saccharin alone was always followed by induced illness, but the taste of saccharin plus the odor of amyl acetate was not. In a series of three subsequent tests—summation, enhancement of conditioning, and retardation—it was demonstrated that the odor had acquired active inhibitory properties. The results paralleled those obtained with more traditionally studied stimuli and techniques and hence were found to be readily predictable from a recent model of conditioning set forth by Rescorla and Wagner (1972).