The Meaning vs. The Medical Model in the Empirically Supported Treatment Program: A Consideration of The Empirical Evidence

A review of the debate on the Empirically Supported Treatment Program is presented. It is argued that underlying the specifics of the debate are fundamentally incompatible paradigms: a meaning vs. a medical model. The findings from two gold standard multi-site studies are reviewed to conclude that the control condition meets requirements for an empirically supported treatment. The empirical finding of the failure of clinical training to improve treatment outcomes is explained by the focus on rational factors in training. It is recommended that training of therapists focus on enhancing experiential capacity rather than mastery of manualized treatment approaches.     

Body dysmorphic symptoms: phenomenology and ethnicity

Differences in the presentation of clinical features of body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) across ethnic groups have received little investigation. The current study assessed BDD symptoms in an ethnically diverse sample of adults (n=401) using an online survey. Participants completed self-report measures assessing BDD symptoms, body parts of concern and BDD behaviors. Compared to Caucasian participants, no significant differences were found in body parts or behaviors reported by Latino or African American participants. Significant group differences did emerge between Asian and Caucasian participants. Specifically, Asians reported more concern with straight hair and dark skin and fewer body shape concerns than Caucasians. Asians also endorsed lower rates of grooming, touching body parts, and camouflaging and higher rates of exercise compared to Caucasians. Although most clinical features of BDD appear similar across ethnic groups, results showed some differences in body parts and behaviors between Caucasians and Asian Americans with BDD symptoms.     

Unaltered ethical standards for individual physicians in the face of drastically reduced resources resulting from an improvised nuclear device event

When disaster disrupts healthcare and other systems, the ethical allocation of resources should follow principles of justice, defined as fairness, established for normal clinical practice. Standards of clinical practice may be altered during disaster, but ethical standards must remain centered on prioritizing the treatment of patients according to need and the effectiveness of treatment. Should resources become extremely limited, it is fair to restrict their use to patients who have the highest needs, provided that the intervention is effective. When resources become more available, patients with lower priority can be increasingly accommodated.     

System justification and the defense of committed relationship ideology

A consequential ideology in Western society is the uncontested belief that a committed relationship is the most important adult relationship and that almost all people want to marry or seriously couple (DePaulo & Morris, 2005). In the present article, we investigated the extent to which the system justification motive may contribute to the adoption of this ideology. In Studies 1 and 2, we examined whether a heightened motive to maintain the status quo would increase defense of committed relationship values. In Study 3, we examined the reverse association, that is, whether a threat to committed relationship ideology would also affect sociopolitical system endorsement. As past research has found that the justification of political systems depends upon how much these systems are perceived as controlling, in Study 4 we tested whether the defense of the system of committed relationships would also increase when framed as controlling. Results from Studies 1-4 were consistent with our hypotheses, but only for men. In Study 5, using cross-cultural data, we sought to replicate these findings correlationally and probe for a cause of the gender effect. Results from more than 33,000 respondents indicated a relationship (for men) between defense of the sociopolitical system and defense of marriage in countries where the traditional advantages of men over women were most threatened. In Studies 6 and 7, we investigated when this gender difference disappears. Results revealed that when we measured (Study 6) or manipulated (Study 7) personal relationship identity rather than relationship ideology, effects also emerge for women.     

Executive functions after age 5: Changes and correlates

Research and theorizing on executive function (EF) in childhood has been disproportionately focused on preschool age children. This review paper outlines the importance of examining EF throughout childhood, and even across the lifespan. First, examining EF in older children can address the question of whether EF is a unitary construct. The relations among the EF components, particularly as they are recruited for complex tasks, appear to change over the course of development. Second, much of the development of EF, especially working memory, shifting, and planning, occurs after age 5. Third, important applications of EF research concern the role of school-age children’s EF in various aspects of school performance, as well as social functioning and emotional control. Future research needs to examine a more complete developmental span, from early childhood through late adulthood, in order to address developmental issues adequately.     

Crimes of obedience: "groupthink" at abu ghraib

Clear evidence of authorization at the highest levels belies administration statements to the effect that the torture at Abu Ghraib was an aberration and simply unauthorized actions by rogue soldiers. The administration reflected a "group mind," demonstrating many qualities of "groupthink." Whatever was necessary, including torture and violation of the Geneva accords, the system in effect authorized, because of the perceived danger to the system and the desperate requirement to get the information out of "them" by whatever means necessary, information that could save lives. The sanctioned violence demonstrated the qualities identified by Kelman and Hamilton (1989) in their study of the Mylai massacre as characteristic of sanctioned massacres: authorization, routinization, and dehumanization. It would seem that officials and participants exhibited all of these characteristics in the decision to conduct extreme interrogation on the "unlawful combatants" imprisoned at Abu Ghraib.     

Potenciales evocados en respuesta a expresiones faciales de emociones

Resumen

En el presente experimento se analizaron los potenciales evocados (PEs) de 32 sujetos en respuesta a diapositivas en color de cuatro expresiones faciales presentadas 32 veces cada una: alegría, tristeza, ira y neutra. La estructura de los PEs, registrados en Fz, Cz y Pz, se analizó vía análisis de componentes principales (ACP). Los ANOVAs indicaron que las amplitudes de N150 y P200 mostraron un doble emparejamiento alegría-ira y tristeza-neutra. Estos componentes han sido relacionados en anteriores estudios con el análisis físico de los estímulos. La visibilidad o no de los dientes en las expresiones puede explicar tales emparejamientos. Los resultados de componentes posteriores (N250 y P300) mostraron diferencias significativas entre las expresiones neutra y de alegría. Estos datos pueden ser interpretados tanto en términos de procesamiento afectivo como cognitivo. En todos los casos, Fz y Cz fueron las localizaciones donde las amplitudes de los componentes estudiados fueron mayores.     

Exploring the Hierarchical Structure of the MMPI–2–RF Personality Psychopathology Five in Psychiatric Patient and University Student Samples

In this study our goal was to examine the hierarchical structure of personality pathology as conceptualized by Harkness and McNulty's (1994) Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY–5) model, as recently operationalized by the MMPI–2–RF (Ben-Porath & Tellegen, 2011) PSY–5r scales. We used Goldberg's (2006) “bass-ackwards” method to obtain factor structure using PSY–5r item data, successively extracting from 1 to 5 factors in a sample of psychiatric patients (n = 1,000) and a sample of university undergraduate students (n = 1,331). Participants from these samples had completed either the MMPI–2 or the MMPI–2–RF. The results were mostly consistent across the 2 samples, with some differences at the 3-factor level. In the patient sample a factor structure representing 3 broad psychopathology domains (internalizing, externalizing, and psychoticism) emerged; in the student sample the 3-factor level represented what is more commonly observed in “normal-range” personality models (negative emotionality, introversion, and disconstraint). At the 5-factor level the basic structure was similar across the 2 samples and represented well the PSY–5r domains.     

Burial and the Crossing of Boundaries

This article discusses portrayals of the underworld in classical and contemporary poetry, exploring connections between darkness and light, the underworld, and growth in the natural world. It links them together with the idea of beauty, and especially beauty in writing poetry. It gives examples of how contemporary poets can use innovative and radical forms to suggest the world of the darkness that is the underworld.