Gödel’s Natural Deduction

This is a companion to a paper by the authors entitled “Gödel on deduction”, which examined the links between some philosophical views ascribed to Gödel and general proof theory. When writing that other paper, the authors were not acquainted with a system of natural deduction that Gödel presented with the help of Gentzen’s sequents, which amounts to Ja?kowski’s natural deduction system of 1934, and which may be found in Gödel’s unpublished notes for the elementary logic course he gave in 1939 at the University of Notre Dame. Here one finds a presentation of this system of Gödel accompanied by a brief reexamination in the light of the notes of some points concerning his interest in sequents made in the preceding paper. This is preceded by a brief summary of Gödel’s Notre Dame course, and is followed by comments concerning Gödel’s natural deduction system.     

When can employees have a family life? The effects of daily workload and affect on work-family conflict and social behaviors at home

This article presents a longitudinal examination of antecedents and outcomes of work-to-family conflict. A total of 106 employees participating in an experience-sampling study were asked to respond to daily surveys both at work and at home, and their spouses were interviewed daily via telephone for a period of 2 weeks. Intraindividual analyses revealed that employees' perceptions of workload predicted work-to-family conflict over time, even when controlling for the number of hours spent at work. Workload also influenced affect at work, which in turn influenced affect at home. Finally, perhaps the most interesting finding in this study was that employees' behaviors in the family domain (reported by spouses) were predicted by the employees' perceptions of work-to-family conflict and their positive affect at home.     

Employee well-being: A multilevel model linking work and nonwork domains

In this article, we review recent methodological developments that have enabled conceptual advances addressing intraindividual processes leading to psychological well-being. We contend that the introduction of dynamic assessment methodologies for sampling experiences, feelings, and behaviours on and off the job, together with the implementation of multilevel modelling strategies in organizational research on well-being, should lead to the development of richer models of employee well-being (compared to existing theoretical models). Accordingly, we develop a model of employee well-being that considers both personal and situational predictors, and both work and nonwork well-being indicators, as well as the real-time relationships between well-being antecedents and indicators across these two life spheres.     

The construct of psychophysiological reactivity: Statistical and psychometric issues

The purpose of this paper is to review major statistical and psychometric issues impacting the study of psychophysiological reactivity and discuss their implications for applied developmental researchers. We first cover traditional approaches such as the observed difference score (DS) and the observed residual score (RS), including a review of classic and recent research on their reliability and validity from two related bodies of work: the measurement of change and the Law of Initial Values. Second, we review several types of latent variable modeling in this context: latent difference score (LDS) models, latent residual score (LRS) models, latent state-trait (LST) models, and latent growth curve (LGC) models. Finally, we provide broad guidelines for applied researchers broken down by key stages of a psychophysiological project: study planning, data analysis, and reporting of results. Our recommendations highlight the need for (1) increased attention to the ubiquitous nature of measurement error in observed variables and the importance of employing latent variable models when possible, and (2) increased specification of theories relating to the construct of reactivity, especially in regards to the distinction between baseline arousal and change over time in broader systems of variables.     

Glucocorticoid receptor interaction with Hsp90 remains unaltered after whole body hyperthermia

The influence of 41 degrees C whole body hyperthermic stress on glucocorticoid receptor (GR) association with 90-kDa heat shock protein (Hsp90) in the rat liver cytosol was examined. Total cytosolic GR and Hsp90 concentrations, as well as the amount of Hsp90 co-immunoprecipitated with the GR were determined by quantitative Western blotting using BuGR2 as anti-GR and AC88 as anti-Hsp90 monoclonal antibody. After exposure of the animals to the heat stress, the level of cytosolic Hsp90 increased, while its ratio to apo-receptor within non-activated GR heterooligomeric complexes remained unaltered. Therefore, the Hsp90 recruitment by the GR was not dependent on Hsp90 total cytosolic concentration.     

Parallel versus serial processing and individual differences in high-speed search in human memory

Many mental tasks that involve operations on a number of items take place within a few hundred milliseconds. In such tasks, whether the items are processed simultaneously (in parallel) or sequentially (serially) has long been of interest to psychologists. Although certain types of parallel and serial models have been ruled out, it has proven extremely difficult to entirely separate reasonable serial and limited-capacity parallel models on the basis of typical data. Recent advances in theory-driven methodology now permit strong tests of serial versus parallel processing in such tasks, in ways that bypass the capacity issue and that are distribution and parameter free. We employ new methodologies to assess serial versus parallel processing and find strong evidence for pure serial or pure parallel processing, with some striking apparent differences across individuals and interstimulus conditions.     

Family predictors of antisocial behavior in adolescence

The goal of the present study was to examine the combined and unique ability of different aspects of family functioning to predict involvement in antisocial behavior in a large nonclinical (community) sample of adolescents. Distinction was made between global (e.g., family socioeconomic status), distal (dispositional characteristics of parents), contextual (family characteristics), and proximal (parent-child interaction) factors that operate within families. Results show that proximal factors were significant predictors of antisocial behavior, independent of their shared variance with other factors. Consistent with the hypothesized mediational model, the effects of distal and contextual factors appear to be mostly indirect: after their association with proximal factors was taken into account, these factors were no longer significantly related to antisocial behavior. The implications of these findings for planning of developmentally appropriate interventions for adolescents and their families are discussed.     

Obtaining funding for new researchers in psychology

A mentor is the key person to assist a student who wishes to become an independent investigator. The federal government provides long-term funding for decades of research by an investigator, and short-term funding for years of transition from student to investigator is available from both governmental and private agencies. Grants designed for men and women and various ethnic groups are valuable resources. Courteous acknowledgment of sponsorship by the grantee facilitates continued grants from the funding source.     

Update and Review: Cystic Fibrosis

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is one of the most commonly inherited recessive disorders in U.S. Caucasians, with a carrier frequency of approximately 1 in 29. Genetic counseling and CF mutation analysis has traditionally been offered to the affected patient and his/her extended family, in keeping with policy statements from professional organizations (ASHG, NSGC, ACOG). The target population for CF testing and counseling may be evolving after the release of the 1997 National Institutes of Health Consensus Statement, Genetic Testing for Cystic Fibrosis, which recommends that CF screening be offered to all preconceptional and pregnant couples. Genetic counseling for CF is complicated by reports of polymorphisms in the CF gene that are associated with symptoms that do not meet the diagnostic criteria for CF, such as bilateral congenital absence of the vas deferens, bronchiectasis, and idiopathic pancreatitis. To aid genetic counselors with these issues, this review explores the symptoms of CF, patient management, gene function, genetics, genotype/phenotype correlation, and genetic counseling issues.