Cognitive deficits in relation to personality type and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis dysfunction in women with stress-related exhaustion

Exhaustion caused by long-term work-related stress may cause cognitive dysfunction. We explored factors that may link chronic stress and cognitive impairment. Personality, psychiatric screening, and behavior were assessed by self-reporting measures in 20 female patients (mean age 39.3 years; range 26-53) with a preliminary diagnosis of stress-related exhaustion and in 16 healthy matched controls. Cognitive performance was investigated with a detailed neuropsychological test battery. Cortisol axis function was assessed by urinary and saliva collections of cortisol, dexamethasone suppression, Synacthen response, and corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) tests. Proinflammatory cytokines were measured. Hippocampal volumes were estimated by magnetic resonance imaging. Multivariate and univariate statistical methods were used to explore putative differences between groups and factors linked to cognitive impairment. Cognitive function clearly differed between groups, with decreased attention and visuospatial memory in the patient group, suggesting frontal cortex/medial temporal cortex-network dysfunction. Increased harm avoidance and persistence was present among patients, with lowered self-directedness linked to lower quality of life, increased anxious and depressive tendencies, and experiences of psychosocial stress. Attention was decreased with concomitantly impaired visuospatial memory. The pituitary (adrenocorticotropic hormone, ACTH) response to CRH was decreased in patients, with an increased cortisol/ACTH response to CRH. However, cortisol production rates, diurnal or dexamethasone-suppressed saliva cortisol levels, and the cortisol response to Synacthen were unaltered. Hippocampal volumes did not differ between groups. These findings suggest that cognitive dysfunction in stress-related exhaustion is linked to distinct personality traits, low quality of life, and a decreased ACTH response to CRH.     

Trait anger moderates the impact of anger-associated rumination on social well-being

In this study, we examined whether people’s social well-being is influenced by hostile versus nonhostile goals that people report pursuing when experiencing anger-associated rumination. Moreover, we investigated the impact of trait anger and trait anger rumination on the relationship between anger rumination and perceived social well-being. Participants were 93 students who were equipped with hand-held computers for 28 days to assess anger-related rumination and its social consequences in daily life. Results showed that hostile goal pursuit per se did not affect perceived social well-being. However, impairment of social well-being following hostile rumination was moderated by trait anger. Findings are consistent with recent cognitive models of trait anger and anger rumination.     

Group-centrism in the absence of group norms: The role of need for closure in social projection

The need for closure (NFC) promotes group-centrism, referring to the pursuit of a shared reality in a group, commonly achieved through conformity to and introjection of group norms. The present study expands this perspective by examining how NFC motivates projection of one’s own norms on groups, as an alternative means to achieve epistemic security in the absence of clear group norms. In Study 1 (N?=?261), individual differences in NFC predicted social projection onto an incidental crowd, providing evidence for the generic effect of NFC on social projection. In line with the assertion that the epistemic value of a collectivity is a function of the degree to which the collectivity matters for the individual, Study 2 (N?=?239) and Study 3 (N?=?223) revealed that NFC effects on social projection were strengthened for in-groups and disappeared for out-groups. Furthermore, mediation analyses demonstrated that essentialist entitativity beliefs mediate the relationship between NFC and in-group projection.     

Self-Affection and Pure Intuition in Kant

Are the pure intuitions of space and time, for Kant, dependent upon the understanding's activity? This paper defends the recently popular Self-Affection Thesis (SAT): namely, that the pure intuitions require an activity of self-affection—an influence of the understanding on the inner sense. Two systematic objections to this thesis have been raised: The Independence objection claims that SAT undermines the independence of sensibility; the Compatibility objection claims that certain features of space and time are incompatible with being the products of the understanding's activity. I show that the resources to rebut these objections can be found in Kant's account of causal influence.     

Conflicted Gender Identity, Body Dissatisfaction, and Disordered Eating in Adult Men and Women

The relation between gender identity and body dissatisfaction as well as disordered eating was examined in a population-based sample of Finnish adults aged 18 to 44 years (N?=?1,142). Participants with a conflicted gender identity were compared to controls matched on age and biological sex. Participants with a conflicted gender identity showed higher levels of body dissatisfaction, women with a conflicted gender identity also showed more eating disturbance than controls. Among men with a conflicted gender identity, male–male sexual experience was associated with more body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. Among women with a conflicted gender identity, female–female sexual experience was related to less body dissatisfaction. Possible explanations for these findings and the potential clinical implications are discussed.     

Action and Knowledge in Alternating-Time Temporal Logic

Alternating-time temporal logic (ATL) is a branching time temporal logic in which statements about what coalitions of agents can achieve by strategic cooperation can be expressed. Alternating-time temporal epistemic logic (ATEL) extends ATL by adding knowledge modalities, with the usual possible worlds interpretation. This paper investigates how properties of agents’ actions can be expressed in ATL in general, and how properties of the interaction between action and knowledge can be expressed in ATEL in particular. One commonly discussed property is that an agent should know about all available actions, i.e., that the same actions should be available in indiscernible states. Van der Hoek and Wooldridge suggest a syntactic expression of this semantic property. This paper shows that this correspondence in fact does not hold. Furthermore, it is shown that the semantic property is not expressible in ATEL at all. In order to be able to express common and interesting properties of action in general and of the interaction between action and knowledge in particular, a generalization of the coalition modalities of ATL is proposed. The resulting logics, ATL-A and ATEL-A, have increased expressiveness without loosing ATL’s and ATEL’s tractability of model checking.     

What day is today? A social-psychological investigation into the process of time orientation.

Social-psychological research on time has pointed to the social construct of time rather than a mere physical entity that we reflect cognitively. Using two paradigms (day retrieval process and goal priming), the authors show that the time orientation is strongly prone to social influences and argue that a self-regulatory process underlies these findings. The degree of social comparison orientation in Study 1 and the degree of identification with groups for which the landmark is relevant (Study 2) both moderate the functionality of the landmarks within time orientation. Consistent with these findings, Studies 3 and 4 offer evidence that the activation of a personally relevant goal activates the day of goal attainment, a process that again can be moderated by social comparison orientation and identification. Overall, these results suggest a socially regulated time orientation. The internal clock (if any) is at least partly a "social clock."     

Spacing and the transition from calculation to retrieval

Many arithmetic problems can be solved in two ways—by a calculation involving several steps and by direct retrieval of the answer. With practice on particular problems, memory retrieval tends to supplant calculation—an important aspect of skill learning. We asked how the distribution of practice on particular problems affects this kind of learning. In two experiments, subjects repeatedly worked through sets of multiple-digit multiplication problems. The size of the trained problem set was varied. Using a smaller set size (with shorter average time between problem repetitions) showed faster responses and an earlier transition to retrieval during training. However, in a test session presented days later, the pattern reversed, with faster responses and more retrieval for the large set size. Evidently, maximizing the occurrence of direct retrieval within training is not the best way to promote learning to retrieve the answer. Practical implications are discussed.     

From Sin to a Gift from God: Constructions of Change in Conservative Christian Organizations

The present article is based on several empirical studies of religious organizations with a conservative self-understanding coping with modernity in liberal, pluralist societies. In such organizations, religiously relevant change will often be seen as a problem in itself. The article discusses the relationship between changes in practices and theological legitimations of changes. Often changes in social practice precede theological reflections. The article also presents some strategies for legitimating changes. While the discussion is partly general, it is based on empirical studies of religious changes in the southernmost part of Norway, called Agder, traditionally a stronghold of Christian, low-church, pietistic movements.