Autoshaping and automaintenance: a neural-network approach

This article presents an interpretation of autoshaping, and positive and negative automaintenance, based on a neural-network model. The model makes no distinction between operant and respondent learning mechanisms, and takes into account knowledge of hippocampal and dopaminergic systems. Four simulations were run, each one using an A-B-A design and four instances of feedfoward architectures. In A, networks received a positive contingency between inputs that simulated a conditioned stimulus (CS) and an input that simulated an unconditioned stimulus (US). Responding was simulated as an output activation that was neither elicited by nor required for the US. B was an omission-training procedure. Response directedness was defined as sensory feedback from responding, simulated as a dependence of other inputs on responding. In Simulation 1, the phenomena were simulated with a fully connected architecture and maximally intense response feedback. The other simulations used a partially connected architecture without competition between CS and response feedback. In Simulation 2, a maximally intense feedback resulted in substantial autoshaping and automaintenance. In Simulation 3, eliminating response feedback interfered substantially with autoshaping and automaintenance. In Simulation 4, intermediate autoshaping and automaintenance resulted from an intermediate response feedback. Implications for the operant-respondent distinction and the behavior-neuroscience relation are discussed.     

Work-related stress and well-being: the roles of direct action coping and palliative coping

The purpose of the present study is to analyze the roles of direct action coping and palliative coping in the relationship between work stressors and psychological well-being, as well as their possible interactions, in a sample of 464 bank employees. Hierarchical regression analyses showed main effects of direct action coping on well-being. Palliative coping predicts higher levels of psychological distress. Contrary to what was expected, the interactions between work stressors and direct action coping were not significant. Palliative coping interacted with work stressors when predicting psychosomatic complaints. The interaction between the two types of coping was significant on psychosomatic complaints and psychological distress, but not on job satisfaction. The paper discusses theoretical and practical implications of these results, in order to design intervention strategies to prevent and manage job stress.     

Gender Role Attitudes across the Transition to Adolescent Motherhood in Mexican‐Origin Families

Using longitudinal data collected at four time points from 191 dyads of Mexican‐origin adolescent first‐time mothers and their mother figures, we examined changes in and socialization of traditional gender role attitudes across the transition to parenthood using latent growth curve modeling and actor – partner interdependence modeling. Longitudinal growth models indicated that, regardless of nativity status, adolescent mothers' and their foreign‐born mother figures' gender role attitudes became more egalitarian across adolescents' transition to parenthood, spanning from the 3rd trimester of pregnancy to 36 months postpartum. Furthermore, actor‐partner interdependence modeling suggested that adolescents' and their mother figures' gender role attitudes during adolescents' third trimester of pregnancy equally contributed to subsequent increases in one another's gender role attitudes at 10 months postpartum. Importantly, this reciprocal socialization process was not moderated by adolescent mothers' nor by their mother figures' nativity status. Findings suggest that it is important to understand the cultural and intergenerational family processes that contribute to the development of gender role attitudes during the transition to parenthood for adolescent mothers and their mother figures in Mexican‐origin families.     

Dual Equivalent Two-valued Under-determined and Over-determined Interpretations for Łukasiewicz’s 3-valued Logic Ł3

?ukasiewicz three-valued logic ?3 is often understood as the set of all 3-valued valid formulas according to ?ukasiewicz’s 3-valued matrices. Following Wojcicki, in addition, we shall consider two alternative interpretations of ?3: “well-determined” ?3a and “truth-preserving” ?3b defined by two different consequence relations on the 3-valued matrices. The aim of this paper is to provide (by using Dunn semantics) dual equivalent two-valued under-determined and over-determined interpretations for ?3, ?3a and ?3b. The logic ?3 is axiomatized as an extension of Routley and Meyer’s basic positive logic following Brady’s strategy for axiomatizing many-valued logics by employing two-valued under-determined or over-determined interpretations. Finally, it is proved that “well determined” ?ukasiewicz logics are paraconsistent.     

The Origins of Fears of Compassion: Shame and Lack of Safeness Memories,Fears of Compassion and Psychopathology

Empirical and clinical research suggests that some individuals find self-generating compassion and receiving compassion from others difficult and aversive. However, it is unclear how these fears of compassion are linked to early experiences and to psychopathological symptoms. This study explores the relationship between shame traumatic memories, centrality of shame memories, early memories of warmth and safeness, fears of compassion, and depression, anxiety and paranoid symptoms. Participants were 302 individuals from the general community population, who completed self-report measures of fears of compassion, shame memories, early affiliative memories, and psychopathology. Shame traumatic and central memories were positively associated with fears of compassion for self, for others and from others, whereas early memories of warmth and safeness were negatively related to such fears. Path analyses revealed that fears of compassion for self and of receiving compassion from others mediated the effects of shame traumatic memory, centrality of shame memory and early memories of warmth and safeness on depressive, anxious and paranoid symptoms. These findings have implications for therapeutic interventions as these fears, as well as the negative shame-based emotional memories fuelling them, may need to be addressed in therapy to assist patients in self-generating and receiving compassion.     

Training of practitioners and beliefs about family skills in family-based prevention programmes

To ensure close adherence to the contents of a family-based cognitive-behavioural programme, and maintain a high standard of quality in its implementation, it is important that practitioners’ attitudes and beliefs regarding family skills coincide with those of the programme. This paper describes and analyses (observed) potential changes in these beliefs, after training courses held prior to the application of a prevention programme for families: the Family Competence Programme. A questionnaire was devised to examine practitioners’ beliefs regarding family skills; and completed both before and after the training course. The results point to significant changes in family dynamics, realistic expectations and active listening. Thus, it can be demonstrated that preliminary training courses promote practitioner attitudes and beliefs which are more coherent with a subsequent programme’s approach.     

De Se Content and Action Generalisation

Ever since John Perry's developments in the late 70s, it is customary among philosophers to take de se contents as essentially tied to the explanation of action. The target explanation appeals to a subject-specific notion of de se content capable of capturing behavioural differences in central cases. But a subject-specific de se content leads us, I argue, to a subject-specific notion of intentional action that prevents basic forms of generalisation. Although this might be seen as a welcome revision of our pre-theoretical conceptions, I propose, instead, a strategy to circumvent this rather unexpected result: to reject subject-specific de se contents in favour of subject-specific ways of thinking that do not enter into the content of one's attitudes.     

Testing the Situationism Scale in Europe: Scale validation,self‐regulation and regional differences

The term situationism refers to an individual's belief about the importance of a behaviour's context. This study tested whether the degree of situationism expressed by individuals in various regions of Europe was consistent with self‐regulation and cross‐cultural theories. The English version of a Situationism Scale (measuring beliefs about the relation between the environment and one's own behaviour) was translated into five additional languages: Dutch, German, Hungarian, Italian and Slovenian. Young adults (N = 1106, M_Age = 22.9 years, 79% female) across Europe responded to one of the six language versions of the scale as part of a larger survey. Results indicated that: new language versions were psychometrically valid; there was a positive relation between situationism and the use of situation‐control strategies; and situationism was higher for individuals from regions that are Eastern European and relatively more interdependent, compared with individuals from regions that are Western European and relatively less interdependent. As the first evaluation of the Situationism Scale outside America, this study supports the Scale's validity and suggests not only may some effects of situationism be universal, but between‐ and within‐culture differences in situationism exist. Overall, when making judgments and decisions about the self, cultural background and individual differences in situationism may come into play.     

Distance stability analysis in multidimensional scaling using the jackknife method

Stability or sensitivity analysis is an important topic in data analysis that has received little attention in the application of multidimensional scaling (MDS), for which the only available approaches are given in terms of a coordinate‐based analytical jackknife methodology. Although in MDS the prime interest is in assessing the stability of the points in the configuration, this methodology may be influenced by imprecisions resulting from the inherently necessary Procrustes method. This paper proposes an analytical distance‐based jackknife procedure to study stability and cross‐validation in MDS in terms of the jackknife distances, which is not influenced by the Procrustes method. For each object, the corresponding jackknife estimated points are considered as naturally clustered points, and stability and cross‐validation are analysed in terms of the MDS distances arising from the jackknife procedure, on the basis of a weighted cluster‐MDS algorithm. A jackknife‐relevant configuration is also proposed for cross‐validation in terms of coordinates, in a cluster‐MDS framework.     

Stereotypical attitudes amongst black students at a rural historically black South African university

This study investigated stereotypical attitudes towards race amongst Black students (N=274) attending a historically Black South African university (females=62%; mean age of 22.15 years; SD=3.00 years). Data on group stereotyping by race were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. The data were analysed for themes using discourse analysis. The findings indicated that Black students from a rural background stereotyped those from urban centres as lacking in African culture and being overly westernised. Conversely, rural Blacks from urban settings stereotyped those from rural areas as respectful, cultured and materially poor. Regardless of geographical origin, the Black students perceived English-speaking Whites as competent and friendly, while Afrikaans-speaking Whites were stereotyped as racist, aggressive and hardworking. The Black students perceived Indian South Africans as unethical and deceitful whilst Coloureds were noted to lack culture and to be aggressive. Findings suggest stereotypical racist language or discourse to be persistent among a student population with historical disadvantage.