The X-claim argument against religious belief offers nothing new

Stephen Law has recently offered an argument against the rationality of certain religious beliefs that he calls the X-claim argument against religious beliefs (Law in Relig Stud, 2017,  https://doi.org/10.1017/s0034412526000330). The argument purports to show that it is irrational to believe in the existence of extraordinary beings associated with religions. However, the X-claim argument is beset by certain ambiguities that, once resolved, leave the argument undifferentiated from two other common objections to the rationality of religious belief: the objection from religious diversity and the objection from unreliable sources. And though the latter pose serious obstacles to the rationality of religious belief, the X-claim argument adds no further difficulty.     

Using a Computational Model to Understand Possible Sources of Skews in Distributions of Job Performance

The typical assumption that performance is distributed normally has come under question in recent years (e.g., O'Boyle & Aguinis, 2012). This paper uses a dynamic, computational model of performance‐as‐results to examine possible sources of such distributions. That is, building off the classic model of job performance (Campbell & Pritchard, 1976), components of a dynamic model are examined in 4 separate experiments using Monte Carlo simulations. The experiments indicate that positively skewed distributions can arise from pure luck, multiplicative combinations of factors where 1 of those factors has a zero origin, Matthew effects associated with learning, and feedback effects of performance on resource allocation policies by external agents. The results are discussed in terms of explanations for positively skewed performance distributions and the use and expansion of the computational model for examining dynamic performance more generally.     

Maximizing Scales Do Not Reliably Predict Maximizing Behavior in Decisions from Experience

In this paper, we explore the relationships between psychometric and behavioral measures of maximization in decisions from experience (DfE). In two experiments, we measured choice behavior in two experimental paradigms of DfE and self‐reported maximizing tendencies using three prominent scales of maximization. In the repeated consequentialist choice paradigm, participants made repeated choices between two unlabeled options and received consequential feedback on each trial. In the sampling paradigm, participants freely sampled from two options and received feedback on their sampling before making a single consequential choice. Individuals exhibited different degrees of maximizing behavior in both paradigms and across different payoff distributions, but none of the maximizing scales predicted this behavior. These results indicate that maximization scales address constructs that are different from the maximization behavior observed in DfE, and that these measures will need to be improved to reflect behavioral aspects of choice and search from experience. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Association of Parent Mindfulness with Parenting and Youth Psychopathology Across Three Developmental Stages

The primary purpose of the current study was to test a model examining the process by which parent dispositional mindfulness relates to youth psychopathology through mindful parenting and parenting practices. The universality of the model across youth at three developmental stages was examined: young childhood (3–7 years; n?=?210), middle childhood (8–12 years; n?=?200), and adolescence (13–17 years; n?=?205). Overall, participants were 615 parents (55 % female) and one of their 3-to-17 year old children (45 % female). Parents reported on their dispositional mindfulness, mindful parenting, positive and negative parenting practices and their child’s or adolescent’s internalizing and externalizing problems. Consistent findings across all three developmental stages indicated that higher levels of parent dispositional mindfulness were indirectly related to lower levels of youth internalizing and externalizing problems through higher levels of mindful parenting and lower levels of negative parenting practices. Replication of these findings across families with children at different developmental stages lends support to the generalizability of the model.     

Happiness increases verbal and spatial working memory capacity where sadness does not: Emotion,working memory and executive control

The effects of emotion on working memory and executive control are often studied in isolation. Positive mood enhances verbal and impairs spatial working memory, whereas negative mood enhances spatial and impairs verbal working memory. Moreover, positive mood enhances executive control, whereas negative mood has little influence. We examined how emotion influences verbal and spatial working memory capacity, which requires executive control to coordinate between holding information in working memory and completing a secondary task. We predicted that positive mood would improve both verbal and spatial working memory capacity because of its influence on executive control. Positive, negative and neutral moods were induced followed by completing a verbal (Experiment 1) or spatial (Experiment 2) working memory operation span task to assess working memory capacity. Positive mood enhanced working memory capacity irrespective of the working memory domain, whereas negative mood had no influence on performance. Thus, positive mood was more successful holding information in working memory while processing task-irrelevant information, suggesting that the influence mood has on executive control supersedes the independent effects mood has on domain-specific working memory.     

“Speaking More than Words”: Classifying Men with Social Anxiety Disorder via Vocal Acoustic Analyses of Diagnostic Interviews

The relationship between vocal pitch and social anxiety has been examined with encouraging results across a growing number of studies, highlighting increased fundamental frequency (F0) as a potential disorder-specific physiological marker of social anxiety. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between mean F0 emitted during diagnostic interviews and social anxiety disorder (SAD) symptoms. Patients who qualified for a diagnosis of SAD (n?=?26) and a subsample of demographically-matched healthy controls (HCs; n?=?12) were administered clinical diagnostic interviews. We examined mean F0 emitted during select segments of the diagnostic interviews utilizing specialized vocal analysis equipment. Men (but not women) who qualified for a diagnosis of SAD emitted greater overall mean F0 in comparison to HCs throughout the course of the diagnostic interviews, and mean F0 emitted during the introductory segment of the diagnostic interviews was positively related to SAD symptoms for men (but not women). Furthermore, a previously-established threshold of mean F0 which demonstrated excellent differentiation between men with SAD and controls was successfully replicated in the present design, with regard to F0 emitted during the introductory segment of the interviews. These results provide strong additional support for increased F0 as a physiological indicator and behavioral marker of SAD in samples of men. Implications for the assessment and treatment of SAD are discussed.     

Refusal Self‐Efficacy Among SMART Recovery Members by Affiliation Length and Meeting Frequency

Using the Brief Situational Confidence Questionnaire, the authors examined the refusal self‐efficacy of 105 Self‐Management and Recovery Training (SMART Recovery) members according to their affiliation length and meeting frequency. Results demonstrated that longer affiliation with SMART Recovery and higher meeting frequency significantly enhanced substance refusal self‐efficacy.