Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms and Externalizing Behaviors across Adolescence: Associations with Histories of Suicide Attempt and Ideation in Early Adulthood

We examined associations between adolescent problem trajectories and suicide risk outcomes in 361 community participants. Depressive symptoms (self‐report) and externalizing behaviors (parent report) were assessed six times from grades 5 to 10. Parallel process linear growth curves indicated that lifetime suicide attempt history assessed to age 25 was associated with higher intercept (grade 5) and slope (increases from grades 5 to 10) of depressive symptoms and higher slope of externalizing behaviors. Both problem intercepts predicted suicidal ideation at ages 18 to 25 years. Adolescent depressive and externalizing symptom trajectories showed independent associations with suicide risk. Preventive intervention that occurs prior to the developmental period in which suicidal thoughts and behaviors show peak prevalence is expected to prevent suicide.     

The Köhler Group Motivation Gain: How to Motivate the ‘Weak Links’ in a Group

A recurring question of successful group work is how to maintain high task motivation of the individual members. This paper reviews research on one well documented group motivation gain phenomenon, where group members are more highly motivated than comparable individual performers – the Köhler motivation gain effect. The basic effect is attributed to two psychological mechanisms, one involving upward social comparisons and a second involving the indispensability of group members’ efforts. In addition to summarizing research on the discovery and causes of the basic effect, this review identifies probable moderators of each contributing causal mechanism. Moreover, promising topics for future research as well as implications for the application of the Köhler effect in real group work are discussed.     

Transubstantiation after Wittgenstein

Catholic doctrine of the eucharist is commonly thought to incorporate a metaphysical theory of substance. Wittgenstein subverts such theories. Elizabeth Anscombe and Michael Dummett, much respected post-Wittgensteinian philosophers, who are also deeply committed Catholics, argue that substance/accidents metaphysics as well as modern transignification theories prevent the religious events to stand on their own: the moment of consecration, the reservation of the consecrated elements. Bad theories which occlude the religious realities are thus removed—which does not show that all philosophizing about religious doctrine must be "rubbish".