A Mind-Body Approach to Domestic Violence Perpetrator Treatment: Program Overview and Preliminary Outcomes

Conventional interventions with perpetrators of domestic violence are marginally effective. Given these results, researchers and practitioners are beginning to focus on identifying ways to improve domestic violence treatment outcomes. This article describes how a rural state-sponsored domestic violence offender program utilizes a treatment approach known as Mind-Body Bridging to help its clients overcome their abusive behaviors. Preliminary findings from an ongoing outcome study are also reported. According to these findings, the program has a high completion rate coupled with a low recidivism rate. Ninety-three percent (82 of 88) of the clients who have participated in this program completed the program, and just 7%?(6 of 82) of those who completed the program reoffended during the follow-up period, which ranged from 9 to 27 months.     

On the Failure to Detect Changes in Scenes Across Brief Interruptions

When brief blank fields are placed between alternating displays of an original and a modified scene, a striking failure of perception is induced: The changes become extremely difficult to notice, even when they are large, presented repeatedly, and the observer expects them to occur (Rensink, O'Regan, & Clark, 1997). To determine the mechanisms behind this induced “change blindness”, four experiments examine its dependence on initial preview and on the nature of the interruptions used. Results support the proposal that representations at the early stages of visual processing are inherently volatile, and that focused attention is needed to stabilize them sufficiently to support the perception of change.     

Capacity limitations and representational shifts in spatial short-term memory

Performance was examined in a task requiring the reconstruction of spatial locations. Previous research suggests that it may be necessary to differentiate between memory for smaller and larger numbers of locations (Postma & DeHaan, 1996), at least when locations are presented simultaneously (Igel & Harvey, 1991). Detailed analyses of the characteristics of performance showed that such a differentiation might also be required for sequential presentation. Furthermore the slope of the function relating each successive response to accuracy was greater with 3 than with 6, 8, or 10 locations that did not differ. Participants also reconstructed the arrays as being more proximal than in fact they were; sequential presentation eliminated this distortion when there were three but not when there were more than three locations. These results support the idea that very small numbers of locations are remembered using a specific form of representation, which is unavailable to larger numbers of locations.     

Modulation of reflexive orienting to gaze direction by facial expressions

Facial expression and gaze perception are thought to share brain mechanisms but behavioural interactions, especially from gaze-cueing paradigms, are inconsistent. We conducted a series of gaze-cueing studies using dynamic facial cues to examine orienting across different emotional expression and task conditions, including face inversion. Across experiments, at a short stimulus–onset asynchrony (SOA) we observed both an expression effect (i.e., faster responses when the face was emotional versus neutral) and a cue validity effect (i.e., faster responses when the target was gazed-at), but no interaction between validity and emotion. Results from face inversion suggest that the emotion effect may have been due to both facial expression and stimulus motion. At longer SOAs, validity and emotion interacted such that cueing by emotional faces, fearful faces in particular, was enhanced relative to neutral faces. These results converge with a growing body of evidence that suggests that gaze and expression are initially processed independently and interact at later stages to direct attentional orienting.     

Some Reasons for Distinguishing Between “Non-normative Response” and “Irrational Decision”

Three concerns that limit the implications of normative decision research were described in this study. First, because there is no unequivocal way to determine whether any particular base rate is appropriate in a particular instance, the significance of the apparent base rate underutilization reported by a number of investigators is unclear. Second, because there are discrepancies between natural language and formal logic, word problems are an uncertain domain within which to gauge human inferential skills. Third, because different people will have different strategies and preferences, no single solution may be correct or optimal for all persons. In light of these limitations, a more functional approach to decision interpretation is discussed.     

Nonlinear Structured Growth Mixture Models in Mplus and OpenMx

Growth mixture models (GMMs; B. O. Muthén & Muthén, 2000; B. O. Muthén & Shedden, 1999) are a combination of latent curve models (LCMs) and finite mixture models to examine the existence of latent classes that follow distinct developmental patterns. GMMs are often fit with linear, latent basis, multiphase, or polynomial change models because of their common use, flexibility in modeling many types of change patterns, the availability of statistical programs to fit such models, and the ease of programming. In this article, we present additional ways of modeling nonlinear change patterns with GMMs. Specifically, we show how LCMs that follow specific nonlinear functions can be extended to examine the presence of multiple latent classes using the Mplus and OpenMx computer programs. These models are fit to longitudinal reading data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Cohort to illustrate their use.     

The combined effect of ratee's bodyweight and past performance information on performance judgments

Few studies have examined how various biases operate in combination to influence performance judgments. Along these lines, the current study used experimental methods to test four competing models of the combined influence of ratee's bodyweight and past performance information on performance judgments. Results were consistent with an additive model, such that ratee's bodyweight and information about ratee's past performance combined independently to affect performance judgments. Consistent with a double disadvantage effect, the least favorable performance judgments were made for an overweight ratee with poor previous performance. Finally, mixed evidence was obtained for the interaction of ratee's bodyweight and perceptions of ratee's physical attractiveness, such that high‐perceived attractiveness buffered against the otherwise negative performance ratings associated with overweight status.     

Two skeptical arguments or only one?

The first step in responding to the challenge of external world skepticism is to get clear on the structure of the skeptic’s argument. The most prominent varieties of skeptical arguments either rely on closure principles or underdetermination principles. The relationship between these two sorts of arguments is contentious. Some argue that these arguments can independently motivate skepticism. Others argue that they are really equivalent. I argue that although these two arguments are distinct, their independence is not as obvious as some have thought. The fact that these arguments are not equivalent is important because skeptical arguments that appeal to underdetermination principles cannot be refuted by simply denying closure. So, the strategy for responding to skepticism offered by Nozick/Dretske does not seem an adequate solution.