Circumplex structure and personality disorder correlates of the Interpersonal Problems model (IIP-C): construct validity and clinical implications

This study assessed the construct validity of the circumplex model of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP-C) in Norwegian clinical and nonclinical samples. Structure was examined by evaluating the fit of the circumplex model to data obtained by the IIP-C. Observer-rated personality disorder criteria (DSM-IV, Axis II) were used as external correlates. The reliability of the IIP-C scales was acceptable and in the same range as in the original version. A multisample analysis strategy did not support an invariant circumplex model across the 2 groups. However, the estimated structures reflected mostly the same circular pattern of a quasi-circumplex model in the 2 groups. Departures from the ideal model were of negligible practical significance. The validity results examining personality disorder correlates of the IIP-C generally conformed to predictions, providing direct evidence for agreement between self-report and expert judgments of interpersonal problems.     

Viewer-external frames of reference in the mental transformation of 3-D objects

Most models of object recognition and mental rotation are based on the matching of an object's 2-D view with representations of the object stored in memory. They propose that a time-consuming normalization process compensates for any difference in viewpoint between the 2-D percept and the stored representation. Our experiment shows that such normalization is less time consuming when it has to compensate for disorientations around the vertical than around the horizontal axis of rotation. By decoupling the different possible reference frames, we demonstrate that this anisotropy of the normalization process is defined not with respect to the retinal frame of reference, but, rather, according to the gravitational or the visuocontextual frame of reference. Our results suggest that the visual system may call upon both the gravitational vertical and the visuocontext to serve as the frame of reference with respect to which 3-D objects are gauged in internal object transformations.     

The contribution of tactile reafference to temporal regularity during bimanual finger tapping

In a repetitive tapping task, the within-hand variability of intertap intervals is reduced when participants tap with both hands, as opposed to single-handed tapping. This bimanual advantage can be attributed to timer variance (according to the Wing-Kristofferson model). Separate timers have been proposed for each hand whose outputs are then averaged (Helmuth & Ivry, 1996, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 22, 278-293). Alternatively, timing might be based on sensory reafference and the bimanual advantage due to the enhancement of sensory reafferences. This alternative hypothesis was tested in three experiments. In the first experiment, we replicated the bimanual advantage in tapping with two fingers of the same hand compared with single finger tapping. In the second experiment, we demonstrated that the bimanual advantage decreased when tactile reafferences from left-hand taps were omitted (by contact-free tapping). In the third experiment, participants tapped bimanually with the index fingers of both hands firmly mechanically coupled. The bimanual advantage was replicated for this condition. Results are consistent with the assumption that the bimanual advantage is due to the sensory reafferences of the second hand. We suggest that our results are best explained by a reformulation of the Wing-Kristofferson model, in which the timer provides action goals in terms of sensory reafferences.     

Notae ecclesiae in Luther's Von den Konziliis und Kirchen

In times of crisis such as the Reformation, the quest for the true Church comes into focus. In Luther's most important contribution to this question, Von den Konziliis und Kirchen (1539), he rejects the idea that the history of Fathers and Councils could be the solution, though the Councils are significant as defence of the biblical faith. Instead, Luther identifies the true Church as the place where the Spirit sanctifies believers through the word of God, which is the most important nota ecclesiae. The presence of the divine as fact and goal is thus what characterises the true Church.     

Graffiti: A Precursor to Future Deviant Behavior during Adolescence?

This study examines if graffiti initiation leads to greater deviant behavior. Swedish students (N = 1,010) completed questionnaires in grades 7, 8, and 9 (aged 14 to 16 years). Students who initiated tagging or graffiti art in grade 8 consistently reported higher rates of deviant behavior 12 months later. However, graffiti initiation did not increase the likelihood of most behaviors after the effect of confounding factors from the individual, peer, and family domains were accounted for. The findings indicate that other confounding risk factors should be considered when understanding links between graffiti involvement and future criminality.     

In Search of the Self's Grounding Power: Kierkegaard's The Sickness unto Death as Dogmatics for Unbelievers

Kierkegaard's The Sickness unto Death can be read as an attempt to present the Christian message in a way that makes sense for unbelievers without violating the integrity of the Christian faith. This is done by exploring the psychological implications of the lack of faith in a way that is supposed to make sense even for those who take offence at the Christian message and do not accept the anthropological implications of the story of the incarnation as their basic point of orientation. It is argued that this attempt is successful, and that this can be demonstrated both by the consistency of the argument and the breadth of its Wirkungsgeschichte.     

The centrality of Christology

Martin Luther seemingly never read the works of Nicholas Cusanus; still, scholars have found the relationship between the two to be an intriguing one. In this essay, it is argued that this relationship is best explored as a common emphasis both on divine unknowability and on the significance of Christology, and that this common emphasis is closely related to the importance they both attached to the works of Plato and Dionysius at important points in their careers. Given this common framework, it comes as no wonder that they both found the Pauline gospel of justification through faith and Chalcedonian two-nature Christology indispensable both philosophically and theologically. In this way, they represent a renewal of central aspects of the theology of the Church Fathers that today seem both theologically attractive and ecumenically relevant.     

A prototypicality validation of the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality model (CAPP)

Cooke and colleagues recently developed the lexically based model of psychopathy named the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality (CAPP, Cooke, Hart, Logan, & Michie, 2004). The current study was the first to evaluate aspects of the validity of a translated version of the CAPP model, which comprises 33 symptoms from six domains of personality functioning. Prototypicality ratings from 796 Norwegian community residents, forensic mental health professionals, and corrections professionals were obtained. Most CAPP symptoms were evaluated as highly prototypical of psychopathy by all three groups. Symptoms from the Self, Dominance, and Attachment domains were perceived as more prototypical than those from the Behavioral domain. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) indicated that two CAPP domains were unidimensional whereas evidence of unidimensionality was somewhat weaker for the other domains, but improved substantially after removal of problematic symptoms. Overall, the findings support the content validity of the CAPP model. This may have relevance to the current considerations regarding reformulation of the criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder in DSM-V.