Correction to: Teleological epistemology

Philosophical Studies - In Section 3 of the original version, the Weak Evidentialist Norm is given as follows: ‘For every S, p and t, S’s coming to know p at t is...     

Exploring Wellbeing in Youth with Vision Impairment: Insights for Vision Rehabilitation

Applied Research in Quality of Life - This article explores the discussions of 21 young Australians (aged 12–25) with vision impairment regarding their lived experiences and what it meant for...     

Non-associative fear acquisition: a review of the evidence from retrospective and longitudinal research

It is axiomatic that the capacity to experience fear is adaptive, enabling rapid and energetic response to imminent threat or danger. Despite the generally accepted utility of functional fear, the nature of maladaptive fear remains controversial. There is still no consensus about how specific fears and phobias are acquired and modulated. Two major schools of thought are apparent: those suggesting dysfunctional fear arises largely as the result of associative-conditioning processes versus those who favour more biologically based etiological explanations. In this regard, the non-associative model of fear acquisition postulates the existence of a limited number of innate, evolutionary-relevant fears, while emphasising conditioning modes of onset for evolutionary-neutral fears. Recent retrospective and longitudinal studies have tested predictions from the non-associative model. In general, findings support non-associative hypotheses and are difficult to reconcile with neo-conditioning explanations of fear acquisition. These data suggest that four pathways to fear may provide the most parsimonious theory of fear etiology. The theoretical and practical implications of adding a fourth, non-associative path to Rachman's (Behav. Res. Ther. (1977) 15, 375-387) three 'associative' pathways are discussed. Unresolved issues requiring further investigation are considered.     

Holocaust survivors in a primary care setting: fifty years later

Past studies have not assessed the prevalence of emotional disturbances in Holocaust survivors seeking medical treatment in a family practice environment. The present study examined the prevalence of lifetime (the presence of symptomatology at any time) and current posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, general anxiety, and depression in Holocaust survivors seeking medical treatment in a primary care setting. 20 of the 27 Holocaust survivors in our sample received a current diagnosis of PTSD and reported significant symptoms of depression and general anxiety. Although 74% of the survivors were currently diagnosed with PTSD, participants in this study had reported an overall decline in reexperiencing, hyperarousal, and overall PTSD symptoms but exhibited increased avoidance and numbing symptoms throughout the lifespan. These preliminary results suggest that removing avoidance as a defense mechanism during the course of psychotherapy may leave these survivors without an adequate way for coping with their trauma, subsequently increasing their vulnerability to psychopathology. Implications for psychological interventions are provided.     

Stop that! Inhibition,sensitization, and their neurovisceral concomitants

There is increasing evidence that the behavior of living systems can be conceptualized as a self-organizing dynamical system. Moreover, evidence suggests that inhibitory processes give these systems the flexibility that is necessary for efficient functioning in the face of changing environmental demands. The process of sensitization can be conceived as a breakdown of inhibitory neural processes that can lead to maladaptive, perseverative behavior. In this paper we describe a model of inhibition and sensitization from a dynamical systems perspective. We show that inhibition is important for adaptive behavior across a number of levels of system functioning. Using our work on attention, emotion, and anxiety disorders we show the importance of both central - for example gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic - and peripheral - for example heart rate variability (HRV) - inhibitory processes and how they may be linked by a network of neural structures that guide the organism from one state of relative stability to another.     

Positive and negative symptoms of schizotypy and the Five-factor model: a domain and facet level analysis

In this study, we investigated the Five-factor model in the concurrent prediction of positive symptom schizotypy as measured by the Magical Ideation (Eckblad & Chapman, 1983) and Perceptual Aberration (Chapman, Chapman, & Raulin, 1978) scales and negative symptom schizotypy as measured by the Physical Anhedonia (Chapman, Chapman, & Raulin, 1976) and Revised Social Anhedonia (Eckblad, Chapman, Chapman, & Mishlove, 1982; Mishlove & Chapman, 1985) scales. Previous studies suggest that these measures reflect the core symptoms found in schizotypal and schizoid personality disorder (Bailey, West, Widiger, & Freiman, 1993). Negative symptoms were significantly predicted by Neuroticism (+), Extraversion (-), Openness (-), and Agreeableness (-) domains of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R; Costa & McCrae, 1992). Additionally, positive symptoms were significantly predicted by Neuroticism (+), Openness (+), and Agreeableness (-). In addition, we examined the validity of lower order traits in de- scribing these symptoms of character pathology. These findings lend further support for the use of domain and facet scales of the NEO-PI-R in the identification of personality pathology.