On the importance of avoiding shortcuts in applying cognitive models to hierarchical data

Psychological experiments often yield data that are hierarchically structured. A number of popular shortcut strategies in cognitive modeling do not properly accommodate this structure and can result in biased conclusions. To gauge the severity of these biases, we conducted a simulation study for a two-group experiment. We first considered a modeling strategy that ignores the hierarchical data structure. In line with theoretical results, our simulations showed that Bayesian and frequentist methods that rely on this strategy are biased towards the null hypothesis. Secondly, we considered a modeling strategy that takes a two-step approach by first obtaining participant-level estimates from a hierarchical cognitive model and subsequently using these estimates in a follow-up statistical test. Methods that rely on this strategy are biased towards the alternative hypothesis. Only hierarchical models of the multilevel data lead to correct conclusions. Our results are particularly relevant for the use of hierarchical Bayesian parameter estimates in cognitive modeling.     

Becoming happier takes both a will and a proper way: an experimental longitudinal intervention to boost well-being

An 8-month-long experimental study examined the immediate and longer term effects of regularly practicing two assigned positive activities (expressing optimism and gratitude) on well-being. More important, this intervention allowed us to explore the impact of two metafactors that are likely to influence the success of any positive activity: whether one self-selects into the study knowing that it is about increasing happiness and whether one invests effort into the activity over time. Our results indicate that initial self-selection makes a difference, but only in the two positive activity conditions, not the control, and that continued effort also makes a difference, but, again, only in the treatment conditions. We conclude that happiness interventions are more than just placebos, but that they are most successful when participants know about, endorse, and commit to the intervention.     

The cognitive and hedonic costs of dwelling on achievement-related negative experiences: implications for enduring happiness and unhappiness

Increasing evidence suggests that multiple cognitive and motivational processes underlie individual differences in happiness (Lyubomirsky, 2001, 2008). One behavior that is associated with (un)happiness is self-reflection or dwelling. We hypothesized that unhappy individuals would be inclined to dwell about themselves, and that this behavior would have a variety of adverse consequences. Three studies tested the prediction that, unlike their happier peers, unhappy participants would be sensitive to unfavorable achievement feedback, likely to dwell about its implications and, hence, show impaired attention during important academic tasks. The results of Studies 1 and 2 showed that unhappy participants who had "failed" relative to peers subsequently displayed increased interfering thoughts; spent the most time performing a portion of the graduate record examination; and later demonstrated impaired reading comprehension. Study 3 experimentally induced versus inhibiting dwelling and found that the manipulation only impacted unhappy students. Implications of our results for the consequences of dwelling for work and social functioning, as well as for detracting from enduring happiness, are discussed.     

Does criminal offender treatment work?

In examining the effectiveness of offender treatment, this article attempts to integrate disparate bodies of knowledge. An overview of the effectiveness of offender treatment is presented. To put offender treatment into perspectives, the psychotherapy outcome literature for nonoffenders is briefly reviewed. The complexity of offender treatment is further explored by reviewing correlates and antecedents of criminality that include antisocial personality disorder, antisocial behavior in children, and substance abuse. Implications of the existing body of knowledge on future policy and more active involvement by psychologists are discussed.     

Positive Psychological Functioning and the Biology of Health

Most research considers both psychological and physical health with a disease perspective by focusing on poor psychological functioning or disease outcomes. However, identifying attributes that support adaptive functioning may inform approaches to achieving health beyond what we learn from studying risk factors that accelerate deterioration. Recent evidence suggests that positive psychological functioning contributes to attaining optimal physical health. We evaluate the current state of knowledge on the relationship between positive psychological functioning and physical health, defining health beyond solely the absence of disease. We further consider when positive psychological functioning begins to exert effects on health, whether it has direct effects on biological processes or serves primarily to buffer the effects of stress, and whether it is associated with health outcomes and biological processes beyond those that reflect the absence of deterioration and disease. We propose some key directions for future research including the assessment of positive psychological functioning, positive biological functioning, and optimal health, the value of multi‐system measures, and the potential of “omics” to provide novel insights into biological mechanisms underlying associations between positive psychological functioning and physical health.     

Independence of data-driven and conceptually driven priming: the case of person recognition

A central tenet of current memory theories is the independence of data-driven and conceptually driven priming. Although these types of repetition priming have different functional properties, it has remained unclear whether they are independent and additive or interact with each other. Therefore, we orthogonally combined these priming types in two experiments requiring occupation judgments for celebrities, represented by their faces or names. In both experiments, the sum of the effects of separate data-driven priming and conceptually driven priming equaled the effect of the combination of these priming types. These findings demonstrate for the first time the independence of data-driven and conceptually driven priming and so confirm a central tenet of current memory theories. This independence may thus be an important element for the development of future overarching memory theories.     

Psychotherapy of a man with panic,somatization, and traumatic anxiety: A psychoanalytic case study

This is the case of a 42-year-old Englishman who suffers from acute anxiety attacks and panic episodes. His professional life is severely limited because he cannot tolerate separation from home and family. The relationship between himself and the significant others in his life has deteriorated and he is continually made to feel like the inadequate outsider. The roots of the psychopathology presented in adulthood are frequently found buried in the past. In this case, the traumatic episodes experienced in the first five years of life are being replayed over and over in the present. Whether he is home watching television, driving to work or in a store with other shoppers, he is alone—deserted, abandoned, lost. The first five years of this man's life were spent on an island during World War II. He experienced nightly bombardments. The patient recovers fragments of past episodes: darkness, lonely roads, uniformed men and the overriding feeling of helplessness. As he proceeds through his analysis, the shadowy places become illuminated for brief moments, as he relives the feelings of the past as they seem to be reenacted before him.     

PBCB: A norming of the spanish translation of the Boehm test of Basic Concepts

The Boehm Test of Basic Concepts (BTBC) was designed to measure children's mastery of concepts considered necessary for achievement in the first years of school. The test is group administered, and is appropriate for use with children in the first three grades: kindergarten, first grade, and second grade. The test has been demonstrated to be a valid and reliable measure when administered in English. Prueba Boehm de Conceptos Basicos (PBCB), a Spanish translation of the test, was administered to 1,292 children three times in public and private schools in Puerto Rico during the 1979–1981 school years. Normative information, reported by type of school, by grade, and by time of year tested is presented. The reliability of PBCB was established. The test was shown to have predictive validity as well, correlating with measures of academic achievement one year following the end-of-year administration of the PBCB.     

Hume’s definitions of ‘Cause’: Without idealizations,within the bounds of science

Interpreters have found it exceedingly difficult to understand how Hume could be right in claiming that his two definitions of ‘cause’ are essentially the same. As J. A. Robinson points out, the definitions do not even seem to be extensionally equivalent. Don Garrett offers an influential solution to this interpretative problem, one that attributes to Hume the reliance on an ideal observer. I argue that the theoretical need for an ideal observer stems from an idealized concept of definition, which many interpreters, including Garrett, attribute to Hume. I argue that this idealized concept of definition indeed demands an unlimited or infinite ideal observer. But there is substantial textual evidence indicating that Hume disallows the employment of idealizations in general in the sciences. Thus Hume would reject the idealized concept of definition and its corresponding ideal observer. I then put forward an expert-relative reading of Hume’s definitions of ‘cause’, which also renders both definitions extensionally equivalent. On the expert-relative reading, the meaning of ‘cause’ changes with better observations and experiments, but it also allows Humean definitions to play important roles within our normative practices. Finally, I consider and reject Henry Allison’s argument that idealized definitions and their corresponding infinite minds are necessary for expert reflection on the limitations of current science.     

Dissociating perceptual and representation-based contributions to priming of face recognition

Repetition priming of object identification refers to the phenomenon whereby experience with an object induces systematic changes in subsequent processing of that same object. This data-driven form of priming is distinct from conceptually-driven priming. To date, considerable controversy exists about whether data-driven priming reflects facilitation in perceptual processing or mediation by preexisting object representations. The present study concerned priming of recognizing familiar and unfamiliar faces and how this priming is influenced by face inversion, which interferes with perceptual face processing. Perceptual and representation-based loci conjointly contributed to priming; the perceptual locus was operative similarly for familiar and unfamiliar faces, whereas the representation-based locus was only invoked for familiar faces and resulted in a response-time reduction triple the magnitude of that from the perceptual locus. The results constrain theoretical accounts of data-driven priming by indicating that improved identification can result from the combination of perceptual and representation-based facilitation.