Ventral encoding of functional affordances: A neural pathway for identifying errors in action

Functional tool usage is a critical aspect of our daily lives. Not only must we know which tools to use for a specific action goal, we must also know how to manipulate those tools in meaningful way to achieve the goal of the action. The purpose of this study was to identify the regions of the brain critical to supporting the process of understanding errors in tool manipulation. Using fMRI, neural activations were recorded while subjects were presented with images demonstrating typical action scenes (screwdriver used on a screw), but with the tool being manipulated either correctly (screwdriver held by handle) or incorrectly (screwdriver held by bit rather than handle). Activations in fMRI for identifying correct over incorrect tool manipulation were seen along the canonical parietofrontal action network, while activations for identifying incorrect over correct tool manipulation were primarily seen at superior temporal areas and insula. We expand our hypotheses about ventral brain networks identifying contextual error to further suggest mechanisms for understanding functional tool actions, which collectively we regard as functional affordances. This proposes a fundamental role for ventral brain areas in functional action understanding.     

Reducing the own-race bias in face recognition by attentional shift using fixation crosses preceding the lower half of a face

Hills and Lewis (2006) reduced White participants’ own-race bias (ORB) in face recognition by training them to attend to features critical for Black faces (lower portion of the face). Here, the ORB was investigated following a brief fixation cross either in the upper portion of the face (critical for White faces) or the lower portion of the face. Results showed that when the cross preceded the lower portion of the face, Black faces were recognized more accurately than White faces and vice versa when it preceded the upper portion of the face. A second experiment demonstrated that this effect disappears if the participants are forced to delay their responses by 4 s. These results suggest that an immediate attentional mechanism can attenuate the ORB when immediate attention is paid to diagnostic features but this can be overridden with increased time spent viewing faces.     

Appraisal of applicants for ministry careers

A proposed evaluation protocol addresses the need for standards of practice in assessing candidates for ministry careers. The protocol is tailored to parish clergy psychological risk and resiliency factors articulated by personnel officers and identified in scholarly literature. It employs readily available psychological tests with demonstrated psychometric qualities. It utilises interview questions to confirm or disconfirm test-generated hypotheses and to probe for evidence of coping with challenging circumstances. The protocol generates data for appraising risk and promoting long-term resilience. Application of the protocol to 120 applicants for clergy careers in the Episcopal Diocese of the Southwest (EDSW) demonstrates that applicants respond to psychological tests in a manner different from general job applicants. Data analysis generates norms for indentifying unusual applicants who may be at risk for troubled careers. Discussion centres on identifying early markers of risk and resiliency in ministry careers.     

The religiosity-psychoticism relationship and the two factors of social desirability: A response to Michael W. Eysenck (1999)

This paper is based upon an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) which investigated the experiences of twelve people who had been sexually abused by Roman Catholic priests or religious. The premise of the research was based upon a perceived assumption that distinct forms of sexual traumatology generate unique trauma characteristics not accounted for within the existing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) conceptual frameworks (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems ((DSM-IVTR 2000;) ICD-10 R, 2007). Recent developments in psychodiagnostics to support the relevance of religious concerns where incorporated into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV edition (1994) which allowed a range of “religious” and “spiritual” problems to be explicitly identified as a focus for specific clinical attention. However, these appear quite vague in accounting for the range of trauma experiences experienced by this participant group. Evidence arose which indicated the majority of the research participants considered “God” to have been integral within the abuse, manipulated by design or default by the cleric or religious perpetrator. These idiosyncratic trauma characteristic created significant anxiety and distress in areas such as theological belief, crisis of faith, and fears surrounding the participant's own mortality. The IPA research identified six distinct, themed differences of which four will be discussed in more detail for the purpose of this paper. It will consider the attributes of these themes in relation to Roman Catholicism, celibacy and Canon law, and further question the sufficiency of the DSM-IV “V” Codes in accounting for the myriad of symptoms survivors of sexual abuse perpetrated by Roman Catholic Priests and Religious actually describe.     

Relations Among and Between Career Values and Christian Religious Values

Empirical research and vocational theory indicate that values are important in career counseling and vocational choice. Development of these values is influenced by environmental factors, such as religion. However, there are few empirical investigations of the relation between religious values and career values. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of career values to Christian religious values as they might be assessed in career counseling. Results indicate that there was some overlap between religious and career values, although only for specific extrinsic values.     

Lorenz Curves: A New Model for the Distribution of Psychiatric Services

The growth of child and adolescent psychiatric services based on the wraparound philosophy raises new questions for medical directors, investigators, and clinicians interested in improving quality of care and outcomes. Typically, quality improvement studies have focused on standardizing care and decreasing variation while community based services following a wraparound model are by definition individualized. To date, little information on how to evaluate such services in a managed care environment has been available. We present one option for evaluating the distribution of medical services and the extent to which providers individualize services for children with severe emotional disorders. Specifically, we (a) review the philosophy and goals of wraparound services, (b) introduce the Lorenz curve as a tool for determining the degree of inequality in service distribution at a given institution, and (c) present a case study on the use of Lorenz curves by a Medicaid Behavioral Health Organization in profiling behavioral providers.     

The value of stress-management interventions in life-threatening medical conditions

Emotional stress has been associated with the development and progression of several chronic medical conditions. Recently, researchers have assessed the impact of stress-management interventions on patients' psychological functioning, quality of life, and various disease outcomes, including survival. This review summarizes the value of stress-management techniques in the treatment of two important, life-threatening conditions: coronary heart disease and cancer. Results from randomized clinical trials indicate that psychological interventions can improve patients' psychological functioning and quality of life. However, there is limited evidence to suggest that these interventions significantly reduce morbidity and mortality.