Soul Whisperers

Personal recollections are offered in reflection upon the tragedy of 9/11. The outreach efforts of the Blanton-Peale Institute in conjunction with the Health Care Chaplaincy of New York and the Red Cross are recalled by CEO Emeritus, Kathryn Madden. A brief clinical study describes the responses of a young man who was one of only a few persons to make it out of the North Tower from above the 85th floor. Blanton-Peale’s Benefit Honorees Brian Clark, Lauren and Greg Manning are named as survivors of the tragedy. Their courage enables the rest of us to still dream of hope.     

A Commencement Charge to Therapists of Psyche and Soul

This article is from a commencement address delivered to the 2003 graduates of the Blanton-Peale Institute. It emphasizes the world's need for therapists who stand at the crossroad of psychology and religion. The concept of temenos is used to emphasize the need for making the consulting room a safe place away from the distraction of the outside world. The graduates are further charged with attending fully to those who come to them seeking help. Finally, they are challenged to find ways to encourage a poetics of reverie in their own lives and in those for whom they care.     

Perception of motion affects language processing

Recently developed accounts of language comprehension propose that sentences are understood by constructing a perceptual simulation of the events being described. These simulations involve the re-activation of patterns of brain activation that were formed during the comprehender's interaction with the world. In two experiments we explored the specificity of the processing mechanisms required to construct simulations during language comprehension. Participants listened to (and made judgments on) sentences that described motion in a particular direction (e.g. "The car approached you"). They simultaneously viewed dynamic black-and-white stimuli that produced the perception of movement in the same direction as the action specified in the sentence (i.e. towards you) or in the opposite direction as the action specified in the sentence (i.e. away from you). Responses were faster to sentences presented concurrently with a visual stimulus depicting motion in the opposite direction as the action described in the sentence. This suggests that the processing mechanisms recruited to construct simulations during language comprehension are also used during visual perception, and that these mechanisms can be quite specific.     

Labor supply and consumption of food in a closed economy under a range of fixed- and random-ratio schedules: tests of unit price

The behavioral economic concept of unit price predicts that consumption and response output (labor supply) are determined by the unit price at which a good is available regardless of the value of the cost and benefit components of the unit price ratio. Experiment 1 assessed 4 pigeons' consumption and response output at a range of unit prices. In one condition, food was available according to a range of fixed-ratio schedules, whereas in the other condition, food was available according to a range of random-ratio schedules. Consistent with unit price predictions, consumption and response output were approximately equivalent across schedule types within the lower range of unit prices. However, at Unit Prices 64 (ratio value = 192) and greater, considerably more consumption and response output were observed in the random-ratio condition. Experiment 2 replicated these findings with 4 pigeons using the rapid demand curve assay procedure that is commonly used in the behavioral economics literature. Findings are integrated with two mathematical models of behavior under variable reinforcer delays.     

Personality and the genetic risk for alcohol dependence

The extent to which the genetic risk for alcohol dependence (AD) and conduct disorder (CD) and their common genetic risk overlap with genetic factors contributing to variation in dimensions of personality was examined in a study of 6,453 individuals from 3,383 adult male and female same-sex and unlike-sex twin pairs from the Australian Twin Registry. The associations between the personality dimensions of positive emotionality, negative emotionality, and AD and CD risk were modest, whereas the associations between behavioral undercontrol and AD and CD risk were substantially higher. Genetic influences contributing to variation in behavioral undercontrol accounted for about 40% of the genetic variation in AD and CD risk and about 90% of the common genetic risk for AD and CD. These results suggest that genetic factors contributing to variation in dimensions of personality, particularly behavioral undercontrol, account for a substantial proportion of the genetic diathesis for AD and most of the common genetic diathesis for AD and CD among both men and women.     

Psychological Variables as Predictors of Perceived Ethnic Discrimination Among Minority and Immigrant Adolescents1

The occurrence of discrimination in the real world is difficult to determine objectively, as it is defined in part by intentions. The perception of discrimination may therefore be influenced by one's interpretation of the intentions of others. In order to examine psychological characteristics that influence the perception of ethnic discrimination, 164 Armenian, Mexican American, and Vietnamese adolescents completed measures of perceived discrimination (PD), self-esteem, mastery, depression/anxiety, intergroup competence, and ethnic identity, as well as demographic variables. A path analysis showed that higher depression/anxiety scores and lower intergroup competence predicted more PD; depression/anxiety and intergroup competence were in turn predicted by self-esteem and mastery, respectively. Birthplace and socioeconomic status had an indirect effect on PD, via intergroup competence. The results suggest the importance of psychological variables in the perception of discrimination.     

Evidence for a parallel input serial analysis model of word processing

A parallel input serial analysis (PISA) model of word processing was developed and tested. The goal was to expand on the "critical processing duration" hypothesis of Johnson, Allen, and Strand (1989) so that both single-word and multiple-word presentation, letter detection data could be explained. In Experiments 1-3 four different word frequency categories on a single-presentation, letter detection task were used. These three experiments indicated that there was a curvilinear relationship between word frequency and letter detection reaction time (RT). That is, letter detection RTs for medium-high-frequency words were significantly longer than letter detection RTs for very-high-, low-, and very-low-frequency words. These results support the PISA model rather than the Healy, Oliver, and McNamara (1987) version of the unitization model. In Experiments 4-5 multiple-presentation (i.e., two words), letter detection tasks were used. The PISA model could also account for the results from these two experiments, but the unitization model could not.