The relationship of spiritual maturity to level of object relations development and God image

Several theoretical studies have suggested that spiritual maturity parallels psychological maturity from an object relations perspective in that both involve a relationality that is characterized by mature dependence (Shackelford, 1978; Pingleton, 1984). In addition, previous research has suggested that there is a positive relationship between level of object relations development and God image (Rizzuto, 1979; McDargh, 1983, 1986; Birky & Ball, 1988; Brokaw, 1991). In light of this, the present study theoretically and empirically explored the notion that both level of object relations development and God image are positively correlated with spiritual maturity. The results suggest initial support for the present hypotheses. Theoretical as well as clinical implications of the results are discussed.This paper was presented at the 1994 American Psychological Association Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA.     

Decision strategies and visual-field asymmetries in same-different judgments of word meaning

The accuracy with which observers judged whether two words belonged to the same semantic category was determined from a detection-theoretic analysis ofsame-different judgments. In Experiment 1, one word was presented centrally and the other word in either the left visual field (LVF) or the right visual field (RVF); in Experiment 2, both words were presented to either the LVF or the RVF. In order to obtain receiver-operating characteristics (ROCs) of performance, observers were asked to rate their confidence that the two words belonged to the same semantic category. Two models of the decision strategy were fitted to the obtained characteristics: a differencing model, in which the decision variable was the difference between the two observations; and an optimal model, in which each observation was judged in relation to a criterion. In both experiments, the optimal model provided a better fit than the differencing model to the obtained characteristics. Maximum-likelihood estimates of both the criterion-free parameter,d′, and the area under the operating characteristic,p(A), were greater for words presented in the RVF than for those presented in the LVF.     

Measurement and the interpretation of quantum mechanics and relativity theory

The axiomatic approaches of quantum mechanics and relativity theory are compared with approaches in which the theories are thought to describe readings of certain measurement operations. The usual axioms are shown to correspond with classes of ideal measurements. The necessity is discussed of generalizing the formalisms of both quantum mechanics and relativity theory so as to encompass more realistic nonideal measurements. It is argued that this generalization favours an empiricist interpretation of the mathematical formalisms over a realist one.     

Accepting the null hypothesis

This article concerns acceptance of the null hypothesis that one variable has no effect on another. Despite frequent opinions to the contrary, this null hypothesis can be correct in some situations. Appropriate criteria for accepting the null hypothesis are (1) that the null hypothesis is possible; (2) that the results are consistent with the null hypothesis; and (3) that the experiment was a good effort to find an effect. These criteria are consistent with the meta-rules for psychology. The good-effort criterion is subjective, which is somewhat undesirable, but the alternative—never accepting the null hypothesis—is neither desirable nor practical.     

Biased attention in childhood Anxiety disorders: A preliminary study

This study provides preliminary tests of two hypotheses: (1) Anxiety-disordered children show an attentional bias toward emotionally threatening stimuli, and (2) normal controls show an attentional bias away from emotionally threatening stimuli. Twelve children, 9 to 14 years of age, with primary diagnoses of anxiety disorder were compared with 12 normal controls matched for age, gender, vocabulary level, and reading ability. Subjects completed a reaction time task that measured visual attention toward threatening versus neutral words. The anxious group showed the predicted attentional bias toward threat words. However, controls did not show the predicted bias away from threat words. These results are the first showing that biased attentional processing occurs among clinically anxious children. The potential role of such an attentional bias in childhood anxiety disorders and future direction for research are discussed.This research was supported by a Seed Grant and a Small Grant to the first author from The Ohio State University. Portions of this paper were presented at the 27th Annual Convention of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy, Atlanta, November 1993. Thanks are extended to the participants and all those who helped with the project.     

Using the HOME inventory with infants in Costa Rica

It has been established through several decades of research that children's home environments significantly influence their development. Many researchers have also been interested in expanding research beyond indirect measures of the home environment, such as socioeconomic status, to help understand the nature of specific environmental mechanisms which influence early behavior and cognitive development. The Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) Inventory was developed to meet these needs. Specifically, HOME measures the quality of stimulation in a child's early family environment. Almost all studies of the approach's reliability and validity have been conducted with US samples. HOME is, however, being used in other countries. The authors report their findings from a study of whether the psychometric properties of HOME based upon US samples parallel those found in Costa Rica, and whether HOME discriminates between Costa Rican environments with different associations to child health and development. Focus centers upon the infant/toddler version of the HOME Inventory. HOME data for 183 healthy Costa Rican infants were compared to the original HOME standardization sample from Little Rock, Arkansas. The study found the HOME Inventory to be helpful in identifying children at risk for delayed development in this Latin American sample. Lower HOME scores related to a shorter duration of breastfeeding and differentiated children with iron deficiency anemia in infancy, a condition associated with long-lasting developmental disadvantage.