Post Traumatic Stress,Context, and the Lingering Effects of the Hurricane Katrina Disaster among Ethnic Minority Youth

This study examined the stability of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in a predominantly ethnic minority sample of youth exposed to Hurricane Katrina. Youth (n = 191 grades 4th thru 8th) were screened for exposure to traumatic experiences and PTSD symptoms at 24 months (Time 1) and then again at 30 months (Time 2) post-disaster. PTSD symptoms did not significantly decline over time and were higher than rates reported at earlier time points for more ethnically diverse samples. Younger age, female sex, and continued disrepair to the child’s home predicted stable elevated PTSD symptoms. Findings are consistent with predictions from contextual theories of disaster exposure and with epidemiological data from adult samples suggesting that the incidence of PTSD post Katrina is showing an atypical pattern of remittance. Theoretical, applied, and policy implications are discussed.     

Cognitive mediators in the reduction of pain: the role of expectancy, strategy use, and self-presentation

Eighty subjects underwent three trials of cold-pressor pain. The first cold-pressor trial served as a baseline. Next, subjects in a neutral (no expectancy information) condition were taught a distraction strategy (shadowing letters) before one cold-pressor trial and an imagery strategy before the other. Subjects in other conditions received positive expectancy information about one of the strategies and negative expectancy information about the other. Negative information reduced expectancy ratings and decreased the magnitude of reported pain reductions. Both pretested levels of social desirability and degree of absorption in strategy use made contributions to the prediction of pain reduction that were independent of expectancy ratings. Theoretical implications are discussed.     

Encoding Modal Logics in Logical Frameworks

We present and discuss various formalizations of Modal Logics in Logical Frameworks based on Type Theories. We consider both Hilbert- and Natural Deduction-style proof systems for representing both truth (local) and validity (global) consequence relations for various Modal Logics. We introduce several techniques for encoding the structural peculiarities of necessitation rules, in the typed -calculus metalanguage of the Logical Frameworks. These formalizations yield readily proof-editors for Modal Logics when implemented in Proof Development Environments, such as Coq or LEGO.     

A preliminary investigation of the construct of psychopathic personality (psychopathy) in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Although the construct of psychopathy has received considerable attention in humans, its relevance to other animals is largely unknown. We developed a measure of psychopathy for use in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), the Chimpanzee Psychopathy Measure (CPM), and asked 6 raters to complete this index on 34 chimpanzees. The CPM (a) demonstrated satisfactory interrater reliability and internal consistency; (b) exhibited marginally significant sex differences (males > females); (c) correlated positively with measures of extraversion, agreeableness, and observational ratings of agonism, sexual activity, daring behaviors, teasing, silent bluff displays, and temper tantrums, and negatively with observational ratings of generosity; and (d) demonstrated incremental validity above and beyond a measure of dominance. Although further validation of the CPM is needed, these findings suggest that the psychopathy construct may be relevant to chimpanzees.     

Anchoring effects on early autobiographical memories

Studies of childhood memory typically show that our earliest memories come from between three and four years of age. This finding is not universal, however. The age estimate varies across cultures and is affected by social influences. Research from the judgments and decision-making literature suggests that these estimates might also involve a judgment under uncertainty. Therefore, they might be susceptible to less social influences such as heuristics and biases. To investigate this possibility, we conducted two experiments that used anchoring paradigms to influence participants’ estimates of their age during early autobiographical memories. In Experiment 1, participants answered either a high-anchor or a low-anchor question, and were warned that the anchor was uninformative; they went on to estimate their age during their earliest autobiographical memory. In Experiment 2, we replicated Experiment 1 and extended the design to examine additional early autobiographical memories. In both experiments, participants in the low-anchor condition gave earlier age estimates than those in the high-anchor condition. These results provide new insights into the methods used to investigate autobiographical memory. Moreover, they show that reports of early autobiographical memories can be influenced by a relatively light touch – a change to a single digit in a single question.     

ON ESSENTIALLY CONFLICTING DESIRES

It is sometimes argued that having inconsistent desires is irrational or otherwise bad for an agent. If so, if agents seem to want a and not-a, then either their attitudes are being misdescribed – what they really want is some aspect x of a and some aspect y of not-a – or those desires are somehow 'inconsistent' and thus inappropriate. I argue first that the proper characterization of inconsistency here does not involve logical form, that is, whether the desires involved have the form 'a and not-a', but rather the possibility of fulfilling all one's desires; and secondly, that the 'essential' conflicts involved in such inconsistencies are quite common and no worse for an agent than contingent conflicts. I draw implications concerning moral epistemology, moral realism and the logic of attitudes.     

The role of closure in defining the "objects" of object-based attention

Many recent studies have concluded that the underlying units of visual attention are often discrete objects whose boundaries constrain the allocation of attention. However, relatively few studies have explored the particular stimulus cues that determine what counts as an "object" of attention. We explore this issue in the context of the two-rectangles stimuli previously used by many investigators. We first show, using both spatial-cuing and divided-attention paradigms, that same-object advantages occur even when the ends of the two rectangles are not drawn. This is consistent with previous reports that have emphasized the importance of individual contours in guiding attention, and our study shows that such effects can occur in displays that also contain grouping cues. In our divided-attention experiment, however, this contour-driven same-object advantage was significantly weaker than that obtained with the standard stimulus, with the added cue of closure--demonstrating that contour-based processes are not the whole story. These results confirm and extend the observation that same-object advantages can be observed even without full-fledged objects. At the same time, however, these studies show that boundary closure-one of the most important cues to objecthood per se-can directly influence attention. We conclude that object-based attention is not an all-or-nothing phenomenon; object-based effects can be independently strengthened or weakened by multiple cues to objecthood.     

Psicología del «efecto placebo» y fundamentos para su uso clínico intencionado

Resumen

Este es un trabajo de discusión teórica que indaga sobre la psicología del «efecto placebo» (EP) y las posibilidades de su recuperación clínica. Tiene cuatro partes.

En la primera, se exponen los resultados básicos, conforme a las pautas estándar e inversa en la ocurrencia del EP. En la segunda se revisan críticamente las explicaciones en términos de sugestión y de expectativas-atribución. En la tercera, se desarrolla una teoría interconductual, con particular referencia al condicionamiento, a la farmacología conductual y a los sistemas endorfino e inmunitario.

Finalmente, en la parte cuarta se indican diversas posibilidades teóricas y empíricas para el uso clínico intencionado del EP, tanto en medicina como en psicología clínica.     

How the motor system handles nouns: a behavioral study

It is an open question whether the motor system is involved during understanding of concrete nouns, as it is for concrete verbs. To clarify this issue, we carried out a behavioral experiment using a go-no go paradigm with an early and delayed go-signal delivery. Italian nouns referring to concrete objects (hand-related or foot-related) and abstract entities served as stimuli. Right-handed participants read the stimuli and responded when the presented word was concrete using the left or right hand. At the early go-signal, slower right-hand responses were found for hand-related nouns compared to foot-related nouns. The opposite pattern was found for the left hand. These findings demonstrate an early lateralized modulation of the motor system during noun processing, most likely crucial for noun comprehension.