Epistemology and the law: why there is no epistemic mileage in legal cases

Philosophical Studies - The primary aim of this paper is to defend the Lockean View—the view that a belief is epistemically justified iff it is highly probable—against a new family of...     

Exploring the psychometric properties of the CES-D-10 and its practicality in detecting depressive symptomatology in 27 low- and middle-income countries

The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression-10 (CES-D-10) scale is known for its good psychometric properties in measuring depressive symptoms, however, some researchers question its applicability across various settings. This study explored the factor structure of the CES-D-10 in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This cross-sectional survey consisted of 16,723 university students across 27 LMICs that completed self-report instruments assessing socio-demographic information and depressive symptoms using the CES-D-10. Data analysis included: exploratory factor analysis, item response theory and differential item functioning. Results indicate that a two-factor model (depressive affect and positive affect) had the best fit for this population and accounted for 52% of the total observed variance with an internal consistency, α = .77 for the depressive affect items and α = .57 for the positive affect items. The graded response model (GRM), however, indicated that the depressive affect factor had a good fit, unlike the positive affect factor. The depressive affect factor was found to consistently model depression for females better than males. Relative to their Asian counterparts, African, Caribbean and South American participants of similar depressive affect responded differently on all items of the depressive affect factor. The depressive affect factor seems most ideal for LMICs and shows gender and cross-cultural variability.     

Asymmetrical effects of Pavlovian excitatory and inhibitory aversive transfer on Pavlovian appetitive responding and acquisition

Predictions of a theory of Pavlovian motivational transfer, which incorporates principles of both the theory of reciprocal inhibition and the Rescorla-Wagner model, were tested in several Pavlovian aversive to Pavlovian appetitive transfer tasks. As predicted, the presence of a signal for an aversive event, conditioned stimulus (AV CS+), reliably suppressed performance of appetitive conditioned responses (CRs) whether imposed during acquisition or on independently established responding. Acquisition of appetitive responding to a novel CS reinforced in compound with an AV CS+, however, was enhanced (“superconditioning”). This observation suggests that the effects of a discrepancy between expectation and actual outcome on a conditioning trial are influenced by the affective value of both the expectation and the reinforcer. These transfer effects were not symmetrical for an inhibitory aversive stimulus (AV CS?). An AV CS? did not enhance appetitive responding compared to a random control condition, nor did the AV CS? reduce (i.e., block) appetitive conditioning to a novel CS when appetitive reinforcement occurred in the presence of the AV CS?. Comparison of the two shock-exposed conditions with a naive control condition suggests that previous results that were apparently consistent with inhibitory aversive enhancement and blocking of appetitive conditioning may have been due to aversive context conditioning.     

WIEMAN'S MISUNDERSTANDING OF DEWEY: THE CHRISTIAN CENTURY DISCUSSION

Abstract. An important issue in the development of the American school of philosophy known as critical naturalism was whether the naturalistic vision implied a humanistic or a theistic interpretation of religion. Is the divine a creativity within nature but more than human effort, or is it the human vision of ideal possibilities and the effort to realize them? This issue is clarified through a study of the concept of the divine developed by the leading naturalist John Dewey in A Common Faith, the misunderstanding of this book by Henry Nelson Wieman, and the discussion of this misunderstanding in the pages of Christian Century. The essay concludes that Wieman's misunderstanding of Dewey is instructive in that it reveals unintended possibilities in Dewey's thought.     

Experience and desire: A new format for Sensation Seeking Scales

A new form (VI) of the Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS) was developed which separates reports of past experiences from desired or intended future experiences on both Disinhibition (Dis) and Thrill and Adventure Seeking (TAS) factors. Factor analyses were used to select items for the scales. High internal reliabilities were found for the Experience-Dis, Intention-TAS, and Intention-Dis scales, but only moderate reliability was found for the Experience-TAS scale. Retest reliabilities were high for all scales. The Experience-TAS and -Dis scales were highly correlated for males but not for females. The Experience- and Intention-TAS scales were moderately correlated, and the Experience- and Intention-Dis scales were highly correlated for both sexes. Both the TAS and the Dis scales on form V were highly correlated with the corresponding Intention scales on form VI. Uses for the new SS scales in individual assessment are suggested.A copy of SSS form VI may be obtained from the author.     

Individual,family, and societal dimensions of genetic discrimination: A case study analysis

Background. As the development and use of genetic tests have increased, so have concerns regarding the uses of genetic information. Genetic discrimination, the differential treatment of individuals based on real or perceived differences in their genomes, is a recently described form of discrimination. The range and significance of experiences associated with this form of discrimination are not yet well known and are investigated in this study. Methods. Individuals at-risk to develop a genetic condition and parents of children with specific genetic conditions were surveyed by questionnaire for reports of genetic discrimination. A total of 27,790 questionnaires were sent out by mail. Of 917 responses received, 206 were followed up with telephone interviews. The responses were analyzed regarding circumstances of the alleged discrimination, the institutions involved, issues relating to the redress of grievances, and strategies to avoid discrimination. Results. A number of institutions were reported to have engaged in genetic discrimination including health and life insurance companies, health care providers, blood banks, adoption agencies, the military, and schools. The alleged instances of discrimination were against individuals who were asymptomatic and sometimes impacted on other asymptomatic relatives. Few surveyed respondents knew of the existence of institutions such as state insurance commissions or the Medical Information Bureau, Inc., which may play roles in redress of grievances or correction of misinformation. Conclusions. Genetic discrimination is variable in form and cause and can have marked consequences for individuals experiencing discrimination and their relatives. The presence of abnormal genes in all individuals makes each person a potential victim of this type of discrimination. The increasing development and utilization of genetic tests will likely result in increased genetic discrimination in the absence of contravening measures. All authors contributed equally to this work. This work was supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and funding from the Department of Mental Retardation of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.     

Subjective responses to alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages by alcoholic respondents

Changes in the subjective response to alcohol following electrical aversive conditioning have been studied through the use of the semantic differential (Costello, 1974; Costello et al., 1974a, 1974b; Hallam et al., 1972; Miller et al., 1974; Miller et al. 1973). As pointed out by the Costello group and by Kaplan (1972) there are several problems with this technique. The midpoint of the 7-point scale may be psychologically impossible to define if the subject does not perceive the adjectives pairs as mutually antagonistic. It is frequently assumed that the adjective pairs are bipolar, based on the original work of Osgood et al. (1957). Recent evidence (Costello, 1974; Costello et al., 1974a, 1974b) has demonstrated that the scales used by Hallam et al. (1972) were in fact, not bipolar.The stimuli used by Costello and coworkers were an alcoholic and a non-alcoholic slide, following the work of Hallam et al. (1972). Recent studies (Miller et al., 1974; Miller et al., 1973; Wilson, 1973) have utilized rating the taste of real alcohol, as opposed to slides, in order to measure the effectiveness of behavioral therapies in alcoholism. The subject is asked to taste several beverages, some of which have alcohol, and rate the taste of each drink on a set of semantic differential adjective pairs. Miller et al. (1974), found that while the actual amount of pre-therapy alcoholic beverage consumed predicted which subjects did better at 6 months outcome, the semantic differential ratings did not. One reason might have been that the scales were not bipolar and thus the semantic measurement was highly unreliable.The purpose of the present study was to replicate the Costello studies, using real beverages, alcoholic and non-alcoholic as the stimuli.     

Doctoral school psychology program graduates in the United States: The first seventeen years

Graduates of all known doctoral school psychology programs in the United States from the inception of school programs in 1953 through 1970 were identified and sent survey forms to determine their background, professional development and interests, and their concerns about training. Findings were based on a 78% return rate. The conclusion reached is that separate doctoral programs in school psychology appear at present to be an efficacious way to ensure orientation, commitment, and training for the application of psychology to school problems.