On the relation between spontaneous trait inferences and intentional inferences: An inference monitoring hypothesis

More than twenty five years after the beginning of research on spontaneous trait inferences (Winter & Uleman, 1984) an intriguing paradox in the impression formation literature remains: if traits are spontaneously inferred, why aren't they used to organize behavioral information and thereby facilitate recall under memory instructions (Hamilton, Katz, & Leirer, 1980)? We hypothesized that organization by traits is more evident under impression formation goals because only in that case then are inferences sufficiently monitored to permit their use in organizing impressions. As a consequence, such monitored traits can then be used strategically as retrieval cues. Merging the main features of the Winter and Uleman and the Hamilton et al. experimental paradigms, Experiment 1 simultaneously replicated the main results of both studies. Using a new recognition paradigm, Experiments 2 and 3 further tested this inference monitoring hypothesis by showing that monitoring of trait inferences only occurs under particular processing goals, and is dependent on the availability of cognitive resources.     

Multiple endorsers and multiple endorsements: The influence of message repetition,source congruence and involvement on brand attitudes

This paper investigates the effects of source congruence on brand attitudes in two situations: multiple brand endorsements by one celebrity and multiple celebrity endorsers of one brand. Under low involvement conditions, brand attitudes become more negative as a celebrity endorses multiple brands and more favorable with multiple endorsers. In high involvement conditions, strong source congruence overrides the negative effect of multiple brands, and the positive effect of multiple endorsers is found only with strong congruence. We interpret these results as suggestive of a frequency knowledge cue that dominates under low involvement but is non-diagnostic in high involvement scenarios.     

On Certainty on the Foundations of History as a Discipline

Wittgenstein had little to say directly on philosophy of history. But some pertinent remarks in On Certainty have received little attention, apart from in Elizabeth Anscombe's short article on Hume and Julius Caesar. That article acknowledges its debt to On Certainty, which responses to Anscombe have failed to recognise. Wittgenstein focuses in On Certainty on apparently empirical propositions that seem to be certainties, but in fact form a rule-like framework for judging. I have called these Moorean propositions, and the present article develops the suggestion that history as a discipline rests on them. The result is a qualification of empiricism in philosophy of history.

     

Afro-centric religious consultations as treatment for psychotic disorders among day hospital patients in Santiago de Cuba

We investigated the utilisation of Afro-centric religious treatments for psychotic disorders among a sample of Cuban day hospital patients. Most (55%) had used such treatments and this practice was more common among older persons, although unassociated with any particular religious background or racial heritage. Persons who preferred Afro-centric religious practices to medical ones were more likely to be of African descent or to have received an Afro-centric religious ritual bath as treatment. A case is made for destigmatising Afro-centric religious treatments and for exploring treatment approaches that combine both medical and religious practices in order to achieve more holistic care.     

Examining the Response Competition Hypothesis of Age Effects in Implicit Memory

ABSTRACT

Age reductions in priming have been explained by differences in processing demands across implicit memory tests. According to one hypothesis, older adults show reduced priming relative to younger adults on implicit tests that require production of a response because these tests typically allow for response competition. In contrast, older adults do not show reductions in priming on identification tests that contain little response competition. The following experiments tested the specific role of response competition in mediating age effects in implicit memory. In Experiment 1, younger and older adults studied a list of words and were then given an implicit test of word stem completion. They studied a second list of words and were given an implicit test of general knowledge. Each implicit test contained items with unique solutions (the low response competition condition) and items with multiple solutions (the high response competition condition). In Experiment 2, younger and older adults were given explicit versions of the word stem completion and the general knowledge tests. Results showed an effect of age on explicit memory (Experiment 2), but no effect of age or response competition on priming (Experiment 1). Results are inconsistent with the theory that response competition leads to age effects on production tests of implicit memory.     

Bowlby's ‘yearning and searching’ phase of mourning as seen in adult psychotherapy

SUMMARY

This paper was given at a conference to celebrate Dr. John Bowlby's 80th birthday. The conference was organised by the External Organising Committee of the Association of Child Psychotherapists and was held at the London Zoological Society on 28th February 1987. The theme of the conference was ‘Clinical Applications of Attachment Theory’. In the paper I outline Dr. Bowlby's theory of mourning with particular reference to the processes of the second phase described by him as ‘yearning and searching’. A clinical account of once weekly psychotherapy with an adult patient is given in order to illustrate work on disordered mourning in which the patient had remained imprisoned in a suspended state of searching for her lost parent. Some resolution of this state is described together with the ensuing feelings of anger, sadness and depression as loss is comprehended.