Dark Desires

An influential view of sexual morality claims that participant consent is sufficient for the moral permissibility of a sexual act. I argue that the complex and frequently dark nature of sexual desire precludes this, because some sexual desire has a character such that it should not be gratified, even if this were consented to. I illustrate this with a discussion of a famous literary character, the Vicomte de Valmont, and draw on Kant's anthropology to illuminate the nature of such desire, before offering an account of its psychological roots. In the course of the paper I explain why the view of sexual desire endorsed by my main opponents is mistaken, and attack the limited conception of the normative which is a central plank in the argument of a prominent recent defender of the view, Igor Primoratz.     

Interdisciplinary research and interprofessional collaborative care in a memory clinic for rural and northern residents of western Canada: Unique training ground for clinical psychology graduate students

Abstract: In Canada, interprofessional education (IPE) and interdisciplinary health research initiatives are beginning to transform the academic health sciences, including graduate training programs for clinical psychologists. In response to mandates and directives from national health policy and research funding bodies, academic training programs are re‐structuring course offerings, practicum training experiences, and research activities to better prepare students for their future roles within interdisciplinary research groups and collaborative patient‐centred clinical teams. As an example of this transformative movement in IPE, described herein are the recent training initiatives in the Graduate Program in Clinical Psychology at the University of Saskatchewan, and the role of clinical neuropsychology in an innovative interprofessional rural and remote memory clinic.     

Channeling identity: A study of storytelling in conversations between introverted and extraverted friends

This narrative study examined the process of personal storytelling between college-age friends who were similarly introverted or extraverted. Participants were 19 introverted and 20 extraverted same-sex pairs (49% female) who had been friends for an average of 18 months. Stories emerged spontaneously during 10-min catch-up conversations. Extraverted friends more often told stories that changed the topic, and more often co-constructed story plots. Introverted friends more often told stories that were embedded in a developing theme, and constructed story plots solo. With regard to content, extraverted friends told stories about romance more so than introverted friends, whose stories more often concerned family/hometown, and older events. The findings suggest that the traits of extraversion and introversion channel the identity-making process.     

Type A behavior and reminiscence in college undergraduates

This study represents the first empirical test of Friedman and Ulmer's (1984. Treating Type A behavior and your heart. New York: Fawcett) clinical observation that deficits in the capacity to reminisce about pleasant past events are among the most pervasive and dysfunctional correlates of Type A behavior. Type A (N = 79) and B (N = 109) college undergraduates completed a questionnaire assessing the frequency, content, style, and consequences of their reminiscence about positive past experiences. Findings supported two hypotheses: relative to Type Bs, Type As were less likely to report that they consciously look back on positive events after these events are over in order to store details for later recall, and were more likely to report that they typically reminisce about past achievements. Contradicting Friedman and Ulmer's observations, however, there were no significant A/B differences in the reported frequency, style, or consequences of recalling positive memories. The findings are discussed in terms of components of Type A behavior, such as competitive achievement-striving and self-esteem enhancement, that may make Type As (a) less likely to store, but not to recall, positive memories and (b) particularly likely to reminisce about personal accomplishments. Plausible reasons for the relative lack of support for Friedman and Ulmer's hypotheses are discussed in the context of directions for future research.     

Predicting Response to an Internet-Delivered Parenting Program for Anxiety in Early Childhood

Previous research has identified factors related to outcome in child anxiety treatment and parent training programs for child behavior problems. However, it is unclear what factors predict outcomes in interventions delivered online to parents of young children at risk of anxiety. This study investigated predictors of child anxiety outcomes among 433 families with young children (3–6 years) who participated in a randomized controlled trial of Cool Little Kids Online, an eight-module early intervention program for child anxiety based on cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Potential predictors included baseline demographic factors, child and parent mental health factors, and indicators of program use, including number of online modules completed and frequency of homework practice. Results showed that only access to a printer moderated intervention effectiveness. Printer access predicted lower child anxiety in the Cool Little Kids Online group, but had no effect on outcomes in the wait-list group. In both groups, higher levels of child anxiety symptoms, child-inhibited temperament, and poorer parent mental health at baseline predicted higher levels of child anxiety symptoms at 6-month follow-up. The amount of online program use was not related to improvements in child anxiety symptoms. However, parents who reported practicing the program skills more frequently showed greater reductions in child anxiety, and access to a printer was related to frequency of program skills practice. These findings provide empirical support for the important role of skills practice in online CBT interventions, and suggest that practicing program skills may be more important than completing the online modules.     

Approximating Cartesian Closed Categories in NF-Style Set Theories

I criticize, but uphold the conclusion of, an argument by McLarty to the effect that New Foundations style set theories don’t form a suitable foundation for category theory. McLarty’s argument is from the fact that Set and Cat are not Cartesian closed in NF-style set theories. I point out that these categories do still have a property approximating Cartesian closure, making McLarty’s argument not conclusive. After considering and attempting to address other problems with developing category theory in NF-style set theories, I conclude that NF-style set theories are not a good foundation for category theory, because of numerous limitations introduced by their stratification restrictions.     

Cerebral lateralization of visual stimulus recognition in stutterers and fluent speakers

Cerebral lateralization of stutterers and nonstutterers was assessed in terms of choice reaction times to stimuli presented to either the left or right visual hemifield on letter recognition and figure recognition tasks. Reaction times on both tasks were determined before and after a behavioral speech therapy program. Stutterers demonstrated a significant reduction in mean reaction times in the letter recognition task over the course of the therapy program. This change differed significantly from that obtained from stutterers in the figure recognition task. The stutterers' responses were in contrast to the responses of the nonstutterers, who showed no reduction in mean reaction times for the letter or figure recognition tasks. The results were discussed in terms of alterations in aspects of central nervous system processing as a result of participation in the behavioral speech therapy.