Plato's Phaedo theory of relations

Conclusion I am pleased to have been able to vindicate Plato from the oft-rehearsed charge of not having distinguished relations from qualities. Not only does Phaedo 102B7-C4 show quite clearly that he did make the proper distinction, but the theory of relations he adumbrated there is logically sound and ontologically viable. Furthermore, it is refreshing to think of relations not as Forms or universals, but as chains of ontologically tied universals.Naturally, now that we have a clear understanding of Plato's Phaedo theory of relations and relational facts there is plenty of work to do. We must examine the other dialogues for alterations or even preservation of that theory. Moreover, there are those arguments of Aristotle that purport to reduce Plato's Theory of Forms to absurdity on account of relations. But of this I shall say more at some other time.     

The malleable meaning of subjective ease

People can generate the same thoughts or process the same information with different degrees of ease, and this subjective experience has implications for attitudes and social judgment. In prior research, it has generally been assumed that the experience of ease or fluency is interpreted by people as something good. In the two experiments reported here, the meaning or value of ease was directly manipulated, and the implications for evaluative judgments were explored. Across experiments, we replicated the traditional ease-of-retrieval effect (more thought-congruent attitudes when thoughts were easy rather than difficult to generate) when ease was described as positive, but we reversed this effect when ease was described as negative. These findings suggest that it is important to consider both the content of metacognition (e.g., "those thoughts were easy to generate") and the value associated with that content (e.g., "ease is good" or "ease is bad").     

Qualitative differences between implicit and explicit sequence learning

Four experiments investigate the differences between implicit and explicit sequence learning concerning their resilience to structural and superficial task changes. A superficial change that embedded the SRT task in the context of a selection task, while maintaining the sequence, did selectively hinder the expression of implicit learning. In contrast, a manipulation that maintained the task surface, but decreased the sequence validity, affected the expression of learning specifically when it was explicit. These results are discussed in the context of a dynamic framework (Cleeremans & Jiménez, 2002), which assumes that implicit knowledge is specially affected by contextual factors and that, as knowledge becomes explicit, it allows for the development of relevant metaknowledge that modulates the expression of explicit knowledge.     

Patterns and personality disorders in persons with cocaine dependence in treatment

The aim of the present study is to determine patterns and personality disorder in subjects under cocaine dependence treatment using MCMI-II, and their relationship with sociodemographic variables and consumption characteristics. We assess 102 subjects under cocaine dependence treatment in Drug Abuse Centers in Galicia (Spain). The results indicate that the most prevalent basic scales of personality are the passive-aggressive, antisocial, narcisism and histrionic. Borderline and paranoid scales are the most prevalent with regard to the pathological personality scales. These results coincide with other international and national studies. We conclude pointing out the necessity to carry out studies with wider cocaine dependence samples in treatment, and the specific inclusion criteria should be established in the study. We also indicate the importance of carrying out a previous assessment of all demanding treatment subjects to design the objectives of the mentioned treatment.     

Relationship between dispositional optimism/pessimism and stress coping strategies

Recent studies confirm that dispositional pessimism is related with a worse state of physical health, in comparison with dispositional optimism . The efficacy of stress coping strategies has been considered as a mediating mechanism in this relationship. The aim of the present study is to analyze in a sample of university students (n = 200) the association between dispositional optimism/pessimism and different categories of self-reported somatic symptoms , and evaluate the possible mediation of the stress coping strategies in this relationship. The results indicate that: 1) pessimism is positively related with the report of physical symptoms, whereas optimism is negatively associated to somatic complaints; and 2) this relationship can be mainly explained by the differential utilization of the coping strategy denominated self-criticism (characteristic of pessimism).     

Why do people change in therapy? A preliminary study

Why do people change in therapy? A preliminary study. This work represents the beginning of a new way to study the processes that can explain the therapeutic change. The method used is the observation and analysis of therapeutic sessions directly recorded and developed inside a behavioural approach. The category system tries to carry out a functional analysis of the therapist-client interaction which enables the identification of learning processes that work in clinical setting and explain success in therapy. Outcomes are provisional but show the utility of this initial trend of investigation to the comprehension of clinical phenomenon. Conclusions also emphasize the importance of associative learning processes on the therapeutic change.     

Adaptation to Spanish of the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire-Revised Version (VVIQRV)

Adaptation to Spanish of the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire-Revised Version (VVIQRV). The main goal of this paper was to adapt to Spanish language and to examine the psychometric properties of the "Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire-Revised Version" (VVIQRV), an instrument that can be used to assess vividness of visual imagery. The adaptation was carried out starting from the Spanish version of VVIQ and taking into consideration improvement proposals suggested in other studies. The questionnaire was then administered to a sample of 414 Spanish university students and the psychometric characteristics were estimated on the basis of the classic theory and the Rasch rating scale model (RSM). The results were convergent with previous studies and indicated that the Spanish VVIQRV has good internal consistency and can be characterized by a single main factor structure. Also, the RSM analysis showed that the increment in the number of response categories, a proposal to improve the instrument, was not appropriate.     

The functioning of central categories Middle Level and Sometimes in graded response scales: does the label matter?

The present study evaluates the extent to which central categories explicitly labeled as being in the middle of the other response categories, specifically Middle Level and Sometimes, function as expected according to the integer scoring system. The assumptions are tested by means of Bock's Nominal Model in two 5-response scales. Results show that the assumption of the ordering of the response categories is met for all the items. The ordering of thresholds is satisfied for all but one item with the central category Middle Level . Results are compared with those obtained when middle categories are not explicitly labeled as being in the middle of the other response categories, as in the case of Not Sure , Undecided or?     

An efficient method for estimating semantic similarity based on feature overlap: Reliability and validity of semantic feature ratings

Two studies were conducted in which human participants rated pairs of words according to the perceived degree to which the words’ referents shared semantic features. The participants found the task intuitive, simple, and quick to complete. The ratings were reliable and valid. Interrater and interstudy correlations were high, and ratings were good predictors of known feature overlap values obtained from existing semantic feature norms.     

Family Protection and Prevention of Alcohol Use Among Hispanic Youth at High Risk

Research regarding prevention strategies for Hispanic youth stress the importance of family interventions because of the particular importance of family as a protective factor within the Hispanic community. Starting in 1995, the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention conducted the National Cross-Site Evaluation of High Risk Youth Programs, a 5-year drug and alcohol prevention study with a sample of approximately 10,500 youth, including nearly 3,000 Hispanic youth. Youth were surveyed regarding their alcohol use patterns and risk and protective factors, with several measures of family relationships, including family connectedness, family supervision, and parental attitudes toward their child's alcohol use. Analyses indicate that family factors are highly linked to alcohol use among Hispanics, particularly among Hispanic females. Longitudinal growth curve analyses indicate that improving the connections that young Hispanic females have to their parents can have positive long-term effects on delaying or reducing their alcohol use. This evaluation was conducted under the direction of Dr. Soledad Sambrano, Ph.D. of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention under contract #2777-95-5002 with EMT Associates, Inc. and ORC Macro. The views expressed herein represent the opinions and analyses of the individual authors and may not necessarily reflect the opinions, official policy, or position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration, or the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.