McTaggart's paradox and Smith's tensed theory of time

Since McTaggart first proposed his paradox asserting the unreality of time, numerous philosophers have attempted to defend the tensed theory of time against it. Certainly, one of the most highly developed and original is that put forth by Quentin Smith. Through discussing McTaggart's positive conception of time as well as his negative attack on its reality, I hope to clarify the dispute between those who believe in the existence of the transitory temporal properties of pastness, presentness and futurity, and those who deny their existence. We shall see that the debate centers around the ontological status of succession and the B-relations of earlier and later. I shall argue that Smith's tensed theory fails because he cannot account for the sense in which events have their tensed properties successively, and he cannot account for the direction of time.     

Alcohol, sexual arousal, and self-control

The effects of alcohol on self-regulation were investigated using delay of gratification for viewing time for an erotic film as the primary dependent measure. Other measures included reflection--impulsivity, locus of control, sexual-guilt scores, and continuous recording of subject's penile tumescence. Using a balanced placebo design, subjects were led to believe that they had consumed an alcoholic or a nonalcoholic beverage, and half of each of these two groups received either alcohol or tonic water. In addition, the effects of three doses of alcohol (placebo, low dose, high dose) were investigated. Instructional set, regardless of drink content, resulted in longer delay times and increased thoughts with sexual content. Although there was no significant relation between increasing dose of alcohol and delay time, there was an interaction between locus-of-control scores and alcohol dose. Externalizers showed an inverse linear relation between increasing dose of alcohol and delay time. Internalizers showed the opposite trend. Implications for the self-regulation of sexual behavior under the influence of alcohol are discussed.     

The teaching and learning of psychoanalytic developmental psychology

I have described three areas in psychoanalytic education where I believe greater attention to existing methods is necessary so as to facilitate the learning of certain principles of development. Explanations might be enhanced by including constructivist with reductionist elements; metapsychology might be clarified in a way that would make the "developmental" more available to analytic scaffolding; and finally, the technical precepts that help focus on the emergence of regressive trends should be broadened to permit enhanced awareness of the progressive trends as well.     

Association of fake-good MMPI-2 profiles with low Beck Depression Inventory scores

Seventy-nine adolescent mothers (mean age = 18.1 years) were administered the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and three validity scales (L, F, and K) of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory 2 (MMPI-2). The aim was to determine whether low-BDI mothers were "faking good," or denying their depression. The adolescent mothers were assigned to a low-BDI group (scores = 0, 1, 2), a nondepressed group (scores = 3-9), or a depressed group (scores > or = 13). The depressed group had higher F (Symptom) scale scores than did the nondepressed group, which in turn had higher scores than did the low-BDI group. The low-BDI group, in contrast, had more fake-good profiles than did the two other groups. Discriminant analyses indicated that 90% of the fake-good profiles could be classified correctly based on BDI and K (Defensiveness) scale scores. These data suggest the need for further assessment when individuals have extremely low BDI scores.     

Political distinctiveness: An identity optimising approach

According to Optimal Distinctiveness Theory and Self-Categorization Theory possible self-definition as a member of contextually moderately distinctive social categories should be more central to identity than association with very general or with highly unique social categories. Data from a large scale cohort survey of 4156 18–21-year-olds were analysed to test this hypothesis. Respondents self-reported political affiliations were classified according to the social popularity (size and support) accorded each party The data are consistent with the hypothesis that minority political parties should provide more central and important bases of social identity Supporters of minority parties showed greatest commitment, perceived their parties to be more representative of themselves, and were less likely to simply conform to parental political views. Minority supporters were also significantly more likely to discuss politics with their friends. Additional data from Scotland confirmed that identification with Scotland was more strongly associated with support for the Scottish Nationalist Party than with support for other minority or majority parties. These data provide convergent evidence that minority parties may attract members through their capacity to provide a meaningful social identity.     

A comparison of “traditional” and “atypical” workers: Demographic,behavioral, and attitudinal differences

Differences among full-time (n=1066), part-time (n=132), and moonlighting employees (n=153) in a variety of occupations were examined. Moonlighters as compared to full-timers were younger, more frequently male, perceived less educational fit with their main jobs, and were primary wage earners. Full-timers as compared to part-timers were more frequently male, married, and primary wage earners. Part-timers had the greatest turnover, but no differences were detected for other withdrawal behaviors. Part-timers were more satisified with working conditions but were less satisfied with extrinsic rewards and life in general. Moonlighters expressed a stronger work ethic and placed less importance on working conditions.A version of this paper was presented at the 1991 Meetings of the Southwest Division of the Academy of Management in Houston, TX.     

Differential use of distance and location information for spatial localization

Five experiments are reported in which subjects judged the movement or spatial location of a visible object that underwent a combination of real and induced (illusory) motion. When subjects attempted to reproduce the distance that the object moved by moving their unseen hands, they were more affected by the illusion than when they pointed to the object's perceived final location. Furthermore, pointing to the final location was more affected by the illusion when the hand movement began from the same position as that at which the object initially appeared, as compared with responses that began from other positions. The results suggest that people may separately encode two distinct types of spatial information: (1) information about the distance moved by an object and (2) information about the absolute spatial location of the object. Information about distance is more susceptible to the influence of an induced motion illusion, and people appear to rely differentially on the different types of spatial information, depending on features of the pointing response. The results have important implications for the mechanisms that underlie spatially oriented behavior in general.