God’s Melancholia

Donald Capps’s (Capps 1997, 2001, 2002a, b) male melancholia theory has been of interest to me during the past few years (Carlin 2003, 2006, 2007), and Capps (2004, 2007a, b) himself has been publishing more on the topic. In his psychobiographical book on Jesus, Capps (2000) notes that psychologists of religion have been reluctant to psychoanalyze Jesus, and here I note that even fewer have been willing to diagnose God, one recent exception being J. Harold Ellens (2007). In this article, I explore the melancholia issue further, this time applying the theory to God by means of theological concepts that deal with the Trinity and the passion of God. And while this article is playful (Pruyser 1974; cf. Dykstra 2001), the upshot is more serious: If men are incurably religious and melancholic, as Capps argues, and if men, by and large, are the creators of religion, wouldn’t one expect to find traces of this melancholy in religion, particularly in its sacred texts and doctrines? By identifying these tendencies in religion, especially in God, the pastoral psychologist, I believe, is helping contemporary Christian men—especially fathers and sons—recognize their own melancholy selves and, perhaps, helping them get along a little better.     

The Disgust Scale: item analysis, factor structure, and suggestions for refinement

In the 4 studies presented (N = 1,939), a converging set of analyses was conducted to evaluate the item adequacy, factor structure, reliability, and validity of the Disgust Scale (DS; J. Haidt, C. McCauley, & P. Rozin, 1994). The results suggest that 7 items (i.e., Items 2, 7, 8, 21, 23, 24, and 25) should be considered for removal from the DS. Secondary to removing the items, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the DS taps 3 dimensions of disgust: Core Disgust, Animal Reminder Disgust, and Contamination-Based Disgust. Women scored higher than men on the 3 disgust dimensions. Structural modeling provided support for the specificity of the 3-factor model, as Core Disgust and Contamination-Based Disgust were significantly predictive of obsessive- compulsive disorder (OCD) concerns, whereas Animal Reminder Disgust was not. Results from a clinical sample indicated that patients with OCD washing concerns scored significantly higher than patients with OCD without washing concerns on both Core Disgust and Contamination-Based Disgust, but not on Animal Reminder Disgust. These findings are discussed in the context of the refinement of the DS to promote a more psychometrically sound assessment of disgust sensitivity.     

Ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic differences in young adults' self-disclosure: who discloses what and to whom?

Self-disclosure of feelings, thoughts, experiences, and beliefs is central to our lives as social beings and has numerous implications for relationships and health. Although prior research suggests that men and underrepresented groups disclose less, ethnicity is conflated with socioeconomic status and there are few data regarding the types of information that different groups disclose and whether this information is disclosed equally to different people. The current study measured self-disclosure in 203 young adults (50% African American, 50% female), in respect of seven domains and 10 interpersonal targets. As expected, disclosure was not lower among African Americans once income was controlled, although both ethnicity and gender interacted with domain of disclosure and interpersonal target. Importantly, young men and African Americans reported disclosing less in the context of more intimate relationships. Together, these results suggest that income may be as important in predicting low disclosure as ethnicity or gender and that lower disclosure in low-disclosing groups is particularly evident in intimate relationships. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for patterns of interpersonal relating and physical and mental health processes.     

Variations of the flanker paradigm: Assessing selective attention in young children

The development of selective attention and associated self-regulatory processes was assessed in young children, ages 4, 5, and 6, through the use of three alternative versions of the flanker paradigm utilizing colors, shapes, and fish. These variations were used to examine the influence of task differences on children’s performance. The presence of cognitive self-regulatory strategies in young children was also assessed. Significant flanker interference effects, marked by significant task-linked response time differences, were found across all three versions of the paradigm. Although a significant portion of children demonstrated self-regulatory abilities, not every participant demonstrated the specific strategies of self-monitoring and response control. Furthermore, these differences were evident across all age groups. The implications of these results are discussed within the theoretical context of task development, taking into consideration the need to modify computerized attention paradigms for use with young children in order to reliably measure cognitive constructs across children and adults.     

On universals: an extensionalist alternative to Quine’s resemblance theory

The notion of similarity plays a central role in Quine’s theory of Universals and it is with the help of this notion that Quine intends to define the concept of kind which also plays a central role in the theory. But as Quine has admitted, his attempts to define kinds in terms of similarities were unsuccessful and it is mainly because of this shortcoming that Quine’s theory has been ignored by several philosophers (see, e.g., Armstrong, D. M. (1978a). Nominalism and realism: Universals and Scientific realism (Vol. I). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). In the present paper, I propose an alternative framework that accounts for the phenomena that Quine intends to explain with his resemblance theory. The framework agrees with Quine’s austere ontology; in particular, it does not assume the existence of properties and of possible worlds. (I will mention below Quine’s reason for rejecting properties and possible worlds. For a theory of Universals that assumes possible worlds, see, e.g., Rodriguez-Pereyra, G. (2002). Resemblance nominalism: A solution to the problem of Universals. Oxford: Clarendon Press.) Moreover, the framework is extensionalist since the abstract entities it assumes are classes and these can be individuated extensionally, for classes are identical if their members are identical. Finally, I will refute some of the objections to Quine’s approach that have been raised by Armstrong and Oliver [(1996). The metaphysics of properties. Mind, 105, 1–80.] and I will argue that, contrary to what has been claimed by Oliver in a comment on Lewis [(1986). On the plurality of worlds. Oxford: Blackwell.], Quine is able to specify an important set of sparse properties. Editor’s Note: Nathan Stemmer died on 6 April 2007. Due to this, the proofreading was only done by the editors. All colleagues being acquainted with Nathan Stemmers work are deeply concerned about the loss.     

Inhibiting your native language: the role of retrieval-induced forgetting during second-language acquisition

After immersion in a foreign language, speakers often have difficulty retrieving native-language words--a phenomenon known as first-language attrition. We propose that first-language attrition arises in part from the suppression of native-language phonology during second-language use, and thus is a case of phonological retrieval-induced forgetting. In two experiments, we investigated this hypothesis by having native English speakers name visual objects in a language they were learning (Spanish). Repeatedly naming the objects in Spanish reduced the accessibility of the corresponding English words, as measured by an independent-probe test of inhibition. The results establish that the phonology of the words was inhibited, as access to the concepts underlying the presented objects was facilitated, not impaired. More asymmetry between English and Spanish fluency was associated with more inhibition for native-language words. This result supports the idea that inhibition plays a functional role in overcoming interference during the early stages of second-language acquisition.     

Toward a New Method of Detecting Deliberately Faked Personality Tests: The use of idiosyncratic item responses

This study presents a new method for developing faking detection scales based on idiosyncratic item‐response patterns. Two scoring schemes based on this approach strongly differentiated between scores obtained under honest vs directed faking conditions in cross‐validation samples (r_pb=.45 and .67). This approach is shown to successfully classify between 20% and 37% of faked personality measures with only a 1% false positive rate in a sample comprised of 56% honest responses. Of equal importance, this method does not result in a scale that meaningfully correlates with personality or cognitive ability tests. This study raises many questions about both the source and generalizabiltiy of the effect. Key directions for future research and improved scale development that may limit or enhance the utility of the idiosyncratic item‐response method are discussed.     

How are base‐rates used,when they are used: a comparison of additive and Bayesian models of base‐rate use

Previous research has uncovered many conditions that encourage base‐rate use. The present research investigates how base‐rates are used when conditions are manipulated to encourage their use in the lawyer/engineer paradigm. To examine the functional form of the response to base‐rate, a factorial design was employed in which both base‐rate and the individuating information were varied within‐subject. We compared the performance of several models of base‐rate use, including a model that allows base‐rate and individuating information to be combined in a strictly additive fashion, and a model which presumes that respondents use Bayes' Rule in forming their judgments. Results from 1493 respondents showed that the additive model is a stronger predictor of base‐rate use than any other model considered, suggesting that the base‐rate and individuating information are processed independently in the lawyer/engineer paradigm. A possible mechanism for this finding is discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mothers' perceptions of infant affect in a croatian sample: The IFEEL pictures assessment

Recent work demonstrates systematic variability in mothers' perceptions of infant affects in adolescent, depressed, abusive, and preterm mothers (Emde, Osofsky,&Butterfield, 1993). This Croatian study, completed before the war in the former Yugoslavia, reports cultural differences and similarities in mothers' interpretation of infant affect in 103 mothers of healthy, full-term Croatian infants when compared to an American sample. The IFEEL Pictures (IFP) were administered to assess mothers' perception and interpretation of infants' facial expressions. Comparisons of the IFP scores for Croatian and American mothers revealed significant differences in 3 of 12 affect categories, controlling for education. Croatian mothers with different educational backgrounds showed significant differences in their perceptions of infants' affects. Differences between American mothers and Croatian educated mothers were less marked than those between Croatian high-educated and low-educated mothers. Our work suggests that there are cultural differences and similarities in affect interpretation between Croatian and American mothers. If this finding holds, it suggests that studies are needed of the effects if any, on mother-child interaction and child-rearing patterns, and possible differences in cross-cultural affect development.