Early Examples of Resource-Consciousness

As with the development of several logical notions, it is shown that the concept of resource-consciousness, i. e. the concern over the number of times that a given sentence is used in the proof of another sentence, has its origin in the foundations of geometry, pre-dating its appearence in logical circles as BCK-logic or affine logic.     

The factor structure of the Eysenck Personality Profiler in Russia

One hundred and seventy seven males and 399 females completed a translated short version of the Eysenck Personality Profiler (EPP-S). Two hundred and ninety four Ss also completed the EPQ. By means of item analysis, further shortening of the EPP was achieved, while retaining adequate psychometric characteristics and convergent validity with EPQ scales. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed the Eysenck hierarchical model of personality with three basic dimensions and showed stability of the EPP factor structure across genders and sub-samples of different origin. However, CFA showed that only E and P were independent, while N was correlated with E and P.     

Standardisierte Dokumentation als Methode der Qualit?tssicherung

Quality assurance is one of the recurrent topics in forensic psychiatry and the first methods used were systematic documentation and the development of structured assessment and documentation instruments. In German speaking countries the forensic psychiatric documentation system (FPDS) was derived essentially from the AMDP (working group for methods and documentation in psychiatry) system used in clinical psychiatry and consisted of a modular instrument with a basic module and additional ones for the assessment of violent offenders or of sex offenders for risk assessment etc. The development of comparable instruments became especially popular for risk assessment in different settings and for different offender populations. Even more important was that it initiated a platform for scientific exchange, producing a reliable data base, structured training in forensic psychiatry and evaluation of expert reports. Systematic documentation using instruments was often criticized for reducing information and overlooking the complexity of the problems encountered in forensic psychiatry. The critics, however, often do not seem to be aware of the real quality of forensic assessments and reports, of the variety or of the minimal information they often contain. Systematic documentation serves to find a common language among the experts and the courts to improve the assessment of reliability and validity of the information provided, to establish minimal requirements for the formulation of reports and to prove professionally correct handling of cases in litigation against an expert.     

Dimensionale versus kategoriale Klassifikation von Pers?nlichkeitsst?rungen

The classification systems DSM-IV and ICD-10 are characterized by a categorical conception of personality disorders. This perspective has long been criticized for a number of reasons and a dimensional perspective plays a major role in the debate. For both approaches, advantages and disadvantages can be discussed and a categorical-dimensional hybrid approach will most likely be established in the revised classification systems ICD-11 and DSM-V. An integration of a categorical and a dimensional??quantifying??perspective has always been a standard in the field of forensic psychiatric assessment. A general hybrid approach of defining personality disorders appears suitable, promising and feasible.     

Aktuelle Aspekte des Gefängnissuizids

Suicides present a major complication during imprisonment and contribute essentially to the high mortality rate of prisoners. All international studies found increased suicide rates among prisoners in comparison to the general population. This article reviews general and individual risk factors for suicide in prison and possible contributing specific stress factors during imprisonment. The main results of the analysis of the European Annual Prison Statistics from 1997 to 2007 are presented referring to macrostructural determining risk factors for suicide in prison. Measurements and prevention strategies are briefly discussed.     

Discriminant validity of the ZKPQ in a sample meeting BPD diagnosis vs. normal-range controls

Widiger and Simonsen (2005) state that given the limitations of the categorical model of Personality Disorders classification proposals are to be expected for dimensional classifications. The purpose of this paper is to test the alternative five factorial model (AFFM) of personality in a sample with PDs. Subjects were administered the ZKPQ to test the discriminant capacity of the AFFM in classifying subjects diagnosed with BPD (n = 74) vs normal-range controls (n = 148) paired by age and sex, and identifying sensitive and/or specific dimensions that can be of help in diagnosing BPD. The results showed that high scores on N-Anx and Imp-SS, and low scores on Act are prognostic factors for being diagnosed with BPD. Likewise, this model correctly classified 88% of subjects with a kappa index of 0.73. The AFFM of personality appears to have a substantial power for predicting SCID-II interview-based BPD diagnosis.     

Impulsive responses in children with conduct disorder and borderline intellectual functioning.

The study is designed to investigate response inhibition in children with conduct disorder and borderline intellectual functioning. To this end, children are compared to a normal peer control group using the Alertness test. The test has two conditions. In one condition, children are instructed to push a response button after a visual "go" signal is presented on the screen. In a second condition the "go" signal is preceded by an auditory signal, telling the child that a target stimulus will occur soon. Compared to the control group, the group carrying the dual diagnosis made many preliminary responses (responses before the presentation of the "go" signal), especially in the condition with an auditory signal. This impulsive response style was controlled for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder characteristics of the children.