Expectancy‐effects without expectancies: Illusory correlations based on cue‐overlap

Expectancy‐based illusory correlations have been observed in numerous experiments. Simulations using the connectionist computer model BIAS (Fiedler, 1996 ) show that such illusory correlations may not always reflect expectancy biases but influences of similarity via cue‐overlap. Cue‐overlap means that some of the probabilistic cues that indicate the presence of one variable are also indicative of another variable. In an experiment, participants learned two novel concepts pertaining to a fictitious painter and a fictitious artistic style in separate runs. Both concepts were defined by multiple probabilistic cues observable in paintings. For half the participants, the cue systems underlying the perception of the two concepts overlapped, whereas for the other half they did not. In addition, we manipulated whether or not participants expected a positive contingency between artist and artistic style. In the second part of the experiment, a series of paintings was presented that constituted an objective zero correlation between artist and artistic style. Participants' subsequent contingency judgments were assessed by direct and indirect measures. Data analyses revealed main effects for expectancy induction and cue‐overlap but no interaction on the direct measure and nearly identical results on the indirect measure. Thus, cue‐overlap and expectancy induction independently triggered the development of illusory correlations. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Prevention,the appropriate target of infant psychotherapy

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the case for preventive interventions in infancy aimed at the reduction of childhood psychopathology. The paper considers the terminology of prevention and the case for prevention in infancy. It is argued that increased knowledge concerning the developmental pathways involved in many psychological disorders opens the door to prevention initiatives. An overview of recent prevention trials is provided and the implications from treatment evaluation studies are explored. The case for prevention of conduct disorders is taken as an illustration of the potential for interventions in infancy. A developmental model of conduct disorder implicates a vicious cycle of parent–child interactions, a process that may arguably be preempted by early intervention. Three modalities are considered in detail: (a) early parent training; (b) the enhancement of attachment security; and (c) the facilitation of the development of reflective function. Studies in each of these areas are reviewed. The paper concludes that increased emphasis on the prevention aspect of infant mental health interventions is justified and desirable. © 1998 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health     

Do you feel better or worse? The validity of perceived deviations of mood states from mood traits

The advantages of assessing self‐perceived deviations of mood states from mood traits in cross‐sectional as well as longitudinal studies are discussed in detail. The validity of self‐perceived mood deviations is analysed in a longitudinal study with three occasions of measurement and 176 participants. In order to assess self‐perceived mood deviations, participants rated the deviation of their momentary mood from how they felt in general with respect to 32 mood adjectives belonging to three mood scales (pleasant–unpleasant, calm–restless, awake–sleepy). Furthermore, mood states, mood traits, and other personality variables (hedonic level, neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness) are assessed by self‐report. Using models of latent state–trait theory, it is shown that the self‐perceived mood deviation scales are reliable (reliabilities between 0.73 and 0.95) and sensitive to occasion‐specific fluctuations (occasion specificities between 0.38 and 0.72). The self‐perceived deviation scales show high correlations with latent occasion‐specific deviation variables defined on the basis of repeatedly measured mood states (high convergent validity). In contrast to self‐reported mood states, however, self‐perceived mood deviations show much smaller and in most cases non‐significant correlations with personality variables (high discriminant validity). Furthermore, it is shown that self‐perceived mood deviations can be used to suppress stable situation‐specific variance in mood traits defined as aggregated states. Therefore, it can be demonstrated that including self‐perceived mood deviations in analyses on mood–personality associations enhances the association coefficients considerably. Finally, the implications of the results for the individual assessment of mood deviations, as well as for studies on affect and personality, are discussed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ethical issues and the family doctor

Issues recognized as having ethical or moral components are becoming increasingly common, for society in general, the health care system and for general practitioner/family physicians in particular. Some of the peculiar problems for GP's relate to the provision of continuing, comprehensive, primary medical care to large numbers of individuals who provide extensive potential for conflict between all the involved elements: patients, physicians, families, consultants and societal attitudes. There is a need for more formal education programs.     

How Wittgenstein Defeated Russell’s Multiple Relation Theory of Judgment

In 1913 Wittgenstein raised an objection to Russell’s multiple relation theory of judgment that eventually led Russell to abandon his theory. As he put it in the Tractatus, the objection was that “the correct explanation of the form of the proposition, ‘A makes the judgement p’, must show that it is impossible for a judgement to be a piece of nonsense. (Russell’s theory does not satisfy this requirement,” (5.5422). This objection has been widely interpreted to concern type restrictions on the constituents of judgment. I argue that this interpretation is mistaken and that Wittgenstein’s objection is in fact a form of the problem of the unity of the proposition.     

Invertebrate Minds: A Challenge for Ethical Theory

This paper argues that navigating insects and spiders possess a degree of mindedness that makes them appropriate (in the sense of “possible”) objects of sympathy and moral concern. For the evidence suggests that many invertebrates possess a belief-desire-planning psychology that is in basic respects similar to our own. The challenge for ethical theory is find some principled way of demonstrating that individual insects do not make moral claims on us, given the widely held belief that some other “higher” animals do make such claims on us.     

Alcohol and aggression: a test of the attention-allocation model

This article presents the first systematic test of the attention-allocation model for alcohol-related aggression. According to this model, alcohol has a "myopic" effect on attentional capacity that presumably facilitates aggression by focusing attention on more salient provocative, rather than less salient inhibitory, cues in hostile situations. Aggression was assessed using a laboratory task in which mild electric shocks were received from, and administered to, a fictitious opponent. Study 1 demonstrated that a moderate-load cognitive distractor suppressed aggression in intoxicated subjects (to levels even lower than those exhibited by a placebo control group). Study 2 assessed how varying the magnitude of a distracting cognitive load affected aggression in the alcohol and placebo conditions. Results indicated that the moderate-load distraction used in Study 1 (i.e., holding four elements in sequential order in working memory) suppressed aggression best. Cognitive loads of larger and smaller magnitudes were not successful in attenuating aggression.