Panic onset and major events in the lives of agoraphobics: a test of contiguity

Major life events were reported in greater numbers and by a higher percentage of 50 index agoraphobics during a time period around panic onset than during either a within-subjects or a between-subjects control period. These differences were found for analyses of life events in general, events that preceded panic, and foreseeable events that occurred shortly after panic onset. Though many events involved separation or interpersonal conflict, other types of events were frequently reported. Results provide more convincing evidence than prior studies of a contiguous relationship between life events and onset of panic attacks associated with agoraphobia.     

Statistical judgement: A further test of the representativeness construct

Kahneman and Tversky's (1972) construct of ‘representativeness’ as a mediator of statistical judgements has been subjected to several recent criticisms. The present study allows test of the hypothesis that individuals differ in their use of the representativeness heuristic. Tasks are devised which permit measure of two types of judgemental error attributed to use of the heuristic. One is a misperception of Bernouilli sequences, in which subjects expect sequences to have shorter run lengths than would actually occur by chance. The other error is a tendency to give insufficient weighting to the evidence of larger samples. The tasks were administered in two experiments by on-line computer. Characteristic errors of both sorts are found in two experiments, but in neither case was there any evidence of a correlation between them. It appears, then, that even a modified form of the representativeness hypothesis, that might be reconciled with other critiques, is lacking in empirical support.     

The effects of transition to technician‐delivered telehealth ABA treatment during the COVID‐19 crisis: A preliminary analysis

Telehealth delivery of applied behavior analysis treatment has focused on supervision or staff and parent training, rather than the direct delivery of treatment to clients. The novel coronavirus (COVID‐19) crisis had the potential to significantly disrupt access to direct treatment for individuals with autism. We report a sample of 17 cases that transitioned from in‐person to telehealth delivery of treatment when shelter‐in‐place orders were issued. Of these cases, 76% of participants transitioned to technician‐delivered telehealth services whereas the rest transitioned to a caregiver‐implemented telehealth model. Participants continued to access a similar dosage of treatment hours per week in spite of the treatment model transition (in‐person M = 12; telehealth M = 11) and maintained or improved correct independent responding across all targets from in‐person treatment (M = 75%) to telehealth treatment (M = 80%). These findings provide initial evidence that some clients with autism benefit from technician‐delivered telehealth services.     

Can Virtuous Actions be Both Habitual and Rational?

Virtuous actions seem to be both habitual and rational. But if we combine an intuitive understanding of habituality with the currently predominant paradigm of rational action, these two features of virtuous actions are hard to reconcile. Intuitively, acting habitually is acting as one has before in similar contexts, and automatically, that is, without thinking about it. Meanwhile, contemporary philosophers tend to assume the truth of what I call the reasons theory of rational action, which states that all rational actions are actions for reasons. Whilst interpretations of this phrase are disputed, I argue that neither of the two leading views – which I call reasons internalism and reasons externalism – makes room for habitual actions to count as actions for reasons; by the reasons theory, they cannot be rational either. I suggest one way of effecting the reconciliation which, whilst it allows us to keep the reasons theory, requires us to conceive of reasons as even more radically external than current externalists believe them to be.     

Naturalizing the space of reasons

Given the Sellarsian distinction between the space of causes and the space of reasons, the naturalist seeks to articulate how these two spaces are unproblematically related. In Mind and World () John McDowell suggests that such a naturalism can be achieved by pointing out that we work our way into the space of reasons by the process of upbringing he calls Bildung. ‘The resulting habits of thought and action’, writes McDowell, ‘are second nature’ (p. 84). In this paper I expose one implication of this remark, namely, that Bildung naturalism requires a conception of a type of action which is at once rational and habitual. Current orthodoxies in the philosophy of action prevent these two features from easily co‐existing. Whilst various reconciliations are possible, I argue that only one keeps Bildung naturalism intact. This, however, commits the naturalist to a conception of reasons more radically external than any to be found in current literature, according to which the agent need have no conception of what her reasons are at the time of acting. This is what I call acting in the dark of reasons. One upshot for McDowell is that this conception of reasons may be in tension with some of his other claims.     

Effects of age on the mother-child interactions of ADD-H and normal boys

The interactions of 60 ADD-H boys with their mothers were compared to those of 60 normal boys during both freeplay and task situations. Both groups were equally subdivided into five age levels (years 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9). In free play, ADDH boys played more independently of and were more negative toward their mothers, while their mothers gave more commands and initiated fewer interactions than normal motherchild dyads. There were no effects of age in this setting. During the task setting, ADD H boys were less compliant, sustained their compliance for shorter time periods, and were more negative and off task than the normal boys. Mothers of ADD-H boys gave more commands, were more negative, initiated fewer interactions, and responded with greater control over both compliance and offtask behavior than did normal mothers. Several age effects were noted suggesting that older boys in both groups were more compliant while their mothers gave fewer commands and controlled their compliance less than the motherchild dyads of younger boys. While the interactions of ADD-H boys appear to improve with age, the boys continue to display a developmental lag in social behavior that is more evident with increasing situational demands.This research was supported by NIMH Grant MH32334-01 to the first author and by funds provided by the Department of Neurology, Medical College of Wisconsin. The authors are grateful to Ann Thompson for her assistance with the compilation of the data.