Hierarchical model of vulnerabilities for emotional disorders

Clark and Watson's (1991) tripartite model of anxiety and depression has had a dramatic impact on our understanding of the dispositional variables underlying emotional disorders. More recently, calls have been made to examine not simply the influence of negative affectivity (NA) but also mediating factors that might better explain how NA influences anxious and depressive syndromes (e.g. Taylor, 1998; Watson, 2005). Extending preliminary projects, this study evaluated two hierarchical models of NA, mediating factors of anxiety sensitivity and intolerance of uncertainty, and specific emotional manifestations. Data provided a very good fit to a model elaborated from preliminary studies, lending further support to hierarchical models of emotional vulnerabilities. Implications for classification and diagnosis are discussed.     

The relations of motivational traits with workplace deviance

The authors developed and tested new theoretical relations between approach and avoidance motivational traits and deviant work behaviors. Approach motivation was divided into 3 traits: personal mastery (i.e., desire to achieve), competitive excellence (i.e., desire to perform better than others), and behavioral activation system (BAS) sensitivity (i.e., responsiveness to rewards). Avoidance motivation, which reflects one's sensitivity to negative stimuli and the desire to escape such stimuli, was conceptualized as a unitary construct. Using structural equation modeling, the authors examined the relations of these 4 motivational traits with interpersonal and organizational deviance in a sample of primarily part-time employees. For the approach motivation traits, results showed that personal mastery was negatively related to interpersonal and organizational deviance, BAS sensitivity was positively related to interpersonal and organizational deviance, and competitive excellence was unrelated to both types of workplace deviance. Finally, avoidance motivation was positively related to organizational deviance and interacted with organizational constraints to predict interpersonal deviance.     

Are Telecommuters Remotely Good Citizens? Unpacking Telecommuting's Effects on Performance Via I‐Deals and Job Resources

Despite their widespread adoption, concerns remain that virtual work arrangements can harm employee job performance and citizenship behavior. Does telecommuting really hamper these critical dimensions of employee effectiveness? To answer this question, we develop a theoretical framework linking telecommuting to task and contextual performance via a dual set of mechanisms—reflecting proposed effects of i‐deals and job resources. Further, we propose that the meaning of and outcomes from these paths depend on the social context surrounding telecommuting. We test the framework with field data from 323 employees and 143 matched supervisors across a variety of organizations. As predicted, we find that telecommuting is positively associated with task and contextual performance, directly and indirectly via perceived autonomy. These beneficial effects are contingent upon two aspects of the social context: leader‐member exchange and signals of its normative appropriateness among coworkers and one's supervisor.     

On the generality of experience: a reply to French and Gomes

Philosophical Studies - According to phenomenal particularism, external particulars are sometimes part of the phenomenal character of experience. Mehta (J Philos 111:311–331, 2014) criticizes...     

Social Constructionist Approach to Suffering and Healing: Juxtaposing Cassell, Gergen and Kleinman

To understand the experiences of suffering (overwhelming somatic pain or illness and its anticipation and other forms of severe distress arising in the socio-moral context) and facilitate healing (developing an enabling meaning and value for one??s experiences when faced with suffering) have been the focus of medicine as a social institution throughout human history. However, the goals of Western biomedicine in the last few centuries shifted from taking care of these experiential concerns of the sufferers to predominantly the diagnosis and treatment of the symptoms of a disease. This article attempts to illustrate how the assumptions of the social constructionist paradigm (with its deconstructionist and reconstructionist facets highlighted in the writings of Kenneth J. Gergen) serve as a suitable metatheoretical framework to understand human experiences of suffering and healing. A critical review of the writings of Eric J. Cassell and Arthur Kleinman on endorsing and researching such experiences resulted in four themes that reaffirmed the utility of this new paradigm. These themes help comprehend that biomedicine??s ontological claims may enhance human suffering, suffering and healing experiences are socio-historically contextualized, such experiences are performances within human interaction and dialogic partnership between the researcher and the participant becomes a meaningful medium to study such experiences.     

Composition dependence of the activation energy of the glass transition in some chalcogenide glasses

The activation energy (E _t) of the glass transition process has been obtained for glassy Se_{80? x} Te₂₀M _x (M = Ag, Cd, In, Sb) and Se_{100? x} M _x (M = In, Te, Sb) systems using differential scanning calorimetry. The composition dependence of E _t is explained in terms of fragility index for the systems. A reversal in the trend of the E _t is explained using topological models.     

Science,state and violence: An indian critique reconsidered

Abstract

This paper explores the work of a specific group of Indian scholar activists who, during the 1980s, produced a body of writing critical of the Indian state's science, technology and environmental policy. They have been described variously as Luddites, anti-science cranks and polemicists (Guha, 1988 Guha, R. 1988. The alternative science movement: an interim assessment. Lokayan Bulletin, 6(3): 7–25.  [Google Scholar]; Nanda, 1991 Nanda, M. 1991. Is modern science a Western, patriarchal myth? A critique of populist orthodoxy. South Asia Bulletin, 11: 110–116.  [Google Scholar]; Baber, 1996 Baber, Z. 1996. The Science of Empire: Scientific Knowledge, Civilization and Colonial Rule in India, New York: SUNY Press.  [Google Scholar]). At the same time, they have been influential among activists critical of state development policies. This paper examines one particularly polemical set of their writings. It has three broad parts. It begins by providing some context and background and describing the methodological choices made in the acquisition and presentation of the material at hand. The second, substantial section is the exposition of the argument underlying the critique being discussed. Finally, the brief last segment explores the relevance of this work for studies of science and culture.     

Long-term concentrative meditation and cognitive performance among older adults

ABSTRACT

Background: The general consensus that cognitive abilities decline with advancing age is supported by several studies that have reported that older adults perform more poorly on multiple tests of cognitive performance as compared to younger adults. To date, preventive measures against this cognitive decline have been mainly focused on dietary, physical, and lifestyle behaviors which could allow older adults to maintain their cognitive abilities into late life. However, much less stress has been laid on evaluating meditation as a preventive measure in such cases in spite of the fact that the role of meditation on attention has been proved in several studies. In the current study, we extend this preliminary idea, examining the practice of concentrative meditation and the differences in the cognitive performance of older adults who have or have not employed this practice long term. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study comparing the cognitive performance of meditators and non-meditators in the geriatric age group. Twenty (age > 55 years) long-term practitioners of Vihangam Yoga meditation (>10 years of practice) were recruited in the present study and were applied six paper–pencil neuropsychological tests for assessment of short-term memory, perceptual speed, attention, and executive functioning. The tests used were: (1) the Digit Span test, (2) the Stroop Color Word test, (3) the Trailmaking test, (4) the Letter Cancellation Task, (5) the digit symbol substitution test, and (6) the Rule Shift Card Test. All the tests were also applied to 20 age- and education-matched geriatric adults who have not practiced the meditation technique. Results: Vihangam Yogis showed significantly better performances in all these tests of attention (p < .05) except for the digit backward test, where a trend (p = .08) was found in favor of meditators. Conclusion: Long-term Vihangam Yoga meditators have superior cognitive abilities than non-meditators in the old age group. This technique should be studied further for its ability to prevent age-related cognitive decline.     

A dual‐system framework to understand preference construction processes in choice

Building on the dual-system theory of judgment, we propose an intuitive and deliberate framework for understanding the effects of preference construction in choice. We argue that while certain choice effects can be attributed primarily to rapid, unintentional, and intuitive processing, others arise from intentional and deliberate processing. We use this distinction to group choice effects previously identified in the literature, discuss evidence in support of the dual-system framework of preference construction, and propose new research directions. Since the defining property of intuitive versus deliberate mental processes is the degree to which they engage working memory, the proposed framework sheds light on how these previously identified effects will change with conditions such as the availability of cognitive resources. We conclude by calling for additional research to explore the interplay between intuitive and deliberate processing to determine which processes are implicated in generating a preference, as well as research on new moderators of choice effects based on the difference in the amount of willful information processing that underlies decision making.     

Is there a phenomenological argument for higher-order representationalism?

In his 2009 article “Self-Representationalism and Phenomenology,” Uriah Kriegel argues for self-representationalism about phenomenal consciousness primarily on phenomenological grounds. Kriegel’s argument can naturally be cast more broadly as an argument for higher-order representationalism. I examine this broadened version of Kriegel’s argument in detail and show that it is unsuccessful for two reasons. First, Kriegel’s argument (in its strongest form) relies on an inference to the best explanation from the claim that all experiences of normal adult human beings are accompanied by peripheral awareness of those very experiences to the claim that all experiences are accompanied by peripheral awareness of those very experiences. This inference is inadequately defended, for the explanandum may also be given a straightforward evolutionary explanation. Second, contra Kriegel, I argue that phenomenological investigation does not support the thesis that we are always peripherally aware of our experiences. Instead, it delivers no verdict on this thesis. Kriegel’s phenomenological mistake may be explained via a highly diluted version of the famous transparency thesis about experience.