Competing Contingencies Over Derived Relational Responding: A Behavioral Model of the Implicit Association Test

The Psychological Record - Subjects were exposed to a word-picture association training phase in which each of 2 arbitrary nonsense syllables printed in blue and red font, respectively, were paired...     

Merit in the Midst of Grace: The Covenant with Adam Reconsidered in View of the Two Powers of God

Abstract:  The position of Barth and others, that the covenant with Adam is thoroughly legalistic, is based on the incorrect assumption that grace and works cannot coexist as covenant principles. However, the difficulty of seeing the harmony between these principles is real. This article reconsiders the covenant with Adam in light of the medieval concept of the two powers of God, or as we shall argue here, the two perspectives on God's power. These two perspectives, part of the original intellectual milieu in which covenant theology arose, demonstrate that the divine covenant with humanity may include aspects of both God's grace and human merit simultaneously. God's grace is apparent de potentia absoluta , from the perspective of God's absolute power, and God's justice and the possibility of Adam's merit are apparent de potentia ordinata , from the perspective of God's ordained power. Both perspectives, what God could do and what he has in fact chosen to do, are valid and necessary perspectives for understanding God's covenant dealings.     

Interpersonal orientation in context: correlates and effects of interpersonal complementarity on subjective and cardiovascular experiences

Interpersonal orientation (IO) generally refers to individual differences in preference for social interaction. The influence of IO, however, likely depends on the nature of complementarity within the interpersonal context. Using the interpersonal circumplex and Five-Factor Model, we first selected a measure of IO characterized by affiliation and neuroticism. Second, we examined the influence of IO on subjective, physiological, and nonverbal experiences as a function of experimentally manipulated complementarity or noncomplementarity. We hypothesized that women in noncomplementarity conditions (i.e., women low in IO working with a friendly confederate, women high in IO working with an unfriendly confederate) would experience the interpersonal situation more negatively compared to women in complementarity conditions. Study results confirmed this prediction, with noncomplementarity in IO resulting in greater physiological reactivity, greater likelihood to attempt nonverbally to restore complementarity, more partner-related thoughts, and a reduced desire to seek out attention compared to women working in complementarity conditions. Implications for research on IO as a person variable are discussed.     

Risk factors for institutional misconduct among incarcerated women: an examination of the criterion-related validity of the Personality Assessment Inventory

Although widely researched in male offender samples, relatively little is known about the clinical utility of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey, 1991) among female prisoners. In this study, we examined the utility of various theoretically relevant PAI scales to predict 3 types of institutional misconduct (general, aggressive/defiant, and covert infractions) in a sample of 113 female inmates incarcerated for at least 1 year. The Antisocial Features (ANT) scale was the most consistent and effective predictor of misbehavior, with limited evidence to suggest that other PAI scales could demonstrate any incremental validity beyond this measure. More important, ANT continued to be associated with institutional misconduct even after controlling for criminal background variables such as prior convictions and a history of violence.     

Priming index of the Spanish word fragments from the Dasí, Soler,and Ruiz (2004) database

Word-fragment completion is a frequently used test in implicit memory research. A database of 196 Spanish fragments was recently published (Dasí, Soler, & Ruiz, 2004) in which the fragments were described for indices, such as difficulty, familiarity, frequency, number of meanings, and so on (www.psychonomic.org/archive). In this work, a new index, the priming index, is described for the same 196 fragments. This index is calculated for each fragment by subtracting the difficulty index (the proportion of correct completion when the fragment is not studied) from the proportion of correct completion when the fragment is studied, and it means the capacity of an item to be primed. In order to determine whether the new index performs well, we have replicated some important experimental effects, such as priming, frequency, and difficulty. We consider that this index can help researchers to better select stimuli for fragment-completion tasks.     

LITURGICALLY TRAINED MEMORY: A READING OF SUMMA THEOLOGIAE III.83

Drawing on Ciceronian rhetorical tropes, Thomas Aquinas treats the rite of the Eucharist in terms of the classical ars memoriae. The Eucharist, for Aquinas, is the schooling in desire whereby we are trained to order the associations of our memory to their proper objects in terms of their relations to God. He thus conceives of the liturgy of the Mass as rhetoric proper, which truly teaches, moves and delights. Since memory is the condition of all thought, as both Thomas and Augustine claim, the Eucharist is the “site” of all theological production, and therefore the liturgy is the art of memory of which all other similar arts are derivative.     

Vigilance, active coping, and cardiovascular reactivity during social interaction in young men.

This study of 72 undergraduate men examined the effects of two determinants of cardiovascular response-active coping and vigilance-on blood pressure and heart rate responses to social stressors. Observation of a future debate partner (i.e., vigilance) evoked larger increases in blood pressure than did observation of a less relevant person, apparently through the combination of increases in cardiac output and vascular resistance. Preparation and enactment of efforts to exert social influence (i.e., active coping) evoked heightened blood pressure and heart rate responses through increased cardiac contractility and output. Thus, both vigilance and active coping in social contexts increased cardiovascular reactivity, but apparently through different psychophysiological processes.     

Risk factors associated with eating disorders in Mexican preadolescents with normal weight

This study aimed to identify the differences in body self-esteem, general self-esteem and eating attitudes in a representative sample of children, aged 9-12 years, attending school in México DF. The logistic regression model incorporated the variables of sex, general self-esteem, BMI, age and discrepancy between the perceived image and the ideal image. Participants with an increased risk of eating disorders were girls: a) with less general self-esteem; b) BMI at the upper range of normal weight; c) greater negative discrepancy between perceived and ideal image; d) aged 11-12 years. Higher general self-esteem would act as a protector for eating disorders, while the desire for a thinner ideal body would be a risk factor.     

Spanish drivers' beliefs about speed. Speeding is a major issue of road safety

Extending and updating our knowledge concerning drivers' motivational and cognitive processes is of essential importance if we are to apply policies with long-lasting effects. This study presents data from a representative national survey analyzing the Spanish drivers' beliefs about speed, the risks of speeding, the degree of violation of speed-limits and the reasons for speeding. Results indicate that Spanish drivers rate speeding as a serious offence, yet not among the most dangerous ones. All in all, they claim to comply mostly with the speed limits. However, some interesting violation patterns emerge: observance is lower for generic speed limits according to road type (vs. specific limits shown by certain road signs), and particularly in motorways (vs. single carriageways and urban areas). Risk perception and reasons for speeding emerge as the main factors predicting the levels of speed violations reported. Results suggest that any effective intervention strategy should consider such factors, namely the link between speed, road safety, and drivers' specific reasons for speeding.