Horror Films and the Argument from Reactive Attitudes

Are horror films immoral? Gianluca Di Muzio argues that horror films of a certain kind are immoral because they undermine the reactive attitudes that are responsible for human agents being disposed to respond compassionately to instances of victimization. I begin with this argument as one instance of what I call the Argument from Reactive Attitudes (ARA), and I argue that Di Muzio’s attempt to identify what is morally suspect about horror films must be revised to provide the most persuasive interpretation of the ARA. I then argue that the ARA provides a compelling standard for evaluating the moral permissibility of creating and viewing horror films, yet I note that it is an exceedingly difficult practical task evaluating the risk that these films create for our reactive attitudes. My conclusion is that the ARA provides a useful way or orienting ourselves to the complicated details of evaluating the moral status of horror films.     

Drive for muscularity and muscularity-oriented disordered eating in men: The role of set shifting difficulties and weak central coherence

Set shifting difficulties and weak central coherence are information-processing biases associated with thinness-oriented eating and body image pathology in women. However, little is known about the relationship between these processing biases and muscularity-oriented eating and body image pathology. We investigated whether set shifting and central coherence were uniquely related to the drive for muscularity and muscularity-oriented disordered eating in a sample of 91 male undergraduates. Participants completed the Wisconsin Card Sort Test, the Matching Familiar Figures Task, the Drive for Muscularity scale, and a modified Eating Disorders Examination-Questionnaire. Results indicated that set shifting difficulties and weak central coherence were both uniquely positively associated with the drive for muscularity, and that set shifting difficulties were uniquely positively associated with muscularity-oriented disordered eating. Results are discussed with regard to the male experience of body image and eating pathology, and in regard to muscle dysmorphia.     

What causes scale errors in children?

A recent article by DeLoache et al. has documented an intriguing phenomenon in the development of action planning in young children. When children act on toy replicas of larger objects they make scale errors that are consistent with the full-sized object. Although the actions selected are inappropriate, their execution accurately takes into account the true size of the target. This phenomenon permits tests of the predictions of the perception-action and planning-control models of vision for action.     

Visual illusions affect planning but not control

Much debate has arisen over how to account for the pattern of effects of visual illusions on action - that is, the findings that illusions affect actions in some circumstances but not others. I propose that this pattern can best be explained by postulating that visual illusions affect the planning of actions but do not affect the on-line control of actions. Strong evidence for this viewpoint comes from recent studies that show 'dynamic illusion effects': a large illusion effect early in a movement, but a decreasing effect as the hand approaches the target. These findings pose difficulties for other models of illusion effects on action.     

Treatment, Age, and Time-Related Predictors of Behavioral Outcome in Pediatric Brain Tumor Survivors

The research has shown that children surviving cancer are at risk for long-term emotional and behavioral problems secondary to the cumulative effects of cranial irradiation and chemotherapy. The purpose of this study was to investigate the emotional and behavioral outcome of children diagnosed with brain tumor and treated with cranial irradiation and chemotherapy by looking at the association between treatment, time, age, and cognitive-related variables on externalizing and internalizing behaviors at 3 years posttreatment. Fifty-four brain tumor survivors were administered a neuropsychological test battery, whereas the parents filled out the CBCL and Conners' Parent Rating Scale. The results indicate that chemotherapy treatment with vincristine, cytoxan, cisplantinum, and/or VP16 was related to poorer internalizing and externalizing behavioral outcome, especially attention, social withdrawal, and anxious–depressive symptomatology. Age at time of diagnosis or treatment, time since discontinuation of treatment, type and/or total dose of radiation therapy was not significantly correlated with any of the behavioral outcome scales. Verbal memory and learning deficits accounted for a significant portion of the variance in social withdrawal, whereas lower scores in overall intellectual functioning and verbal fluency was related to disturbances in attention, inhibition, and social functioning. The findings suggest that children treated with 1 or a combination of any of the aforementioned chemotherapy agents who exhibit declines in intellectual functioning and memory are at increased risk for long-term behavioral problems 3 years after treatment cessation. These findings support the importance for early psychotherapeutic and supportive intervention services immediately after treatment cessation, with the goal of circumventing these potentially debilitating emotional problems.     

The Relationship between Temperament and Life Satisfaction in Early Adolescence: Cognitive and Behavioral Mediation Models

This study investigated the interrelationships among temperament, social self-efficacy, social competence, and life satisfaction in a sample of 160 early adolescents. A model was proposed based on previous research by Argyle and Lu (1990, Personality and Individual Differences 11, pp. 1255–1261) in which social competence mediates the relationship between temperament (i.e. extraversion and neuroticism) and life satisfaction. However, this study extended the work of Argyle and Lu by including an objective measure of social competence, in addition to a measure of social self-efficacy, to test as a potential mediator between temperament and life satisfaction. Results indicated that social self-efficacy mediated the relationship between extraversion and life satisfaction, but not between neuroticism and life satisfaction. Teacher-rated social competence did not mediate the effects of temperament on life satisfaction. The importance of integrating theories of trait psychology and cognitive psychology in adolescent life satisfaction research is discussed.     

Rough‐and‐tumble play in human children

Rough and tumble (R&T) play is a unique set of behaviors that can be reliably distinguished from aggression and other childhood activities. Although it may be the most fundamental form of play, it has received comparatively little experimental attention in the human species. Forty children, ages three to six, were allowed to play in pairs (10 male pairs, 10 female pairs) during a 30 minute videotaped session with no toys available while music played in the background during every other five‐minute time period. The incidence frequency of children's play and related behavioral activities were scored using 20 behavioral categories. The major findings show only modest gender differences in the frequency of play behaviors in such controlled social encounters; the main difference is that boys engaged in slightly more physical play solicitations than girls. Music facilitated General Motor Activities (e.g., Running and Walking behaviors), but not specific R&T play actions (e.g., Wrestling, Ventral and Dorsal contacts). Finally, most play behaviors as well as general activities declined systematically over the course of each recording session. This experiment highlights how human social play can be systematically studied in a controlled laboratory setting. Aggr. Behav. 29:539–551, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.