Aim that Bow! An Interactivist Gaze at the Problem of Intentional Tracking

In this essay I offer a theory of the outward directedness of intentional states, namely, an account of what makes intentional states directed at their respective intentional objects. The theory is meant to be complementary to the canonical interactivist account of mental content in that the latter emphasizes the predicative, intensional, and internal aspects of representation whereas here I shall focus on its denotative, extensional, and external aspects. Thus, the aim is to establish that the two projects are not only consistent but mutually supportive. Further, it is hoped that supplementing the interactivist conception of representation with a theory of intentional directedness along such lines will increase its overall appeal to critical readers. Based on the core idea that the directedness of a representation is a function of the manner in which it is constructed within, and contributes to the ongoing unfolding of a dynamical interactive loop connecting information to focused action, the theory is subsequently extended to cover many problem domains familiarly associated with representation and reference.     

The influence of culture on children’s immediate and delayed retrieval

Culture shapes children’s memories. However, scant attention has been given to the influence of culture on specific memory stages. Thus, we conducted two controlled experiments to examine cultural differences in memory recall at immediate and delayed retrieval phases. In Studies 1 and 2 (n = 217), 7- to 10-year-old Chinese and Euro-Canadian children watched a story involving both social- and individual-focused scenarios. Participants then recalled the story immediately afterwards (Study 1) and 5–7 days later (Studies 1 and 2). Findings reveal that Chinese children accurately reported more details from the social-focused events than did their Euro-Canadian counterparts in the immediate interview, and this result was replicated after a delay in both studies. Moreover, as expected, within-country comparisons showed that Euro-Canadian children had better memory for individual- than for social-focused events in both studies. Chinese children, however, showed better memory for social- than for individual-focused events only in the immediate interview in Study 1; their delayed retrieval was not affected by event focus. These findings reveal that cultural variations in memory are evident in both immediate and delayed retrieval. Implications for future research are discussed.     

Cognitive remediation in pediatric traumatic brain injury

Robinson's (1970) elaborative encoding technique (PQRST) was implemented as the active cognitive intervention strategy to address verbal memory deficits in 2 fourth-grade boys following mild or moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI). A metacognitive reading comprehension technique (Smith & Dauer, 1984) was also implemented for comparison purposes. Single-case methodology was employed using a counter-balanced crossover of the two intervention strategies controlling for the effects of attention. The performance of both boys was significantly better during strategy training with the PQRST technique and approached the performance level of the normal comparison subject. In contrast, the performance of both subjects with TBI remained at, or returned to, baseline levels during the metacognitive intervention. These findings suggest that Robinson's cognitive remediation intervention holds promise in addressing memory and reading comprehension deficits following pediatrie traumatic brain injury. Future research should focus on enhancing generalization and transfer of training to classroom assignments.     

Personality Trait Development and Social Investment in Work

A longitudinal study of employed individuals was used to test the relationship between social investment at work—the act of cognitively and emotionally committing to one’s job—and longitudinal and cross-sectional personality trait development. Participants provided ratings of personality traits and social investment at work at two time-points, separated by approximately 3 years. Data were analyzed using latent change models. Cross-sectional results showed that extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability were related to social investment at work. Additionally, a positive association was found between longitudinal change in social investment in work and change in personality traits—especially conscientiousness. Finally, the correlated changes in social investment and personality traits were invariant across age groups, suggesting that personality traits remain malleable across the lifespan.     

How persuasive is a good fit? A comment on theory testing

Quantitative theories with free parameters often gain credence when they closely fit data. This is a mistake. A good fit reveals nothing about the flexibility of the theory (how much it cannot fit), the variability of the data (how firmly the data rule out what the theory cannot fit), or the likelihood of other outcomes (perhaps the theory could have fit any plausible result), and a reader needs all 3 pieces of information to decide how much the fit should increase belief in the theory. The use of good fits as evidence is not supported by philosophers of science nor by the history of psychology; there seem to be no examples of a theory supported mainly by good fits that has led to demonstrable progress. A better way to test a theory with free parameters is to determine how the theory constrains possible outcomes (i.e., what it predicts), assess how firmly actual outcomes agree with those constraints, and determine if plausible alternative outcomes would have been inconsistent with the theory, allowing for the variability of the data.     

What Are They Thinking? A National Study of Stability and Change in Divorce Ideation

This study reports on a nationally representative sample of married individuals ages 25–50 (N = 3,000) surveyed twice (1 year apart) to investigate the phenomenon of divorce ideation, or what people are thinking when they are thinking about divorce. Twenty‐eight percent of respondents had thought their marriage was in serious trouble in the past but not recently. Another 25% had thoughts about divorce in the last 6 months. Latent Class Analysis revealed three distinct groups among those thinking about divorce at Time 1: soft thinkers (49%), long‐term‐serious thinkers (45%), and conflicted thinkers (6%). Yet, divorce ideation was not static; 31% of Time 1 thinkers were not thinking about it 1 year later (and 36% of nonthinkers at Time 1 were thinking about it 1 year later). Also, Latent Transition Analysis revealed 49% of Time 1 long‐term‐serious thinkers, 56% of soft thinkers, and 51% of conflicted thinkers had shifted groups at Time 2, mostly in the direction of less and softer thinking about divorce. Overall, divorce ideation is common but dynamic, and it is not necessarily an indication of imminent marital dissolution.     

Contribution of Peer Deviancy Training to the Early Development of Conduct Problems: Mediators and Moderators

Three variables were tested as moderators of the relationship between peer deviancy training and child antisocial behavior in a longitudinal study of 267 boys and girls from ages 5.3 to 9.3 years. Deviancy training was directly measured by observation of the discourse and play of children with same-gender classmates. Peer deviancy training was significantly related to multi-setting child antisocial behavior from ages 5.3 to 9.3 years. Child impulsivity, poor parental discipline, and peer rejection were all significant moderators of that relationship, even in the context of their direct association with trajectories of antisocial behavior and after controlling for deviant peer affiliation. These moderator effects appeared to be associated with children's increased sensitivity to peer modeling and reinforcement of deviant discourse and play. Not all children are equally affected by peer deviancy training, and an array of intervention strategies are described that may serve to protect children from deviant peer influence.     

Propositions for the Study of Moral Personality Development

Most of us have at one point speculated about why one individual grew up to be honest and fair while another became wicked and untrustworthy. In the current review, we present the case that new directions in the empirical study of moral personality development are needed. We set the stage for this future work by presenting six propositions that should serve as the foundation for future research in the field. We conclude by providing an example of how using a more integrative and inclusive framework for studying personality can readily incorporate these propositions.     

Correlates of compassion fatigue and burnout in chaplains and other clergy who responded to the September 11th attacks in New York City

Participants at a June 2002 conference about the September 11th attacks were tested for compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction, and burnout. The sample consisted of 343 clergy, including 97 chaplains. A total of 149 (43.4%) of the participants had responded as disaster-relief workers following the September 11th attacks. The number of hours clergy worked with trauma victims each week was directly related to compassion fatigue among responders and non-responders. Compassion fatigue also was positively related to the number of days that responders worked at Ground Zero, while disaster-relief work with the American Red Cross reduced compassion fatigue and burnout. Clinical Pastoral Education tended to decrease compassion fatigue and burnout and increase compassion satisfaction in both responders and non-responders. Burnout was inversely related to age in both groups.