Using MMPI–2–RF Correlates to Elucidate the PCL–R and Its Four Facets in a Sample of Male Forensic Psychiatric Patients

This study documents the associations between the MMPI–2–RF (Ben-Porath &; Tellegen, 2008 Ben-Porath, Y. S., &; Tellegen, A. (2008). MMPI–2–RF (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2–Restructured Form): Manual for administration and scoring. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. [Google Scholar]) scale scores and the Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL–R; Hare, 2003 Hare, R. D. (2003). The Hare Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (2nd ed.). Toronto, ON, Canada: Multi-Health Systems. [Google Scholar]) facet scores in a forensic psychiatric sample. Objectives were to determine how the MMPI–2–RF scales might enhance substantive understanding of the nature of the 4 PCL–R facets and to discern possible implications for the treatment of psychopathic patients. A sample of 127 male forensic psychiatric offenders admitted to a Dutch forensic psychiatric hospital completed the PCL–R and the MMPI–2. Exploratory stepwise regression analyses assessed the prediction of the PCL–R total and its facet scores from MMPI–2–RF scales at its 3 hierarchical levels. Conceptually meaningful results emerged at each level of the MMPI–2–RF hierarchy, including several consistent differences between predictor sets across the facets. Interestingly, ideas of persecution (RC6) was a specific predictor of PCL–R Facet 2, a facet noted for its association with treatment failure. Results are compared and contrasted to the extant body of empirical work to date, and some tentative clinical implications are offered.     

Computational and behavioral markers of model-based decision making in childhood

Human decision-making is underpinned by distinct systems that differ in flexibility and associated cognitive cost. A widely accepted dichotomy distinguishes between a cheap but rigid model-free system and a flexible but costly model-based system. Typically, humans use a hybrid of both types of decision-making depending on environmental demands. However, children's use of a model-based system during decision-making has not yet been shown. While prior developmental work has identified simple building blocks of model-based reasoning in young children (1–4 years old), there has been little evidence of this complex cognitive system influencing behavior before adolescence. Here, by using a modified task to make engagement in cognitively costly strategies more rewarding, we show that children aged 5–11-years (N = 85), including the youngest children, displayed multiple indicators of model-based decision making, and that the degree of its use increased throughout childhood. Unlike adults (N = 24), however, children did not display adaptive arbitration between model-free and model-based decision-making. Our results demonstrate that throughout childhood, children can engage in highly sophisticated and costly decision-making strategies. However, the flexible arbitration between decision-making strategies might be a critically late-developing component in human development.     

The availability versus the use of partial information: Multiple levels of selective processing between perception and action

Temporal overlap of cognitive processes occurs when partial information about a stimulus activates associated responses before the stimulus has been fully identified. Recent evidence obtained with psychophysiological measures suggests that such overlap sometimes does, and sometimes does not occur. In this contribution, we argue that in order to understand why, we have to distinguish between selection of partial information for perception and selection of partial information for control over activation of responses. We discuss several mechanisms and factors that may modulate the temporal overlap of mental processes because they selectively influence the perceptual availability or the use of partial information.     

Mapping the Personality Psychopathology Five Domains Onto DSM–IV Personality Disorders in Dutch Clinical and Forensic Samples: Implications for DSM–5

The Personality Psychopathology Five (PSY–5) model represents 5 broadband dimensional personality domains that align with the originally proposed DSM–5 personality trait system, which was eventually placed in Section III for further study. The main objective of this study was to examine the associations between the PSY–5 model and personality disorder criteria. More specifically, we aimed to determine if the PSY–5 domain scales converged with the alternative DSM–5 Section III model for personality disorders, with a particular emphasis on the personality trait profiles proposed for each of the specific personality disorder types. Two samples from The Netherlands consisting of clinical patients from a personality disorder treatment program (n = 190) and forensic psychiatric hospital (n = 162) were used. All patients had been administered the MMPI–2 (from which MMPI–2–RF PSY–5 scales were scored) and structured clinical interviews to assess personality disorder criteria. Results based on Poisson or negative binomial regression models showed statistically significant and meaningful associations for the hypothesized PSY–5 domains for each of the 6 personality disorders, with a few minor exceptions that are discussed in detail. Implications for these findings are also discussed.     

Mereology and time travel

Philosophical Studies - Core principles of mereology have been questioned by appealing to time travel scenarios. This paper questions the methodology of employing time travel scenarios to argue...