Episodic chasing in pathological gamblers using the Iowa gambling task

"Chasing ones losses" is a key symptom among pathological gamblers (PGs). This study focuses on quantitative differences in episodic chasing (i.e., sequences of disadvantageous decisions within a single gambling session) between PGs and non-pathological gamblers (NPGs). We compared 61 PGs and 39 NPGs on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and the Zuckerman Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS). The PGs showed significantly more chasing and had significantly poorer decision-making strategies than NPGs, particularly among males (F = 4.52, p < 0.05). Random players were significantly less sensation seeking than advantageous and disadvantageous (i.e., chasing) players, but there was no interaction with group or gender. The results suggest that quantifiable within-session gambling behavior holds important implications for detecting underlying vulnerabilities to gambling pathology.     

Essener Evaluation der Unterbringung in der Entziehungsanstalt

Over the past 20 years various studies have yielded findings regarding the treatment of offenders in forensic addiction treatment centers in Germany (section 64 of the Penal Code). For a number of reasons these studies hardly allow quantification of the assessment of the rehabilitative success of treatment. In 2009 the Institute of Forensic Psychiatry at the University of Essen, Germany was commissioned to engage in a long-term evaluation study that will be completed in 2017. The project is supported by the Ministry of Health of the State of North-Rhine Westphalia. The present paper summarizes the methodology of the study and draws up an interim balance of the data collection. The study involves the follow-up of 300 patients from 16 forensic mental hospitals from entry into the institution to discharge and further on to living in the community including a“time at risk of at least 2 years. A number of these patients will drop out of treatment by being sent back to prison. The rate of criminal recidivism in the complete group of subjects will be compared to a matched control group of 300 offenders serving a prison sentence only. Potential error sources related to the data collection are discussed in the paper.     

Implicational Meaning (Re)Creation in Bereavement as a Lifeworld Dialogue: An Existential–Constructivist Perspective

This article draws on Robert A. Neimeyer's work on meaning reconstruction in bereavement, focusing on an aspect of meaning that has elsewhere been termed implicational meaning and developing an account of relevant meaning-making processes against the background of existential understandings of the 4-dimensional lifeworld structure. The article emphasizes that meaning reconstruction in bereavement can be seen as a deeply emotional, transactional, and creative process, which implies verbal and nonverbal dialogue and transformation across multiple layers and dimensions that can be seen to constitute the person and their lifeworld.     

So close and yet so far away: A psychological distance account of the effectiveness of leader appeals

Contradictory recommendations persist on how leaders best communicate goals to followers. Whereas scholars of visionary leadership recommend emphasizing the desirability of preferred end‐states, scholars of goal setting argue that the perceived feasibility of a goal determines motivation. This paper proposes and tests a synthesis based on construal level theory. Under relatively high (i.e., abstract) levels of construal, such as when leader–follower distance is relatively large, leader appeals that emphasize desirability (i.e., desirable appeals) are more likely to be effective than appeals that emphasize feasibility (i.e., feasible appeals). Under relatively low (i.e., concrete) levels of construal, such as when leader–follower distance is relatively small, feasible appeals are more likely to be effective. Two experimental studies in two different countries provide support for our predictions.     

Muslims Love Jesus,Too? Corrective Information Alters Prejudices Against Islam

The present study examined whether prejudices towards Islam can be altered through corrective information. A total of 1715 German participants were first asked to appraise their opinions towards Judaism, Christianity and Islam (the ratings pertained to progressiveness, tolerance, peacefulness). Subsequently, questions regarding knowledge about religious topics were posed to participants. Questions were selected to elicit common prejudices pertaining to Islam. The correct answers were then displayed along with detailed explanations. Finally, participants were asked to rate their current opinion towards the three religions once again. Opinions towards Islam were largely negative at baseline but improved significantly after presentation of the correct answers. The present study suggests that prejudices against Islam are partially fueled by knowledge gaps.     

Einfluss des Behandlungssettings auf den Gesundungsverlauf

Even though managed care systems research emerged as an important field in psychotherapy research in the last years, studies examining the effects of its psychotherapeutic measures on outcome are still rare, especially in Germany. Little is known about the effectiveness of psychotherapy in different treatment settings, i. e. whether and how patients in outpatient psychotherapy differ from inpatients in respect to initial impairment status and pace of improvement. Two longitudinal data sets—inpatient (N=759) and outpatient (N=521)—were used to scrutinize these questions. Results yielded no differences between treatment settings as to patients’ initial impairment. A linear model adequately represented the mean course of improvement in inpatient psychotherapy. For outpatient psychotherapy, a bipartite linear model for treatment and for the follow-up period proved more appropriate. During 1 year, patients in both settings attained a similar amount of improvement. However, pace of in-treatment improvement was 10 times faster in the inpatient setting. Initial impairment substantially predicted the course of psychological improvement in both treatment settings.     

Logic programs and connectionist networks

One facet of the question of integration of Logic and Connectionist Systems, and how these can complement each other, concerns the points of contact, in terms of semantics, between neural networks and logic programs. In this paper, we show that certain semantic operators for propositional logic programs can be computed by feedforward connectionist networks, and that the same semantic operators for first-order normal logic programs can be approximated by feedforward connectionist networks. Turning the networks into recurrent ones allows one also to approximate the models associated with the semantic operators. Our methods depend on a well-known theorem of Funahashi, and necessitate the study of when Funahashi's theorem can be applied, and also the study of what means of approximation are appropriate and significant.     

Skilled German Migrants and Their Motives for Migration Within Europe

German migration within Europe has so far received little attention from researchers. This is especially true of migrants with intermediate qualifications (vocational training, technical school, master craftsman’s certificate). The present contribution is devoted to this phenomenon and examines the reasons why people belonging to this particular group migrate. To do this we pick up on central theoretical arguments in migration research, on the basis of which we examine the relevance of economic and social factors for Germans who migrate within Europe. It emerges that, empirically, for Germans with intermediate qualifications, economic factors are crucial. In particular, unemployment, low or falling wages, as well as poor working conditions in Germany constitute important push factors, while job offers, higher wages and better working conditions in the destination countries constitute the main pull factors. In comparison, social networks are less important factors in migration, since only in a few cases did the interviewees have solid contacts abroad. The empirical results of the study are based on the analysis of available population statistics and 40 problem-centred, biographical interviews carried out between October 2006 and April 2007 in various regions of Germany (Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Bremen, Lower Saxony, Berlin).     

Automatic processing of pain: the change of implicit pain associations after psychotherapy

This study explores the utility of a pain IAT for the assessment of dysfunctional cognitive beliefs in chronic pain patients before and after a cognitive behaviour therapy. A patient group suffering from chronic pain (N=25) treated with a 4-week cognitive behavioural psychotherapy is compared with an untreated healthy control group (N=27) at two points in time. In addition, both groups completed a self-esteem questionnaire (Rosenberg-scale) and a self-esteem IAT. In the clinical group a questionnaire assessing self-reported pain cognitions was administered. The pain IAT was able to differentiate between chronic pain patients and healthy controls before the treatment. Most important, pain-related implicit associations could be shown to change over the course of treatment in the clinical group of chronic pain patients. Results provide first evidence for an application of the IAT in chronic pain research.