A Non-Verbal Technique for Assessing Frustration Response in Pre-School Children

The present study represents a report of the initial development of a picture method for assessing response to frustration in preschool children. Study 1 (N = 91) included the initial development of the picture materials; it also produced some validational support for the picture method in the form of significant correlations between picture choices and extensive behavior observations. Study 2 (N = 49) was designed to be essentially a replication of Study 1. In addition, further validational support was sought through the correlation of picture choices with global teacher ratings of the behaviors of interest.     

Changes in Defensiveness and in Affective Distress Following Inpatient Treatment of Eating Disorders: Rorschach Comprehensive System and Self-Report Measures

Our objective in this study was to develop a Chinese version of the Responses to Stress Questionnaire (RSQ; Connor-Smith, Compas, Wadsworth, Thomsen, and Saltzman, 2000) and to evaluate its reliability and validity. The Chinese (C) RSQ (RSQ–C) exhibited moderate internal consistency and moderate test–retest reliability. Results of the confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the fit of a 3-factor model of voluntary coping and a separate 2-factor model of involuntary responses to stress were acceptable for the Chinese university sample. With regard to predictive validity, the Primary and Secondary Control Engagement Coping factors were associated with lower levels of depressive and anxious symptoms, whereas the Disengagement, Involuntary Engagement, and Involuntary Disengagement Coping factors were associated with higher levels of such symptoms.     

Rape impact: Immediately and two months later

This paper analyzes assault victims’ reactions over the course of two months. Specifically, reaction types are analyzed across four dimensions: behavioral changes, interpersonal difficulties, physical symptoms, and emotional responses. Initially, most rape victims report fairly high levels of disruption across three of the four reaction types, with some signs of recovery two months later. Patterns of reactions are also exhibited. At the two month follow‐up, behavioral changes, physical symptoms, and emotional responses have declined, while interpersonal difficulties have increased slightly. These data suggest that the present service delivery system of the rape crisis center may be problematic in that they offer only short‐term intervention. Some victims of rape may require a different type of service from such centers.     

How many notions of necessity?

Evans distinguishes between superficial necessity and deep necessity in his analysis of the contingent a priori. The distinction between these two notions of necessity is formalized by Davies and Humberstone through the addition of the operator Fixedly to Actuality Modal Logic (AML, S5A), where deep necessity is represented by the combination Fixedly Actually. Wehmeier’s Subjunctive Modal Logic (SML) provides an extension of the expressive capacity of ordinary modal predicate logic alternative to AML. I add Fixedly to SML and show that in the system SML with Fixedly the distinction between deep and superficial necessity disappears. I conclude that the existence of the distinction between deep and superficial necessity, as well as the existence of the contingent a priori, cannot be asserted independently of the choice of background logic.     

Trauma Exposure in Anxious Primary Care Patients

The present study examined rates of trauma exposure, clinical characteristics associated with trauma exposure, and the effect of trauma exposure on treatment outcome in a large sample of primary care patients without posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Individuals without PTSD (N?=?1,263) treated as part of the CALM program (Roy-Byrne et al., Journal of the American Medical Association 303(19)1921–1928, 2010) were assessed for presence of trauma exposure. Those with and without trauma exposure were compared on baseline demographic and diagnostic information, symptom severity, and responder status six months after beginning treatment. Trauma-exposed individuals (N?=?662, 53 %) were more likely to meet diagnostic criteria for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and had higher levels of somatic symptoms at baseline. Individuals with and without trauma exposure did not differ significantly on severity of anxiety, depression, or mental health functioning at baseline. Trauma exposure did not significantly impact treatment response. Findings suggest that adverse effects of trauma exposure in those without PTSD may include OCD and somatic anxiety symptoms. Treatment did not appear to be adversely impacted by trauma exposure. Thus, although trauma exposure is prevalent in primary care samples, results suggest that treatment of the presenting anxiety disorder is effective irrespective of trauma history.     

The Action of God in the World—A Synthesis of Process Thought in Science and Theology

A foundational belief of monotheistic religions is that God acts in the world. In this paper, the case is made that divine action has its origins in the molecular world. Within a metaphysical framework of process thought, a hypothesis is constructed in which God's action in the world, God's ‘initial aim’ for all actualities, is divine motivation of chemical becoming.     

Perfect visual short-term memory for periodic patterns

Abstract

The short-term memory for spatial frequency information was assessed by measuring the spatial frequency discrimination thresholds for briefly flashed luminance gratings as a function of the time interval between the test and reference gratings, using a computer-controlled two-interval forced-choice procedure. Discrimination thresholds were stable for interstimulus intervals in the range 1–30 sec under all conditions tested. At low contrasts, short exposure times and low spatial frequencies discrimination thresholds increased, but no interactions between stimulus parameters affecting thresholds and interstimulus interval were observed. It is concluded that factors limiting spatial discrimination are associated with the sensory coding stage. Spatial discrimination and visual memory may be based on a common representation, which is perfectly retained in short-term memory. Visual half-field tests revealed no hemispheric differences in the processing and retention of spatial frequency information.