Centered assertion

I suggest a way of extending Stalnaker’s account of assertion to allow for centered content. In formulating his account, Stalnaker takes the content of assertion to be uncentered propositions: entities that are evaluated for truth at a possible world. I argue that the content of assertion is sometimes centered: the content is evaluated for truth at something within a possible world. I consider Andy Egan’s proposal for extending Stalnaker’s account to allow for assertions with centered content. I argue that Egan’s account does not succeed. Instead, I propose an account on which the contents of assertion are identified with sets of multi-centered worlds. I argue that such a view not only provides a plausible account of how assertions can have centered content, but also preserves Stalnaker’s original insight that successful assertion involves the reduction of shared possibilities.     

Temporal isolation effects in recognition and serial recall

Recent temporal distinctiveness models of memory predict that temporally isolated items will be recalled better than temporally crowded items. The effect has been found in some tasks (free recall, memory for serial order when report order is unconstrained, running memory span) but not in others (forward serial recall). Such results suggest that the attentional weighting given to a temporal dimension in memory may vary with task demands. Here, we find robust temporal isolation effects in recognition memory (Experiment 1) and a smaller isolation effect in forward serial recall when an open pool of items is used (Experiment 2). Analysis of 26 temporal isolation effects suggests that the phenomenon occurs in a range of tasks but is larger when it is useful to attend to a temporal dimension in memory. The overall pattern of results is taken to favor memory models that rely on multiple weighted dimensions in memory, one of which is temporal.     

Responses of an Aged Population on the Gerontological and Thematic Apperception Tests

GAT and TAT themes of normals with an age range of 59–94 years were analyzed to determine the comparative efficacy of each instrument to elicit themes depicting loss of sexuality, loss of attractiveness, family difficulties, physical limitations, and dependency. In only the area of physical limitations, did the GAT more successfully elicit relevant themes than did the TAT.     

Construct Validity of the Social Physique Anxiety Scale in a French Adolescent Sample

The present study explored the validity of constriction as an indicator of depression. Twenty-five patients displaying constriction in their Bender records and 25 patients not showing this indicator were compared with regard to MMPI Depression scores. A significant difference was found between D scores of these two groups (p<.05), supporting the validity of the indicator as an index of depression. Constriction was found to be infrequent, occurring in only 5.5% of the patient records. Although the indicator seems to be of some value as an indicator of depression its utility is lessened due its low rate of occurrence.     

Transference Focused Psychotherapy for Patients with Comorbid Narcissistic and Borderline Personality Disorder

Clinical experience involving the treatment of patients with comorbid borderline and narcissistic personality disorders suggests that this patient population is among the more difficult to treat within the personality disorder spectrum. In this article, we present refinements of Transference Focused Psychotherapy (TFP) based on our clinical experience with and research data on patients with comorbid narcissistic personality disorder/borderline personality disorder (NPD/BPD). We briefly review object relations formulations of severe narcissistic pathology, as well as recent research in attachment and the allied concept of mentalization, which have provided a new lens through which to view narcissistic disorders. The research findings from two randomized clinical trials demonstrating the efficacy and effectiveness of TFP are presented. The data from the two Randomized Clinical Trials (RCT) allowed for the study of the characteristics of the subgroup of borderline personality disorder patients who have comorbid NPD/BPD. Findings on comorbidity, attachment status, capacity for mentalization, and level of personality organization of borderline patients with comorbid NPD/BPD, compared with borderline patients without comorbid narcissistic pathology (BPD), are presented. Clinical implications of the observed group differences are discussed, with a focus on refinements in the technique of TFP. Clinical case material is presented to illustrate the specific challenges posed by narcissistic patients to carrying out TFP in each phase of treatment.     

The Importance of Exercise and Dimension Factors in Assessment Centers: Simultaneous Examinations of Construct-Related and Criterion-Related Validity

This study presents a simultaneous examination of multiple evidential bases of the validity of assessment center (AC) ratings. In particular, we combine both construct-related and criterion-related validation strategies in the same sample to determine the relative importance of exercises and dimensions. We examine the underlying structure of ACs in terms of exercise and dimension factors while directly linking these factors to a work-related criterion (salary). Results from an AC (N = 753) showed that exercise factors not only explained more variance in AC ratings than dimension factors but also were more important in predicting salary. Dimension factors explained a smaller albeit significant portion of the variance in AC ratings and had lower validity for predicting salary. The implications of these findings for AC theory, practice, and research are discussed.     

Internistische Psychosomatik

Die psychische Komorbidität internistischer Patienten im Sinne einer ICD-Diagnose des Kapitels F beträgt mehr als 35%: Neurotische, besonders somatoforme, Schmerz-, affektive Störungen und Suchterkrankungen sind häufig. Die Liegedauer ist bei psychischer Komorbidität deutlich erhöht. Es benötigen 5% der internistischen Patienten ein psychosomatisches Konsil. Neue, komplexe Behandlungsstrategien, wie Transplantationen, Kardioverter-Defibrillatoren, Medikamentenpumpen, erfordern häufig spezifische psychosoziale Interventionen. Ältere Patienten haben Erkrankungen, die zunehmend chronifizieren und komplexer werden. Damit werden Lebensqualität und psychische Komorbidität zu zentralen Outcomevariablen der Volkskrankheiten. Das zweite große Aufgabenfeld internistischer Psychosomatik ist die Untersuchung und die Behandlung psychosomatischer Patienten im engeren Sinne (Essstörungen, Schmerz- und somatoforme Störungen), weil internistische Diagnostik und Therapie erforderlich oder die Motivation der Patienten primär somatisch ist. Organisationsmodelle reichen von Konsil-/Liaisondiensten bis zu integrierten psychosomatischen Abteilungen oder Fachabteilungen an Allgemeinkrankenhäusern. Aussichtsreiche Forschungsstrategien werden neben der Erforschung psychosomatischer Mechanismen in der Entwicklung pragmatischer Behandlungsprogramme, ihrer Überprüfung in klinischen Studien und der Versorgungsforschung gesehen. Darüber hinaus sollte eine Intensivierung nationaler und internationaler Forschungsnetze erfolgen, wenn immer möglich unter Beteiligung anderer Disziplinen, um auch im Bereich der Forschung konkurrenzfähig zu bleiben.     

Effects of Accountability on Rating Behavior and Rater Accuracy

We tested whether improvements in rater accuracy on a performance-appraisal task attributed to rater accountability could be explained by variance in rater behavior. Data from Mero and Motowidlo (1995) were used initially to test whether observed improvements in rater accuracy could be explained by rating process behaviors of attending to relevant subordinate performance and taking better notes to record that performance. Results showed that both behaviors were correlated with accuracy and that these behaviors partially mediated the relationship between accountability and improved decision quality for participants who were held accountable for their rating decision and did not have any preconceived information about that rating from their supervisor. We then tested this process model on a new sample of participants and found that attentiveness and notetaking mediated the relationship between accountability and accuracy.