Initial experiences with cognitive therapy of schizophrenic patients

Based on earlier experiences of various groups of authors, we developed and modified a programme of cognitive therapy for schizophrenic patients. The aim of the application of the therapeutic programme to subacute patients was to decrease subjectively perceptible basic disorders and to improve the functions of performance. The present results and experiences with 4 groups consisting of a total of 31 patients encourage us to continue applying cognitive procedures of therapy. Problems of the ascertainment of measuring values and fundamental questions of therapeutic efficacy are discussed.     

Making causal judgments from the proportion of confirming instances: the pCI rule

It is proposed that causal judgments about contingency information are derived from the proportion of confirmatory instances (pCI) that are evaluated as confirmatory for the causal candidate. In 6 experiments, pCI values were manipulated independently of objective contingencies assessed by the deltaP rule. Significant effects of the pCI manipulations were found in all cases, but causal judgments did not vary significantly with objective contingencies when pCI was held constant. The experiments used a variety of stimulus presentation procedures and different dependent measures. The power PC theory, a weighted version of the deltaP rule, the Rescorla-Wagner associative learning model (R. A. Rescorla & A. R Wagner, 1972), and the deltaD rule, which is the frequency-based version of the pCI rule, were unable to account for the significant effects of the pCI manipulations. These results are consistent with a general explanatory approach to causal judgment involving the evaluation of evidence and updating of beliefs with regard to causal hypotheses.     

A unified approach to exploratory factor analysis with missing data,nonnormal data,and in the presence of outliers

Factor analysis is regularly used for analyzing survey data. Missing data, data with outliers and consequently nonnormal data are very common for data obtained through questionnaires. Based on covariance matrix estimates for such nonstandard samples, a unified approach for factor analysis is developed. By generalizing the approach of maximum likelihood under constraints, statistical properties of the estimates for factor loadings and error variances are obtained. A rescaled Bartlett-corrected statistic is proposed for evaluating the number of factors. Equivariance and invariance of parameter estimates and their standard errors for canonical, varimax, and normalized varimax rotations are discussed. Numerical results illustrate the sensitivity of classical methods and advantages of the proposed procedures.This project was supported by a University of North Texas Faculty Research Grant, Grant #R49/CCR610528 for Disease Control and Prevention from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, and Grant DA01070 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The results do not necessarily represent the official view of the funding agencies. The authors are grateful to three reviewers for suggestions that improved the presentation of this paper.     

From the Balint method toward profession-related supervision

This paper focuses on Michael Balint's special application of psychoanalysis, originally conceived as a training of doctors. Then the attempt is made to discover indirectly, since Balint never described his method in context, what he thought mattered in terms of method. Besides Balint's own contributions, those of his own staff are also consulted as well as the cultural background of the Tavistock Clinic and the Tavistock Institute. Then the further developments of the Balint method in the German-speaking world are presented. At the center are the special features of the method: (a) the atmosphere, (b) the narrator's contribution, (c) listening and reactions of the members of the group, (d) the unconscious enactments in transference and countertransference and the mirror-phenomena, respectively. Furthermore, the respective central points of reference are discussed from the viewpoint of communication science: (a) case, (b) group, and (c) institution. In conclusion and based on these foundations, the characteristics of the application of the Balint method in the form of a particular profession-related supervision are presented.     

Reply to critics

Philosophical Studies - I reply to commentaries by Justin Bruner, Robert Sugden and Gerald Gaus. My response to Bruner focuses on conventions of bargaining problems and arguments for characterizing...     

Launching a new journal: Fifty years of the journal of applied social psychology

This paper describes the background and the process leading to the 1970–1971 launch of the Journal of Applied Social Psychology. In the late 1960s, founding editor Dr. Siegfried Streufert had a deep belief in the need to create an outlet for excellent research addressing applications of social psychology to “real-world” problems. He looked forward to marking this milestone year of publication of JASP with this article. Sadly, Siegfried passed away in April 2019, 50 years after developing and implementing the concept for the journal. We present the history as he wrote it, with some editing, in his honor.     

Block's Overflow Argument

This article challenges Block's ‘overflow argument’ for the conclusion that phenomenal consciousness and access‐consciousness are distinct. It shows that the data can be explained just as well (or better) in terms of a distinction between contents that are made globally accessible through bottom–up sensory stimulation and those that are sustained and made available in working memory through top‐down attention.     

Eat,drink, and be merry,for tomorrow we diet: effects of anticipated deprivation on food intake in restrained and unrestrained eaters

This study examined the effect of anticipated food deprivation on intake in restrained and unrestrained eaters. Participants were randomly assigned to a diet condition, in which they expected to diet for a week, or to a control (no-diet) condition. Immediately after being assigned to a condition, participants completed a taste-rating task in which food consumption was measured. Restrained eaters in the diet condition consumed significantly more food than did restrained eaters in the no-diet condition or unrestrained eaters in either condition. Unrestrained eaters consumed the same amount regardless of condition. These results confirm that merely planning to go on a diet can trigger overeating in restrained eaters, reflecting the dynamic connection between dieting and overeating.