Forgiveness and religious practice: a study on a sample of Italian preadolescents

Abstract

In this study we examined the gender differences in self-reported forgiving behaviours in a sample of Italian preadolescents (aged 11 to 14 years), who were either involved or not involved in religious practises. Were asked 289 Catholic, Italian preadolescent students were asked about their involvement in the religious practises. They also completed measures of forgiveness, avoidance and revenge motivations. The results showed that forgiveness was negatively correlated to avoidance and revenge, as expected, given that these constructs represent two different forms of non-forgiveness. Avoidance and revenge motivations were positively inter-correlated, highlighting how these forms of non-forgiveness are two distinct, but related pathways, leading away from forgiveness. Regarding age, younger participants reported higher degrees of forgiveness than their older counterparts. Lastly, regarding the association between involvement in one’s faith and gender as predictors of forgiving behaviours, only girls actively practising their faith emerged as significantly more forgiving than the other participants.     

Perceptual Particularity

Perception grounds demonstrative reference, yields singular thoughts, and fixes the reference of singular terms. Moreover, perception provides us with knowledge of particulars in our environment and justifies singular thoughts about particulars. How does perception play these cognitive and epistemic roles in our lives? I address this question by exploring the fundamental nature of perceptual experience. I argue that perceptual states are constituted by particulars and discuss epistemic, ontological, psychologistic, and semantic approaches to account for perceptual particularity.     

Benchmarking Treatment Response in Tourette’s Disorder: A Psychometric Evaluation and Signal Detection Analysis of the Parent Tic Questionnaire

This study assessed the psychometric properties of a parent-reported tic severity measure, the Parent Tic Questionnaire (PTQ), and used the scale to establish guidelines for delineating clinically significant tic treatment response. Participants were 126 children ages 9 to 17 who participated in a randomized controlled trial of Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics (CBIT). Tic severity was assessed using the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS), Hopkins Motor/Vocal Tic Scale (HMVTS) and PTQ; positive treatment response was defined by a score of 1 (very much improved) or 2 (much improved) on the Clinical Global Impressions – Improvement (CGI-I) scale. Cronbach’s alpha and intraclass correlations (ICC) assessed internal consistency and test-retest reliability, with correlations evaluating validity. Receiver- and Quality-Receiver Operating Characteristic analyses assessed the efficiency of percent and raw-reduction cutoffs associated with positive treatment response. The PTQ demonstrated good internal consistency (α = 0.80 to 0.86), excellent test-retest reliability (ICC = .84 to .89), good convergent validity with the YGTSS and HM/VTS, and good discriminant validity from hyperactive, obsessive-compulsive, and externalizing (i.e., aggression and rule-breaking) symptoms. A 55% reduction and 10-point decrease in PTQ Total score were optimal for defining positive treatment response. Findings help standardize tic assessment and provide clinicians with greater clarity in determining clinically meaningful tic symptom change during treatment.     

In the absence of rose-colored glasses: Ratings of self-attributes and their differential certainty and importance across multiple dimensions in social phobia

Sixty-seven individuals with social phobia (social anxiety disorder) and 60 healthy controls rated their perceived standing relative to others on 13 self-attribute dimensions, their level of certainty concerning those standings, and the importance of each dimension. As expected, individuals with social phobia provided self-ratings that were significantly more negative than controls across all dimensions. In addition, positive self-views were equated with higher levels of certainty and importance for controls, but not for individuals with social phobia. Thus, whereas reports of control participants reflected a healthy, positive framing of self-views, the ratings of clinical participants demonstrated an orientation toward self-framing that was neither positive nor negative. Together, these novel findings shed light on the nature of self-appraisals in social anxiety. Implications of these results are discussed in terms of contemporary cognitive-behavioral models of social phobia.     

Boundary and analytic attitude: reflections on a summer holiday break

The effect of a boundary in analytic work at the summer holiday break is discussed in relation to archetypal experiences of exclusion, loss and limitation. Some attempts by patients to mitigate an analyst's act of separation are reviewed as enactments, and in particular the meanings of a gift made by one patient. Analytic attitude towards enactment from within different schools of practice is sketched, with reference to the effect on the analyst of departing from the received practice of their own allegiance. A theory is adumbrated that the discomfort of ‘contravening the rules’ has a useful effect in sparking the analyst into consciousness, with greater attention to salient features in an individual case. Interpretation as an enactment is briefly considered, along with the possible effects of containing the discomfort of a patient's enactment in contrast to confronting it with interpretation.     

Differential effects of reasoning and speed training in children

The goal of this study was to determine whether intensive training can ameliorate cognitive skills in children. Children aged 7 to 9 from low socioeconomic backgrounds participated in one of two cognitive training programs for 60 minutes/day and 2 days/week, for a total of 8 weeks. Both training programs consisted of commercially available computerized and non-computerized games. Reasoning training emphasized planning and relational integration; speed training emphasized rapid visual detection and rapid motor responses. Standard assessments of reasoning ability - the Test of Non-Verbal Intelligence (TONI-3) and cognitive speed (Coding B from WISC IV) - were administered to all children before and after training. Neither group was exposed to these standardized tests during training. Children in the reasoning group improved substantially on TONI (Cohen's d = 1.51), exhibiting an average increase of 10 points in Performance IQ, but did not improve on Coding. By contrast, children in the speed group improved substantially on Coding (d = 1.15), but did not improve on TONI. Counter to widespread belief, these results indicate that both fluid reasoning and processing speed are modifiable by training.