Slow Cortical Potential Versus Live Z-score Neurofeedback in Children and Adolescents with ADHD: A Multi-arm Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial with Active and Passive Comparators

Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology - Neurofeedback (NF) as a treatment for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has been evaluated in several trials, but the specificity...     

What’s Wrong with the Adequacy-argument? A Pragmatic Diagnosis

When confronted with the question of which philosophical conception of religion to consider most adequate, many philosophers appeal to what I call the adequacy-argument: that we should prefer the one that looks most adequate from the perspective of religious believers. In this paper, I provide a critique of the adequacy-argument based on a pragmatic analysis of adequacy-judgments according to which reflective adequacy-judgments are forward-looking, and hence include considerations of the consequences of adopting different judgments as guides for conduct. It is this forward-looking character that is virtually absent within the current adequacy-debate. The major advantage of a pragmatic analysis of adequacy is itself forward-looking: it would enable philosophers of religion to play a more critical and constructive role vis-à-vis religious practices than presently.     

Do men with excessive alcohol consumption and social stability have an addictive personality?

The existence of an "addictive" personality has been extensively debated. The current study investigated personality in male individuals with excessive alcohol consumption (n=100) in comparison to a population-based control group (n=131). The individuals with excessive alcohol consumption were recruited by advertisements in a regional daily newspaper and controls from a population based Swedish Twin Registry. Personality was assessed by the Karolinska Scales of Personality (KSP). Comparisons were made with normative data. Furthermore, by using a multivariate projection-based approach (Principal Component Analysis; PCA), hidden structures of traits and possible relationships among the individuals with excessive consumption and the controls was investigated. The individuals with excessive alcohol consumption as well as the controls had mean values within the normative range in all scales of the KSP. Moreover, the PCA analysis revealed no systematic between-group separation. Taken together, this result demonstrates that male individuals with excessive alcohol consumption do not have a personality different from that of a general population, which supports the notion of no "addictive personality".     

How does green suit me? Consumers mentally match perceived product attributes with their domain‐specific motives when making green purchase decisions

Nowadays, environment‐friendly products are widely accepted by society. However, market share of sustainable technologies demanding higher investments or behavioral changes is rather small, indicating that consumers seem to generally approve of sustainable products, but rarely perceive them as being compatible with their needs. The present research introduces a model emphasizing the importance of consumers perceiving the product as being suitable to match their motives relevant to the product domain. In investigating a sample of 531 car drivers, the hypothesized model was tested in the realm of a highly relevant sustainable product: electric vehicles (EVs). Findings based on structural equation modeling showed that participants' perceived matching with EV attributes was related to their domain‐specific motives (hedonic, freedom, ecological, and financial motives) and a global preference towards the product. Specific to sustainable products, ecological motives strongly influenced participants' matching processes by positively affecting perceived matching with all product attributes. Participants' purchase intentions, in turn, were strongly affected by their perceived matching of the product with their motives. The added value of the model with respect to self‐image theories and implications for sustainable product marketing are examined through discussion. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Against Boghossian, Wright and Broome on inference

I argue that the accounts of inference recently presented (in this journal) by Paul Boghossian, John Broome, and Crispin Wright are unsatisfactory. I proceed in two steps: First, in Sects. 1 and 2, I argue that we should not accept what Boghossian calls the “Taking Condition on inference” as a condition of adequacy for accounts of inference. I present a different condition of adequacy and argue that it is superior to the one offered by Boghossian. More precisely, I point out that there is an analog of Moore’s Paradox for inference; and I suggest that explaining this phenomenon is a condition of adequacy for accounts of inference. Boghossian’s Taking Condition derives its plausibility from the fact that it apparently explains the analog of Moore’s Paradox. Second, in Sect. 3, I show that neither Boghossian’s, nor Broome’s, nor Wright’s account of inference meets my condition of adequacy. I distinguish two kinds of mistake one is likely to make if one does not focus on my condition of adequacy; and I argue that all three—Boghossian, Broome, and Wright—make at least one of these mistakes.     

Electromagnetic tracking of motion in the proximity of computer generated graphical stimuli: A tutorial

Electromagnetic motion-tracking systems have the advantage of capturing the tempo-spatial kinematics of movements independently of the visibility of the sensors. However, they are limited in that they cannot be used in the proximity of electromagnetic field sources, such as computer monitors. This prevents exploiting the tracking potential of the sensor system together with that of computer-generated visual stimulation. Here we present a solution for presenting computer-generated visual stimulation that does not distort the electromagnetic field required for precise motion tracking, by means of a back projection medium. In one experiment, we verify that cathode ray tube monitors, as well as thin-film-transistor monitors, distort electro-magnetic sensor signals even at a distance of 18 cm. Our back projection medium, by contrast, leads to no distortion of the motion-tracking signals even when the sensor is touching the medium. This novel solution permits combining the advantages of electromagnetic motion tracking with computer-generated visual stimulation.     

Visual consciousness: dissociating the neural correlates of perceptual transitions from sustained perception with fMRI

To investigate the possible dichotomy between the neurophysiological bases of perceptual transitions versus sustaining a particular percept over time, an fMRI study was conducted with subjects viewing fragmented pictures. Unlike most other perceptually unstable stimuli, fragmented pictures give rise to only one perceptual transition and a continuous period of sustained perception. Earlier research is inconclusive on the subject of which anatomical regions should be attributed to what temporal aspect of perception, and the aim of the present study was to shed more light on the subject. In this study occipitotemporal and fronto-parietal regions were found to be activated for both aspects. However, regions in the medial-temporal lobe were activated specifically for transitions, whereas medial and dorsolateral prefrontal regions were activated specifically for sustained perception. These results provide further support for the theory that the initial creation of perceptual awareness and upholding perceptual awareness over time are separate processes involving different brain regions.     

Twelve-month-olds point to share attention and interest

Infants point for various motives. Classically, one such motive is declarative, to share attention and interest with adults to events. Recently, some researchers have questioned whether infants have this motivation. In the current study, an adult reacted to 12-month-olds' pointing in different ways, and infants' responses were observed. Results showed that when the adult shared attention and interest (i.e alternated gaze and emoted), infants pointed more frequently across trials and tended to prolong each point--presumably to prolong the satisfying interaction. However, when the adult emoted to the infant alone or looked only to the event, infants pointed less across trials and repeated points more within trials--presumably in an attempt to establish joint attention. Results suggest that 12-month-olds point declaratively and understand that others have psychological states that can be directed and shared.     

The development of a systemic school-based intervention: Marte Meo and coordination meetings

Antisocial behavior is often persistent, and in addition to causing suffering to children and their families, it also poses considerable costs for society. Children who display externalizing behavior in their early years run a high risk of having severe problems later in life. There is a need for treatment methods that may be used in various settings because these children constitute a group that is hard to reach with conventional treatment methods. In addition, the dropout rate from ordinary treatment is often high. In the present study, a systemic school-based model for early detection and intervention among 4-12-year-old children who displayed externalizing behavior problems was developed and examined in a nonrandomized study in the county of Skaraborg in Sweden. The intervention was collaborative and included a combination of the Marte Meo model and coordination meetings based on systemic theory and practice. Treatment effects in the group who had received the intervention were compared with a group who had received treatment as usual in their ordinary school setting. Assessments were carried out before, and 2 years after, the intervention. For the intervention group (N = 33), there was a significant decrease in the children's reported symptoms in school and in the home. No decrease in externalizing behavior was found in the comparison group (N = 16). There were no dropouts in the intervention group after the intervention had begun. The results are promising; the study demonstrates that it is possible to work effectively with many children who display externalizing behavior problems in a nonclinical setting.