The Belief in a Just World: An Examination of Reliability Estimates Across Three Measures

This paper presents a model for viewing assessment from nine vantage points simultaneously. Each of these dimensions or 'parameters' is divided into sublevels. The power and usefulness of the resultant model stems from the variety of possible unique interactions among these dimensions and their sublevels. The model has the following useful properties: (a) it provides a multidimensional definition of several aspects of psychological assessment, (b) it serves as a checklist and guide for the criticism of existing psychological tests and measures, (c) it has potential heuristic value in the generation of new measures and tests, (d) it is flexible, in that new parameters may be added and sublevels changed to suit specific needs, and (e) it is presented visually as a spatial model, thus allowing the Viewer a more "concrete" appreciation of what are really theoretical interactions.     

Vector subtraction implemented neurally: a neurocomputational model of some sequential cognitive and conscious processes

Although great progress in neuroanatomy and physiology has occurred lately, we still cannot go directly to those levels to discover the neural mechanisms of higher cognition and consciousness. But we can use neurocomputational methods based on these details to push this project forward. Here we describe vector subtraction as an operation that computes sequential paths through high-dimensional vector spaces. Vector-space interpretations of network activity patterns are a fruitful resource in recent computational neuroscience. Vector subtraction also appears to be implemented neurally in primate frontal eye field activity, which computes dimensions of saccadic eye movements. We use this apparent neural implementation as a model and construct from it a general neurocomputational account of an important type of sequential cognitive and conscious process. We defend the biological plausibility of all components of the general model and show that it yields testable anatomical and physiological predictions. We close by suggesting some interesting consequences for consciousness if our model characterizes correctly the neural mechanisms producing a common type of episode in our conscious streams.     

Predictors of Suicide‐Related Hospitalization among U.S. Veterans Receiving Treatment for Comorbid Depression and Substance Dependence

This study examined whether widely accepted suicide risk factors are useful in predicting suicide-related hospitalization, beyond history of a suicide attempt, in high-risk treatment-seeking veterans with depression and substance dependence. Negative mood regulation expectancies were the only significant predictor of hospitalization during 6-months of outpatient treatment. History of a suicide attempt was the only significant predictor of hospitalization during the one-year follow-up period. Results suggest that within high-risk populations, standard suicide risk factors may not identify individuals who will engage in suicidal behaviors resulting in hospitalization. Assessing negative mood regulation expectations may assist in identifying those most at risk.     

Physicalism and the Via Negativa

Some philosophers have suggested that, instead of attempting to arrive at a satisfactory definition of the physical, we should adopt the ‘via negativa.’ That is, we should take the notion of the mental as fundamental, and define the physical in contrast, as the non-mental. I defend a variant of this approach, based on some information about how children form concepts. I suggest we are hard-wired to form a concept of intentional agency from a very young age, and so there’s some reason to believe that our concept of the physical does include, as part of its content, a contrast with the mental.     

Local synthesis of proteins at synaptic sites on dendrites: role in synaptic plasticity and memory consolidation?

Long-lasting forms of memory are thought to be mediated by modifications in synapses that are induced by particular patterns of activity, take time to be established (consolidated), and involve new gene expression. The molecular mechanisms underlying such long-lasting synaptic modifications remain to be defined. Here, we focus on new findings regarding synapse-specific gene expression and especially the intracellular transport and synaptic targeting of the mRNA for a recently identified immediate early gene called activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein (Arc). Arc mRNA is transported into dendrites after episodes of neuronal activation. The newly synthesized Arc mRNA localizes selectively at synapses that have experienced particular patterns of activity, and this targeting depends on NMDA receptor activation. Arc protein is assembled into the postsynaptic junction, and Arc expression is strongly induced by brief behavioral experiences in select populations of neurons. These features of Arc induction and trafficking reveal novel cellular mechanisms that are well suited to mediate long-term synapse-specific modifications. We will review findings from other laboratories that both LTP and memory are disrupted when Arc induction is blocked, and we will discuss the possibility that Arc protein may play a key role in activity-dependent synaptic modification.     

Initial goals,goal trajectories,and changes in perceived resolvability during serial arguments

This study examined how dyadic patterns of goal importance during a serial argument interaction predict changes in perceptions of argument resolvability over the course of a specific episode. Seventy romantic couples engaged in a 7‐min discussion of a current serial argument and used a video‐assisted recall method to report their goals at each minute. Although arguers' initial goals did not predict changes in perceptions of resolvability, increases in a partner's endorsement of partner‐identity goals predicted increases in individuals' own perceptions of resolvability. Conversely, increases in a partner's endorsement of self‐identity goals predicted declines in individuals' perceived resolvability. Results suggest that trajectories of identity‐focused goals during serial argument episodes may shape the progress of argument perceptions toward or away from resolvability.     

Can I Trust My Co-worker? Examining Correctional Officers’ Perceptions of Staff–Inmates Inappropriate Relationships within a Southern Penitentiary System

Recently, Joyce Mitchell, a correctional employee in New York, confessed to assisting two dangerous murderers in an elaborate escape attempt. While our study does not focus on correctional officers who admit to such deviant behaviors, it examines correctional officers’ perceptions of boundary violations committed by their co-workers. Using a macro-level ecological framework as our theoretical perspective, namely Sampson, Raudenbush, and Earl’s (1997) theory of collective efficacy, we surmise that organizational factors such as strong supervision and peer support can build mutual trust in prison environments where correctional officers perceive their jobs to be dangerous and stressful. Our findings have important implications for the management of correctional facilities as well as for the contemporary development and significance of the theory of collective efficacy.     

The impact of violations on uncertainty and the consequences for attractiveness

This investigation aimed at extending past research on expectation violations by arguing that violations vary both in valance and in their influence on uncertainty and that the combination of valence and uncertainty states conjointly influences judgments of a violator's social attractiveness. In explaining the predicted variance in uncertainty following violations, a distinction is proposed between congruent violations (i.e., behaviors that are more intense instantiations of a previously displayed message) and incongruent violations (i.e., behaviors that are opposite in meaning from previously displayed messages). Five models for explaining violation effects are contrasted. Results (a) confirm that violations differ in their impact on uncertainty, (b) generally support the validity of the proposed distinction between congruent and incongruent violations, and show that the inclusion of uncertainty and valence in models of violation outcomes accounts for greater variance in social attraction than either one separately.     

Guards as Embezzlers: The Consequences of “Nonshareable Problems” in Prison Settings

The purpose of this paper is to examine the pandering activities of pimps and to formulate a critique of the concept of pandering. First, popular perceptions of the phenomenon are described in terms of a case story. Information on preferred recruitment sites (e.g., bus terminals) and standard modes of operation (talk, drugs, and violence) is provided. Next, the results of two exploratory studies are reported. Police perspectives are revealed through a survey of Port Authority police officers. An attempt to generate pandering is carried out by means of participant observation. These studies yield contradictory information, and an attempt to institute a compromise moves the analysis to the question of control, specifically whether prostitutes are victims or volunteers. Upon analysis, the relationships that previously constituted the process of pandering and the activities that usually characterized the pimp's role are reversed. Finally, perspectives on the social construction of the pandering reality are summarized.     

Attitudes of adolescents toward adolescent psychiatric treatment

Perceptions held by adolescents about the value and social stigma of both psychiatric hospitalization and outpatient therapy for adolescents are examined. Perceptions about preferred forms of treatment for specific adolescent problems are also analyzed. The results indicate that attitudes are significantly influenced by proximity to treatment setting, i.e., adolescents currently being treated are more positive than adolescents who have been previously or never treated. Contextual and attributional explanations are considered.