Modeling the symptoms of psychopathology: A pluralistic approach

Our understanding of mental disorders has traditionally focused on syndromes and symptom clusters rather than on the nature of the symptom and signs themselves. Using a core symptom of depression, anhedonia, as an extended example, this paper illustrates how the development of multiple models of symptoms, at various scales of analysis, may advance the explanation and classification of mental disorders. We begin by outlining the Phenomena Detection Method (PDM), which links different phases of the inquiry process to provide a methodology for conceptualizing the symptoms of psychopathology and for constructing multi-level models of the pathological processes that comprise them. Next, we apply the PDM to anhedonia, building a compositional explanation of this core symptom by way of multiple models across four scales (levels): molecular, neural, cognitive, and phenomenological. Finally, we evaluate our approach in comparison to existing strategies for understanding mental disorders.     

楚竹书《孔子诗论》“类序”辨析

通过对楚竹书《孔子诗论》的分析,结合对《诗经》文本形成过程的探讨,得出《诗经》之部类及其类序为《风》、《小雅》、《大雅》、《颂》的结论,同时厘清孔子、《孔子诗论》和《毛诗》在文本方面的关系。《诗经》的结集经历了一个过程,其分类由来已久;未曾更改。《诗》“类序”的形成也具有一定的历史性,是在《诗》文本编辑过程中自然形成的。孔子在整理《诗经》的过程中并不存在一个前提性的“编序”原则,所谓孔子“删诗”,只是对诗篇做些必要的一般性古籍整理而已。至于出土文献《孔子诗论》中偶尔出现的颠倒《诗》“类序”的论述亦属正常,并不能说明孔子曾编有与传统《诗》“类序”相反的文本,也不能否定《毛诗》文本具有一定的历史延续性,更不能由此说明《孔子诗论》中出现“类序颠倒”具有更为不可测知的寓意。     

I have cried to Him a thousand times,but it makes no difference: sexual abuse,faith, and images of God

Experiences of sexual abuse may lead to religious struggles and affect a person's faith. This study focused on how victims of sexual abuse describe their relationships with God and with other parishioners. Our interest was in sexual abuse that had occurred outside the religious congregation, not abuse perpetrated by a minister or any other representative of the church. Interviews conducted with seven women and one man were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. The informants described a wavering relationship with God and with the congregation. They felt that God had betrayed and abandoned them, and they struggled with different aspects of anger. These emotions made the informants feel different from, and sometimes excluded from, the Christian community. Along with these feelings, however, the informants expressed a strong longing for God and a need to feel protected by the congregation. All informants described the effect the abuse had on their faith as essential to their trauma, and as an issue they needed to work through to learn how to live with their experiences.     

The long-term effect of relational information in classification learning

This study examines the long-term effect of mutual information in the learning of Shepardian classifications. Mutual information is a measure of the complexity of the relationship between features because it quantifies how the features relate to each other. For instance, in various categorisation models, Type VI concepts—originally studied by Shepard, Hovland, and Jenkins (1961)—are unanimously judged to be the most complex kind of 3-D Boolean concepts. This has been largely confirmed by empirical data. Yet, it is apparently inconsistent with the fact that this concept entails the greatest amount of mutual information of all the 3-D Boolean concepts. The present study was aimed at verifying whether individuals can use relational information, in the long run, to devise easier strategies for category learning. Subject performance was measured repeatedly for 1 hour on either successive Type VI concepts (using different features between problems) or successive Type IV concepts. The results showed that shortly after the second problem, Type VI concepts became easier to learn than Type IV ones. The gap between the mean per-problem error rates of the two concepts continued to increase as the number of problems increased. Two other experiments tended to confirm this trend. The discussion brings up the idea of combining different metrics in categorisation models in order to include every possible way for subjects to simplify the categorisation process.     

Math Weaknesses in Survivors of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Compared to Healthy Children

Difficulties in math are the most frequently reported area of academic deficit in survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and the most frequent academic complaint among parents of ALL survivors. However, previous studies that included measures of math skills have been limited by the use of only a single measure of math skills, most often a measure of written calculations, without any assessment of math reasoning or math application skills. Further, the nature of these math difficulties has not been adequately investigated. The purpose of this study was to examine the performance of ALL survivors using multiple measures of math skills. Performance was compared to a group of healthy controls matched for age and sex as well as to normative levels. Other measures of neuropsychological function were also administered, and the relationships between these measures and the math measures were explored. Converging evidence for math difficulties in ALL survivors compared to healthy controls and normative levels was found. While ALL survivors generally performed within the average range on measures of math skills, math performance was mostly related to memory function and dominant-hand psychomotor speed. By contrast, math performance of healthy children was mostly related to basic reading skills and visual-motor integration. These findings shed light on the nature of math difficulties in ALL survivors and have implications for intervention.     

Associations between abstainer,moderate and heavy drinker prototypes and drinking behaviour in young adults

Objective: Previous research has focused mostly on abstainer and/or general drinker prototypes. The present studies examined an abstainer, moderate drinker and heavy drinker prototype in relation to drinking behaviour.

Design: Two studies among young adults aged 18–25 (paper-and-pencil, cross-sectional, N?=?140; online, prospective, N?=?451) assessed prototype favourability and participants’ perceived similarity to the prototypes. Participants were also categorised into abstainers, moderate, and heavy drinkers.

Results: Similarity and favourability had similar sequences in both studies: the moderate drinker and abstainer prototypes were evaluated most favourable and felt similar to; the heavy drinker prototype was rated the least favourable and felt similar to. Importantly, heavy drinking participants felt most similar to the moderate drinker prototype and rated the heavy drinker least desirable. The results suggest a need for research to include other prototypes, such as the moderate drinker, besides the abstainer and heavy drinker.

Conclusion: The studies provide insights into the contribution of alternative prototypes (i.e. moderate drinker) into the relationship between prototype perceptions and drinking behaviour. The results suggest tailoring prototype-based interventions according to drinking behaviour. Importantly, realistic perceived similarity to the more favourable moderate drinker prototype may therefore need to be encouraged only after appropriate reductions in heavy drinkers’ alcohol consumption.     

Validation of the Comprehensive ICF Core Set for rheumatoid arthritis: The perspective of psychologists

The ‘Comprehensive ICF Core Set for rheumatoid arthritis (RA)’ is an application of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and represents the typical spectrum of problems in functioning of patients with RA. The objective of this study was to validate this ICF Core Set from the perspective of psychologists. Psychologists experienced in RA treatment were asked about the problems of RA patients, treated by psychologists, in a three-round survey using the Delphi technique. Responses were linked to the ICF. Twenty psychologists in five countries gave a total of 303 responses that were linked to 65 different ICF categories. Fifteen responses were linked to the not yet developed ICF component personal factors and nine were not covered by ICF. Overall, 66% of the ICF categories linked to the responses of the psychologists were represented by the Comprehensive ICF Core Set for RA. Several responses that were not covered need to be investigated further.     

Truth table task: Working memory load,latencies, and perceived relevance

The aim of the present study is to uncover the relation between cognitive ability and the answer patterns yielded by the truth table task. According to the Classical Mental Models Theory, people with high working memory capacity answer according to two-valued or “logical” answer patterns. The Suppositional Theory and the Revised Mental Models Theory predict that the answer patterns given by the most intelligent ones are three-valued or “defective”. Correlations are examined, and in three experiments it is tested with a dual task paradigm whether a differential working memory load alters participants' answer patterns. A positive correlation is observed between cognitive ability and three-valued answer patterns, but no effect of the working memory load manipulation is revealed. With an inspection of the classification times we shed light on the processes underlying truth table judgements. We conclude that the Revised Mental Models Theory provides the best account for our results.     

‘Retouch free’: The effect of labelling media images as not digitally altered on women's body dissatisfaction

This study aimed to investigate the effect of ‘retouch free’ labels on thin ideal fashion images on women's body dissatisfaction. This represents an experimental analogue to current practice by some fashion magazines. Participants were 224 female undergraduates who viewed a set of fashion shoots with either no label, or a label indicating that the image had not been digitally altered. Results indicated that, although body dissatisfaction increased after exposure to the thin ideal images, there was no significant effect of label type on mood or body dissatisfaction. It was concluded that labelling images as digitally unaltered appears neither helpful nor harmful in terms of body dissatisfaction. Nevertheless, more extensive research is required to guide the most effective use of labels.     

Christ in the Limelight: Contemporary Films and Christological Discourse

The aim of this article is to show how theology can, through the medium of film, engage contemporary interpretations of Jesus’ person and work. Starting out by tracing the development taking place in films about Jesus throughout the twentieth century, the focus then moves to a theological reading of Mel Gibson's interpretation of the passion story for the twenty‐first century in his movie The Passion of the Christ.