Hypocrisy, Change of Mind, and Weakness of Will: How to Do Moral Philosophy with Examples

What are the differences between hypocrisy, change of mind, and weakness of will? Each typically involves a gap between word and deed, yet they do not seem morally equivalent. Moreover, they are intuitively different concepts, even though the conceptual boundaries between them are fuzzy. This paper explores diverse examples, attempting to identify elements which may be distinctive of each concept, with special attention to hypocrisy. It also provides a discussion of the appropriateness of such use of examples in moral philosophy.     

Introduction: Alexander Luria's Continuing Influence on Worldwide Neuropsychology

As an introduction to this special issue, this article provides an overview of the worldwide influence of the work of Alexander R. Luria. a noted Russian neuropsychologist. Major themes and issues that he studied are reviewed, and the reasons for his strong worldwide influence are discussed. An overview of subsequent articles in this issue is provided.     

Quantitative and Qualitative Integration of Lurian Procedures

This article reviews contemporary Russian research aimed at integrating and combining qualitative and quantitative evaluation approaches using Luria's procedures of neuropsychological assessment. A scoring system for rating and evaluating cognitive disturbances in different functional areas is described. The advantages of application of this system are discussed, using as examples the neuropsychological follow-up of neurosurgical patients, as well as neuropsychological research into the cognitive disturbances in patients with Parkinsonism and in children who are mentally retarded. The effectiveness of these updates to Luria's approach is demonstrated.     

Nosology and Causal Necessity; The Relation BetweenDefining a Disease and Discovering its Necessary Cause

The problem of disease definition is related to theproblem of proving that a certain agent is thenecessary cause of a certain disease. Natural kindterms like rheumatoid arthritis and AIDS refer toessences which are discoverable rather thanpredeterminate. No statement about such diseases isa priori necessarily true. Because theories onnecessary causes involve natural kind semantics,Koch's postulates cannot be used to falsify or verifysuch theories. Instead of proving that agent A is thenecessary cause of disease D, we include A in atheoretical definition of D, take this to representthe real meaning of D, and discard thepretheoretical definition. This is illustrated byKoch's own attempt to prove he had discovered thenecessary cause of tuberculosis. Methodologicalarguments about disease causation require a clear viewof our use of diagnostic terms. Medical lexicographersshould do more to provide such a view.     

Personality scale and item correlates of WAIS abilities

A cross-validation methodology was employed to identify 16PF scales and items that significantly correlated with performance on the verbal, spatial, and memory/numerical abilities measured by the WAIS in a nonpsychiatric sample of 489 adults. For both men and women larger personality-ability correlations resulted in all analyses for verbal ability than for spatial or memory/numerical ability. The 16PF scale analysis offered results generally consistent with Cattell's research. The item analyses produced rather similar results for both sexes for verbal and spatial abilities. For verbal ability three major correlates resulted: communicative competence, equanimity/low anxiety, and a desire for times alone. Though few in number the item correlates of spatial ability suggested a dispassionate, nontemperamental style of interaction with one's environment as the major correlate. Memory/ numerical ability was somewhat independent of 16PF item responses for women, but was associated with fastidiousness in men. Possible cause-effect relationships were suggested and implications for future research discussed.     

Assessing the Predictive Accuracy of hMLH1 and hMSH2 Mutation Probability Models

Hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) is characterized by a susceptibility to colorectal and extra-colonic cancers. Several guidelines exist for the identification of families suspected of having HNPCC, however these guidelines lack adequate sensitivity and specificity. In an attempt to improve accuracy for the detection of individuals with HNPCC, the Wijnen pre-test probability model (1998) and Myriad Genetics Laboratory prevalence table (2004) were developed. Here we evaluate the Wijnen model and Myriad table at predicting the presence of a mutation in individuals undergoing genetic testing for HNPCC. Forty-nine patients who had undergone genetic testing for germline mutations in hMLH1 and/or hMSH2 were part of our analysis. Our results revealed that the revised Bethesda guidelines performed with the highest sensitivity for germline mutations (94.4%), however the specificity was low (12.9%). Using a 10.0% mutation probability threshold, the Wijnen model and Myriad table had sensitivities of 55.6 and 60.0%, respectively and specificities of 54.8 and 23.8%, respectively. The Wijnen model and Myriad table were poor predictors of mutation prevalence, which is shown by the areas underneath their corresponding receiver operator characteristic curves (0.616 and 0.400, respectively). The results of this study demonsrate that neither the Wijnen model nor the Myriad table are sensitive or specific enough to be used as the only indication when to offer genetic testing for HNPCC.     

Prediction of treatment outcome among patients with irritable bowel syndrome treated with group cognitive therapy

Using a sample of over 125 patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) who were treated with cognitive therapy administered in small groups, we sought to predict end of treatment and 3-month follow-up improvement in two changes indices of gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms (Pain/Discomfort Index which assessed change in abdominal pain, abdominal tenderness and bloating and Bowel Regularity Index which assessed change in diarrhea and constipation). We also sought to predict scores on IBS specific quality of life (QOL) and overall level of psychological distress using the Global Severity Index (GSI) of the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Significant, but modest, levels of prediction were found for prediction of improvement in GI symptoms (4-15% of variance). Stronger significant prediction was obtained for the QOL and global psychological distress measure with R(2)'s ranging from 0.36 to 0.50. A wide variety of demographic, GI symptom, psychological status and psychiatric status variables entered the final prediction equations.     

Impaired verbal short-term memory in Down syndrome reflects a capacity limitation rather than atypically rapid forgetting

Individuals with Down syndrome suffer from relatively poor verbal short-term memory. Recent work has indicated that this deficit is not caused by problems of audition, speech, or articulatory rehearsal within the phonological loop component of Baddeley and Hitch's working memory model. Given this, two experiments were conducted to investigate whether abnormally rapid decay underlies the deficit. In a first experiment, we attempted to vary the time available for decay using a modified serial recall procedure that had both verbal and visuospatial conditions. No evidence was found to suggest that forgetting is abnormally rapid in phonological memory in Down syndrome, but a selective phonological memory deficit was indicated. A second experiment further investigated possible problems of decay in phonological memory, restricted to item information. The results indicated that individuals with Down syndrome do not show atypically rapid item forgetting from phonological memory but may have a limited-capacity verbal short-term memory system.     

Broad-Perspective Perceptual Disorder of the Right Hemisphere

Traditional accounts of right-posterior brain injury describe a syndrome of low-level perceptual sequelae producing marked acute dependency and transient safety concerns. The syndrome is also held to spare cognition and to carry a generally favorable long-term prognosis. The present paper reviews publications and anecdotal data that challenge this picture. Recent theoretical expositions and empirical studies stipulate three major cognitive functions of the right posterior association cortex: processing novel input, guiding reactions to emergencies, and anticipating consequences. Appearing benign after acute recovery, the impairment of these processes produces vocational, social and marital dysfunctions that increase as a function of chronicity, ultimately becoming more broadly disabling than focal injuries in other cortical loci. The unique symptom picture and serious implications suggest that the long-term syndrome should be labeled (Broad-Perspective Perceptual Disorder) and incorporated in future clinical taxonomies, underscoring the need for extraordinary long-term assistance and specialized therapeutics. Procedures for assessment and differential diagnosis are outlined.