Argument Beliefs Mediate Relations Between Attachment Style and Conflict Tactics

This study explores the importance of romantic relationship partners' beliefs about argument. Findings support a model in which a view of argument as threatening to relationships mediates the positive association between both anxious and avoidant attachment and the use of self‐focused conflict tactics such as dominating and denying. A belief that argument is devoid of benefit mediates a negative association between avoidant attachment and the use of other‐oriented tactics such as integrating/compromising and obliging.     

Multilevel analysis of individual differences in regularities of grapheme–color associations in synesthesia

Grapheme–color synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon where visual perception of letters and numbers stimulates perception of a specific color. Grapheme–color correspondences have been shown to be systematically associated with grapheme properties, including visual shape difference, ordinality, and frequency. However, the contributions of grapheme factors differ across individuals. In this study, we applied multilevel analysis to test whether individual differences in regularities of grapheme–color associations could be explained by individual styles of processing grapheme properties. These processing styles are reflected by the type of synesthetic experience. Specifically, we hypothesized that processing focusing on shape differences would be associated with projector synesthetes, while processing focusing on ordinality or familiarity would be associated with associator synesthetes. The analysis revealed that ordinality and familiarity factors were expressed more strongly among associators than among projectors. This finding suggests that grapheme–color associations are partly determined by the type of synesthetic experience.     

Geometric representation of association between categories

Categories can be counted, rated, or ranked, but they cannot be measured. Likewise, persons or individuals can be counted, rated, or ranked, but they cannot be measured either. Nevertheless, psychology has realized early on that it can take an indirect road to measurement: What can be measured is the strength of association between categories in samples or populations, and what can be quantitatively compared are counts, ratings, or rankings made under different circumstances, or originating from different persons. The strong demand for quantitative analysis of categorical data has thus created a variety of statistical methods, with substantial contributions from psychometrics and sociometrics. What is the common basis of these methods dealing with categories? The basic element they share is that the sample space has a special geometry, in which categories (or persons) are point masses forming a simplex, while distributions of counts or profiles of ratings are centers of gravity, which are also point masses. Rankings form a discrete subset in the interior of the simplex, known as the permutation polytope, and paired comparisons form another subset on the edges of the simplex. Distances between point masses form the basic tool of analysis. The paper gives some history of major concepts, which naturally leads to a new concept: the shadow point. It is then shown how loglinear models, Luce and Rasch models, unfolding models, correspondence analysis and homogeneity analysis, forced classification and classification trees, as well as other models and methods, fit into this particular geometrical framework.     

The order-restricted association model: Two estimation algorithms and issues in testing

This paper presents a row-column (RC) association model in which the estimated row and column scores are forced to be in agreement with an a priori specified ordering. Two efficient algorithms for finding the order-restricted maximum likelihood (ML) estimates are proposed and their reliability under different degrees of association is investigated by a simulation study. We propose testing order-restricted RC models using a parametric bootstrap procedure, which turns out to yield reliablep values, except for situations in which the association between the two variables is very weak. The use of order-restricted RC models is illustrated by means of an empirical example. Francisca Galindo performed this research as a part of her PhD. dissertation project at Tilburg University.     

A closer look at the discrimination outcomes in the IAT literature

To what extent the IAT (Implicit Association Test, Greenwald et al., 1998) predicts racial and ethnic discrimination is a heavily debated issue. The latest meta‐analysis by Oswald et al. (2013) suggests a very weak association. In the present meta‐analysis, we switched the focus from the predictor to the criterion, by taking a closer look at the discrimination outcomes. We discovered that many of these outcomes were not actually operationalizations of discrimination, but rather of other related, but distinct, concepts, such as brain activity and voting preferences. When we meta‐analyzed the main effects of discrimination among the remaining discrimination outcomes, the overall effect was close to zero and highly inconsistent across studies. Taken together, it is doubtful whether the amalgamation of these outcomes is relevant criteria for assessing the IAT's predictive validity of discrimination. Accordingly, there is also little evidence that the IAT can meaningfully predict discrimination, and we thus strongly caution against any practical applications of the IAT that rest on this assumption. However, provided that the application is thoroughly informed by the current state of the literature, we believe the IAT can still be a useful tool for researchers, educators, managers, and students who are interested in attitudes, prejudices, stereotypes, and discrimination.     

DREAM DIAGNOSTICS: FRITZ MORGENTHALER'S WORK ON DREAMS

The unique approach to dreams of Swiss psychoanalyst Fritz Morgenthaler (1919–1984) is presented and discussed. Although rarely discussed in the English‐speaking psychoanalytic world, this approach is very alive in German‐speaking countries. Focusing on the distinction between the remembered hallucinatory experience of dreamers and the event of telling dreams within psychoanalytic sessions, Morgenthaler made two major innovations: first, he proposed a new understanding and handling of associations to dreams, and second, he offered what he called dream diagnostics as an instrument with which to integrate both resistance and transference into clinical work with dreams.     

Spinoza and the Feeling of Freedom

We seem to have a direct experience of our freedom when we act. Many philosophers take this feeling of freedom as evidence that we possess libertarian free will. Spinoza denies that we have free will of any sort, although he admits that we nonetheless feel free. Commentators often attribute to him what I call the ‘Negative Account’ of the feeling: it results from the fact that we are conscious of our actions but ignorant of their causes. I argue that the Negative Account is flawed. The feeling of freedom also depends on a vacillation of the mind. When the mind forms too many incompatible associations, it vacillates between them. When we act, the mind vacillates back and forth between the kinds of actions that we associate with our present mental state. We then mistake this subjective vacillation for an objective feature of ourselves—namely, the power to do otherwise.     

Finger counting habit and spatial–numerical association in children and adults

Sensory-motor experiences are known to build up concrete and abstract concepts during the lifespan. The present study aimed to test how finger counting habits (right-hand vs. left-hand starters) could influence the spatial–numerical representation in number-to-position (explicit) and digit-string bisection (implicit) tasks. The subjects were Italian primary school children (N = 184, from the first to the fifth year) and adults (N = 42). No general preference for right- or left-starting in the finger counting was found. In the explicit task, right- or left-starting did not affect performance. In the implicit task, the right-hand starters shifted from the left to the right space when bisecting small and large numbers respectively, while the left-hand starters shifted from the right to the left space with higher leftward bias for large numbers. The finger configuration in Italian children and adults influences the spatial–numerical representation, but only when implicit number processing is required by the task.     

Serotonin transporter and BDNF polymorphisms interact to predict trait worry

Background and Objectives: Excessive worry is associated with a range of psychological disorders. While previous studies have examined genes associated with a range of different anxiety phenotypes, none have explored genes specifically associated with the general tendency to worry. Design: The present study tested associations between trait worry and functional polymorphisms of three candidate genes: the serotonin transporter-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) of the SLC6A4 gene, the Val66Met region of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) gene, and the Val158Met region of the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene. Methods: A heterogeneous sample of adult participants (n = 173) completed the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) and provided DNA samples for genotyping. Results: Results revealed a significant interaction between 5-HTTLPR and BDNF genotypes predicting levels of worry. Specifically, there was a significant positive association between 5-HTTLPR short alleles and PSWQ scores, but only in BDNF met allele carriers. COMT genotype was not significantly associated levels of worry, nor did COMT interact with 5-HTTLPR or BDNF genotypes to predict PSWQ scores. Conclusions: These findings provide preliminary evidence about the putative genetic etiology of worrying. Key limitations of the present study and corresponding directions for future research on this topic are discussed.