Practical Arguments for Theoretical Theses

Pascals wager is expounded as a paradigm case of a practical,decision-theoretical argument for acting as if a proposition is true when wehave no theoretical reasons to accept or reject it (1.1.–1.2.). Thoughthe paradigm is fallacious in various respects there are valid and adequatearguments for acting as if certain propositions are true: that theoreticalentities exist, that there are material perceptual objects, that the worldis uniform across time (1.3). After this analysis of examples the authorsgeneral approach for developing criteria for the validity and adequacy oftypes of argument (2.1.) is applied: Having discussed some problems(2.2.–2.3.), a general epistemic principle for such pascal argumentsis developed, which characterizes their premisses and, if introduced as anadditional premiss, can make them deductively valid (2.4).     

Lambda Calculus and Intuitionistic Linear Logic

The introduction of Linear Logic extends the Curry-Howard Isomorphism to intensional aspects of the typed functional programming. In particular, every formula of Linear Logic tells whether the term it is a type for, can be either erased/duplicated or not, during a computation. So, Linear Logic can be seen as a model of a computational environment with an explicit control about the management of resources.This paper introduces a typed functional language ! and a categorical model for it.The terms of ! encode a version of natural deduction for Intuitionistic Linear Logic such that linear and non linear assumptions are managed multiplicatively and additively, respectively. Correspondingly, the terms of ! are built out of two disjoint sets of variables. Moreover, the -abstractions of ! bind variables and patterns. The use of two different kinds of variables and the patterns allow a very compact definition of the one-step operational semantics of !, unlike all other extensions of Curry-Howard Isomorphism to Intuitionistic Linear Logic. The language ! is Church-Rosser and enjoys both Strong Normalizability and Subject Reduction.The categorical model induces operational equivalences like, for example, a set of extensional equivalences.The paper presents also an untyped version of ! and a type assignment for it, using formulas of Linear Logic as types. The type assignment inherits from ! all the good computational properties and enjoys also the Principal-Type Property.     

Negative content of thinking in panic disorder and major depression–a self-report study

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the character and extent of negative thought content in panic disorder (PD) and the relation between thinking and bodily sensations. Content of thinking was explored in several areas, some of which are not exclusively related to anxiety. A structured diagnostic interview (SCID), a self-rating scale (SCL-90R), a sentence construction test (The Incomplete Sentences Blank (ISB)), and an inventory of childhood memories of parental rearing (the EMBU) were administered to 47 PD patients, 15 patients with major depression (MD), and 30 normal subjects. Thus, measures of implicit as well as explicit thinking, measures of thinking on present as well as past issues, and methods allowing negative as well as positive thought content to be expressed, were used. We found that PD was characterized by more negative thinking of anxiogenic, depressive, and dependent nature and less neutral or positive thinking than the normal subjects, primarily in issues related to the present. These negative thoughts were correlated with bodily symptoms. Very few significant differences were found between PD and MD, but a subgroup of PD with comorbidity of MD exceeded the other groups on measures of negative thoughts as well as bodily symptoms.     

Comparing one-step m-estimators of location corresponding to two independent groups

Experience with real data indicates that psychometric measures often have heavy-tailed distributions. This is known to be a serious problem when comparing the means of two independent groups because heavy-tailed distributions can have a serious effect on power. Another problem that is common in some areas is outliers. This paper suggests an approach to these problems based on the one-step M-estimator of location. Simulations indicate that the new procedure provides very good control over the probability of a Type I error even when distributions are skewed, have different shapes, and the variances are unequal. Moreover, the new procedure has considerably more power than Welch's method when distributions have heavy tails, and it compares well to Yuen's method for comparing trimmed means. Wilcox's median procedure has about the same power as the proposed procedure, but Wilcox's method is based on a statistic that has a finite sample breakdown point of only 1/n, wheren is the sample size. Comments on other methods for comparing groups are also included.     

自我报告测量中项目前后关系效应的研究

本文指出了自我报告法中项目前后关系效应的普遍存在性及其危害性。讨论了用信息加工的观点对项目前后关系效应所作的认知上的理论解释,以及测量工具中促使产生这种项目前后关系效应的关键特征。同时也讨论了项目序列位置的作用。     

Messages about physical attractiveness in animated cartoons

Relying upon a content analysis of one specific type of medium to which young people are exposed beginning at an early age, on a regular basis, and for many years (i.e., animated cartoons), the present study examines what types of messages are provided about being physically unattractive, physically attractive, and ordinary-looking. This research concerns itself with identifying the characteristics that tend to be associated with being good-looking or unattractive, and then discussing the implications of the findings. Results indicate that many variables were found to differ based on cartoon characters’ physical attractiveness, including gender, age, intelligence, body weight, emotional states experienced, prosocial behaviors, antisocial behaviors, and overall goodness/badness. Whenever differences were found, the overriding tendency was for cartoons to provide positive messages about being attractive and negative messages about being unattractive.     

Externalizing and personalizing biases in persecutory delusions: the relationship with poor insight and theory-of-mind

The presence of externalizing bias (EB) for negative events together with personalizing bias (PB) (a bias to blame others rather than circumstances) may jointly constitute a vulnerability to develop persecutory delusions (PDs). Whereas EB purportedly serves to defend a vulnerable self-concept by avoiding negative self-attributions and might therefore exacerbate poor insight, PB may reflect cognitive deficits, including theory-of-mind impairment. We investigated these proposals in 34 schizophrenic patients with a history of PDs and 21 healthy controls. Patients with moderate- to severe-PDs and patients without a current PD showed excessive EB which was, surprisingly, absent in patients with mild persecutory delusions (mild-PDs). That EB might wax and wane with fluctuating delusional intensity was interpreted in accord with a new dynamic model of attribution self-representation cycles. As predicted, EB exacerbated poor insight. However, counter to predictions, theory-of-mind impairment did not increase PB, which was marked in all participants, whether clinical or non-clinical; instead, theory-of-mind impairment was also correlated with poor insight. Our findings indicate multiple pathways to poor insight, one of which is a theory-of-mind difficulty, impairing the capacity to simulate other perspectives for the purpose of critically evaluating one's own beliefs and circumstances.     

Treating the “Wise Baby”

In a previous examination of Ferenczis concept of the Wise Baby (1996), I had noted both its applications and its limitations in the analytic treatment of an unusually intelligent adult. Ferenczis concepts of the origin of intellect in trauma and of the wise baby have often left the indistinct impression of being interrelated phenomena. In this paper, I regard as arguable the notion that very high intelligence is pathological when it is precocious. This return visit to the territory of the wise baby extends Ferenczis ideas about the origin and use of the intellect to include a consideration of what may constitute effective treatment for those who suffer from giftedness.Judith E. Vida, M.D. edits On the Arts for this journal. She is a Founding Member and Faculty of the Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis in Los Angeles, CA, a member of both American and International Psychoanalytic Associations, and of the Sándor Ferenczi Society of Budapest. Her private practice is in Pasadena, CA.Address correspondence to Judith E. Vida, 301 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Suite 406A, Pasadena, CA 91105, USA; e-mail: jvida@spence.net     

Memory and interpretation of visual representations of threat in socially anxious and nonanxious individuals

The present study was designed to replicate and extend results reported by Brendle and Wenzel (Behav. Res. Ther. 42 (2004) 155), who found that socially anxious individuals accurately recalled threat-relevant information but subsequently imposed a biased interpretation upon that same material, using more ecologically valid stimuli. Socially anxious (n=37) and nonanxious (n=47) individuals viewed two positive, two negative, and two neutral video vignettes and completed two cognitive tasks assessing memory and interpretation of factual details immediately and after 48 h. Similar to the results reported by Brendle and Wenzel (2004), socially anxious and nonanxious individuals did not differ in their memory for details that had been presented in the vignettes. However, socially anxious individuals made more negative interpretations of details included in the vignettes than nonanxious individuals, although unlike Brendle and Wenzel (2004), they did not demonstrate the tendency to make less positive interpretations. It is concluded that socially anxious individuals are characterized by interpretation biases when presented with threat-relevant information, and there is no evidence to suggest that they are characterized by memory biases for threat-relevant information.