PLS model building: A multivariate approach to personality test data

The aim of this study was to demonstrate how personality test data can be plotted with a multivariate method known as Partial Least Squares of Latent Structures (PLS). The basic methodology behind PLS modeling is presented and the example demonstrates how a PLS model of personality test data can be used for diagnostic prediction. Principles for validating the models are also presented. The conclusion is that PLS modeling appears to be a powerful method for extracting clinically relevant information from complex personality test data matrixes. It could be used as a complement to more hard modeling methods in the process of examining a new area of interest.     

Compatibilism,Evil, and the Free-Will Defense

It is widely believed that (1) if theological determinism were true, in virtue of God’s role in determining created agents to perform evil actions, created agents would be neither free nor morally responsible for their evil actions and God would not be perfectly good; (2) if metaphysical compatibilism were true, the free-will defense against the deductive problem of evil would fail; and (3) on the assumption of metaphysical compatibilism, God could have actualized just any one of those myriad possible worlds that are populated only by compatibilist free creatures. The primary thesis of this essay is that none of these propositions is true. This thesis is defended by appealing to a recently proposed novel, acausal, composite, unified theory of free action – the Theory of Middle Freedom – that evades the central problems plaguing traditional theories of metaphysical compatibilism.

The CODE: A revised battery for coping and defense and its relations to subjective health

A condensed test battery (the CODE) based on the Utrecht Coping List (UCL) and part of the Defense Mechanisms Inventory (DMI) has been developed to assess coping and defense in large population studies. It was tested for reliability and validity in students and back pain patients. Principal components factor analysis of the subscales of the UCL and DMI in the student sample revealed two coping clusters: “Instrumental mastery-oriented coping” and “Emotion-focused coping” and two defensive clusters: “Cognitive defense” and “Defensive hostility”. “Instrumental mastery-oriented coping” was negatively related to subjective health complaints measured with Ursins Health Inventory (UHI). The back pain patients were clearly different from the students, using less coping and more defensive strategies. They had more subjective health complaints that showed negative correlations with “Instrumental mastery-oriented coping”. The CODE is a comprehensive battery that may be valid for large population studies of psychological determinants of muscle pain and other subjective health problems.     

躯体形式障碍的社会心理学分析

本研究对躯体形式障碍患者的社会心理特点进行调查分析.按照中国精神障碍分类与诊断标准第3版（CCMD-3）,试验组躯体形式障碍患者51例,在社区分层抽样51人作为对照组,用防御方式问卷、多伦多述情障碍量表进行测量.试验组不成熟型防御方式明显高于对照组,成熟型防御方式低于对照组,差异有统计学意义;述情障碍总分高于对照组,差异有统计学意义.情绪表达障碍、不成熟心理防御方式和社会文化因素共同作用形成了躯体形式障碍发病机制中的社会心理原因.在预防与治疗中需加强心理干预,以有效预防疾病的发生和提高治疗效果.     

Sexual Abuse Litigation

Summary

Practicing psychologist Janet Sonne and attorney Julian Hubbard illuminate how the different aims and languages of psychotherapy and law can be either an asset or a liability in the emotionally-charged environment of sexual abuse litigation. Properly understood, these differences can optimize the ability of each professional to assist their common client, the sexual abuse survivor, in the litigation process and beyond. Dr. Sonne reviews the psychological and behavioral sequelae of childhood sexual abuse and identifies six elements of the client's psychological functioning key to the litigation process, as well as posing questions for the attorney's self-evaluation for the unique demands of sexual abuse litigation. Mr. Hubbard then addresses what survivors and therapists need to know about the litigation process, exploring dynamics of legal strategy that can exacerbate the client's psychological problems. In the final section, both offer tips to enhance professionals' focus on education and communication as a means to better serving the sexually abused client.     

Guest Editorial: The Resistance to Belief

William James's essay The Will to Believe proposed that we are sometimes justified, even obligated, to believe from our strong emotional or passional nature that something is true, even though there may not be total logical, evidential proof—which he also wrote is not to be found in this world. This essay explores situations, using a recent dear-death experience (NDE) example, in which there are reasonable evidence and logic, and yet belief seems to be withheld. I postulate and discuss nonrational influences producing resistance to belief, including the fear of being in error, the fear of rejection from the scientific community, irrational requirements of logicality, avoidance of consequences, and paradigm fixation. I also discuss issues in philosophy of science and epistemology in regard to proof.     

Breeding cycle aggression in domesticated zebra finches (Poephila guttata)

Patterns of breeding cycle aggressive behavior were examined in colonies of domesticated zebra finches (Poephila guttata). Aggressive behaviors of zebra finch pairs were low during non-nesting periods but were maintained at high levels during the three nesting periods: the incubating, hatching, and nestling periods. Defense of the nest site was the prominent functional category of aggression, followed by defense of individual distance. Defense of mate, defense of young, and defense of nesting material rarely occurred. Male and female members of pair bonds shared the duties of defense of the nest site and parental care. During observation times males exhibited greater frequencies of aggressive actions throughout the breeding cycle and females spent a greater amount of time in the nest during the three nesting periods. The pattern and functional categories of aggressive behavior in the zebra finch colonies correspond most closely to the nest site defense hypothesis for the evolution of breeding season aggression.     

The organization of play fighting in the grasshopper mouse (Onychomys leucogaster): Mixing predatory and sociosexual targets and tactics

The body targets contacted, the type of contact made, and the patterns of defense and counterattack elicited by those attacks are examined in the play fighting of captive male and female pairs of grasshopper mice. The nape was the most frequently contacted body target, irrespective of the type of contact made, be it nosing, allogrooming, biting, or striking with a forepaw. The types of defense varied with both body area contacted and type of attack performed. Based on the topography and pattern of contact, it was concluded that grasshopper mice, as is the case for many other muroid rodents, primarily attack and defend targets otherwise contacted during precopulatory encounters. However, grasshopper mice, which are obligate carnivores, also attack and defend predatory targets, although less frequently than sociosexual targets. Surprisingly, predatory attacks were more likely to be counterattacked with predatory attacks, whereas sociosexual attacks were more likely to be counterattacked with sociosexual attacks. Conspecific aggression involves bites directed at the face, lower flanks, and dorsum. Neither the biting of these areas nor the tactics of attack and defense usually associated with such bites were observed during the juvenile interactions. There were no sex differences in either frequency or patterns of attack and defense in play fighting. The data presented for grasshopper mice shed light on the issue of mixing behavior patterns from multiple functional systems during play. Aggr. Behav. 26:319–334, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Experimental evidence for aggressive antipredator behavior in black skimmers (rynchops niger)

We experimentally studied the aggressive antipredator behavior of black skimmers Rynchops niger nesting in a salt marsh and sandy beach with the use of a live herring gull Larus argentatus. Although there were no significant habitat differences in vegetation cover, distance from the edge of the colony, or nesting density, skimmers nesting in salt marshes were more aggressive toward the herring gull than were those nesting on the beach. Aggression increased during the first three minutes of the test, and decreased slightly thereafter. Aggression levels were highest when the gull moved compared to when it was stationary. Skimmers made few responses when a person was present with the gull, but aggression increased dramatically when only the gull remained. Our results suggest skimmers may engage in more aggressive behavior in defense of their nests than previously thought, particularly when exposed to a predator that actually takes eggs and chicks. Further, we suggest that conclusions about antipredator behavior drawn only from studies of interactions with people may need further amplification. © 1992 Wiley-Liss, Inc.