Psychology Without Psy Professionals: Exploring an Unemployed Centre Families Project as a Mental Health Resource

The activities and technologies of the psychology (Psy) disciplines, in the process of privileging professional understandings of distress, could be seen to be potentially facilitating corrosion in the capacity of the lay public to understand and ameliorate their distress. This paper draws on the experiences of people who use an Unemployed Centre Families Project in the South of England to provide an example of community mental health work that does not draw on the dominant discourses, institutions or practitioners of the Psy sciences. Through interviews with centre users, staff and volunteers, a picture emerges of a community space that provides a variety of services, projects and opportunities that have a very considerable positive impact on the mental well‐being of the centre users. This picture highlights non‐medical intersubjective processes that offer possibilities for recoveries from mental distress but that are often neglected and subordinated in the professional worlds of Psy and psychiatry. Such centres facilitate social networks and practical help, and transitions in identity can be beneficial for those experiencing mental distress. In so doing, they make prominent some of the key limitations of biomedical approaches to recovery. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A stochastic model of consideration set sizes

This paper proposes a new model of consideration set sizes, which relies on a stochastic modelling approach to better understand data patterns. The paper combines the Poisson distribution with the lognormal distribution proposed by Hauser and Wernerfelt (1990) to create the Poisson lognormal (PLN) model of consideration set sizes. An advantage of PLN is that it allows variance within a given individual consumer. This is a crucial factor for brand managers who wish to choose a particular market to promote their brand, as a higher within‐individual variance suggests that there is more chance for a consumer to change their consideration set size, whereas a lower within‐individual variance indicates that a consumer tends to stick to his/her consideration set size. The paper then uses 10 datasets including service, durable and fast‐moving consumer goods across four countries to validate the new model and compare it with the lognormal model. The results show that PLN gives a good fit to these data. It outperforms the lognormal model. The average mean absolute percentage error of the PLN model is 12 per cent, whereas that of the lognormal model is 26 per cent. For managerial implications, the paper proposes a better tool to help brand managers analyse the nature and intensity of competition that is facing their brands. Also, relying on its stochastic element, the proposed model can help brand managers predict future brand consideration by their consumers, as well as evaluate any change in brand consideration, caused by marketing activity such as sales promotion and advertising. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The eco-cognitive model of abduction: Ἀπαγωγή now: Naturalizing the logic of abduction

Abduction (ἀπαγωγή, in ancient Greek, often translated as “leading away” or “reduction”) is a procedure in which something that lacks classical explanatory epistemic virtue can be accepted because it has virtue of another kind: Gabbay and Woods [15] contend (GW-schema) that abduction presents an ignorance-preserving or (ignorance-mitigating) character. From this perspective abductive reasoning is a response to an ignorance-problem; through abduction the basic ignorance – that does not have to be considered a total “ignorance” – is neither solved nor left intact. Abductive reasoning is an ignorance-preserving accommodation of the problem at hand. Is abduction really ignorance-preserving? To better answer this question I will introduce (and take advantage of) an eco-cognitive model (EC-Model) of abduction. It will be illustrated that through abduction, knowledge can be enhanced, even when abduction is not considered an inference to the best explanation in the classical sense of the expression, that is an inference necessarily characterized by an empirical evaluation phase, or an inductive phase, as Peirce called it. To further deepen the eco-cognitive character of abduction a simple genealogy of logic is provided: Aristotle clearly states that in syllogistic theory local/environmental cognitive factors – external to that peculiar inferential process, for example regarding users/reasoners, are given up. Indeed, to define syllogism Aristotle first of all insists that all syllogisms are valid and contends that the necessity of this kind of reasoning is related to the circumstance that “no further term from outside (ἔξωθɛν) is needed”, in sum syllogism is the fruit of a kind of eco-cognitive immunization. At the same time Aristotle presents a seminal perspective on abduction: the second part of the article considers the famous passage in Chapter B25 of Prior Analytics concerning ἀπαγωγή (“leading away”), also studied by Peirce. I contend that some of the current well-known distinctive characters of abductive cognition are already expressed, which are in tune with the EC-Model. By providing an illustration of the role of the method of analysis and of the middle terms in Plato's dialectic argumentation, considered as related to the diorismic/poristic process in ancient geometry – also, later on, emphasized by Proclus – I maintain that it is just this intellectual heritage which informs Aristotle' Chapter B25 on ἀπαγωγή. Even if, in general, Aristotle seems to sterilize, thanks to the invention of syllogistic theory, every “dialectic” background of reasoning, nevertheless in Chapter B25 he is still pointing to the fundamental inferential role in reasoning of those externalities that substantiate the process of “leading away” (ἀπαγωγή). Hence, we can gain a new positive perspective about the “constitutive” eco-cognitive character of abduction, just thanks to Aristotle himself. Finally, the paper presents an excursus on Aristotle's enthymemes from signs, disregarded by Peirce, but extremely important to stress the Aristotelian treatment of what I have called selective abduction. A forthcoming companion paper [35] will further deepen the EC-Model of abduction stressing stricter logical aspects: the first result will be that, contrarily to the classical logical view, relevance and plausibility in abductive reasoning have to be relativized and so the epistemologically embarrassing concepts of irrelevance and implausibility exculpated: they are not always offensive to reason.     

Driving,Pseudo‐reality and the BTK: A Case Study

The significance of occupational choice, in particular those that involve driving, has not yet been studied or investigated in relation to serial murder. This paper, which adopts a case study approach, attempts to shed light on how driving as an occupation may instrumentally influence the offending behaviour of one North American serial murderer—Dennis Rader. Attention is given towards how spending such significant amounts of time driving may have held deep psychological importance for Rader, with regard to the development of his offending‐oriented fantasies. In particular, the “offending space model” is used to examine the relationship between ‘thinking and doing’. In providing this micro‐level analysis, we suggest that transient oriented occupations provide a rich array of practical advantages that may aid serial murderers in avoiding detection, whilst also holding deep psychological influence in the nurturing and development of their fantasies. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

词汇飞跃的本质:命名洞察力的实证研究

通过个案跟踪和控制实验探讨了词汇飞跃的本质。研究结果表明命名洞察力具有现实性,且词汇飞跃与命名洞察力的出现紧密相关,这在一定程度上解释了儿童词汇量快速增长的原因。命名洞察力的获得促进了词汇的快速增长,标志着儿童建立起词汇与指称之间的匹配关系。词汇飞跃之后,儿童很快建立起词语间的符号关系,并最终促进了儿童语法的发展。基于此实证结果,本研究还建构了诠释词汇飞跃本质的理论模型。     

Using Cook's distance in polytomous logistic regression

The previously unknown asymptotic distribution of Cook's distance in polytomous logistic regression is established as a linear combination of independent chi‐square random variables with one degree of freedom. An exhaustive approach to the analysis of influential covariates is developed and a new measure for the accuracy of predictions based on such a distribution is provided. Two examples with real data sets (one with continuous covariates and the other with both qualitative and quantitative covariates) are presented to illustrate the approach developed.     

语言理解中的预设加工

预设是指以交际双方的共同背景(共享的知识或信念)为前提的、听话者根据特定语言标记(触发标记)及其限定的对象(计算内容)而推理出的非外显意义。例如,“张明又触发标记发表了论文计算内容”引发了“张明之前发表过论文”的预设推论。理解者依赖触发标记通达交际双方的共同背景,并在计算内容上生成完整的预设;随后,理解者连接生成的预设和共同背景,更新两者之间的关系。触发标记范畴、共同背景与预设的关联度、共同背景类型,以及理解者的参与动机会影响不同阶段的预设加工。未来研究可以从三个角度进一步探讨预设加工的认知基础：(1)采用计算建模的方法,量化交际互动中听话者理解预设的过程(如观点采择);(2)采用脑成像技术,揭示预设加工过程的神经基础;(3)以特殊人群为研究对象,检验和修正预设加工的认知模型。     

基于目标导向行为模型的患者基层首诊决策机制研究

基于目标导向行为模型,采用结构方程模型方法探析患者基层首诊决策过程中的影响因素及其内在作用机制,从认知过程、情感过程、习惯过程和动机过程四方面剖析患者基层首诊行为意愿的形成机理。结果表明患者主观规范、行为态度、知觉行为控制以及正向预期情绪均正向显著影响患者基层首诊行为欲望,行为欲望和过去行为频率显著正向影响患者基层首诊行为意愿。建议强化患者基层首诊行为的价值与必要性,进一步改善患者基层就诊体验,增加患者基层首诊行为频率,激发患者基层首诊行为欲望。

     

健康本源论模型介绍及启示

基于文献分析的方法,梳理健康本源论的发展历程,重点介绍健康本源论模型及模型中的主要概念,探讨健康本源论在实践中的应用及其对健康研究的启示。国外应用健康本源论指导医学实践的经验表明,对健康领域的研究重心从疾病预防转移到健康促进,对于提高个体和社会健康水平具有一定的指导意义。未来我国健康相关研究可从健康本源论视角出发,结合国情及文化,对健康本源论进行本土化调整和发展,为健康领域研究与实践提供借鉴和理论依据。

     

潜在增长模型下抑郁症状变化轨迹的研究进展

潜在增长模型已成为国外纵向研究的有力分析工具。通过对国外抑郁症状纵向研究及潜在增长模型应用研究的整理,发现患者抑郁症状的变化轨迹存在个体差异,但其中又存在相似特征,根据这些特征可以将抑郁症状的变化轨迹主要分为四种,早期症状快速减少、治疗期间症状缓慢平稳减少、早期症状减少后期出现反弹和症状未出现明显变化。通过总结该模型在抑郁症状研究领域的应用成果,了解抑郁症患者抑郁症状变化的情况,以期为我国相关研究的进一步开展提供新思路。