Locus of Control Orientation Among Obese Adults in Outpatient Treatment for Obesity

We studied locus of control (LOC) in samples of obese and nonobese subjects. We administered Rotter's (1966) I-E Scale to 106 obese adults in outpatient treatment for obesity and to 99 nonobese controls. The obese subjects were significantly more internally oriented than the control group. These findings challenge currently held assumptions on the directionality of LOC in obese groups. The results contradict the consensus among researchers that obese individuals have an external LOC orientation. The finding that internal LOC is associated with the obese condition may be a useful predictor variable influencing obesity treatment, approaches, and outcome.     

The little obsessional alchemist

Using the psychoanalytic experience with an obsessional child, this paper looks at the moment of insight, that precipitation of coherence which occurs when we say that we suddenly realize something. This is contrasted with the approach of consciously trying to fit theory to the observed facts. Analogies with alchemy are drawn. In addition, the balancing process occurring in obsessional mentality is compared with strangulation by hanging, the opposing forces being comprised of prematurely solidified states of mind such as mania or paranoia which interfere with that fluid state of mind optimal for the precipitation of insight.     

Tracing the size,reach, impact,and breadth of positive psychology

This study quantitatively assessed the size, disciplinary reach, impact, and topic breadth of positive psychology (PP), in order to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the growth and significance of the field. Over 1.7?million documents in 700 PsycINFO ^® journals covering the fields of psychology, psychiatry, neuroscience, management, business, public health, and sport science were analyzed using semantic and bibliographic methods. Results indicate that PP covers many different research topics from a diverse range of disciplines, and that PP literature has been growing rapidly in significance. Over 18,000 documents were identified as belonging to PP, with 2300 published in 2011. These documents represent over 4% of PsycINFO ^® documents within the data-set published that year, and make PP close to the median size of all disciplines listed in the Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports ^®, Social Sciences Edition. The aggregate impact factor for PP in 2011 was 2.64.     

Motion-induced blindness is influenced by global properties of the moving mask

Perceptual fluctuations experienced during motion-induced blindness (MIB) have been characterized as the result of a competition between representations of the moving mask and stationary (or slowly moving) targets (Bonneh, Cooperman, & Sagi, 2001). While there is evidence to support a local influence of the mask on target disappearance, what is not yet clear is whether the global properties of the mask can likewise impact disappearance. In the present study, we investigated the presence of a global effect of the mask on MIB by manipulating global motion properties of the mask while controlling its local motion properties surrounding the target. Results showed a significant impact of the global mask properties on the observed degree of disappearance. We also tested for a complementary local effect by comparing conditions in which we manipulated local mask properties while controlling global properties. This analysis did not yield evidence for a local effect, although this may have been due to our weaker manipulation of local mask properties compared to previous studies. Overall, the present results highlight a key role of global stimulus representations in producing the perceptual disappearances observed in MIB.     

The Factor Structure and Reliability of a Six-Item Sense of Coherence Measure

The study investigated the factor structure and reliability of a six-item sense of coherence (SOC) measure. Participants were a South African white collar employee sample (n=7185) purposively selected from over 300 different companies across various business sectors. The sample constituted 34% male and 66% female and 34% Black, 18% Coloured, 11% Indian and 37% White employees. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used for the structural analysis. The reliability of the scores was also estimated. A unidimensional structure seemed to best represent the six-item SOC measure. The internal reliability of the scores from the measure was high.     

Hardiness as predictor of work readiness: a preliminary exploratory study

This study explored hardiness as a possible predictor of work readiness in cross-cultural settings. In order to explore which factors may elicit hardiness, the sub-scales were identified and explored. Participants were from two African countries, namely South Africa (n = 47; females = 57%) and Uganda (n = 45; females = 51%). They completed the Sense of Coherence (SOC), Psychological Capital (PSYCAP) and Dispositional Hardiness/Resilience Scale (DRS-15). The results showed a strong positive correlation between psychological capital and dispositional hardiness.     

The role of textual semantic constraints in knowledge-based inference generation during reading comprehension: A computational approach

The present research adopted a computational approach to explore the extent to which the semantic content of texts constrains the activation of knowledge-based inferences. Specifically, we examined whether textual semantic constraints (TSC) can explain (1) the activation of predictive inferences, (2) the activation of bridging inferences and (3) the higher prevalence of the activation of bridging inferences compared to predictive inferences. To examine these hypotheses, we computed the strength of semantic associations between texts and probe items as presented to human readers in previous behavioural studies, using the Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) algorithm. We tested whether stronger semantic associations are observed for inferred items compared to control items. Our results show that in 15 out of 17 planned comparisons, the computed strength of semantic associations successfully simulated the activation of inferences. These findings suggest that TSC play a central role in the activation of knowledge-based inferences.     

负相容效应中启动项-目标项关系对阈下信息加工的影响

采用掩蔽启动范式考察了负相容效应中启动项与目标项关系对阈下信息加工的影响,以及是否存在语义水平的负相容效应.两个实验分别以双箭头和汉字为掩蔽启动项,考察启动项和目标项重复、加工水平相同及加工水平不同三种条件下的启动效应.结果发现,两个实验的重复及加工水平相同条件下都出现负相容效应,且重复条件下启动量最大,加工水平不同条件下则无启动.这表明:(1)启动项与目标项的知觉重复影响启动量,但不是负相容效应的必要条件,只有当启动项和目标项加工水平相同时,才出现负相容效应;(2)存在语义水平上的负相容效应,阈下语义信息可得到加工并表现为对后继同类反应的抑制.     

Limitations in Verbal Fluency Following Heavy Burdens of Early Childhood Diarrhea in Brazilian Shantytown Children

The effects of heavy burdens of diarrhea in the first 2 years of life on specific executive control function like verbal fluency are not well understood. In previous studies, we have shown associations of early childhood diarrhea (ECD) with nonverbal intelligence and school functioning. Therefore, we postulated that ECD might affect early neuropsychological development leading to long-term deficits in normal cognitive development. Based on our extensive 14-year prospective cohort studies of early childhood diarrheal illnesses in a Brazilian shantytown community, we examined ECD correlations between specific impairments of higher mental function and executive skills in shantytown children 5–10 years later (now at 6–12) years of age. Specifically we examined whether heavy diarrheal illnesses correlate with reduced performance on selected tests of executive function. Our study, for the first time, suggests a disproportional impairment in semantic but not phonetic fluency in a subset of children with heavy burdens of diarrhea in their first 2 years of life even when controlling for maternal education, breastfeeding, and child schooling. Similar semantic decrements have been associated with impaired recovery from brain injury. These exploratory studies suggest the importance of verbal fluency tests to assess executive functioning in children challenged by poor nutrition and diarrhea in early life. In addition, our unique findings show the potential influences of early childhood diarrhea on language development that is so critical to productive adulthood and potentially set a foundation for new neuropsychological approaches, which assess early burdens of enteric illnesses on childhood development.     

Rationality and Synchronic Identity

Many requirements of rationality rely for their application on facts about identity at a time. Take the requirement not to have contradictory beliefs. It is irrational if a single agent believes P and believes ～P, but it is not irrational if one agent believes P and another believes ～P. There are puzzle cases, however, in which it is unclear whether we have a single agent, or instead two or more. I consider and reject possible criteria of identity at a time before proposing a pluralist alternative on which there are vastly more agents than we might have thought. This pluralist thesis is analogous to mereological universalism, on which there are all sorts of strange disconnected objects of which we don’t usually take note. I conclude by giving a pragmatic account of which of these rational agents it makes sense to attend to, by appealing the purposes that we have in employing rationally evaluative language.