Some Implications of Beliefs in Altruism,Free Will,and Nonreductionism

ABSTRACT

In this research, we explored correlates of individuals’ beliefs in altruism, free will, and nonreductionism, as opposed to contrasting beliefs in psychological egoism, determinism, and biological reductionism. Beliefs in altruism, free will, and nonreductionism were associated with heightened a) senses of meaning in life, b) levels of life satisfaction, c) beliefs in morality as a legitimate and important dimension of life, and d) standards of personal moral conduct; they were not associated with levels of social isolation. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Implementation and Development of Federally-Funded Systems of Care Over Time

This study describes development in federally funded systems of care. Data for this study were collected using the System of Care Assessment that rated grantees' enactment of system of care principles in the infrastructure and service delivery domains. Data were collected by trained raters who conducted several site visits over the funding period. This study described system development over time across 61 sites and tested whether gains were statistically significant. Latent profile analysis was used to explore whether sites could be meaningfully grouped based on their baseline service delivery domain scores. Differences across groups were tested in terms of community, system, and client characteristics. Differential growth across groups was also examined. Overall, systems of care developed over time in both the infrastructure and service delivery domains. Although infrastructure scores were generally lower than service delivery scores, greater gains were seen for the infrastructure domain. Three groups of sites were identified that could be distinguished in terms of degree of development overall, and for specific system of care principles. The groups of sites differed in terms of community factors, system features, and client characteristics. In addition, repeated measures analyses found differential growth in system development over time across groups.     

Systems Theory,Family Attachments and Processes of Triangulation: Does the Concept of Triangulation Offer a Useful Bridge?

This article reviews the usefulness of the systemic concept of triangulation as a bridge between systemic thinking and practice and attachment theory. Traditionally attachment theory has theorized and researched with dyads, parent‐child and adult romantic partners, whereas systemic theory has worked therapeutically with the triangle as the basic human relationship; that is, when any two people interact, their interactions are influenced by their respective relationships with the same third person. Here it is argued, for example, that a child's attachment representations are shaped not only by the relationship with each parent but with the relationship between them. Thus, the process of triangulation in intimate relationships is seen in this article to link attachment theory with systemic thinking, as systemic theory needs a theory of love and attachment theory needs to consider how intimate relationships are nested and interconnected in an attachment network.     

Beyond Resilience: Glimpses into Women’s Posttraumatic Growth after Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

Little focus is given to the pathways victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) use to move toward posttraumatic growth. A sample of 32 female participants was recruited through advertising in domestic violence shelters. Women were interviewed about their experiences with four main themes emerging from women’s narratives related to posttraumatic growth: deliberateness of action, ending the cycle for the children, a changed perspective on life, and alternative perceptions of social support. Opportunities for professions working with this population in a number of various of settings is presented to promote long-term changes for women affected by IPV.     

Beyond sensorimotor segregation: On mirror neurons and social affordance space tracking

Mirror neuron research has come a long way since the early 1990s, and many theorists are now stressing the heterogeneity and complexity of the sensorimotor properties of fronto-parietal circuits. However, core aspects of the initial ‘mirror mechanism’ theory, i.e. the idea of a symmetric encapsulated mirroring function translating sensory action perceptions into motor formats, still appears to be shaping much of the debate. This article challenges the empirical plausibility of the sensorimotor segregation implicit in the original mirror metaphor. It is proposed instead that the teleological organization found in the broader fronto-parietal circuits might be inherently sensorimotor. Thus the idea of an independent ‘purely perceptual’ goal understanding process is questioned. Further, it is hypothesized that the often asymmetric, heterogeneous and contextually modulated mirror and canonical neurons support a function of multisensory mapping and tracking of the perceiving agents affordance space. Such a shift in the interpretative framework offers a different theoretical handle on how sensorimotor processes might ground various aspects of intentional action choice and social cognition. Mirror neurons would under the proposed “social affordance model” be seen as dynamic parts of larger circuits, which support tracking of currently shared and competing action possibilities. These circuits support action selection processes—but also our understanding of the options and action potentials that we and perhaps others have in the affordance space. In terms of social cognition ‘mirror’ circuits might thus help us understand not only the intentional actions others are actually performing—but also what they could have done, did not do and might do shortly.     

A Trauma-Informed Call to Action: Culturally-Informed,Multidisciplinary Theoretical and Applied Approaches to Prevention and Healing

ABSTRACT

The prevalence of trauma and its negative impact on humankind has created a burgeoning awareness of the need for systems that are trauma-informed across the lifespan. A collaborative project with the National Partnership to End Interpersonal Violence (NPEIV) sought out research as a call-to-action to mitigate the impact of trauma. The following is an introduction to a special double-issue focused on theoretical and applied approaches to using trauma-informed care in multi-disciplinary, mental and physical health, criminal justice, school-based, and community settings. Consideration is given to essential issues such as resilience, self-care, and cultural awareness.     

Capturing non-linear temporally embedded processes in organizations using recurrence quantification analysis

ABSTRACT

Despite the growing consensus that the majority of psychological phenomena at work are temporally embedded and highly dynamic, existing research is often based on simplified theoretical and methodological models, which take limited account of process dynamics and especially non-linear growth trajectories. In this paper, we highlight the potentials of using recurrence quantifications analysis (RQA) and an extension of RQA – cross-recurrence quantification analysis (CRQA) – for researching process dynamics in organizations. (C)RQA is a powerful technique that can be used to both visualize and quantify time-series data such as repeated measurements of psychological states or sequentially coded dyadic and team interactions. To illustrate the manifold opportunities of (C)RQA, we present three application examples focusing on individuals as systems, dyads as systems, and teams as systems. Specifically, we highlight how (C)RQA can be applied to individual diary data, to leader-follower communication dynamics observed during annual appraisal interviews, and to high-density coded team interactions observed during organizational meetings. We discuss the strengths and limitations of (C)RQA and provide recommendations for researchers interested in using the method.     

The Responses of Health Systems to Marital Sexual Violence – A Perspective from Southern India

ABSTRACT

Marital sexual violence is a serious problem in India. However, marital rape and most other forms of marital sexual violence are not criminalized in the country. This qualitative study with healthcare providers (physicians and nurses), lawyers, members of a non-profit organization that offers domestic violence support services out of a hospital, a journalist and two lawyers suggest that the majority of care providers recognize that marital sexual violence is a serious concern, and agree that health systems can play a vital role in addressing both the immediate biomedical concerns of survivors, and also overall well-being. The study reveals several systemic and internal factors that hinder responsiveness of Indian health institutions. These include, the absence of a protocol or uniform internal guidelines in most hospitals, a lack of screening programs to capture the presence of violence occurring when patients visit hospitals for other reasons, a large patient load, a lack of gender sensitivity in providers’ education, an absence of domestic violence shelters, and poor interlinkages between support services such as counseling and legal services. Notwithstanding these challenges, some exemplar physicians and nurses assist survivors of sexual violence, sometimes risking their own safety. The Indian health system can be made more responsive, provided these factors are addressed, and crucially budgets are allocated for interventions.     

Memory systems and the control of skilled action

ABSTRACT

In keeping with the dominant view that skills are largely automatic, the standard view of memory systems distinguishes between a representational declarative system associated with cognitive processes and a performance-based procedural system. The procedural system is thought to be largely responsible for the performance of well-learned skilled actions. Here we argue that most skills do not fully automate, which entails that the declarative system should make a substantial contribution to skilled performance. To support this view, we review evidence showing that the declarative system does indeed play a number of roles in skilled action.     

Out on a limb? On multiple cognitive systems within the octopus nervous system

The idea that there can be only one cognitive system within any single given cognitive organism is an established albeit implicit one within cognitive science and related studies of the mind. The firm foothold of this notion is due largely to the immense corpus of empirical evidence for the correlation of a high level of cognitive sophistication with a centralized nervous system. However, it must be pointed out that these findings are sourced in large part from studies on vertebrates. This paper presents a potential counterexample to the notion that only one cognitive system can be realized within any single genuine cognitive organism. This counterexample is the octopus, an invertebrate with what initially appears to be a paradoxical combination of vertebrate-like cognitive and behavioral capacities and a functionally decentralized nervous system. The extensive relegation of sensorimotor processing and control responsibilities to the peripheral nervous system which controls the arms of the octopus raises principled reasons to believe that the octopus is an organism that may house multiple independent cognitive systems.