Ignorance of the Own Past

It is shown that for an inside observer it is impossible to distinguish all states in which a system was at some past time. This holds for classical and quantum systems, but an assumption of determinism is essential in the proof.     

Gestural communication of the gorilla (Gorilla gorilla): repertoire, intentionality and possible origins

Social groups of gorillas were observed in three captive facilities and one African field site. Cases of potential gesture use, totalling 9,540, were filtered by strict criteria for intentionality, giving a corpus of 5,250 instances of intentional gesture use. This indicated a repertoire of 102 gesture types. Most repertoire differences between individuals and sites were explicable as a consequence of environmental affordances and sampling effects: overall gesture frequency was a good predictor of universality of occurrence. Only one gesture was idiosyncratic to a single individual, and was given only to humans. Indications of cultural learning were few, though not absent. Six gestures appeared to be traditions within single social groups, but overall concordance in repertoires was almost as high between as within social groups. No support was found for the ontogenetic ritualization hypothesis as the chief means of acquisition of gestures. Many gestures whose form ruled out such an origin, i.e. gestures derived from species-typical displays, were used as intentionally and almost as flexibly as gestures whose form was consistent with learning by ritualization. When using both classes of gesture, gorillas paid specific attention to the attentional state of their audience. Thus, it would be unwarranted to divide ape gestural repertoires into ‘innate, species-typical, inflexible reactions’ and ‘individually learned, intentional, flexible communication’. We conclude that gorilla gestural communication is based on a species-typical repertoire, like those of most other mammalian species but very much larger. Gorilla gestures are not, however, inflexible signals but are employed for intentional communication to specific individuals.     

Leugnen bei inhaftierten Sexualstraftätern

Many sex offenders deny the charges which is often considered as a barrier to treatment and an indicator of an elevated risk for re-offending. Both expectations, however, are controversial in the literature. In the context of Andrews’ and Bonta’s risk-need-responsivity (RNR) model it seems appropriate to understand denial not as a risk factor but as a responsivity issue. A study of 1,381 sex offenders released from prison in Bavaria since 2004 showed that deniers seldom participated in treatment programs and were rarely granted a temporary licence or early release from prison, compared to those who admitted the offenses. The proportion of deniers was higher in immigrants, married and older persons. For 833 offenders released up to the end of 2008 reconviction records were available, with a time at risk of between 5 and 9 years. No correlations were found between denial and violent, sexual, serious or general recidivism. The implications of these findings relate to the correctional treatment of sex offenders and the need for programs that are adapted to the needs of deniers.     

The Accuracy of Retrospective Recall of Childhood ADHD: Results from a Longitudinal Study

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a childhood-onset condition that may continue into adulthood. When assessing adult patients, clinicians usually rely on retrospective reports of childhood symptoms to evaluate the age-of-onset criterion. Since inaccurate symptom recall may impede the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD, knowledge about the factors influencing retrospective reports is needed. This longitudinal study investigated (a) the accuracy of retrospective symptom ratings by adult participants with a childhood diagnosis of ADHD (self-ratings) and parents or significant others (proxy ratings), and (b) the influence of current ADHD symptom severity and ADHD-associated impairments on retrospective symptom ratings. Participants (N =?55) were members of the Cologne Adaptive Multimodal Treatment (CAMT) study who had been referred and treated for ADHD in childhood and were reassessed in adulthood (average age 27 years). Participants’ retrospective self-ratings were substantially lower than, and did not correlate with, parents’ ADHD symptom ratings provided at study entry, while retrospective symptom ratings provided by proxy respondents correlated moderately with parents’ childhood ratings. In addition, participants were more likely to underreport childhood symptoms (79%) and more frequently denied the presence of three or more childhood symptoms (17%) compared to proxy respondents (65% underreporting, 10% false-negative recall). Proxy respondents’ symptom recall was best predicted by childhood ADHD, while participants’ symptom recall was best predicted by current ADHD symptom severity. ADHD-associated impairments were not correlated with symptom recall after controlling for childhood ADHD. Together, these findings suggest a recall bias in adult patients and question the validity of retrospective reports, even in clinical samples.

     

Gender Effects on Organizational Problems—Evidence from Non-Profit Sports Clubs in Germany

In sports organizations, women are still under-represented, especially compared with their share of the general population. This holds true for management and leadership positions in particular, which could be explained by the lack of congruence between the female gender role and leader role. Therefore, the theoretical framework underpinning this study is based on role congruity theory. The research question is whether the share of women on the board and among members influences the perceived severity of organizational problems faced by sports organizations. This postulation is examined for a representative sample of sports clubs in Germany (n?=?13,068). Analyses of variance are conducted with the severity of organizational problems and the share of women on the board and among club members. The results show that the share of women on the board and among members has a significant negative impact on the severity of organizational problems. Sports clubs with a high share of women on the board and among members perceive the severity of organizational problems as smaller on average. This finding is related to female leadership style, which might serve as one possible explanation. Based on these results, it is recommended that sports clubs appoint more women to management positions. This study provides empirical evidence that the often postulated increase in the share of women can be beneficial to sports organizations.     

Priming of reach and grasp actions by handled objects

Pictures of handled objects such as a beer mug or frying pan are shown to prime speeded reach and grasp actions that are compatible with the object. To determine whether the evocation of motor affordances implied by this result is driven merely by the physical orientation of the object's handle as opposed to higher-level properties of the object, including its function, prime objects were presented either in an upright orientation or rotated 90° from upright. Rotated objects successfully primed hand actions that fit the object's new orientation (e.g., a frying pan rotated 90° so that its handle pointed downward primed a vertically oriented power grasp), but only when the required grasp was commensurate with the object's proper function. This constraint suggests that rotated objects evoke motor representations only when they afford the potential to be readily positioned for functional action.     

Social psychological implications of the narcissism theory]

The author recapitulates various conceptions of narcissism that are in psychoanalytic discussion and attempts to set up a new theoretical frame for the socio-psychological topoi "authoritarian character" and "narcissistic personality" by means of Kohut's conceptions of the "grandiose self" and the "idealized parental imago". Based on M. Mahler's observations, Kernberg's critique of Kohut is rejected.