Effects of Event Probability and Animateness on Children's Comprehension of Active and Passive Sentences

Thirty-six three-, four-, and five-year-old boys and girls were asked to act out, with appropriate toys, 48 sentences presented with instructions to make the toys do what E said. Sentences were designed to test the effects on comprehension of (a) event probability, (b) sentence voice, and (c) subject/object animateness. Sentences with either an animate subject and object, or an inanimate subject and object, were considered to be reversible; however, not all reversible sentences were symmetrical with respect to event probability. All main effects were significant, and performance improved with age. The significant interactions indicated that there is a difference between animateness and inanimateness in reversible sentences. The data also suggested that (a) animateness may be an important variable in children's early comprehension of speech, and (b) the traditional definition of reversibility should be modified to unconfound the effects of event probability and animateness.     

Nietzsche on conscious and unconscious thought

ABSTRACT

While much recent attention has been directed towards Nietzsche’s reflections on the mind, and on consciousness in particular, his often-suggestive comments about thinking have thus far avoided comparable scrutiny. Starting from Nietzsche’s claims that we ‘think constantly, but [do] not know it’, and that only our conscious thinking ‘takes place in words,’ I draw out the distinct strands that underpin such remarks. The opening half of the paper focuses upon Nietzsche’s understanding of unconscious thinking, and the role of affects therein. In what remains, I consider the difference (for Nietzsche) between conscious and unconscious thought, with a particular focus on two important readings. The first, put forward by Paul Katsafanas, claims that conscious states alone have conceptually-articulated content. The second, defended most prominently by Mattia Riccardi, argues that Nietzsche’s various claims evince a form of HOT (higher-order thought) theory. I argue that neither reading is quite right, and instead propose an alternative interpretation of conscious thinking ‘in words’, which draws on work on inner speech.     

Dual temperamental risk factors for psychopathic personality: evidence from self-report and skin conductance

Psychopathy is a personality disorder consisting of dysfunctional affective interpersonal features (Factor 1) and impulsive-antisocial behavior (Factor 2) that exhibit differential associations with palmar skin conductance (SC) reactivity. The goal of this study was to determine whether the distinct SC reactivity observed in incarcerated psychopaths generalizes to university students who score high on personality dimensions hypothesized to be the risk factors for these psychopathy factors. Lilienfeld's Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI; Lilienfeld & Andrews, 1996) was used to compute scores on 2 factor-analytically derived dimensions that have been the focus of recent research in psychopathy. PPI-1 is hypothesized to relate to the low-fear temperamental risk factor, whereas PPI-2 is hypothesized to relate to regulatory dysfunction. SC reactivity was measured during tasks previously used in studies of diagnosed psychopaths. Results indicated that PPI-1 was associated with reduced SC during anticipation of an aversive noise and PPI-2 was associated with enhanced SC reactivity during presentation of a speech about one's faults. Additional analyses explored an 8-factor solution of the PPI and 3 temperament dimensions derived from factor analysis of several personality measures. Together, the SC results suggest that the Factor 1 pathway, best captured with refined assessments of behavioral fearlessness, related to reduced SC reactivity to an aversive noise-consistent with a weak defense system. The Factor 2 pathway, best captured by higher order dimensions reflecting externalizing, disinhibited forms of negative temperament, related to enhanced SC reactivity to a speech stressor-consistent with high stress reactivity.     

Home-Based vs. Clinic-Based Parent–Child Interaction Therapy: Comparative Effectiveness in the Context of Dissemination and Implementation

Disruptive child behavior disorders remain a major public health issue despite the proliferation of several strong Evidence-Based Practices (EBPs) for these children and their families. This may stem from barriers to treatment facing many families in need, particularly families with low resources. Home-based treatment may be best suited for this population; however, EBPs are not always available or tested as home-based interventions. The current study compares an intensive home-based adaptation of Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) to the standard clinic-based model in the context of a statewide implementation. As part of the statewide implementation, therapists entered archival data into an online system. Data was gathered for 314 families receiving PCIT, with 181 children in clinic-based PCIT and 133 in intensive home-based PCIT. Consistent with other trials of PCIT, results of the current study indicate that both versions of the therapy were effective in reducing child-behavior problems and increasing parenting skills; however, there were marked differences in attrition. Intensive home-based participants were twice as likely to complete treatment (64.66%) compared to clinic-based participants (33.15%) despite facing more adversity. These results underscore the importance of scientifically-sound adaptations of EBPs, as well as the role of comparative effectiveness studies as a critical tool in the integrative model of intervention science.     

Application of a behavioral theory of motivation to the concepts of anxiety and impulsivity

Gray's model has been employed in attempts to formulate theories concerning the processes underlying various types of psychopathology. In the most direct application of his model, the dominant mood is assumed to reflect the strength of the underlying motivational system—i.e., strong anxiety with a strong behavioral inhibition system (BIS), strong positive affect with a strong behavioral activation system (BAS). This approach would predict strong anxiety to be associated with a dominance of passive avoidance and extinction and, similarly, strong positive affect with a dominance of impulsivity and other approach behaviors.The present paper has argued that these expectations are based on an implicit assumption that equally stressful environments are encountered—an assumption that would be undermined by individual differences in the very motivational systems under consideration. Examination of the approach-avoidance conflict paradigm supported the argument that, at least in the case of anxiety, one should not expect a strong association between behavior and motivational states. In particular, a weak behavioral inhibition system or strong behavioral activation system is likely to facilitate anxiety-producing impulsive behavior, whereas a strong behavioral inhibition system or weak behavioral activation system may facilitate anxiety-reducing cautious behavior. Other factors were also thought to promote independence of affective states and behavioral traits across individuals.On this argument, trait anxiety conceptualized as resulting from a strong BIS may not be highly correlated with frequent anxiety. Stating this another way, the behavioral correlates of a dominant BIS may be relatively independent of a trait involving a dominance of anxious mood. Using Tellegen's (1985) discussion of self-report measures of mood and personality traits, it was proposed that the trait factor of Constraint may be more strongly associated with behavioral consequences of the BAS and BIS, whereas the Negative Emotionality dimension is largely unrelated to the behavioral effects of the BIS. Since Negative Emotionality corresponds to the traditional anxiety/neuroticism factor, this proposal differs from the customary assumptions about the alignment of Gray's motivational systems and personality traits. The personality trait of Positive Emotionality (cf. extraversion) may be associated with individual differences in the strength of the BAS, with both affective and behavioral components. Thus, the hypothesis of motivational-behavioral uncoupling offers an alternative to the usual intepretations of the three major dimensions seen in most personality inventories. Unfortunately, it remains unclear as to how well the three major personality traits (Positive Emotionality, Negative Emotionality, and Constraint) are aligned with the hypothesized underlying motivational dimensions, and any hypotheses must be seen as extremely tentative.Finally, the question of the validity of self-report measures was discussed briefly. Of greatest interest is the possibility that a subset of subjects are unable to accurately report their emotional states, and that methods are available for identifying these individuals. If so, the validity of these self-report measures may be significantly improved, facilitating research on anxiety and impulsivity.     

The influence of introversion/extraversion on the skin conductance response to stress and stimulus intensity

A series of studies compared skin conductance level (SCL) for introverts and extraverts during a series of tones varying in both stimulus intensity (SI) and the amount of stress preceding the tones. When a difficult paired-associate task preceded the tones, both groups were about the same for 83 dB tones but extraverts were much higher at 103 dB, introverts failing to show an increase as a function of SI. There were no differences between the two groups following a simple paired-associate task, both groups showing a similar increase with increased SI. Finally, SCL was higher for introverts than extraverts during tones preceded by a rest period, and this was especially true for the early trials and for lower SI (75 and 83 dB compared with 100 and 103 dB). Taken together, these results suggest that SCL is higher for extraverts at higher levels of arousal but that the reverse is true for lower levels of arousal. This relationship is consistent with the theory that introverts have a “weak nervous system” which develops transmarginal or protective inhibition under stress.