Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy Successes and Failures: Eight Personal Perspectives

Eight experts in Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) provided personal examples of their own successes and failures in applying REBT to themselves. The experts actively talked to themselves both rationally and irrationally. Understandably, there were far more shoulds, oughts, musts, and have to's in the narratives in which the experts described when they failed to use REBT than when they succeeded in using REBT. Rational self‐talk was more prevalent in the examples of how REBT was successfully used by the experts.     

Religions in a Secular World

The task of astrotheology is to speculate on the theological, cultural, and ethical implications of space exploration, especially the exploration of astrobiologists into the (1) origin of life; (2) a second genesis of life; and (3) expansion of life beyond earth. When assumptions within the field of astrobiology are examined, we find that the Darwinian model of evolutionary development is imaginatively projected onto extrasolar planets; and this model includes a built-in doctrine of progress. The assumption of progress within evolution permits astrobiologists to look forward to contact with an extraterrestrial civilization that is more intelligent and more advanced than that on earth. Such an extraterrestrial civilization will allegedly have an advanced science that can save earth from its primitive and under-evolved propensity for violence. However, no empirical evidence for a more highly evolved or advanced civilization currently exists, despite these beliefs. The theologian labels the constellation of scientific assumptions here the “ETI myth.” Astrotheology celebrates hard-nosed empirical science and even encourages space exploration; but the mythical assumptions regarding the doctrine of progress within evolution are here given critical analysis.     

The role of working memory in the metaphor interference effect

Participants took longer to judge that metaphors (e.g., an insult is a razor, memory is a warehouse) were literally false than to judge that scrambled sentences (e.g., an insult is a warehouse) were false. This result is the metaphor interference effect (MIE). It demonstrates that metaphor processing is automatic. In this experiment, we found that the magnitude of the MIE is predicted by working memory (WM) capacity, with higher WM yielding a smaller MIE. This suggests that although metaphor comprehension is automatic, the early processing of metaphors is controllable by executive mechanisms. We relate our results to Kintsch’s (2000, 2001) predication model. Specifically, we suggest that mechanisms of WM influence metaphor processing by affecting the effectiveness of the construction-integration process that identifies common properties between topics and vehicles. WM also influences the speed with which meanings are identified as literal or figurative.     

Post‐September 11th Perspectives on Religion,Spirituality, and Philosophy in the Personal and Professional Lives of Selected REBT Cognoscenti

The purpose of this article was for selected Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) cognoscenti to examine the impact of the events of September 11th, 2001, on their beliefs about religion, spirituality, and their personal philosophy—including the role of evil in the universe and the implications of these issues on their use of REBT. The degree of consistency of the authors' views with classical REBT theory and philosophy was examined. The authors are current or former members of the Albert Ellis Institute's International Training Standards and Policy Review Committee, of which Albert Ellis, REBT's founder, is also a member.     

Rational emotive behavior therapy successes and failures: Eight personal perspectives

Eight experts in Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) provided personal examples of their own successes and failures in applying REBT to themselves. The experts actively talked to themselves both rationally and irrationally. Understandably, there were far more shoulds, oughts, musts, and have to’s in the narratives in which the experts described when they failed to use REBT than when they succeeded in using REBT. Rational self-talk was more prevalent in the examples of how REBT was successfully used by the experts. Reprinted from Journal of Counseling & Development, Summer 2001, Volume 79. ACA. Reprinted with permission. No further reproduction authorized without written permission from the American Counseling Association.     

A quantitative review of the guilty knowledge test

The guilty knowledge polygraph test (GKT; D. T. Lykken, 1959, 1960) is a psychophysiological method of identifying suspects with concealed information about a crime. A meta-analysis of 50 treatment groups drawn from 22 laboratory simulation studies (total N = 1,247) was conducted to provide a comprehensive estimate of GKT accuracy under controlled conditions. Electrodermal measures correctly identified 76% of participants with concealed knowledge and 83% of those without information. Informed participants were detected at rates significantly in excess of chance, with a mean weighted effect size of .57. Enactment of mock crimes increased the hit rate to 82%. The rates of false-positive error among noninformed treatment groups did not significantly exceed chance. Applications and research directions are discussed.     

Post-September 11th Perspectives on Religion, Spirituality, and Philosophy in the Personal and Professional Lives of Selected REBT Cognoscenti

The purpose of this article was for selected Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) cognoscenti to examine the impact of the events of September 11th, 2001, on their beliefs about religion, spirituality, and their personal philosophy—including the role of evil in the universe and the implications of these issues on their use of REBT. The degree of consistency of the author’s views with classical REBT theory and philosophy was examined. The authors are current or former members of the Albert Ellis Institute’s International Training Standards and Policy Review Committee, of which Albert Ellis, REBT’s founder, is also a member. Reprinted from Journal of Counseling & Development, Fall 2004, Volume 82. ACA. Reprinted with permission. No further reproduction authorized without written permission from the American Counseling Association. We regret to inform readers that Stephen G. Weinrach died in April 2004. Stephen G. Weinrach expressed gratitude to Jacqueline Mirabile, Laura Hutelmyer, and Phylis Wright of Villanova University’s Falvey Memorial Library for valuable research assistance. Jesse Clancy and Bethany Coover provided deeply appreciated and important editorial support.     

Disagreeable narcissism mediates an effect of BAS on addictive behaviors

Some forms of personality dysfunction that are associated with substance use and other externalizing behaviors, such as Narcissistic Personality Disorder, are characterized by low five-factor Agreeableness. Low Agreeableness and high Extraversion are both associated with the Behavioral Approach System in the revised Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory of Personality (RST; McNaughton & Corr, 2008). Meta-analyses examining personality predictors of Substance Use Disorders (Kotov et al., 2010) and Pathological Gambling (MacLaren et al., 2011) have implicated low Agreeableness but not Extraversion. In the present study, we sampled undergraduate students (N = 346) to examine relationships between two aspects of grandiose narcissism measured by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI), approach motivation measured by the BIS/BAS scales, and self-reported addictive behaviors. Disagreeable and Extraverted subscales of the NPI were examined for possible mediation of associations between BAS and addictive behaviors. The more disagreeable aspect of narcissism mediated the effects of BAS on drug use, gambling, sex, and maladaptive intimate relationships. These results suggest that one mechanism through which the Behavioral Approach System may promote addictive behavior among grandiose Narcissists is through its association with their aggressive and antagonistic interpersonal style.