Fictions and Facts About Evolutionary Approaches to Human Behavior: Comment on Lickliter and Honeycutt (2003).

Six misconceptions about evolutionary approaches to human behavior are exposed. Evidence is adduced to support the assertions that evolutionary approaches do not (a) adopt a reductionistic "gene-centered" level of analysis, (b) assume that natural selection is the only process that creates and designs ontogenetic processes and phenotypic outcomes, (c) assume that genes are the only agents responsible for the transgenerational inheritance of phenotypic traits and characteristics, (d) assume that genes are self-contained and impervious to extragenetic influences, (e) posit a strong form of genetic determinism, or (f) pay lip service to the role of the environment. Building straw men and knocking them down is an inherently destructive enterprise; integrating different approaches is a more constructive way of contributing to the growth of knowledge. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Avoidance Behavior Can Function as a Negative Occasion Setter.

The authors put forward the hypothesis that avoidance learning can result from the fact that participants learn (a) that a stimulus is followed by an unconditioned stimulus (US) when the avoidance behavior is not emitted and (b) that the stimulus is not followed by the US when the avoidance behavior is emitted. As such, avoidance behavior is assumed to function as a negative occasion setter. The results of a contingency judgment experiment involving 65 students showed that avoidance behavior indeed has the unique functional properties of a negative occasion setter (resistance to counterconditioning and selective transfer of modulation). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpretational confounding is due to misspecification, not to type of indicator: Comment on Howell, Breivik, and Wilcox (2007).

R. D. Howell, E. Breivik, and J. B. Wilcox (2007; see record 2007-07830-006) have argued that causal (formative) indicators are inherently subject to interpretational confounding. That is, they have argued that using causal (formative) indicators leads the empirical meaning of a latent variable to be other than that assigned to it by a researcher. Their critique of causal (formative) indicators rests on several claims: (a) A latent variable exists apart from the model when there are effect (reflective) indicators but not when there are causal (formative) indicators, (b) causal (formative) indicators need not have the same consequences, (c) causal (formative) indicators are inherently subject to interpretational confounding, and (d) a researcher cannot detect interpretational confounding when using causal (formative) indicators. This article shows that each claim is false. Rather, interpretational confounding is more a problem of structural misspecification of a model combined with an underidentified model that leaves these misspecifications undetected. Interpretational confounding does not occur if the model is correctly specified whether a researcher has causal (formative) or effect (reflective) indicators. It is the validity of a model not the type of indicator that determines the potential for interpretational confounding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Supervision by telephone: An innovation in psychoanalytic training--a roundtable discussion.

Supervision using the telephone was the topic at a roundtable discussion during the 2005 Spring meeting of Division 39 (Psychoanalysis) of the American Psychological Association. Areas of agreement that emerged from the discussion among the panelists and the audience included the following: (a) that some face-to-face contact to supplement telephone supervision is desirable; (b) that the process and relational fit between the supervisee and the supervisor is more important than whether supervision is over the telephone on in person; (c) that parallel process is important in supervision; (d) that the supervisory alliance is important; (e) that telephone supervision is essential in distance learning programs, and (f) that telephone supervision permits exposure to diverse viewpoints that might otherwise not be available. Telephone supervision is frequently used but rarely discussed. Panelists all felt that the topic needs further discussion and must be seriously considered in training programs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Accessibility of information about goals during the processing of narrative texts.

Used a probe procedure to show that a goal established earlier in a text is active in memory at the point of its achievement. An initial experiment demonstrated that a goal category (began an investigation to nab the THIEF) is accessible, relative to a control condition, following the processing of a goal-achievement sentence (had the PURSER brought to his office). The remaining experiments provided evidence against several explanations of this result: (1) that the goal category's accessibility is due to an advantage in the strength of its initial encoding; (2) that the goal category is maintained in memory from the point at which the goal is established; or (3) that the goal category is reinstated at the point of goal achievement as the result of a high-level inference. The results suggest that the goal category is reinstated as the result of a low-level inference similar to the type that links an anaphor and its antecedent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does anyone really believe that alcoholism is a disease?

Asserts, in response to S. Peele's (see record 1985-28347-001) observations about the cultural context of psychological approaches to alcoholism, that alcoholism is not a disease but a social phenomenon and that those who do believe that alcoholism is a disease do not act as if they truly believe that it is. It is argued that if those who claim that alcoholism is a disease believed that it is in fact a disease, they would act to eliminate it as a threat to society. (1 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Object-Based Attention and Cognitive Tunneling.

Simulator-based research has shown that pilots cognitively tunnel their attention on head-up displays (HUDs). Cognitive tunneling has been linked to object-based visual attention on the assumption that HUD symbology is perceptually grouped into an object that is perceived and attended separately from the external scene. The present research strengthens the link between cognitive tunneling and object-based attention by showing that (a) elements of a visual display that share a common fate are grouped into a perceptual object and that this grouping is sufficient to sustain object-based attention, (b) object-based attention and thereby cognitive tunneling is affected by strategic focusing of attention, and (c) object-based attention is primarily inhibitory in nature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The analysis of change: Issues, fallacies, and new ideas.

In this special section of The Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, new ideas about how to analyze change are presented in a format that is accessible to clinicians and clinical researchers. D. Rogosa's (1988) myths of longitudinal research are reviewed in an attempt to familiarize psychologists with the dangers of assuming (1) that regression toward the mean is unavoidable, (2) that difference scores are unreliable, (3) that analysis of covariance is the way to analyze change, (4) that 2 points are adequate to measure change, and (5) that the correlation between change and initial level is always negative. An overview of the articles emphasizes what is new and improved in the design and analysis of change. The articles are preceded with a conceptual discussion of how to measure change over time when the stability of the criterion construct is high and there is little variance to predict. Other articles discuss the form of change over time and how this can be an important tool in testing specific hypotheses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is gratitude a moral affect?

Gratitude is conceptualized as a moral affect that is analogous to other moral emotions such as empathy and guilt. Gratitude has 3 functions that can be conceptualized as morally relevant: (a) a moral barometer function (i.e., it is a response to the perception that one has been the beneficiary of another person's moral actions); (b) a moral motive function (i.e., it motivates the grateful person to behave prosocially toward the benefactor and other people); and (c) a moral reinforcer function (i.e., when expressed, it encourages benefactors to behave morally in the future). The personality and social factors that are associated with gratitude are also consistent with a conceptualization of gratitude as an affect that is relevant to people's cognitions and behaviors in the moral domain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Role of habituation and classical conditioning in the development of morphine tolerance.

Tested 96 male Long-Evans rats for the development of analgesic tolerance to low and high (5 and 15 mg/kg) doses of morphine once every 12 or 48 hrs in distinctive or nondistinctive environments. Results indicate that in a nondistinctive environment, development of analgesic tolerance to morphine (a) was a function of repeated presentation of morphine, (b) was more rapid with massed than with spaced presentations of morphine, (c) did not depend on variation in drug levels, (d) showed spontaneous recovery across time, and (e) was not sensitive to marked alteration in the environment. It is suggested that in nondistinctive environments the development of tolerance to morphine is mediated by a habituation process. Results show that in a distinctive environment, development of analgesic tolerance to morphine (a) was a function of repeated presentation of morphine, (b) was slightly more rapid with spaced than with massed presentations of morphine, (c) did not depend on variation in drug levels, (d) showed persistence across time, and (e) was sensitive to alteration in the environment. It is suggested that in a distinctive environment the development of tolerance to morphine is mediated by a classical conditioning process that is superimposed on the habituation process. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Web-based Centralized Multiclient Cooperative Contractor Registration System

Despite perceived industry needs for developing a centralized contractor registration (CCR) system, such a system is still to be developed for a multiclient environment such as Hong Kong. A major barrier is that such a CCR system must be relatively easy to access to ensure that (i) contractors’ information is constantly updated (by contractors), (ii) contractors’ performance is reported promptly (by project teams and occupiers), and (iii) the latest analyzed information is available to any authorized clients anytime anywhere. A centralized multiclient cooperative contractor registration (CMCCR) system is proposed using web-based technology, which provides a powerful communication medium with a high potential for satisfying the above requirements. The conceptual framework of the proposed CMCCR system is presented, and the concept is illustrated through a prototype based on information collected in Hong Kong. The initial observations indicate that web-based technology is suitable for the proposed CMCCR system, and that the development of a fully functional web-based CMCCR is both feasible and useful.     

Neuropsychological mechanisms of individual differences in emotion, personality, and arousal.

Evidence is reviewed to suggest that parietotemporal regions of the right hemisphere not only are specialized for the processing of emotional information but also play a critical role in the experience of emotion. In particular, it is argued that these regions of the right hemisphere constitute a system involved in modulating autonomic and behavioral arousal in emotional states. This system is characterized by a set of cognitive and attentional qualities that make it uniquely suited to respond to environmental events in an adaptive fashion. The current proposal is an elaboration of a model of emotion and brain organization (W. Heller, 1990) that incorporates several aspects of emotional function: (1) perception and production of emotional information, (2) mood and emotional experience, and (3) autonomic arousal. In the context of this model, it is suggested that the right-hemisphere system operates in conjunction with a system localized to the frontal lobes that is involved in modulating the emotional valence of experience. The interaction of these 2 systems is hypothesized to be conditioned by individual differences and developmental tendencies that contribute to the production of a unique and stable pattern of personality traits and emotional characteristics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Specification searches in covariance structure modeling.

Examines whether common procedures for conducting specification searches are likely to lead to discovery of the correct population model by constructing artificial data for which there is a known correct model, fitting a misspecified model to the data, and determining whether a specification search would lead to specification of the correct model. Results indicate that the likelihood of success in a specification search is optimal when (a) the investigator's initial model corresponds closely to the true model, (b) the search is allowed to continue even when a statistically plausible model is obtained, (c) the investigator can place valid restrictions on permissible modifications, and (d) a large sample is used. It is shown that even under favorable conditions, models arising from specification searches must be viewed with caution. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The belief-based emotion of suprise: The case for a lag in understanding relative to false belief.

Three experiments were carried out to determine whether there is a lag in predicting surprise relative to false belief. All 3 experiments used "backwards reasoning" tasks. The findings were that ( a ) there is a lag in predicting surprise relative to false belief, ( b ) by 5 or 6 years of age children claim that one will be surprised when they gain knowledge of that which they were previously ignorant or when they discover that they had previously held a false belief, ( c ) by 7 to 9 years of age they understand that surprise will more likely result from false beliefs rather than mere ignorance, and ( d ) children's difficulty understanding surprise as specifically belief-based does not likely stem from information processing limitations. It is argued that the lag likely results because children must build a new concept of surprise ( e.g., from desire- to belief-based ) . (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A new metal-binding site in photosynthetic bacterial reaction centers that modulates QA to QB electron transfer

Isolated reaction centers (RCs) from Rhodobacter sphaeroides were found to bind Zn(II) stoichiometrically and reversibly in addition to the 1 equiv of non-heme Fe(II). Metal and EPR analyses confirm that Zn(II) is ligated to a binding site that is distinct from the Fe site. When Zn(II) is bound to this site, electron transfer between the quinones QA and QB (QA-QB --> QAQB-) is slowed and the room-temperature kinetics become distributed across the microsecond to millisecond time domain. This effect of metal binding on the kinetics is similar to the more global effect of cooling RCs to 2 degreesC in the absence of Zn(II). This suggests that Zn(II) binding alters localized protein motions that are necessary for rapid QA-QB --> QAQB- electron transfer. Inspection of the RC crystal structure suggests a cluster of histidine ligands located beneath the QB binding pocket as a potential binding site.     

Victimization and substance abuse among women: Contributing factors, interventions, and implications.

Although the literature indicates that there is an association of victimization with substance abuse, there has been limited research focused on understanding and synthesizing the factors that have been identified as contributing to victimization and substance abuse and on interventions designed to address these contributing factors. The purposes of this article are to (a) review the literature on factors related to victimization and substance abuse, (b) review interventions and outcomes, and (c) discuss clinical implications for interventions and research. Results suggest that there is a high rate of co-occurrence of victimization and substance abuse among women, that the factors contributing to victimization and substance abuse are complex, and that there is a lack of treatment models addressing victimization and substance abuse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Causality and the allocation of attention during comprehension.

Recent research has suggested that each statement in a narrative text is understood by relating it to its causal antecedents and consequences and that the text as a whole is understood by finding a causal path linking its opening to its final outcome. C. R. Fletcher and C. P. Bloom (see record 1989-10829-001) have proposed that in order to accomplish this goal, while minimizing the number of times long-term memory has to be searched, readers focus their attention on the last clause of a narrative that has causal antecedents but no consequences in the preceding text. As a result, a statement that is followed by a causal antecedent should remain the focus of attention, while the same statement followed by a consequence should not. This prediction was tested and confirmed in three experiments which show that when a target statement is followed by a sentence that includes only causal antecedents (a) continuation sentences related to it are read more quickly, (b) target words drawn from it are easier to recognize, and (c) subject-generated continuations are more likely to be causally related to it. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)