Hypersensitivity to threat in paranoid personality

Three groups of detoxified substance abuse inpatients, characterized by DSM-III-R criteria as Paranoid or Antisocial Personality Disorder, or no personality disorder, were compared in responses to six variations of the Stroop color-naming task designed to assess hypothesized attentional and discriminative aspects of paranoid hypersensitivity by incorporating threat and five types of non-threat control words as stimuli. Results supported experimental predictions that Paranoid Personality Disorder subjects would show greater differential increases in color-naming times on the Stroop task involving social threat words, relative to performance on tasks using matched non-threatening stimuli. This specific interference effect was not evidenced in the reponses of the non-paranoid groups. Comparison of performance on a subsequent recognition task indicated that Paranoid Personality Disorder subjects showed significant differences in ability to recognize previously-seen threat versus non-threat words, relative to remaining subjects. Signal detection analysis of results indicated that the Paranoid group demonstrated significantly reduced ability to discriminate among threat words, whereas non-paranoid comparison subjects tended to show maximum discriminability indices with threat-related material. These findings have implications for current formulations of paranoid disorders and personality

Active and Passive Rorschach Movement Responses: Toward a Historically and Experientially Grounded Revision of Scoring Criteria

This study explored the Rorschach Comprehensive System\u27s active and passive (a and p) movement scores and presents revised scoring criteria that reflect both historical commentary and qualitative research. A review of a and p movements included a thorough and reflective reading of historical and contemporary literature on the three movement percepts (i.e., human, animal, and inanimate) and traced the development of the Rorschach active and passive movement superscripts. Active and passive movement responses were then explored through a qualitative research study. Participants took part in a complete Rorschach administration, then wrote vivid descriptions of their movement responses, and finally, engaged in dialogal research as co-researchers. They addressed their experiences of the active and passive aspects of their movement responses in order to identify the themes that seemed to best delineate these two aspects of movement perception. This dissertation then integrated the findings from the literature review with themes derived from the collaborative exploration with co-researchers. Proposed scoring criteria for a and p movement responses, reflecting both experiential and historical understandings, were then developed. Finally, a second study that investigated inter-scorer reliability was conducted to determine if the proposed scoring criteria improve scoring reliability. Volunteer lay and experienced scorers scored responses in various forms (verbs, full responses, and detailed descriptions following inquiry) as active or passive after they were provided with instructions for scoring. The results of the reliability study and the feedback from participants offer substantive statistical evidence that the experientially and historically grounded proposed active and passive criteria are an improvement upon existing criteria and provide a clear and utilizable scoring structure for clinicians. These results are discussed in terms of how the new criteria are clearer than those for the current Rorschach Comprehensive System and present more conceptually valid interpretive statements for clinical use. This study holds promise for alternative qualitative research approaches to the Rorschach that are suitable for further developing and revising the instrument. Future directions for developing active and passive movement interpretation and their reliability measurement are also addressed

Change blindness: eradication of gestalt strategies

Arrays of eight, texture-defined rectangles were used as stimuli in a one-shot change blindness (CB) task where there was a 50% chance that one rectangle would change orientation between two successive presentations separated by an interval. CB was eliminated by cueing the target rectangle in the first stimulus, reduced by cueing in the interval and unaffected by cueing in the second presentation. This supports the idea that a representation was formed that persisted through the interval before being 'overwritten' by the second presentation (Landman et al, 2003 Vision Research 43149–164]. Another possibility is that participants used some kind of grouping or Gestalt strategy. To test this we changed the spatial position of the rectangles in the second presentation by shifting them along imaginary spokes (by ±1 degree) emanating from the central fixation point. There was no significant difference seen in performance between this and the standard task [F(1,4)=2.565, p=0.185]. This may suggest two things: (i) Gestalt grouping is not used as a strategy in these tasks, and (ii) it gives further weight to the argument that objects may be stored and retrieved from a pre-attentional store during this task

Development of a System for the Training Assessment and Mental Workload Evaluation

Several studies have demonstrated that the main cause of accidents are due to Human Factor (HF) failures. Humans are the least and last controllable factor in the activity workflows, and the availability of tools able to provide objective information about the user’s cognitive state should be very helpful in maintain proper levels of safety. To overcome these issues, the objectives of the PhD covered three topics. The first phase was focused on the study of machine-learning techniques to evaluate the user’s mental workload during the execution of a task. In particular, the methodology was developed to address two important limitations: i) over-time reliability (no recalibration of the algorithm); ii) automatic brain features selection to avoid both the underfitting and overfitting problems. The second phase was dedicated to the study of the training assessment. In fact, the standard training evaluation methods do not provide any objective information about the amount of brain activation\resources required by the user, neither during the execution of the task, nor across the training sessions. Therefore, the aim of this phase was to define a neurophysiological methodology able to address such limitation. The third phase of the PhD consisted in overcoming the lack of neurophysiological studies regarding the evaluation of the cognitive control behaviour under which the user performs a task. The model introduced by Rasmussen was selected to seek neurometrics to characterize the skill, rule and knowledge behaviours by means of the user’s brain activity. The experiments were initially ran in controlled environments, whilst the final tests were carried out in realistic environments. The results demonstrated the validity of the developed algorithm and methodologies (2 patents pending) in solving the issues quoted initially. In addition, such results brought to the submission of a H2020-SMEINST project, for the realization of a device based on such results

Proceedings of the NASA Workshop on Density Estimation and Function Smoothing

Statistical model identification techniques being developed to provide workable solutions to problems in density estimation and function smoothing are examined

A Statistical Approach to the Alignment of fMRI Data

Multi-subject functional Magnetic Resonance Image studies are critical. The anatomical and functional structure varies across subjects, so the image alignment is necessary. We define a probabilistic model to describe functional alignment. Imposing a prior distribution, as the matrix Fisher Von Mises distribution, of the orthogonal transformation parameter, the anatomical information is embedded in the estimation of the parameters, i.e., penalizing the combination of spatially distant voxels. Real applications show an improvement in the classification and interpretability of the results compared to various functional alignment methods

A comparison of the CAR and DAGAR spatial random effects models with an application to diabetics rate estimation in Belgium

When hierarchically modelling an epidemiological phenomenon on a finite collection of sites in space, one must always take a latent spatial effect into account in order to capture the correlation structure that links the phenomenon to the territory. In this work, we compare two autoregressive spatial models that can be used for this purpose: the classical CAR model and the more recent DAGAR model. Differently from the former, the latter has a desirable property: its ρ parameter can be naturally interpreted as the average neighbor pair correlation and, in addition, this parameter can be directly estimated when the effect is modelled using a DAGAR rather than a CAR structure. As an application, we model the diabetics rate in Belgium in 2014 and show the adequacy of these models in predicting the response variable when no covariates are available

The Imago Dei: an historical and critical examination

The imago Dei has become for Western theology primarily a symbol of either melancholy or disdain. For the Hebrew it was a symbol of the most intimate God -man relationship which we have called co- inherence. For most of the church Paradise lies behind, and our thoughts of it are tinged with memories of shame; for Israel Paradise was ahead, and she looked forward in hope.Our brief analysis has supported the proposition, stated as simply as possible, that man is destined by God for a good end. Hope itself appears to be a universal symbol of this very attitude. The imago Dei, in our opinion, is that symbol's theological counterpart. But the imago theme, in order to clarify and enlarge upon so- called secular hope, needs to be reinterpreted; it needs to be freed from opinions which remain from the theological season when creation and fall were treated as literal history.Our theme is: "The Imago Dei: An Historical and Critical Examination ". The major characteristics of our own interpretation of the imago Dei theme have been articulated above; our final chapter will be an attempt to construct and present what we believe to be a dogmatically sound and systematically justifiable re- interpretation of the theme. This will not be done de novo; rather it will evolve from a critical evaluation of the historical interpretations of the image motif.The word "Historical" is chosen to indicate that our method will be to select and evaluate theological systems of various historical epochs, i.e., Patristic, Scholastic, Reformation and Contemporary. The word "Critical" requires explanation. We do not wish to imply that our explication will be negative in the main, or that we have presupposed the conclusion. Rather, we will endeavor to allow each theologian to speak for himself, reserving, as much as is possible, our own presuppositions, i.e., those noted above. Our intention, therefore, is primarily to pose the question: what does, e.g., Augustine teach in respect to the imago Dei? Necessarily, the question itself will require an explication of various related themes and doctrines, e.g., creation, fall, sin, etc., which seem to impinge rather directly on the imago Dei theme. Therefore, although we will include doctrines other than the imago Dei specifically, it should be noted that we will not presume to study any such peripherally related themes exhaustively.Further, it should be realized that our method will not require a comparison and contrast of the systems under consideration. Whatever comparative conclusions mentioned are for the purpose of clarification and understanding; they are not for the purpose of ascertaining relative value. Quite 33. obviously, and admittedly, our own tentative presuppositions will "control" and circumscribe first the body of material selected for study, and finally even the conclusions derived. Whether the questions themselves are the "real" questions, i.e., the authentic questions of theology; whether they are formulated properly; whether they sufficiently lead us into the respective systems; - these are the primary considerations upon which the reader is invited to make his assessment. The secondary consideration - yet, nearer to the writer's personal objective - is ultimately to lay a foundation for hope in terms of the imago Dei. This requires: a. that we should carefully study and consider our own doctrinal substructure; b. that we remain judiciously, yet courageously susceptible to the possibility of either major or minor revision; and c. that we learn that all theological formulation is penultimate. "No definitions made by the Church in via are in themselves final or irreformable, however faithfully they serve to mediate to mankind the final authority of God for practical purposes.