There are indications that a jumping to conclusions bias (JTC) plays a role in the formation and maintenance of delusions and should be targeted in therapy. However, it is unclear whether (a) JTC is uniquely associated with delusions or simply an epiphenomenon of schizophrenia or impaired intellectual functioning and (b) it can be changed by varying task demands, motivational factors, or feedback. Seventy-one patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and either acute or remitted delusions and 68 healthy controls were included. Patients were assessed with self- and observer-rated symptom measures. All participants were assessed for intellectual ability and performed the classic beads task with a ratio of 80:20. They were then presented with task variations that involved increasing the difficulty of the ratio to 60:40, introducing a rule for which correct decisions were rewarded by monetary gains and false decisions led to financial losses, and providing feedback on the accuracy of the previous decisions. Participants with current delusional symptoms took fewer draws to decision (DTD) than did those in remission and healthy controls. DTD were associated with observer-rated delusions, but controlling for negative symptoms or intelligence rendered this association insignificant. DTD increased after the difficulty of the task increased and after feedback. The study demonstrated that JTC is linked to delusions but that this association is not unique. Patients with delusions are principally able to adapt their decisions to altered conditions but still decide relatively quickly even when decisions have negative consequences. These difficulties might stem in part from impaired intellectual functioning.

Large proportions of patients in clinical practice settings benefit from CBTp. The efficacy of CBTp can be generalized to clinical practice despite the differences in patients, therapists, and deliverance.

No abstract

Who stays, who benefits? Predicting dropout and change in cognitive behaviour therapy for psychosis, Psychiatry Research, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j. psychres. 2014.02.012 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting galley proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. (Lincoln et al., 2012). Eighty patients with DSM-IV psychotic disorders seeking outpatient treatment were included. Predictors were assessed at baseline. Symptom outcome was assessed at post-treatment and at one-year follow-up. The predictor x group interactions indicate that a longer duration of disorder predicted less improvement in negative symptoms in the CBTp but not in the wait-list group whereas jumping-to-conclusions was associated with poorer outcome only in the wait-list group. There were no CBTp specific predictors of improvement in positive symptoms. However, in the combined sample (immediate CBTp + the delayed CBTp group) baseline variables predicted significant amounts of positive and negative symptom variance at post-therapy and one-year follow-up after controlling for pretreatment symptoms. Lack of insight and low social functioning were the main predictors of drop-out, contributing to a prediction accuracy of 87%. The findings indicate that higher baseline symptom severity, poorer functioning, neurocognitive deficits, reasoning biases and comorbidity pose no barrier to improvement during CBTp. However, in line with previous predictor-research, the findings imply that patients need to receive treatment earlier.

Rushton's Differential K theory, derived from the r/K model of evolutionary selection, purportedly explains racial differences in sexual practices and anatomy, fertility, 1Q, and criminality. These differences supposedly define an evolutionary ladder on which Mongoloids > Caucasoids > Negroids. We point out that the r/K model is frequently misinterpreted and overgeneralized, that the predictions that Rushton derives from the r/K model are arbitrary, and that these predictions are supported by the selective citation and misrepresentation of the research literature and by the use of unreliable sources. Changes in human life-history traits are so rapid that there is no need to posit genetic selection to explain intergroup variation.