Temporal Priority Research Articles

An observational study of the impact of service use on suicidality among adults with mental disorders.

BackgroundIt is unclear whether treatment of mental disorders reduces the probability that a) people without suicidal ideation will begin to contemplate suicide, or b) people who have thought about killing themselves (but have not attempted suicide) will go on to make an attempt.MethodsMental disorders, service use for emotional or substance use problems, and suicidality were assessed using the World Mental Health version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Discrete-time survival analysis was used to establish the temporal priority of mental health service use and suicide-related outcomes among the 5,862 participants in the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiological Surveys who reported a mental disorder.ResultsUse of specialty mental health services, but not other types of services for emotional or substance use problems, was associated with an increased risk of future suicide ideation (OR = 1.27, CI = 1.01–1.60). However, respondents with a history of suicidal ideation were less likely to report a subsequent suicide attempt if they had received any type of service for emotional or substance use problems (OR = 0.62, CI = 0.46–0.83), regardless of the type of service received (i.e., it did not matter whether the service received was mental health care, general medical care, or non-health care related).ConclusionsAmong persons with frank DSM disorders and suicidal ideation, the receipt of treatment is associated with a lower rate of subsequent suicide attempts, compared with those who never received treatment, regardless of treatment provider type. Follow-up studies are a logical next step to our observational investigation.

Inferring tree causal models of cancer progression with probability raising.

Existing techniques to reconstruct tree models of progression for accumulative processes, such as cancer, seek to estimate causation by combining correlation and a frequentist notion of temporal priority. In this paper, we define a novel theoretical framework called CAPRESE (CAncer PRogression Extraction with Single Edges) to reconstruct such models based on the notion of probabilistic causation defined by Suppes. We consider a general reconstruction setting complicated by the presence of noise in the data due to biological variation, as well as experimental or measurement errors. To improve tolerance to noise we define and use a shrinkage-like estimator. We prove the correctness of our algorithm by showing asymptotic convergence to the correct tree under mild constraints on the level of noise. Moreover, on synthetic data, we show that our approach outperforms the state-of-the-art, that it is efficient even with a relatively small number of samples and that its performance quickly converges to its asymptote as the number of samples increases. For real cancer datasets obtained with different technologies, we highlight biologically significant differences in the progressions inferred with respect to other competing techniques and we also show how to validate conjectured biological relations with progression models.

Time and causality: editorial

Time and causality: editorial

Anti-Monopoly and the Radical Lockean Origins of Western Water Law

This review of David Schorr's book, The Colorado Doctrine: Water Rights, Corporations, and Distributive Justice on the American Frontier, maintains that the book is a therapeutic corrective to the standard history of the origins of western water law as celebration of economic efficiency and wealth maximization. Schorr's account convincingly contends that the roots of prior appropriation water law -- the "Colorado Doctrine" -- lie in distributional justice concerns, not in the supposed efficiency advantages of private property over common property. The goals of the founders of the Colorado doctrine, according to Schorr, were to advance Radical Lockean principles such as widespread distibution of water to current settlers and avoiding monopolization of the resource by large landowners and corporate speculators. The book explains how western water law doctrines like the abolition of riparian rights, beneficial use as the basis and measure of water rights, the sufficiency principle, the no-injury rule limiting the transferability of rights, and public ownership of water all served these Radical Lockean goals. Schorr generally downplays the significance of temporal priority, thought by many to be the hallmark of western water law, and he explains the early Colorado courts surprising and consistent favoring of small-scale farmers over large-scale corporations like ditch companies. Schorr also attempts to draw lessons from his careful and detailed history of the rise of prior appropriation law for contemporary concerns like allocating the burdens of climate-change pollution control. Although he overlooks a few matters -- like the motive underlying the rejection of riparian rights as an anti-federal government doctrine and the failure of the founders of the Colorado doctrine to grant limited terms instead of perpetual rights in water -- and his assumption that public property will inevitably be distributed to the wealthy and the well-organized might be questioned -- this book is law and history at its finest and should be read by all serious natural resources and property law teachers and scholars.

Indigeneity and Kenya's Nubians: seeking equality in difference or sameness?

ABSTRACTRecent studies of indigeneity in Africa have highlighted the problematic nature of the concept in a continent where it is difficult to determine which groups have temporal priority in a given location. These studies have suggested, with varying degrees of criticism, that indigeneity in Africa is a strategic identity deployed to attain a special status and associated benefits, often to remedy past harms. This article agrees that indigeneity is an act of positioning, but suggests that in the Kenyan context it can be deployed in another way as well, that is, as an act that seeksequalrather thanspecialpositioning within the dominant population. In this case indigeneity is not a special ‘slot’ but rather the norm. The article illustrates this by drawing on research with the Nubian community of Nairobi who seek to shed their ethnic stranger status and instead position themselves as indigenous to Nairobi in order to access the same quality of citizenship as that enjoyed by Kenya's ‘42 tribes’.

Dissociations among judgments do not reflect cognitive priority: An associative explanation of memory for frequency information in contingency learning.

Previous research on causal learning has usually made strong claims about the relative complexity and temporal priority of some processes over others based on evidence about dissociations between several types of judgments. In particular, it has been argued that the dissociation between causal judgments and trial-type frequency information is incompatible with the general cognitive architecture proposed by associative models. In contrast with this view, we conduct an associative analysis of this process showing that this need not be the case. We conclude that any attempt to gain a better insight on the cognitive architecture involved in contingency learning cannot rely solely on data about these dissociations.

The temporal priority of team learning behaviors vs. shared mental models in service management teams

This study investigated the temporal priority of shared mental models (SMMs) on team learning behaviors using a longitudinal study design. Twenty-seven field-based teams (173 participants) performing a restaurant management task participated in the study. Panel data on SMMs and learning behaviors were collected in two waves across the 16-week lifespan of the teams. Results from cross-lagged models showed that team learning behaviors had a positive effect on the formation of shared mental models, whereas shared mental models did not predict team learning behaviors. Additionally, SMMs and team learning behavior had a significant positive effect on team performance. The results of the current study contributed to the team literature by showing that team processes (team learning behavior) may impact the development of SMMs, which consequently impacts team performance. The current work also demonstrates that teamwork is essential for success of hospitality organizations and suggests ways to improve team effectiveness. Implications of these results for research and practice are discussed.

Party registration rules and party systems in Latin America

Existing studies have paid a great deal of attention to how electoral systems affect party politics, but there has been little discussion in the literature on the effects of party registration rules. The theoretical importance of the impact of party registration rules on party system development lies in its temporal priority to the effects of electoral systems. This study aims to fill the theoretical void by conducting a systematic analysis of the effects of party registration rules in Latin America. Using an original dataset of petition signature requirements and spatial registration requirements in 18 Latin American countries from 1978 to 2011, I conduct cross-national time-series analyses on how this institution affects the number of parties. The empirical results show that a more restrictive petition signature requirement significantly reduces the number of electoral parties in a country, while a spatial registration requirement does not significantly affect the number of parties.

Litispendence in the private international law of the European union

Expansion of recognition of the force of international litispendence in civil and corporate matters to previously instituted proceedings before national courts outside of the European Union, which is based on the new rules of European private international law of the Brussels I bis Regulation, significantly contributes to opening of the European judicial space towards third countries. However, this raises several issues concerning delineation of the domain of application of common rules on European litispendence and cases covered by rules on internalisation of litispendence. Based on the analysis of facultative, exclusive and agreed jurisdiction, the author points at the need to differentiate between direct and indirect international jurisdiction and concludes that the rules on recognition of foreign litispendence should be extensively interpreted, so that the litispendence objection could be accepted based on common rules and outside of explicitly regulated cases of facultative jurisdiction. This is particularly applicable to recognition of exclusive jurisdiction of a foreign court, including the case when their jurisdiction is determined by a prorogation agreement between the parties, based on analogue rules applicable to European litispendence. However, due to absence of explicit rules an ex officio recognition cannot be expected from a court in a Member State, but the court shall determine discretionally whether it would, especially for reasons of good administration of justice, be justifiable to recognize a previously instituted proceeding outside of the European Union. Basis for such an extensive interpretation comes from the systemic and teleological interpretation of the rules of the Brussels I bis Regulation, including its Preamble, as well as analysis of the case law of national jurisdictions and the Court of Justice of the European Union. Strict application of the prior tempore rule can in certain cases prove to be unjustified, as demonstrated by some decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union. Explicit exception recognizes the priority of the later instituted proceeding before the court of another EU Member State, whose competence is determined by a prorogation agreement. This exception should be extended to agreed competence of a court of a third country. Deviation from the temporal priority should also be considered in cases of dilatory initiation of proceedings and similar abuses in determination of jurisdiction, with an exclusive aim to acquire the right to lodge a litispendence objection in a later instituted concurrent proceeding before a foreign court. Such situations demand a novel approach in determination of the notion of abuse of power in private international law of the European union, so the conflict between proceedings would be solved in a satisfactory manner.

The temporal priority principle: at what age does this develop?

The temporal priority principle states that all causes must precede their effects. It is widely assumed that children’s causal reasoning is guided by this principle from early in development. However, the empirical studies that have examined children’s use of the principle, most of which were conducted some decades ago, in fact show inconsistent findings. Some researchers have argued that 3-year-olds reliably use this principle, whereas others have suggested that it is not until 5 years that children properly grasp the inviolability of the principle. To examine this issue, 100 children, 50 three-year-olds, and 50 four-year-olds, took part in a study in which they had to judge which of two causes yielded an effect. In the task, children saw one event (A), an effect (E), and then another event (B). The events A and B involved the rolling of balls down runways, and the effect E was a Jack-in-a-box popping up. The extent to which E left a visible trace was also varied, because comparisons across previous studies suggested that this may affect performance. As a group, 3- and 4-year-olds performed at above-chance levels, but performance improved with age. The nature of the effect did not have a significant impact on performance. Although some previous studies suggested that 3-year-olds may be more likely to choose B rather than A as a cause due to a recency effect, we found no evidence of this pattern of performance in the younger group. Potential explanations of the age-related improvement in performance are discussed.

Spregledani podnaslov: Gospa Bovary in Slovar splošno priznanih resnic

Pričujoči članek je intertekstualna študija Flaubertovega romana Gospa Bovary in njegovega fragmentarnega, postumno izdanega dela Slovar splošno priznanih resnic. Avtor s primeri ponazori tematska sovpadanja in podobnost formulacij ter dokaže prisotnost socioloških, zgodovinskih in literarnih vzorcev, ki so v Slovarju konkretizirani – skorajda teoretsko – kot splošno priznane resnice, v romaneskni obliki pa izgrajujejo »družbeno scenografijo«, katere parafraza je tudi podnaslov Gospe Bovary: Značaji s podeželja. Zato opozarja, da Gospa Bovary ni (samo) roman o Emmi Bovary in da zgodbo osmislijo, če ne celo upravičijo, šele poteze omenjenih značajev s podeželja. Pri Flaubertu se konceptualizacija in literarizacija »splošno priznanega« odvijata vzporedno, zato o časovni primarnosti ene ali druge ni mogoče govoriti. Vendar v Gospe Bovary ravno kot družbena scenografija dobi podobo zgoščena satira Slovarja, ki ga avtor vidi kot presek in sintezo pisateljevega opusa, hkrati pa kot komplementarno čtivo k dotičnemu romanu.

El tiempo de la consciencia y la libertad de decisión: bases para una reflexión sobre neurociencia y responsabilidad penal

En este trabajo se exponen y analizan algunos de los elementos de la discusión actual sobre Neurociencia y responsabilidad penal. En particular, se ocupa de examinar los experimentos de Libet sobre la precedencia temporal de la actividad cerebral inconsciente tanto desde la perspectiva de las objeciones metodológicas realizadas por los científicos a dichos experimentos como desde la óptica de la relevancia de sus conclusiones para la comprensión de la actuación humana en contextos normativos. El trabajo concluye afirmando, de un lado, la insuficiencia de los conocimientos neurocientíficos actuales para sostener que la actividad cerebral inconsciente domina la actuación humana y, de otro, que el funcionamiento causal del cerebro y la incidencia de la actividad cerebral no-consciente en la toma de decisiones y en la ejecución de las acciones no impiden la defensa de una concepción de la persona como ser dotado de consciencia y voluntad; rasgos que cumplen una función relevante en la actuación humana y constitutivos de la concepción de la persona como libre.

Separable Mechanisms Underlying Global Feature-Based Attention

Feature-based attention is known to operate in a spatially global manner, in that the selection of attended features is not bound to the spatial focus of attention. Here we used electromagnetic recordings in human observers to characterize the spatiotemporal signature of such global selection of an orientation feature. Observers performed a simple orientation-discrimination task while ignoring task-irrelevant orientation probes outside the focus of attention. We observed that global feature-based selection, indexed by the brain response to unattended orientation probes, is composed of separable functional components. One such component reflects global selection based on the similarity of the probe with task-relevant orientation values ("template matching"), which is followed by a component reflecting selection based on the similarity of the probe with the orientation value under discrimination in the focus of attention ("discrimination matching"). Importantly, template matching occurs at ∼150 ms after stimulus onset, ∼80 ms before the onset of discrimination matching. Moreover, source activity underlying template matching and discrimination matching was found to originate from ventral extrastriate cortex, with the former being generated in more anterolateral and the latter in more posteromedial parts, suggesting template matching to occur in visual cortex higher up in the visual processing hierarchy than discrimination matching. We take these observations to indicate that the population-level signature of global feature-based selection reflects a sequence of hierarchically ordered operations in extrastriate visual cortex, in which the selection based on task relevance has temporal priority over the selection based on the sensory similarity between input representations.

Where Should We Expect Social Change in Non-Ideal Theory?

This essay considers the relationship between ideal theory and non-ideal theory. It begins with Rawls’s conception of ideal theory and A. John Simmons’s articulation of non-ideal theory. Both defend the priority of ideal theory over non-ideal theory. The essay then considers three different conceptions of the social barriers standing in the way of an ideal society, taken broadly from Mill, Marx, and Foucault. Each conception of power suggests a divergent strategy for pursuing non-ideal theory. The Foucauldian conception also suggests reasons to mistrust our own political and moral judgments. The essay advocates a more limited view of the relationship between ideal and non-ideal theory than is commonly described, in which ideal theory retains its logical priority but not its temporal priority. In other words, the essay argues that we will fare best when we focus first on reducing specific injustices while setting aside further speculation about the character of an ideal society.

Can initial intraspecific spatial aggregation increase multi‐year coexistence by creating temporal priority?

Both intraspecific spatial aggregation and temporal priority effects have the potential to increase long-term species coexistence. Theory and models suggest that intraspecific aggregation can facilitate coexistence via limited dispersal or asymmetric interaction distances. During community assembly, intraspecific aggregation may also delay interactions between more and less competitive species, thus creating opportunities for priority effects to facilitate longer-term coexistence. Few empirical studies have tested predictions about aggregation and coexistence, especially in the context of community assembly or ecological restoration. We investigated (1) impacts of intraspecific aggregation on the assembly of eight-species communities over three years, (2) the scale dependence of these impacts, and (3) implications for California prairie restoration. We planted eight native species in each of 19, 5 m wide, octagonal plots. Species were either interspersed throughout the plot or aggregated into eight, 2.2-m(2), wedge-shaped, monospecific sectors. Over three years, species diversity declined more quickly in interspersed plots than in aggregated plots. Two species had higher cover or increased more in interspersed than aggregated plots and were identified as "aggressives." Four species had higher cover or increased more in aggregated than interspersed plots and were identified as "subordinates." Within aggregated plots, aggressive species expanded beyond the sector in which they were originally seeded. Cover of aggressive species increased faster and reached higher values in sectors that were adjacent to the originally planted sector, compared to nonadjacent sectors. Cover of aggressive species also increased more and faster near plot centers, compared to plot edges. Areas near plot centers were representative of smaller aggregation patches since species were planted closer to heterospecific neighbors. Two subordinate species maintained higher cover near plot edges than near plot centers. Moreover, two subordinate species maintained higher cover when seeded in sectors farther away from aggressive species. These results suggest that initial intraspecific aggregation can facilitate species coexistence for at least three years, and larger aggregation patches may be more effective than smaller ones in the face of dispersing dominants. The creation of temporal priority effects may represent an underappreciated pathway by which intraspecific aggregation can increase coexistence. Restorationists may be able to maintain more diverse communities by planting in a mosaic of monospecific patches.

Attributions, causes, and actions: Is the consciousness of will a perceptual illusion?

Wegner’s theory of conscious will applies Michotte’s causal perception model to people’s consciousness of will. The model proposes that people’s perception of conscious will reflects causal inferences about the temporal priority of the intention, the consistency of the intention with the action, and the exclusivity of their intention as the cause. This model has generated much discussion, but few commentators have examined the attribution model underpinning the theory. This analysis examines this theory of conscious will and relevant research, and finds that the research fails to provide strong support for the theory. Several conceptual propositions assumed by the theory also lack support. Research supports alternative models of intentionality that construe conscious cognitions as causes as well as effects.

Caterpillars and Fungal Pathogens: Two Co-Occurring Parasites of an Ant-Plant Mutualism

In mutualisms, each interacting species obtains resources from its partner that it would obtain less efficiently if alone, and so derives a net fitness benefit. In exchange for shelter (domatia) and food, mutualistic plant-ants protect their host myrmecophytes from herbivores, encroaching vines and fungal pathogens. Although selective filters enable myrmecophytes to host those ant species most favorable to their fitness, some insects can by-pass these filters, exploiting the rewards supplied whilst providing nothing in return. This is the case in French Guiana for Cecropia obtusa (Cecropiaceae) as Pseudocabima guianalis caterpillars (Lepidoptera, Pyralidae) can colonize saplings before the installation of their mutualistic Azteca ants. The caterpillars shelter in the domatia and feed on food bodies (FBs) whose production increases as a result. They delay colonization by ants by weaving a silk shield above the youngest trichilium, where the FBs are produced, blocking access to them. This probable temporal priority effect also allows female moths to lay new eggs on trees that already shelter caterpillars, and so to occupy the niche longer and exploit Cecropia resources before colonization by ants. However, once incipient ant colonies are able to develop, they prevent further colonization by the caterpillars. Although no higher herbivory rates were noted, these caterpillars are ineffective in protecting their host trees from a pathogenic fungus, Fusarium moniliforme (Deuteromycetes), that develops on the trichilium in the absence of mutualistic ants. Therefore, the Cecropia treelets can be parasitized by two often overlooked species: the caterpillars that shelter in the domatia and feed on FBs, delaying colonization by mutualistic ants, and the fungal pathogen that develops on old trichilia. The cost of greater FB production plus the presence of the pathogenic fungus likely affect tree growth.

Fundamentals of causality

The orthodox view of the fundamentals of causality can be traced back to the empiricist philosophy of David Hume. Hume said that for causality to occur, the cause and effect must be spatially together, the cause must occur before the effect and must always be followed by that type of effect. Hume also thought that our concept of cause included necessity, but he rejected this as unjustified by the evidence of our sense. We show how all four of these conceptual assumptions about what it is for one this to cause another can be challenged. An alternative view based on real powers or dispositions can allow causation without necessity, constant conjunction, temporal priority, or even contiguity.

Exposure to alcohol, drugs and tobacco and the risk of subsequent suicidality: Findings from the Mexican Adolescent Mental Health Survey

Aims To examine whether the association between prevalence measures of suicidality and substance abuse/dependence among adolescents (1) is attenuated when temporal priority of exposure and outcome are taken into account, (2) extends to substance use (i.e. without disorder), (3) applies to tobacco use and dependence independent of illicit drugs and alcohol use/disorder, and (4) is confounded by comorbid mental illness. Design Discrete-time survival models were applied to retrospectively reported age of onset of first suicidal ideation, plan and attempt and age of onset of first substance use and disorder. Participants 3005 adolescents aged 12–17 residing in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area in 2005. Measurements The World Mental Health computer-assisted adolescent version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview was used to assess suicidal outcomes and psychiatric disorders including substance dependence/abuse. Findings Use of and dependence on tobacco is as strong a predictor of subsequent suicidality as is use of and dependence with abuse of alcohol and drugs. The association between substance use and subsequent suicidality is not fully accounted for by comorbid mental illness. Conclusion Efforts to reduce the use as well as the abuse of alcohol, drugs and tobacco may help reduce the risk of subsequent suicidal behaviors among adolescents in Mexico.

Mechanisms of Family Impact on African American Adolescents' HIV-Related Behavior

A longitudinal model that tested mediating pathways between protective family processes and HIV-related behavior was evaluated with 195 African American youth. Three waves of data were collected when the youth were 13, 15, and 19 years old. Evidence of mediation and temporal priority were assessed for three constructs: academic engagement, evaluations of prototypical risk-taking peers, and affiliations with risk-promoting peers. Structural equation modeling indicated that protective family processes assessed during early adolescence were associated with HIV-related behavior during emerging adulthood and that academic engagement, evaluations of prototypical risk-taking peers, and affiliations with risk-promoting peers accounted for this association. Evidence of a specific pathway emerged: protective family processes → academic engagement negative → evaluations of prototypical risk-taking peers→ affiliations with risk-promoting peers→ HIV-related behavior. Academic engagement also was a direct predictor of HIV-related risk behavior.