Sex-specific patterns in creative literary fantasy

A panel of judges rated the creative excellence of 72 works of fantasy written for children of 8–12 since 1930 Formal dimensions, needs, themes and stylistic characteristics of the books were described by rater-analysts Overall, books by men and women differed very little, though creative books as a group had distinctive features, and creative books by men and by women showed “sex-appropriate” characteristics On the basis of cluster analyses, three types of creative fantasy by male authors were identified the heroic, the tender, and the comic. Two types by women authors were identified, one emphasizing independence and the other contact with the irrreal and tender emotion The less creative books did not fit these types The patterns are interpreted in terms of relationships between the ego and unconscious, and interactions with the maternal matrix, archetypes, and society.     

Human capital and the Matthew effect: Description does not imply prescription

This article presents a philosophical perspective on creativity as described in the writings of George Sudarshan, a highly accomplished theoretical physicist and natural philosopher whose vision of creativity was influenced by “the direct experience of transcendence.” The article reviews his conceptualization of the various mental states modeling the mind as a superfluid and as a collection of harmonic oscillators, which include feelings, consciousness, and altered states. Based on Sudarshan's experiences of discovering knowledge and expressing creativity, this article examines several philosophical assertions about the sources of creative impulse and the nature of the creative process. In addition, the significance of philosophical issues, such as the role of experienced and transcendent time, “critical opalescence,” intuition, grace, ideal states of being and awareness, joy, and illumined perception are also reviewed. The significance of witnessing pure awareness (distinct from individuated ego awareness) in the emergence of the creative self is described and a philosophical framework relating to reconciliation of diverse conforming and creative modes of awareness is outlined. Borrowing from science and philosophy, the article discusses the role of wisdom, use of analogies, metaphors, and moral responsibility in creative functioning. A philosophical conceptualization underlying the rishi model of a creative scientist is presented. The article concludes that transcendence is the key to becoming a fulfilled, actualized, creative being.     

A Review of Andrea Nye's Feminist Theory and the Philosophies of Man

In this provocative book, Nye argues that feminist attempts to spin coherent theories from the threads of the various philosophies of man fail as the patriarchal assumptions of each theory resist and undermine every effort. Nevertheless, she claims, although the threads cannot be woven into a coherent tapestry, as dedicated feminist Arachnes meticulously separate strand from strand, “the mechanisms of oppression are finally understood” and the patriarchal tapestries begin to unravel.     

Types of Leaders Across the Organizational Hierarchy: A Person-Centered Approach

Leadership pipeline research typically has taken a “skill-centered” approach to describe the changing skill requirements across management positions. However, the current study advances previous research by taking a “person-centered” approach to investigate the prevalence of different leader types along the organizational hierarchy. Based on an inverse principle components analysis, this study identified three unique patterns of skill configuration. We labeled the three leader types: (a) Driven Experts, (b) Principled Partners, and (c) Charismatic Advocates. It was found that the prevalence of one type (Principled Partners) decreased across organizational levels, whereas the other two types (Driven Experts and Charismatic Advocates) increased in the prevalence from the low to high management levels. The implications of the findings on leadership development are discussed.     

In the beginning jung and freud on introversion

By now it is well known that creativity requires incubation: a stage of turning inward that has been described as “introversion.” That this was not always recognized, even by the founders of depth psychology, is documented here by Richard Capobianco, who holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy. His exploration of the evolution of Jung's earliest statements about the creative aspects of introversion provides us with a foundation for understanding the profound differences between Freud and Jung. Their approaches to depth psychology continue to fascinate.

While much has been written about the theoretical issues which divided these two men, there has been very little comment on an issue of major importance: the nature and significance of the psychological phenomenon of “introversion.” This essay documents the evolution of Jung's early effort to explore the creative aspects of introversion in contrast to Freud's view, which emphasized its pathological aspects.

The Birth of Creative Thought from Introversion     

On the “Litany of Costlies” of the World Council of Churches: An Appeal for an Organizational Pilgrimage toward the Church as Moral Community

This essay concerns itself with what Lewis S. Mudge described as “the church as moral community.” 1 The trilogy of World Council of Churches’ documents entitled Costly Unity, Costly Commitment, and Costly Obedience are the primary source materials for rigorous and systematic reflection on the idea of the church as moral community. 2 Reading this “litany of costlies” 3 will deepen appreciation of the ecumenical significance of the idea of the church as moral community and inspire dedicated ecumenists to model it. Indeed, study of the ecclesiology and ethics process might have immediate, wider ecumenical implications. It could be a catalyst for creative organizational development in as many conciliar bodies that choose to practise the principles of building “the church as moral community.”     

Interdisciplinary innovation: psychoeducational multimedia technologies

This article presents new ideas arising at the intersection of many subfields of psychology – including child, cognitive, developmental, educational, general, personality, and media psychology, – as well as education and multimedia, and leading to the creation of an innovative type of educational multimedia¹ technologies – psychoeducational multimedia technologies (PEMTs). The existing educational multimedia applications are critically examined. The nature of PEMTs, their basis, and specific traits are considered. One of the most developing multimedia areas, “edutainment”, is in fact transformed into “psychoedutainment”. Finally, one of the possible kinds of PEMTs – high intellectual and creative educational multimedia technologies (HICEMTs) – are discussed.     

The Patriarchal Mind as the Ignored Root of Interpersonal and Social Pathologies

The article begins with an integrative theory of neurosis and with the notion of the “patriarchal mind,” which I conceive as the psycho-social foundation of what we call “civilisation” and proceed to characterize as a despotic and repressive activity of the father on the mother and on the child in the family, and also of an analogous relation between the intellect on the emotional and on the instinctual sub-selves in the individual mind. Next, I propose that patriarchy entails four interrelated problems: (1) violent authority; (2) the eclipse of caring; (3) the repression of instinct; and (4) the invalidation of intuition; and point out that since these are evident in our well-recognized social problems, these may be traced down to the “patriarchal complex” that in turn defines patriarchal society. Finally, I develop the idea that not only is the patriarchal mind is embodied in each of the known interpersonal or character pathologies, but that each of these pathologies contributes to the systemic and cultural presence of the patriarchal mind. The corollary of this analysis is that the healing of both our interpersonal and social pathologies will depend on the healing of the patriarchal mind, which is conceivably possible to bring about through a specially designed education oriented to the balanced development of “three-brained beings,” in whom a balance has been achieved between the intellectual, emotional, and instinctive sub-selves that constitute our mind.     

Love in Action: An Integrative Approach to Last Chance Couple Therapy

This article presents an integrative approach to the special challenges of therapy with couples on the brink of dissolution or divorce—who often describe this therapy as their “last chance.” In some, one partner is considering ending the relationship, and in others, both partners are considering ending it. Often, these couples have had prior dissatisfying experiences in couple therapy. Four types of last chance couples are described: high‐conflict couples; couples in which partners have differing goals for their lives or different timelines for reaching shared goals; couples in which one or both partners have acted in a manner that violates the values, expectations, emotional comfort, or safety of the other; and couples in which there has been a gradual loss of intimacy. The Therapeutic Palette, a multiperspectival, theoretically eclectic integrative approach, is enlisted as a general framework for selecting and sequencing use of particular theories and their associated practices, based on the three “primary colors” of couple therapy: time frame/focus, level of directiveness, and change entry point. An additional complementary framework, the creative relational movement approach, is proposed to provide an integrative frame encompassing both language‐based and action‐based practices, suggesting that meaning is held and expressed as much through interaction or “relational motion” as it is through language. Principles of change are described. Due to the couple's level of crisis and desire for immediate evidence of possible improvement, priority is given to action‐based interventions in early stages of therapy, by engaging couples in “experiments in possibility.” Typical action approaches are described. An extended vignette follows.     

Subverting utilitarian subject-object relations in video games: A philosophical analysis of Thatgamecompany’s Journey

In this article, I analyse the self-other relations that underpin the gameplay design of the majority of popular video games. Specifically, these self-other relations can be described as “utilitarian subject-object relations”, in which the player assumes the perspective of the player-character, or subject of the video game, while all the other elements of the video game, including the digital environment and the non-player characters and creatures, are treated as separate objects that merely exist to be used by the player-character. These subject-object relations are usually driven by the violent accumulation of power, which can, in turn, be channelled by the player-character into further violent actions against the so-called objects within the video game. In contrast to this typical model of gameplay, the gameplay of Thatgamecompany’s Journey does not include a subject that merely acts on and uses the other elements within the video game world for its own ends, but rather entails a relation of “becoming-other” in which the player-character and the other elements are involved in constant processes of reciprocal determination. In order to analyse the “becoming-other” relations that underpin Journey’s gameplay, I employ specific concepts from the philosophy of Deleuze and Guattari, including the concepts of “becoming-other”, “percepts” and “affects”. Ultimately, I argue that Journey not only subverts the utilitarian, often violent, subject-object relations that have become an industry trope in the majority of video games, but also promotes self-other relations that are arguably far more positive and creative for video game design in general.     

Time Records in Human Maze Learning and their Comparison with Maze Records

Nine measures of role-taking in the tradition of Flavell and two measures of classification were administered to 64 boys and girls in India in four age groups: 6–7, 7–8, 8–9, and 9–10 years. The results lend cross-cultural support to the hypothesis that certain classification skills underlie this type of role-taking ability. The inappropriateness of searching for developmental relationships with some parametric statistics was also demonstrated with these data. The influence of two types of role-taking question on role-taking ability was also assessed. Role-taking questions were asked after the Ss had seen a cartoon sequence. On one type of role-taking question (a “next” question) Ss were asked how another child would think the cartoon ended if shown only the beginning. On the other type of role-taking question (a “before” question) Ss were asked how another child would think the cartoon began when shown only the end. Cartoon content was shown to influence role-taking ability in response to “next” questions.