Reevaluation of things past

The ability of rats to reevaluate previously presented information in light of subsequently provided information was evaluated using a CER (conditioned emotional response) procedure. In Experiment 1, rats suppressed responding to a compound light + tone stimulus that was repeatedly paired with shock. Groups of rats were then presented with only one element of the compound (the tone), either presented alone or paired with shock, for 15 days. During this 15-day period, two control groups received trials with the shock alone or neither stimulus nor shock. All of the rats were then tested with the other element of the compound (the light). Rats that had received the tone paired with shock during the intervening training continued to suppress to the light, whereas rats that had received the tone alone showed rapid extinction of the CER to light. The control groups showed that this effect was not due to the number of shock presentations received. A subsequent experiment also demonstrated that these results were not due to nonspecific stimulus effects. Apparently, a subsequent change in the associative strength of one element results in a similar change to the other element of a previously established compound stimulus.     

The feeling of choosing: Self-involvement and the cognitive status of things past

Previous research has demonstrated that self-involvement enhances the memorability of information (i.e., self>other) encountered in the past. The emergence of this effect, however, is dependent on guided evaluative processing and the explicit association of items with self. It remains to be seen, therefore, whether self-memory effects would emerge in task contexts characterized by incidental-encoding and minimal self-involvement. Integrating insights from work on source monitoring and action recognition, we hypothesized that the effects of self-involvement on memory function may be moderated by the extent to which encoding experiences entail volitional (i.e., choice-based) processing. The results of three experiments supported this prediction. Despite the adoption of an incidental task context and stimulus materials that were inconsequential to participants, the act of selection enhanced the memorability and accessibility of information. The implications of these findings for contemporary treatments of self are considered.     

Remembrance of things past: Cultural process and practice in the analysis of career stories

Stories can be a valuable tool for the career researcher. Questions arise, though, about how best to approach stories analytically such that their insights can be fully realised. In this paper I apply cultural theorist Raymond Williams’ analysis of cultural processes as dominant, residual and emergent (1977) to the narratives generated in a recent study into the careers of research scientists. I examine how these overlapping meaning systems are elucidated in individuals’ career narratives and consider implications for developing understanding.     

忆禧元法师二三事

去年盛夏,我与李俊堂、安建华二同志在五台山博园审核《五台山志》初稿。在此期间,禧元法师的弟子常善法师来看望我们。在交谈中得知他的尊师禧元法师近日于黑龙江省大庆市圆寂了。听到这个恶噩,我不由自主地产生了哀悼之心。     

How to do things with things

J.L. Austin has demonstrated that people can do things—bring about social facts — with words. Here we describe how some people do things with things. This is a study of the symbolic use and situated history of material objects during a business negotiation between two German entrepreneurs: of the practical transformation of things-at-hand from objects of use into exemplars, or into forms-at-hand that can be used for the construction of transitory symbolic artifacts. Arranging boxes in a particular fashion can be the equivalent of an illocutionary act, but unlike words things remain on the scene as indexical monuments to prior interactional arrangements.

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Reminiscences,Recollections and Reflections:

No abstract available for this article.     

School psychology: Reminiscences of earlier times

This article is an account of the variety of early vocational experiences which contributed to a career in school psychology. It provides a practitioner's view of activities and responsibilities and their implications for training and the future.     

Reminiscences of a sociologist: Rudolf Herberle.

The author tells of his drift from law and economics into sociology at a time when this field was not yet institutionalized in his native Germany. He describes his research experiences in European countries and in America. He shows how working on a variety of seemingly disconnected subjects contributed to his education as a sociologist. He also discusses his experiences as teacher and author during the first years of the Hitler regime.