What Are the Brain Mechanisms on Which Psychological Processes Are Based?

ABSTRACT— That the human brain is the organ of the mind is not in dispute, but we know remarkably little about the brain mechanisms underlying the mind. What are the functional structures and computational processes of the human brain that subserve cognition, emotion, and behavior? Given the complexity of the human brain, progress in understanding the functional organization and structure of the human brain depends on sophisticated theoretical specifications of the psychological representations and processes that differentiate two or more comparison conditions. Psychological scientists, therefore, are well positioned to lead the search for brain mechanisms underlying psychological processes. Doing so constitutes an expansion of the purview of psychological science beyond a science of behavior, and beyond a science of the mind, to include a science of the brain. Such an expansion of the mission of psychological science has implications for the infrastructure and training needs of the discipline.     

Does the Weekly Practice of Recalling and Elaborating Episodes Raise Well-Being in University Students?

Journal of Happiness Studies - Increasing well-being is a prominent worldwide goal that can be achieved primarily through social support and environmental factors. However, in times of social...     

The German Rabelais? Foul words and the Word in Luther

Abstract

Luther is infamous for his use of scatological language, but Luther scholars (with the notable exception of Heiko Oberman) have not attempted to relate his use of scatology to his theology. This contrasts strongly with Rabelais scholarship, in which the theological significance of the Frenchman's scatology is widely acknowledged. Suggested is a number of ways in which the ‘problem’ of Luther's scatological coarseness could be explained on non-theological grounds (by attributing it to the exaggerations of Roman Catholic polemic, or to the angry ravings of Luther's painfully afflicted and disillusioned dotage, or to an anally-fixated psychology, or to the coarseness of the age in which he lived), but the conclusion is that none is completely successful. After a brief comparison with relevant work on Rabelais that provides a theoretical context, a review of the state of the question in Luther scholarship shows that the nature and function of Luther's scatological language in polemical contexts has been convincingly elucidated by Mark Edwards and Heiko Oberman. However, the author suggests that an investigation of Luther's unexpected use of such language in pastoral contexts (in letters of spiritual counsel and in several Table Talk fragments) demonstrates more directly how his scatology relates to the key themes in his theology. Here Luther recommends scatological outbursts as an efficacious remedy against diabolically inspired attacks of melancholy (depression). These outbursts are shown to be based on his doctrine of creation, his doctrine of incarnation, and his doctrine of justification by faith alone. A concluding comparison reveals that, while the scatology of Rabelais the humanist emphasized the importance of perceiving a harmonious balance between one's higher and lower natures, Luther's emphasized the tension inherent in this life of being simul iustus et peccator.     

Are Clinical Records Really That Important? The Dearth of Research and Practice Guidelines in MFT Literature

In Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT), case notes can play an important role in providing quality care and in maintaining the integrity of the therapeutic relationship. Case notes are invaluable for clinicians on many different levels: clinically, ethically, and legally. In this article, we will highlight the many uses of case notes within the field and will give examples of what problems may occur when case notes are not adequately, thoroughly, and timely kept. We also provide a review of all research-based information available on this topic over a fifteen-year period. The results of the review are disheartening as this area has received no empirical attention in MFT Literature. We call attention to this dearth of information and give suggestions regarding future research and training.     

What Do the AMCD Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies Mean in the Context of Black Lives Matter?

In this article, the authors discuss how the legacy of hypersurveillance and egregious anti‐Black vigilante violence and police brutality helped foment the Black Lives Matter movement. The authors consider how the Multicultural and Social Justice Counseling Competencies (Ratts, Singh, Nassar‐McMillan, Butler, & McCullough, 2015) can operate as an ethical professional framework counselor educators can use with counselors‐in‐training to increase their awareness, knowledge, and skills in relation to the state‐sanctioned violence Black people routinely experience. En este artículo, los autores discuten cómo el legado de hipervigilancia y la violencia brutal ejercida contra personas negras por parte de la policía y patrullas urbanas ayudaron a fomentar el movimiento Black Lives Matter. Los autores consideran cómo las Competencias en Consejería Multicultural y Justicia Social (Singh, Nassar‐McMillan, Butler & McCullough, 2015) pueden funcionar como un marco ético profesional que los educadores de consejeros pueden usar con sus consejeros en formación para aumentar su conciencia, conocimientos, y habilidades en relación con la violencia autorizada por el Estado que sufren con frecuencia las personas negras.     

What is the Thematic Structure of Science?

The paper justifies the concept of “thematic structure” or “order of knowledge” over the traditional “classification of sciences” due to the uncertainty of many classification criteria. The thematic structure of science has, of course, various levels and various dimensions. Arguments against any forms of separating the humanities from sciences in the traditional sense of the term are presented and discussed. Equally unacceptable are attempts at sharp separation of technical disciplines and humanities. The thematic structure of humanities is not created by some material aspects but rather through the interest — or problem-oriented aspects. In addition to the natural sciences and the humanities there exists an important sphere of sciences on artefacts or, using the term by H. Simon, the sciences of the artificial. For the contemporary research activities is typical what could be denoted as “interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary complex.” The paper traces a set of epistemological criteria for the justification of the relative independence of a scientific discipline. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

What Are the Confidentiality Rights of Collaterals in Family Therapy?

The privacy rights of collateral family members constitute one of the most complex ethical issues in the field of family therapy. The author opens with four case studies which illustrate some of the dilemmas. The opening section reviews the APA Ethics Code on this topic, followed by an in depth analysis of confidentiality issues in marital therapy and the special ethical dilemmas of high conflict, child custody cases. The author reviews the scant case law on this topic and closes with a set of best practices guidelines for the clinician.     

How Many Casualties Are Too Many? Proportional Reasoning in the Valuation of Military and Civilian Lives1

People frequently judge saved lives as less valuable and deaths more acceptable when they are characterized as small fractions of larger “at‐risk” groups. Two studies with U.S. college students demonstrated this effect in judgments concerning acceptable numbers of U.S. military and Middle Eastern civilian casualties. At the beginning of the current U.S.–Iraq conflict ( Study 1 ), priming cost–benefit reasoning produced greater proportional devaluation for Iraqi civilian than for U.S. military lives. In a hypothetical armed intervention in Iran to halt weapons development ( Study 2 ), women but not men showed greater proportional devaluation for U.S. military than for Iranian civilian lives. In both studies, proportional reasoners were willing to accept more casualties. Implications for public perceptions and attitudes are discussed.     

Imagery and Motor Processes — When Are They Connected? The Mental Rotation of Body Parts in Development

Motor influences on the mental transformation of body parts have been observed in both children and adults. Previous findings indicated that these influences were more pronounced in children than in adults, suggesting a stronger link between motor processes and imagery in children. The present series of two experiments casts doubt on the general validity of such an interpretation. Kindergartners' (aged 5–6 years), first graders' (aged 7 years), and adults' performance in the mental rotation of pictures of body parts was monitored for influences of internal representations of motor constraints (motor effect). In both experiments, evidence for mental rotation was obtained for each group. Unexpectedly, kindergarten boys made significantly more errors than kindergarten girls. A motor effect was only found in the second experiment, where it was least pronounced in the youngest age group. Our results suggest that mental transformations of body parts do not necessarily involve motor processes and that embodiment may become stronger with development rather than weaker with certain tasks.     

What Happened in Dialogical Classes of Intercultural Understanding?: An Analysis of Exchanging Classes between Chinese and Japanese University Students

Chinese and Japanese university students make an exchanging of opinions regarding the topic "making a mobile phone call in the bus". Both sides of the communication can achieve different changes of cognition through different ways. This paper focuses on Chinese university students, and analyzes their cognition of the traffic etiquette in Japan and China. Unlike Japanese university students’ change of cognition, Chinese university students have made more negative evaluation on Japanese traffic etiquette after the communication. However, this does not mean to shield their traffic etiquette. They have the two-way changes of cognition in both social etiquette and personal behavior. These changes may be related to the unbalanced dialogue relationship, as well as the generation of hot issues. How to generate the hot issues, and promote the two-way movement of understanding are the important clues for the design of communication curriculum to enhance the cultural understanding.     

Brilliant: But What For? Meaning and Subjective Well-Being in the Lives of Intellectually Gifted and Academically High-Achieving Adults

Not much is known today about relationships between giftedness and well-being, particular among adults. The present article examined if highly gifted people manage to live meaningful and happy lives in their adult years. Two aspects of giftedness were taken into account: intellectual giftedness, and academically high achievement. Representatives of both groups were compared with each other and a control group with regard to meaningfulness and subjective well-being, respectively. Furthermore, predictors for both facets of well-being were examined. The sample consisted of 198 Intellectually Gifted, 141 academically High Achievers, and 136 control subjects. Results: High Achievers showed degrees of meaningfulness and subjective well-being that were comparable to those of the control group. The Intellectually Gifted, however, reported significantly lower values in both facets of well-being. Results of hierarchical multiple regressions indicated that Intellectually Gifted and High Achievers follow a different path towards meaningfulness and subjective well-being. Among the Intellectually Gifted, generativity is the strongest predictor for meaningfulness, whereas for the High Achievers, meaningful work is most central to their meaningfulness. As regards subjective well-being, self-compassion was established as the strongest predictor for the Intellectually Gifted, whereas development was the most important predictor for the High Achievers.     

Pigeons and Children: What Are the Differences?

The Psychological Record -