中国华北地区城市与乡村基督教徒对死亡认识的比较研究

通过对城市和乡村基督教徒关于死亡和濒死态度的比较研究,探索城市和乡村基督教信徒对死亡和濒死态度的差异性及形成原因,为死亡教育和临终关怀服务的开展进行理论探索。本文认为城市教徒在对死亡和濒死的理解和态度方面比张庄地区教徒更现实、更世俗化,在思想与行为方面发生一定程度的异化。而乡村教徒对于基督教教义中关于死亡和濒死的论述认可程度较高,在思想和行为上更接近于基督教关于死亡和濒死的论述。     

濒死体验研究的认识论

在濒死体验研究中,有两条认识路线:唯物主义与唯心主义.唯物主义导致科学医学,唯心主义导致灵学医学.前者研究其组成和机制,分析其文化、生物学特点及心理动力学.后者则陷入对人死复生的证明,美其名为生命之后的生命.     

濒死体验--黑暗、隧道和光

摘自:《SkepticalInquirer》2004年总28卷第4期第28页。文章中关于黑暗、隧道和亮光的事件是由那些自称有濒死体验的人讲述的,这些濒死体验是以体验中受控制的眼睛、大脑和其他感官的结构与功能为事实基础的。     

中国人对死亡和濒死的态度

中国人对死亡和濒死的态度天津市安定医院（３０００７４）刘建勋不同的历史时期，由于人类社会文明进步的关系，人类对死亡和濒死的态度有所不同；不同的国家、地域、民族，由于其物质文明与精神文明发展的不同步，其人群对死亡和濒死的态度亦有所差异。从历史上看，人类...     

论安乐死与心理学——如何从心理学角度来看待“死亡”

死亡是一切生命的自然现象。但对于有关“死亡”与心理学关系的研究在国内目前还是一个开头。既往,临床抢救治疗方面往往只顾及“救活”这一普遍的心理要求,而忽视了对濒死者心理的了解,这就给抢救的效果带来了一定的影响,有时甚至是适得其反。如何让濒死者在临终前减少痛苦,心理上能够坦然处之,创造理想的死亡状态,这是全社会关注的问题,也是医务工作者当前所面临的又一职责和需要掌握的技能。让濒死者温和地,较少痛苦地死去的方式称为安乐死。自七十年代初期,英国、日     

宗教体验及其神经基础的研究

宗教体验是人在宗教活动中的心态或体悟及伴随的情感体验,它是一个过程.其神经基础的研究表明,宗教体验过程中大脑的某些特定区域被激活.这些研究表明宗教体验与认知和情绪有关,在一定程度上与早期有关宗教体验实质的结论吻合,但这并不表明大脑中存在"上帝脑区".该文简要介绍了宗教体验的概念、神经基础的一些研究,并对该领域内的一些问题做出了说明.     

人类死亡学的概念与研究状况

１人类死亡学的概念、内容和意义１１人类死亡学的概念人类死亡学（ＨｕｍａｎＴｈａｎａｔｏｌｏｇｙ）是近几十年来,在众多学者的努力下,运用自然科学和社会科学的研究成果,综合相关学科知识,历史地、唯物地、科学地对濒死与死亡及相关问题进行研究所形成的一门新...     

宗教心理—鬼神心理疾病——濒死体验的诊断与预后

濒死体验是科学现象而不是灵学现象,有初步问卷和最终量表可供筛查和诊断;是心理疾病而不是精神病.美国精神病学学会《精神疾病诊断与统计手册》标定为"宗教-鬼神问题".除非获得适当的心理治疗与社会心理康复,患者预后不良.     

濒死体验研究的认识论

在濒死体验研究中,有两条认识路线唯物主义与唯心主义。唯物主义导致科学医学,唯心主义导致灵学医学。前者研究其组成和机制,分析其文化、生物学特点及心理动力学。后者则陷入对人死复生的证明,美其名为生命之后的生命。     

骨髓间充质干细胞移植治疗对心肌梗死后心功能的影响

目前心肌梗死常规治疗不能修复已死亡或者濒死的心肌,应用干细胞替代受损或死亡的心肌细胞来改善心功能,已成为近年来国内外研究的热点。骨髓间充质干细胞通过修复坏死心肌、促进血管新生等改善心梗后心功能,其移植治疗有望成为治疗心肌梗死的一个全新方法。     

Intensity and memory characteristics of near-death experiences

Memories of Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) seem to be very detailed and stable over time. At present, there is still no satisfactory explanation for the NDEs’ rich phenomenology. Here we compared phenomenological characteristics of NDE memories with the reported experience’s intensity. We included 152 individuals with a self-reported “classical” NDE (i.e. occurring in life-threatening conditions). All participants completed a mailed questionnaire that included a measure of phenomenological characteristics of memories (the Memory Characteristics Questionnaire; MCQ) and a measure of NDE’s intensity (the Greyson NDE scale). Greyson NDE scale total score was positively correlated with MCQ total score, suggesting that participants who described more intense NDEs also reported more phenomenological memory characteristics of NDE. Using MCQ items, our study also showed that NDE’s intensity is associated in particular with sensory details, personal importance and reactivation frequency variables.     

Numerical distance effect size is a poor metric of approximate number system acuity

Individual differences in the ability to compare and evaluate nonsymbolic numerical magnitudes—approximate number system (ANS) acuity—are emerging as an important predictor in many research areas. Unfortunately, recent empirical studies have called into question whether a historically common ANS-acuity metric—the size of the numerical distance effect (NDE size)—is an effective measure of ANS acuity. NDE size has been shown to frequently yield divergent results from other ANS-acuity metrics. Given these concerns and the measure’s past popularity, it behooves us to question whether the use of NDE size as an ANS-acuity metric is theoretically supported. This study seeks to address this gap in the literature by using modeling to test the basic assumption underpinning use of NDE size as an ANS-acuity metric: that larger NDE size indicates poorer ANS acuity. This assumption did not hold up under test. Results demonstrate that the theoretically ideal relationship between NDE size and ANS acuity is not linear, but rather resembles an inverted J-shaped distribution, with the inflection points varying based on precise NDE task methodology. Thus, depending on specific methodology and the distribution of ANS acuity in the tested population, positive, negative, or null correlations between NDE size and ANS acuity could be predicted. Moreover, peak NDE sizes would be found for near-average ANS acuities on common NDE tasks. This indicates that NDE size has limited and inconsistent utility as an ANS-acuity metric. Past results should be interpreted on a case-by-case basis, considering both specifics of the NDE task and expected ANS acuity of the sampled population.     

A comparison of retrospective accounts of childhood near-death experiences with contemporary pediatric near-death experience accounts

I compared five childhood near-death experiences (NDEs) reported by adults and another five NDEs reported by minors, in terms of Ring's five NDE stages, Greyson's four NDE components, Moody and Perry's 12 NDE traits, Sabom's 16 general characteristics, and Gallup and Proctor's 10 basic positive experiences. In this combined pool of 47 NDE characteristics (which were interdependent), only two relating to time sense showed significant differences between the adults' retrospective reports of childhood NDEs and the children's contemporary NDE reports, and that number of differences would be expected by chance. This study therefore supports the claims of previous researchers that adults' retrospective reports of childhood NDEs are not embellished or distorted.     

The Nature and Meaning of the Near-Death Experience for Patients and Critical Care Nurses

This study was designed to develop a conceptual framework for the near-death experience (NDE), reflecting its nature and meaning for the patient and the critical care nurse. The study used naturalistic inquiry to examine the question: What is the nature and meaning of an NDE and how has it influenced the individual's view of the self, the future, and feelings and beliefs about life and death? The NDE Scale (Greyson, 1983) was used with patients and semi-structured interview guides were used with both nurses and patients to explore the NDE from a comprehensive perspective. An NDE was defined as the report of “unusual” recollections associated with a period of unconsciousness during either serious illness or injury, or resuscitation from a cardiac or respiratory arrest. The sample included 12 patients who experienced an NDE and 19 nurses who cared for patients who experienced NDEs. This study highlighted the emotional aspects of the NDE. Patients described how the NDE transformed their lives and nurses reported how their experiences with patients changed them personally and professionally.     

The Meaning and Intensity of the Near-Death Experience

This is the second in a three-part study exploring the hypothesis that near-death experiences (NDErs) assign the meaning of the NDE by using causal (effect) and semantic (affect) attributions. To test this hypothesis, 32 spontaneous verbal accounts of NDEs were analyzed. Each statement comprising the account was coded and classified according to the six attributional types in the Norton-Sahlman matrices of attributional classification. On the bases of these findings, we conclude that NDErs abstract the most significant aspects of meaning from their experiences by the use of attributions expressing the purposes of the experience and the intentions of the participants. Second, the meaning and intensity of the experience derives from attributions of both effect (causality) and affective significance: the assignment of subjective meaning to objects and events (affect). Third, the findings demonstrate that there are significant changes in NDErs' overt and affective states, reinforcing our argument that meaning and intensity of the NDE is a function of how the experiencer assigns causation, in addition to the affective significance that the experiencer places on the events constituting the NDE.     

Angels in near-death experiences

The literature on near-death experiences (NDEs) contains no substantive discussion of angels in NDEs, even though there are references to angels in several studies of these experiences. In this article I identify angels in NDEs and describe their functions in the NDE based on published NDE accounts. I conclude that angels are personages with whom the NDEr does not usually recall having previous acquaintance. Angels, serve as guides, messengers, or escorts in the NDE.This research was supported by a sabbatical leave granted by the Sabbatical Leave Commitee of Western New Mexico University.     

Challenging the reliability and validity of cognitive measures: The case of the numerical distance effect

The numerical distance effect (NDE) is one of the most robust effects in the study of numerical cognition. However, the validity and reliability of distance effects across different formats and paradigms has not been assessed. Establishing whether the distance effect is both reliable and valid has important implications for the use of this paradigm to index the processing and representation of numerical magnitude in both behavioral and neuroimaging studies. In light of this, we examine the reliability and validity of frequently employed variants (and one new variant) of the numerical comparison task: two symbolic comparison variants and two nonsymbolic comparison variants. The results of two experiments demonstrate that measures of the NDE that use nonsymbolic stimuli are far more reliable than measures of the NDE that use symbolic stimuli. With respect to correlations between measures, we find evidence that the NDE that arises using symbolic stimuli is uncorrelated with the NDE that is elicited by using nonsymbolic stimuli. Results are discussed with respect to their implications for the use of the NDE as a metric of numerical processing and representation in research with both children and adults.     

Near-death experiences and religion: A further investigation

The relationship between religion and near-death experiencers (NDEs) was examined by interviewing 40 near-death experiences who were given a series of instruments to measure religious orientation and religious change. No relationship was found between religious orientation prior to the NDE and the depth of the NDE. However, a significant correlation was found between the depth of the NDE and a subsequent increase both in the importance of religion and in religious activity. Various theoretical explanations of NDEs were examined to account for these findings.     

A Near-Death Experience Followed by the Visitation of an “Angel-Like” Being

I describe a near-death experience (NDE) followed by a religious experience 15 years later in which the subject was visited by the same angel-like figure that she saw in the NDE. I describe details of the NDE and of the subsequent visitation; note transformational changes in behavior and associated aftereffects; examine childhood experiences possibly related to the NDE; review the presence of angels in Biblical and mystical literature and in contemporary media; and suggest a possible relationship between latent paranormal abilities and the occurrence of a variety of exceptional experiences.