Mindless Bodies–Bodyless Minds

Possibilities opened up by scientific–technical developments of the last century have led to the breaking up of our basic concepts regarding elementary aspects of human life. Boundaries are more easily crossed (also among genders); the reality of functions and the functions of reality are becoming interchangeable. The audio-visual galaxy, which has evolved over the course of the 20th century, with its two dimensionality has resulted in generations growing up in the past decades who have learnt that the “other” can be a virtual body: the sensual is no longer an essential part of human relations. The somato-affective aspects of the experience get split off—relationships emerge between bodyless minds. This fragmentation also means that the body is seen increasingly as mindless: the linkages between body and mind are profoundly undermined. Reality and fantasy melt into one another. Reality control and thinking becomes insecure effected by a view of the world that has lost its keystones of orientation. When body boundaries get confused in such a manner how do ego boundaries develop? How will primary relationships alter among such conditions? What will the internal images of the objects be like? The deconstruction of our basic concepts about space, time, dimensions, body- and ego boundaries made differentiation and the processes of symbolization extremely difficult. Postmodern ideas, questioning the validity of facts have contributed greatly to transforming our image of reality also on a theoretical level. How do these massive changes effect our daily clinical work and our theory of the mind? My paper tries to explore some experiences and ideas related to these questions through clinical cases and narratives of our present times.     

Minds: extended or scaffolded?

This paper discusses two perspectives, each of which recognises the importance of environmental resources in enhancing and amplifying our cognitive capacity. One is the Clark–Chalmers model, extended further by Clark and others. The other derives from niche construction models of evolution, models which emphasise the role of active agency in enhancing the adaptive fit between agent and world. In the human case, much niche construction is epistemic: making cognitive tools and assembling other informational resources that support and scaffold intelligent action. I shall argue that extended mind cases are limiting cases of environmental scaffolding, and while the extended mind picture is not false, the niche construction model is a more helpful framework for understanding human action.     

Suspicious Minds at Risk? The Role of Meaning in Processing War and Peacekeeping Experiences

The purpose of this study was to examine meaning as a mediator between perceived threat and posttraumatic stress responses among a sample of 1,561 veterans who participated in war or peacekeeping operations. Data were collected by questionnaire. Path analysis was performed to assess the expected relationships between the observed variables. Meaning in terms of distrust and personal benefits partially mediated the relation between perceived threat and posttraumatic stress responses. Distrustful beliefs about others and the world were strongly associated with perceived threat, as well as intrusive and avoidant thoughts. Creating meaning in terms of a positive worldview appears to be an important mission after military deployment.     

Berkeley,Meaning and Minds: Remarks on Glezakos’ Comments

This is a response to Stavroula Glezakos’ commentary on my paper, in which I address three main points: (1) whether Berkeley is entitled to argue via inference to the best explanation, (2) whether Berkeley’s likeness principle might be too strict, and (3) whether the texts support my reading.

Minds at rest? Social cognition as the default mode of cognizing and its putative relationship to the "default system" of the brain

The “default system” of the brain has been described as a set of regions which are ‘activated’ during rest and ‘deactivated’ during cognitively effortful tasks. To investigate the reliability of task-related deactivations, we performed a meta-analysis across 12 fMRI studies. Our results replicate previous findings by implicating medial frontal and parietal brain regions as part of the “default system”.However, the cognitive correlates of these deactivations remain unclear. In light of the importance of social cognitive abilities for human beings and their propensity to engage in such activities, we relate our results to findings from neuroimaging studies of social cognition. This demonstrates a remarkable overlap between the brain regions typically involved in social cognitive processes and the “default system”.We, henceforth, suggest that the physiological ‘baseline’ of the brain is intimately linked to a psychological ‘baseline’: human beings have a predisposition for social cognition as the default mode of cognizing which is implemented in the robust pattern of intrinsic brain activity known as the “default system”.     

Minds and Dialogues in Analytic Spaces—Negotiating Certainty and Uncertainty Reply to Commentary

This paper is a response to a critique by C. Brooks Brenneis of the written account of a clinical enactment that featured countertransference dissociative effects in treatment and in supervision. The response focuses on the need to analyze power in overlapping clinical dyads, the effect of transpersonal transmission of affect states and disavowed experience, and the relation of power dynamics to transference and to meaning making.     

Can There be Thought Without Words?—Donald Davidson on Language and Animal Minds

In a couple of short papers, Donald Davidson holds that a creature cannot think unless it is the interpreter of the speech of another. At first blush, speaking a language is, therefore, a necessary condition for thought. His controversial claims has led many to regard him as a follower of the Cartesian tradition wherein languageless creatures are nothing but mindless machines. Against this widely shared interpretation, in this paper we put forward a more charitable interpretation of Davidson’s claims. According to our reading, Davidson never meant to argue that languageless creatures do not think. Instead, the only thing his arguments purport to show is that one will never be in a position to confirm that they do. This paper consists of a defense of the idea that Davidson is better seen as endorsing radical skepticism as to whether languageless creatures think.

     

Executive Functions and Theory-of-Mind Among Deaf Children: Different Routes to Understanding Other Minds?

The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of executive functions (EF) in theory-of-mind (ToM) performance in deaf children and adolescents. Four groups of deaf children aged 7–16 years, with different language backgrounds at home and at school, that is, bilingually instructed native signers, oralist-instructed native signers, and two groups of bilingually instructed late signers from Sweden and Estonia, respectively, were given eight ToM and four EF measures. The bilingually instructed native signers performed at a significantly higher level on the ToM measures than the other groups of deaf children. On the EF measures, there were no significant differences found between any of the groups, with one exception—the Swedish bilingual late signers had a significantly shorter average reaction time on the go-no-go inhibition task than the oralist native signers and the Estonian bilingual late signers. However, the Swedish children's better EF performance was not mirrored in better performance on ToM tasks. Our results indicate that despite all deaf children's good general cognitive abilities, there were still differences in their performance on ToM tasks that need to be explained in other terms. Thus, whatever the cause of late signers' difficulties with ToM, poor EF-skills seem to be of minor importance.     

The Talking Cure in the Cross Fire of Empiricism—The Struggle for the Hearts and Minds of Psychoanalytic Clinicians: Commentary on Papers by Lester Luborsky and Hans H. Strupp

I outline the arguments advanced by Lester Luborsky and Hans H. Strupp on the current controversy regarding empirically supported treatment (EST). I support Luborsky's criticisms of some current attempts to provide empirical support for psychoanalytic treatment, but, unable to endorse the conclusion that therapies are equally effective, I argue that substantial evidence does exist to guide clinicians, even if this evidence is not yet accessible through a mechanical process of review. I also suggest that Luborsky's “open verdict” on the length-of-treatment issue is too conservative: Longer psychoanalytic treatments have been repeatedly associated with superior outcomes across a range of measures. I agree with Strupp that the current emphasis on EST is probably motivated primarily by economic rather than ethical conditions. However, I criticize Strupp's largely negative treatment of the issue of treatment “manualization” and argue that, though manualization is a mixed blessing, only a clear, structured, and coherent framework that guides the therapeutic process can enable the therapist to withstand the interpersonal pressures inevitably generated in the consulting room. I conclude by arguing that there is a need for refinement of the concepts and methods by which outcomes are evaluated in order to help psychoanalysis and psychotherapy become a more specific family of treatments for particular conditions.     

What is in Applicants' Minds When They Fill Out a Personality Test? Insights from a qualitative study

Many practitioners fear that applicants will fake if they are asked to fill out a personality test. Although this fear has inspired much research, it remains unknown what applicants think when they fill out a questionnaire. Thus, we conducted a qualitative interview study that was guided by grounded theory principles. We interviewed (a) real applicants directly after filling out a personality test; (b) real applicants who had filled out a personality test in their past job hunt; (c) hypothetical job applicants whom we asked to imagine being an applicant and to fill out a personality test; and (d) hypothetical applicants who had much experience with personality tests. Theoretical saturation was achieved after interviewing 23 people. A content analysis showed that much is going on in applicants' minds – that which is typically subsumed under the expression ‘faking’ actually consists of many facets. In particular, participants assumed that the interpretation of their responses could be based on (a) the consistency of their responses; (b) the endorsement of middle versus extreme answers; and (c) a certain profile, and these assumptions resulted in corresponding self‐presentation strategies. However, these strategies were not used by all participants. Some answered honestly, for different reasons ranging from honesty as a personality trait to the (false) belief that test administrators can catch fakers. All in all, this study questions whether measuring mean changes in classical faking studies captures all important facets.     

Severity of Types of Violations of Research Ethics: Perception of Iranian Master’s Students of Translation

Violations of research ethics including a varieties of plagiarism by students in Iran is a concern which has lately called promising levels of attention as rules are updated and better enforced and more awareness is being raised. As to deal with any problem, a full understanding of its nature is necessary, the current study focused on how a sample of Iranian students construe this phenomenon. To collect the necessary data, an original questionnaire with 34 closed-ended items included the most common instances of violations of research ethics was designed. The items included were mainly varieties of plagiarism identified in the literature. The items were narrowed down with reference to the qualitative data from focus group interviews with a purposive sample of Iranian graduate students. In the main phase of the study, using the questionnaire, quantitative data were obtained from the responses of 274 graduate students of translation studying in various Iranian universities. The findings revealed the participants did not have a fully accurate perception and appreciation of research ethics violation as they failed to distinguish ethically acceptable from unethical conducts. The contributing sample showed indifference to most ethical issues in scholarly publication. Translating a text and presenting it as one’s own in addition to text recycling were identified as the most severe instances perceived. The types, fraudulence, unacknowledged use, duplicate publication, misreferencing, excessive overuse were perceived the most severe to the least severe according to the sample. The typology and the findings on the severity of the types and instances were recommended to be used as an empirically supported guideline for curriculum design of academic writing courses in graduate programs in Iranian universities or similar contexts.     

A Review of “A Dictionary of Philosophy of Religion”

ABSTRACT

HOLMAN OLD TESTAMENT COMMENTARY: EXODUS, LEVITICUS, NUMBERS. Glen S. Martin. Nashville, TN: Broadman &; Holman Publishers, 2002, 387 pp., $19.99. Reviewed by Gregg Watson.

THE WESTMINSTER DICTIONARY OF NEW TESTAMENT AND EARLY CHRISTIAN LITERATURE AND RHETORIC. David E. Aune. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003, xii, 595 pp., ISBN: 0-664-21917-9, $49.95. Reviewed by Iren L. Snavely, Jr.

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION AND WAR, Routledge Encyclopedias of Religion and Society Series. Edited by Gabriel Palmer-Fernandez. New York &; London: Routledge, 2004, 512 pp., 33 b/w illustrations, ISBN: 0-415-94246-2, $125.00. Reviewed by Al Vara.

READING IS BELIEVING: THE CHRISTIAN FAITH THROUGH LITERATURE AND FILM. David S. Cunningham. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2002, 237 pp., $18.99. Reviewed by Robert F. Darden III.

UNDERSTANDING THE HADITH: THE SACRED TRADITIONS OF ISLAM. Ram Swarup. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2002, 258 pp., $22.00. Reviewed by Jeannie Colson.

AN INDEX TO ENGLISH PERIODICAL LITERATURE ON THE OLD TESTAMENT AND ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN STUDIES, Vol. VIII, ATLA Bibliography Series, 21. Compiled and edited by William G. Hupper. Lanham, MD and London: The American Theological Library Association, and The Scarecrow Press, 1999, 483 pp., $70.00. Reviewed by John Dickason.

BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY OF EVANGELICALS. Editor: Timothy Larsen; Consulting Editors: David Bebbington and Mark Noll. Leicester, England and Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003, 816 pp., $45.00. Reviewed by J. Michael Garrett.

LOGOS BIBLE SOFTWARE SERIES X-SCHOLAR'S LIBRARY (QB). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, 2004, $599.95, CDROM or DVD. Reviewed by Jason D. Baker.