Contribution of Callosal Connections to the Interhemispheric Integration of Visuomotor and Cognitive Processes

In recent years, cognitive neuroscience has been concerned with the role of the corpus callosum and interhemispheric communication for lower-level processes and higher-order cognitive functions. There is empirical evidence that not only callosal disconnection but also subtle degradation of the corpus callosum can influence the transfer of information and integration between the hemispheres. The reviewed studies on patients with callosal degradation with and without disconnection indicate a dissociation of callosal functions: while anterior callosal regions were associated with interhemispheric inhibition in situations of semantic (Stroop) and visuospatial (hierarchical letters) competition, posterior callosal areas were associated with interhemispheric facilitation from redundant information at visuomotor and cognitive levels. Together, the reviewed research on selective cognitive functions provides evidence that the corpus callosum contributes to the integration of perception and action within a subcortico-cortical network promoting a unified experience of the way we perceive the visual world and prepare our actions.     

Comparison of Eleven Short Versions of the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised (SCL-90-R) for Use in the Assessment of General Psychopathology

Eleven short versions of the Symptom Checklist (SCL-90-R) assessing general psychopathology, containing 5 to 53 items, were compared on the basis of data from a sample of one hundred mothers of 0-to-6-year-old children referred for treatment at a Child Psychiatric Family Day Hospital in Münster, Germany. The SCL short versions were compared with regard to internal consistency, sensitivity and specificity, ability to distinguish between subjects by a new test index (PDTS), and association with indicators of validity (SCL-90-R Global Severity Index, BDI scores). All short versions showed almost equally high internal consistency, sensitivity and specificity, and high correlations with validity indices. The PDTS test index describes a ‘good’ ability of the original SCL-90-R to differentiate between subjects, a ‘moderate’ performance for the BSI, the HSCL-25 and the SCL-27, and a ‘poor’ performance of the very short forms—according to the standards of interpreting PDTS scores. The SCL-10S is recommended for screening purposes because this scale represented the best compromise between economy and accuracy. However, for other research and clinical purposes, the use of one of the longer short versions (BSI, HSCL-25, or SCL-27) is recommended because of their superior discriminative ability.     

科学与宗教是冲突的还是调和的？——兼论对它们分界的思考

科学与宗教是人类文化上的两朵奇葩。它们之间的冲突达到了何种程度?同时,它们之间的调和达到了何种程度?人们对它们分界的公认意味着什么呢?是要求它们彼此不互相信任呢,还是要求它们共有一个公平一致的空间?如何才能最好地解决使它们产生分歧的大量问题?解决这些问题要通过什么样的不同途径?科学与宗教是否存在一些能够获得协调一致的意见呢?(这些一致的意见可以从他们广阔的哲学共通性上获得力量而又不破坏其根本的不同)。当然,科学与宗教产生分歧的很多问题主要涉及到被称之为有科学思想的怀疑论者和人文主义者。简单地说,有科学思想的…     

John Dewey's unknown critique of marginal utility doctrine: instrumentalism, motivation, and values.

During the late nineteenth century, marginal utility theory became the dominant ideology of the new academic discipline of economics. This article explicates and discusses previously unexamined lecture notes prepared in 1913 by John Dewey on marginal utility doctrine. After briefly characterizing the state of marginal utility doctrine, Dewey's criticisms are shown to derive from his instrumentalism and general theory of value. In Dewey's view, marginalism privatized value and by doing so induced moral agnosticism, a condition of permanently suspended judgment regarding individual and social needs that was likely to undermine the foundations of a democratic community since it immunizes value against collective appraisal by public bodies. Moreover, while marginal utility theory represented a serious concerted attempt to deal with substantive problems of value in economics and the economy, to Dewey it was ultimately a form of apologetics for the existing mode of social relations.     

自尊的毕生发展

自尊是心理学的一个重要研究领域, 文章介绍了自尊的毕生发展研究在近三十年来的进展, 主要探讨了自尊的稳定性及其毕生发展的影响因素, 包括年龄、性别、种族和文化、社会经济地位与家庭教养方式等方面, 指出自尊毕生发展的研究将来应关注自尊的纵向研究和本土化研究, 并注意区分和探讨不同形式自尊的发展变化。     

走出伊甸园(一)

本文的作者是美国纽约州立大学名誉教授保罗·库尔茨(Paul·Kurtz)。这篇文章是库尔茨教授的代表作《禁果-人文主义的道德规范》 (Forbidden Fruit:The Ethics of Humanism,Prometheus Books,1988)一书的序言。该序言有三部分:认知善与恶;没有上帝的道德规范;耶稣、摩西、穆罕默德与苏格拉底。本刊将分三次连载,译文略有删节。库尔茨教授长期致力研究人文主义的伦理学。 1980年,他发起组建美国世俗人文主义委员会(Council for Secular Humanism,简称CSH)。该委员会的理事来自社会科学、自然科学、新闻出版等各界专家学者,其中包括多位诺贝尔奖获得者。库尔茨教授被选为该委员会主席,并兼任《自由探索》(Free Inquiry)的主编。     

走出伊甸园(三)

本文的作者是美国纽约州立大学名誉教授保罗·库尔茨(Paul·Kurtz)。这篇文章是库尔茨教授的代表作《禁果-人文主义的道德规范》(Forbidden Fruit:The Ethics of Humanism,Prometheus Books,1988)一书的序言。该序言包括三个部分:一、认知善与恶;二、没有上帝的道德规范; 三、耶稣、摩西、穆罕默德与苏格拉底。本期继续上期,刊出第三部分。     

走出伊甸园(二)

本文的作者是美国纽约州立大学名誉教授保罗·库尔茨(Pau·lKurtz)。这篇文章是库尔茨教授的代表作《禁果—人文主义的道德规范》(ForbiddenFruit:TheEthicsofHumanism,PrometheusBooks,1988)一书的序言。该序言包括三个部分:一、认知善与恶;二、没有上帝的道德规范;三、耶稣、摩西、穆罕默德与苏格拉底。本期继续上期,刊出第二部分。作者指出,如果宗教的根基被消除,道德不会崩溃。人类查阅圣经或可兰经,求证其信奉的戒律或道德准则,是自欺欺人。因为有神论的宗教仅仅是人类幻想的延伸,没有独立的本体。实际上,人类的行为是由历史文化传统来判定的。所有道德体系的构建都是源于人类的愿望和意图。当我们打破有神论幻想的束缚,才能认知完美的道德范畴。正统宗教在社会进步的道路上放置障碍,阻止后现代科技社会的创新。有神论的道德体系追求保护古老的教义法则,其源于专断、谬误的基础。“没有神拯救我们”,“我们必须自己拯救自己”。人文主义的道德,比超自然主义的道德更加诚实可信,因为它放弃了虚构的神话,勇敢地面对人类生存的环境。     

宇宙的基督与普世教会团契

跨越障碍 寻求共识 丁光训主教的生活与思想中一个更具吸引力又属于挑战性的方面是:无论在保守的和开明的,或是进步的教会信徒和神学家中都引起了广泛的注意并引入深思。同样有趣而且重要的是:看看他们各自向丁