Discrete Visual Samples May Control Locomotor Equilibrium and Foot Positioning in Man

The static or dynamic visual cues required for equilibrium as well as for foot guidance in visually guided locomotion in man were studied using a variety of locomotion supports and illumination and visual conditions. Stroboscopic illumination (brief flashes) and intermittent lighting (longer flashes) were used to control and to vary the visual sampling frequency of static (positional/orientational) visual cues. There were three main findings: First, visual control of foot positioning during locomotion over discontinuous terrain depends mainly upon static visual cues with a low sampling frequency (about 3 Hz); second, visual control of dynamic equilibrium during locomotion over a narrow support depends mainly upon the availability of high frequency static visual cues (up to about 12 Hz); and third, static visual cues required for equilibrium control are extracted from both the peripheral and the central visual field.

Assuming that discrete demands for feedback occur, a simple probabilistic model was proposed, according to which the mean time that elapses following presentation of static visual cues about positions or changes of position accounts for the differences in the difficulty of the various illumination conditions.     

Attention to memory: orienting attention to sound object representations

Despite a growing acceptance that attention and memory interact, and that attention can be focused on an active internal mental representation (i.e., reflective attention), there has been a paucity of work focusing on reflective attention to ‘sound objects’ (i.e., mental representations of actual sound sources in the environment). Further research on the dynamic interactions between auditory attention and memory, as well as its degree of neuroplasticity, is important for understanding how sound objects are represented, maintained, and accessed in the brain. This knowledge can then guide the development of training programs to help individuals with attention and memory problems. This review article focuses on attention to memory with an emphasis on behavioral and neuroimaging studies that have begun to explore the mechanisms that mediate reflective attentional orienting in vision and more recently, in audition. Reflective attention refers to situations in which attention is oriented toward internal representations rather than focused on external stimuli. We propose four general principles underlying attention to short-term memory. Furthermore, we suggest that mechanisms involved in orienting attention to visual object representations may also apply for orienting attention to sound object representations.     

Metaphor as Argument: Rhetorical and Epistemic Advantages of Extended Metaphors

This paper examines from a cognitive perspective the rhetorical and epistemic advantages that can be gained from the use of (extended) metaphors in political discourse. We defend the assumption that extended metaphors can be argumentatively exploited, and provide two arguments in support of the claim. First, considering that each instantiation of the metaphorical mapping in the text may function as a confirmation of the overall relevance of the main core mapping, we argue that extended metaphors carry self-validating claims that increase the chances of their content being accepted. Second, we show how the recognition of an extended metaphor’s sophistication and relevance (on behalf of the addressee) can benefit the speaker’s perceived competence (ethos). We then assess whether these two arguments measure against the dual epistemic monitoring postulated in the notion of epistemic vigilance (i.e., assessment of the source of a message and assessment of the message) and conclude that extended metaphors may fulfil the requirements of epistemic vigilance and lead to the stabilisation of a belief. We illustrate our account with an analysis of the extended metaphor of the USA as an empire found in a political pamphlet written by the Swiss politician Oskar Freysinger.     

Implicit attitudes and the improvement of exercise capacity during pulmonary rehabilitation

The aim of this study was to examine the role of explicit and implicit attitudes in the improvement of exercise capacity during a 5-week pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). A total of 105 patients performed walking tests at baseline and at the end of PR. Change between performances was computed at the end of PR, and Minimal-Clinically-Important-Difference (MCID) were used to categorize patients as responders (i.e. change above MCID, N = 54) or non-responders (i.e. change below MCID, N = 51). At baseline, implicit attitudes were measured through a physical activity versus sedentary behavior Implicit Association Test; explicit attitudes toward physical activity and sedentary behavior were measured by questionnaires. Only implicit attitudes significantly differed between the two groups (p = .015), responders displaying implicit attitudes significantly more in favor of physical activity (M = .91, SD = .54) than non-responders (M = .60, SD = .71) at baseline. Measuring implicit attitudes in PR could help to accurately estimate patients’ motivation, and design more individualized rehabilitation programs.     

Psychoanalysis and psychoanalysts in France between 1939 and 1945

France was affected by a deep psychoanalytic silence, both in theoretical and clinical fields, throughout the four years of German occupation. The psychoanalytic Institute closed its doors and the Revue française de Psychanalyse interrupted its publication as soon as the armistice was declared in 1940. Some people, e.g. Rudolf Loewenstein or Princess Marie Bonaparte emigrated, others fought, for instance, Sacha Nacht or Paul Schiff. Daniel Lagache went on with his researches under the auspices of the University of Strasbourg which had sought shelter in Clermont-Ferrand. René Laforgue cooperated with the German occupier; after the Liberation of France in 1944 he was discarded from a group in which, a few years before, he may have entertained the hope of playing an outstanding role. Quite a few of those he analysed remained faithful to him - which was to have an important bearing on the evolution of the psychoanalytic movement in France after 1945. In 1945, indeed, the new generation emerging from the last convulsions of the war, were to gather around the most influential potential leaders: Sacha Nacht and Jacques Lacan. Only after the latency of those silent years, only after those years of violent struggles and cowardice, would the psychoanalytic elaboration appear, along with the institutional feuds to which they gave rise - in a conflictual climate amounting to the scission of 1953.     

Images of freud: From his correspondence

Abstract

The study of the epistolary activity of Freud, because of the specific investment demonstrated by the estimated 20,000 letters which make up his correspondence, in itself affords us various insights: on Freud himself, describing himself from day to day, on the history and nature of the conscious and unconscious libidinal relationships which linked him to his principal correspondents and, taking this exceptional case as our starting point, on the specificity of the need to write and to receive letters which is present to differing degrees in every human being. Leaving to others the detailed investigation of the content of this correspondence as a source of biographical or theoretical information, this work concentrates on the comments by Freud himself on the many different aspects of the art of the letter-writer. The method used was specific: some 600 extracts from his letters were read, whereby we confined ourselves to remarks on the material circumstances in which they were written, the handwriting, the detailed records which were kept of them, their frequency, their family or conventional aspects, etc. This intentionally limited vision allows us to isolate a number of points of reference in the manifestations of a compulsion to write intended to prevent the occurrence, already feared by the young Freud of age 18 years, of “mortal boredom”.     

Opening closed minds: the combined effects of intergroup contact and need for closure on prejudice

Five studies tested whether need for closure (NFC) moderates the relation between intergroup contact and prejudice toward immigrants. The results consistently showed that intergroup contact was more strongly associated with reduced levels of prejudice among people high in NFC compared to people low in NFC. Studies 1 (N = 138 students) and 2 (N = 294 adults) demonstrated this moderator effect on subtle, modern, and blatant racism. Study 2 also replicated the moderator effect for extended contact. An experimental field study (Study 3; N = 60 students) provided evidence of the causal direction of the moderator effect. Finally, Studies 4 (N = 125 students) and 5 (N = 135 adults) identified intergroup anxiety as the mediator through which the moderator effect influences modern and blatant racism as well as hostile tendencies toward immigrants. The role of motivated cognition in the relation between intergroup contact and prejudice is discussed.     

Two-to-three-year-old children's interactions with peers in child-care centres: Effects of spatial distance to caregivers

In child-care centres, the influence of caregivers on the development of peer interactions seems ambivalent and mixed results are reported in the literature. Adopting an environmental approach, we examined the effects of the caregivers’ spatial proximity on children's social behaviour. The study was carried out with 175 children (18-40 months) in 12 child-care-centre groups. Children's behaviours were observed during free plays, and both children and caregivers’ locations were recorded. When peers were nearby, children's social behaviours were compared when they were in the immediate proximity (within 2 m) and out of the immediate proximity of a caregiver. Results show that in the latter situation children spend substantially more time addressing social overture to peers and interacting with them; positive interactions with peers show a particularly marked difference. This pattern of results is exhibited by the greater part of the children. Whatever the child-care-centre group, the age subgroup or the gender considered similar results are found. Results also demonstrate that when children are in the immediate proximity of caregivers they are socially oriented towards the attractive adult partners rather than towards peers.     

A thematic dialogue: towards a conclusion and a follow-up

Following the themed debate that took place after the panel, we reconsidered and explored further our hypotheses in light of the comments made by our colleagues. Clearly, it is the structural approach that underlies both the Freudian primal phantasies and the Jungian archetypes, while taking account at the same time that their approaches are informed by contemporary emergentist theories. Our discussion centred on the divergences in the cases of psychosis and neurosis, on the roles, in turn, of a return to childhood and the play of archaic representations, on the transference and countertransference functions and finally on the need to pay attention to what are deemed synchronous moments in the event.