The Numinosum and the brain: The weaving thread of consciousness

The world bangs on a thin thread and that is the psyche of man —C. G.Jung, A Matter of Heart (the film)     

Quality of life and family functioning in schizophrenia patients

Quality of life and family functioning of patients with schizophrenia are described. A sample of 49 schizophrenic patients and their 70 relatives, treated at the Mental Health Services of Arica, Chile, were included in the study. The Quality of Life Questionnaire of Sevilla (CSCV), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and the Family Function Questionnaire (APGAR) were used to assess the patients, the last one also administered to their caregivers. Contrary to the results found in researches done in developed countries, the patients of this sample indicated suitable levels of quality of life, to a great extent, related to the perception of their family functioning. This confirms the importance of the family as social network of emotional support. Nevertheless, perceived family functioning is different in patients and their caregivers. Higher scores were obtained in caregivers who participated in a family psychoeducational program. The conclusion reached was that there are differences in the levels of quality of life perceived by patients of developed countries and those of developing countries, being higher in the latter ones, despite limitations in economic, sanitary and community resources. Future research should study why the variables that explain these levels of quality of life differ.     

A Study of Real Dilemmas in Adulthood

The aim of this work is to study real contextualised dilemmas and relevant events of the biographies offered by a group of adult men and women, in order to analyse the contextual and personal factors that influence moral reasoning during this stage of the life cycle. To this end, we interviewed 60 adults who were asked to recount real contextualised dilemmas. The themes of the real dilemmas were later categorised in relation to the stage of moral reasoning reached and then linked to the ecological contexts in which they took place. The results show that the themes related to proximal processes and contexts (family, parenthood) are the most frequent and are related to the conventional level of moral reasoning. However, in relation to social themes and coherence, the reasoning level obtained is more mature. Finally, there are contextual differences regarding the contents of the real dilemmas related to local conflicts or socio-political concern for one??s own community.     

Recording vocalizations with Bluetooth technology

We propose a method for capturing vocalizations that is designed to avoid some of the limiting factors found in traditional bioacoustical methods, such as the impossibility of obtaining continuous long-term registers or analyzing amplitude due to the continuous change of distance between the subject and the position of the recording system. Using Bluetooth technology, vocalizations are captured and transmitted wirelessly into a receiving system without affecting the quality of the signal. The recordings of the proposed system were compared to those obtained as a reference, which were based on the coding of the signal with the so-called pulse-code modulation technique in WAV audio format without any compressing process. The evaluation showed p < .05 for the measured quantitative and qualitative parameters. We also describe how the transmitting system is encapsulated and fixed on the animal and a way to video record a spider monkey’s behavior simultaneously with the audio recordings.     

Differences in hemispheric functional asymmetry between athletes and nonathletes: evidence from a Unilateral Tactile Matching Task

To study the hemispheric specialization for spatial information processing in athletes and nonathletes a Unilateral Tactile Matching Task was administered. Athletes showed more marked hemispheric specialization than nonathletes. The right hemisphere of the former, in fact, indicated a more pronounced accuracy than those of the latter in perceiving rod orientations.     

Attributional change and the importance of baseline recording

This single case study illustrates how attention to baseline measures prevented premature conclusions regarding the impact of a conditioning procedure upon aggressive, acting-out behavior. Five disruptive behaviors were initially delineated so that frequency distributions could be obtained. During the course of this 15-day observational period, a significant reduction in the number of these aggressive responses was noted. The proposed conditioning procedure was therefore never required. Explanations as well as implications regarding the observed alteration in behavior were discussed.