The Discriminatory Gesture: A Psychoanalytic Consideration of Posttraumatic Reactions to Incidents of Racial Discrimination

This article provides a basic psychological conceptualization of racial trauma. It considers how seemingly minor instances of bias or discrimination can lead to posttraumatic reactions, the proportions of which can be hard to understand from the outside. I propose to describe this non-extraordinary event of racially biased treatment as the discriminatory gesture in order to emphasize its fluidity and pervasiveness as an interpersonal event. Being the subject of a discriminatory gesture represents a unique source of trauma, particularly because it derives its destructive power from its occurrence in a wider contemporary context of pervasive racism, white supremacy, and the historical context of slavery.     

Responsivity to stress in chronic posttraumatic stress disorder due to childhood sexual abuse

The purpose of this study was to investigate psychological, cardiovascular, and neuroendocrine reactivity to standardized stress tests (orthostatic challenge, Stroop Color Word Test) in drug-free adult women with chronic PTSD due to repetitive childhood sexual abuse. At baseline, the 11 patients showed significantly higher mean scores on the Symptom Check List-90 and the Profile of Mood States than 13 healthy female controls, whereas baseline cardiovascular or hormonal parameters showed no differences between the groups. Also, no significant differences were found between the two groups in cardiovascular and hormonal responsivity to the stress tests. Thus, in the presence of robust psychological differences, the patients with chronic PTSD due to childhood sexual abuse did not show alterations in baseline values of neurobiological parameters, nor did they react differently to a physical and mental stress test when compared to healthy controls.     

Beyond “Beyond A- and B-time”

This Article critically discusses Clifford Williams’ claim that the A-theory and B-theory of time are indistinguishable. I examine three considerations adduced by Williams to support his claim that the concept of time essentially includes transition as well as extension, and argue that, despite its prima facie plausibility, the claim has not been adequately justified. Williams therefore begs the question against the B-theorist, who denies that transition is essential. By Williams’ own lights, he ought to deny that the B-theory is a (realist) theory of time; and thus his claim that A-time and B-time do not differ significantly should be rejected.

Nociceptive sensitivity and control: hypo- and hyperalgesia under two different modes of coping

Effects of perceived control on nociceptive sensitivity were investigated in an experimental arrangement with N = 40 healthy volunteers in which the duration of painful pressure stimuli was made contingent on success in a tracking task. Perceived control over the pain duration was manipulated through varying the frequency of success in the tracking task. The amount of painful stimulation applied in the high and low control conditions was balanced by a yoked-control design. Pain sensitivity was measured before and after the tracking task by means of a thermal sensory analyzer. Pain sensitivity was found to decrease in the low control condition (hypoalgesia), and to increase slightly in the high control condition (hyperalgesia). These effects are explained with reference to a dual process model of coping.     

Clinical management of alcohol withdrawal

It has been well known for a number of years that abrupt withdrawal from alcohol following chronic use is associated with adverse consequences, ranging from mild tremors to withdrawal seizures. The overall purposes of treating alcohol withdrawal (AW) are to relieve patient discomfort, to prevent the development of more serious withdrawal symptoms, and to initiate long-term alcohol rehabilitation. Several areas of controversy exist in the clinical management of AW, including the optimal treatment setting, the need for pharmacologic management, and the most appropriate agent to prescribe when medication is deemed necessary. This article reviews the clinical features, general management, and treatment of AW.     

The wisdom of nature in integrating science, ethics and the arts

This paper deals with an approach to the integration of science (with technology and economics), ethics (with religion and mysticism), the arts (aesthetics) and Nature, in order to establish a world-view based on holistic, evolutionary ethics that could help with problem solving. The author suggests that this integration is possible with the aid of “Nature’s wisdom” which is mirrored in the macroscopic pattern of the ecosphere. The corresponding eco-principles represent the basis for unifying soft and hard sciences resulting in “deep sciences”. Deduction and induction will remain the methodology for deep sciences and will include conventional experiments and aesthetic and sentient experiences. Perception becomes the decisive factor with the senses as operators for the building of consciousness through the subconscious. In this paper, an attempt at integrating the concepts of the “true”, the “right” and the “beautiful” with the aid of Nature’s wisdom is explained in more detail along with consequences. The author is a bioprocess engineer with a research interest in environmental issues.     

On the inhomogeneity of a test compounded of two Rasch homogeneous subscales

Van den Wollenberg stated a theorem specifying the conditions for a test, which is composed of two Rasch homogeneous subscales, as also behaving Rasch homogeneously. In our note, simple numerical counterexamples are given for which this theorem fails.While preparing the final version of this note, Ilse Rop passed away. The first author therefore takes sole responsibility for this final version.     

Instruction-driven processing in human perceptual learning

We conducted a series of experiments to determine the relative contribution of unsupervised versus controlled mechanisms to the intermixed-blocked effect. In Experiment 1, participants received pre-exposure instructions prompting a search for differences between stimuli, in keeping with past studies, and the intermixed-blocked effect was observed. In the remaining experiments, participants did not receive the aforementioned instructions, but instead were instructed either to simply observe the stimuli (Experiment 2) or in relation to a masking task (Experiment 3). None of the latter experiments produced an intermixed-blocked effect, suggesting that the effect found in Experiment 1 was driven by the instructions to search for differences, consistent with a controlled processing account of the effect. Moreover, we tested a prediction assuming the operation of a search strategy against one assuming the operation of a short-term habituation mechanism and found evidence more consistent with the search strategy hypothesis. We formulate a new account of the intermixed-blocked effect in humans based on an instruction-driven search and discuss how the account could explain many findings in the human literature.     

Sexual Violence Victimization and Associations with Health in a Community Sample of African American Women

Limited information exists on the relationship between sexual violence victimization and health among African American women. Using data from a community sample of African American women, we examine the association between current health and lifetime experiences of sexual violence. In-person interviews were completed in 2010. Among interviewees, 53.7% of women reported rape victimization and 44.8% reported sexual coercion in their lifetime. Victims of rape or sexual coercion were significantly more likely to report depression and posttraumatic stress disorder during their lifetime. Among victims whose first unwanted sexual experience was rape or sexual coercion, perpetrators were mostly acquaintances and intimate partners, and over one third were injured and needed services. More attention is needed on the health needs of African American women and their association to victimization status.