BEAUTY IN THE LIVING WORLD

Almost all admit that there is beauty in the natural world. Many suspect that such beauty is more than an adornment of nature. Few in our contemporary world suggest that this beauty is an empirical principle of the natural world itself and instead relegate beauty to the eye and mind of the beholder. Guided by theological and scientific insight, the authors propose that such exclusion is no longer tenable, at least in the data of modern biology and in our view of the natural world in general. More important, we believe an empirical aesthetics exists that can help guide experimental design and development of computational models in biology. Moreover, because theology and science can both contribute toward and equally profit from such an aesthetics, we propose that this empirical aesthetics provides the foundation for a living synergy between theology and science.     

Evidence for an explanation advantage in naïve biological reasoning

The present studies compare young children's explanations and predictions for the biological phenomenon of contamination. In Study 1, 36 preschoolers and 24 adults heard vignettes concerning contamination, and were asked either to make a prediction or to provide an explanation. Even 3-year-olds readily supplied contamination-based explanations, and most children mentioned an unseen mechanism (germs, contact through bodily fluids). Moreover, unlike adults who performed at ceiling across both explanation and prediction tasks, children were significantly more accurate with their explanations than their predictions. In Study 2, we varied the strength of cues regarding the desirability of the contaminated substance (N=24 preschoolers). Although desirability affected responses, for both levels of desirability participants were significantly more accurate on explanation than prediction questions. Altogether, these studies demonstrate a significant "explanation advantage" for children's reasoning in the domain of everyday biology.     

Nach Möglichkeit leistungs- und genussfähig machen

“To make him [the patient] as efficient and as capable of enjoyment as is possible” (1923a, S.E. 18, p. 251) was, for Freud, a satisfactory definition of the treatment aims of psychoanalysis. The present paper connects this definition with the mythologically formulated antagonism between the drives in which Eros appears as the adversary of Thanatos, and elaborates this by drawing upon Plato’s notions about love as proposed in his “Symposion”. In doing this, the theory of Sublimation becomes the focus of attention quite naturally. It is the author’s thesis that this concept is more useful than that of a neutralized or even a primarily neutral ego-energy. This is more than a question of different opinions. It is the question of the usefulness of the genetic point of view and of the idea of the unity of the libido. Within the range of these concepts it is possible to elaborate in an adequate manner how we are capable to find satisfaction and fulfillment in achievements and enjoyment.     

纵向再探学前儿童心理理论发展模式

本文作者前不久完成的一项横断设计研究中, 以自编的心理理论量表测查比较了中美两国3~5岁儿童的有关发展。量表包括五项任务: (1) 不同的愿望; (2) 知与不知; (3) 不同的信念; (4) 内容错误信念和 (5) 伪装的情绪。研究发现两种不同文化群体儿童对上述任务的理解均表现出稳定一致的发展次序, 两者的次序大致相同但具有重要差别: 我国儿童的理解次序如从易到难排列如上所列, 这一次序与美国儿童的差别在于我国儿童先理解“知与不知”, 然后是“不同的信念”, 而美国儿童则恰好相反。这一研究结果对了解不同文化儿童心理理论的发展次序是十分有意义的, 但问题是经由横断设计的量表研究所确立的发展次序能否准确地描述个体儿童的纵向进展呢? 为此本研究使用了相同的测量工具对参加过横断研究的北京3岁儿童(时间1)在他们4岁(时间2)和5岁(时间3)时进行了焦点追踪研究。研究结果表明, 随着测查时间的 延伸, 个体儿童的作业成绩不仅逐步提高, 而且这种提高符合量表任务的发展次序。通过应用格特曼(Guttman)和雷氏(Rasch)测量模型对这一结果的分析, 再一次证实我国个体儿童的有关发展次序与欧美文化儿童的发展次序大致相同并且有重要的差别。本研究的结果不仅能为横断研究中个别差异的研究提供有用的工具, 而且深化了人们对心理理论发展机制的认识, 即把心理理论的发展看作是在一定的文化环境影响下不断扩展和深化的概念建构过程。但对这一推论仍有待进一步证实。     

Psychologist as Mentor and Detective in the Mirror of the Soul

A case study is presented of a client, involved in business dealings and personal relationships with members of organized crime, who upon looking into his mirror one morning recognized for the first time that his life was quickly slipping away. Unless he broke free, he decided, by doing something bold and outrageous—in the style of his free-spirited and violent youth—he was doomed to a depressive existence for the remainder of his days. He stalked women by night. Disturbed by a series of frightening dreams of his involvement in the murder of a stalked and raped woman, he approached the author for psychological help. During the course of treatment it became apparent that the client lacked a sense of personal goodness. An exploration of the problematic nature of virtue and constructive behavior in psychotherapeutic theory is presented here, together with a rationale for the role of the therapist as mentor as well as therapist for people who lack early and present experiences with constructive role models.     

Effectiveness of a Comprehensive Worksite Stress Management Program: Combining Organizational and Individual Interventions

A comprehensive worksite stress management program consisting of self-management training and a stressor reduction process was evaluated in a pre-post, treatment-control design in four comparable facilities. Results showed that over a 3-month period those individuals attending self-management training improved on emotional well-being measures. Organizational data suggested that their work-units' productivity increased and absenteeism decreased over the same period. Results support the value of combining self-management training and stressor reduction to produce positive individual and organizational outcomes.