Philosophy of Education in a Poor Historical Moment: A Personal Account

Under the post-metaphysical sky “old” humanistic-oriented education is possible solely at the cost of its transformation into its negative, into a power that is determined to diminish human potentials for self-exaltation. Nothing less than total metamorphosis is needed to rescue the core of humanistic genesis: the quest for edifying Life and resistance to the call for “home-returning” into the total harmony that is promised to us within nothingness.     

Performance of Mental Health Counselors in Integrated Primary and Behavioral Health Care

Integrated primary and behavioral health care (IPBH) is becoming a preferred mode of service delivery in the United States. Integrated care includes the participation of medical and mental health professionals, such as mental health counselors. The clinical outcomes of these professionals need to be studied to determine their effectiveness in such settings. We examined the performance of 10 mental health counselors on the clinical outcome of 1,747 clients treated in an IPBH center. Analyses using growth curve modeling and pre‐post test design revealed that mental health counselors were effective overall, but they differed in client dropout rates and efficiency in reducing clients' initial symptoms. We used the analyses to rank order counselors based on their effectiveness. Counselors who were the most effective varied in their efficiency but demonstrated the lowest client dropout rates. Implications for future research and counseling practice were discussed.     

mMotiv8: A smartphone‐based contingency management intervention to promote smoking cessation

Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death and illness in the United States. We tested the usability, acceptability, and efficacy of a smartphone‐based contingency management treatment to promote cessation. We used a nonconcurrent multiple‐baseline design. Participants (N = 14) provided breath carbon monoxide (CO) samples by using a CO meter that was connected to the user's smartphone. An app (mMotiv8) housed on participants' smartphones automatically captured pictures of the CO sampling procedure to validate the end user's identity, and it prompted submissions via a push message delivered to participants' smartphones. Participants earned a $10 incentive for daily abstinence, which was added to a reloadable debit card. Overall, 4% of the CO samples were negative during baseline, and 89% were negative during treatment. Self‐reported usability and acceptability were high, and 85% of the prompted samples were submitted. A smartphone intervention could be scalable and reduce the health consequences and costs associated with cigarette smoking, particularly in rural and low‐income populations.     

Economic optimization by compromise programming: The joint production model

In a basic microeconomic model (joint production and consumer's utility curves) three key optima appear: the best technological mix, the maximum profit point and the consumer's utility optimum. Compromise analysis can help to clarify their connections. This paper and other recent research attempt to specify the conditions which guarantee that these three optima coincide. Thus compromise programming becomes a valuable surrogate of economic optimization.     

NIETZSCHE AND UNAMUNO ON CONATUS AND THE AGAPEIC WAY OF LIFE

Unamuno saw in his defense of religious faith a response to Nietzsche’s criticisms of the Christian, agapeic way of life. To Nietzsche’s claim that engaging in this way of life is something antinatural and life-denying, insofar as it goes against the (alleged) natural tendency to increase one’s own power, Unamuno responded that an agapeic way of life is precisely a direct expression of this natural tendency. Far from being something that goes against our natural inclinations, Unamuno says, an agapeic way of life is a life-affirming exercise, something we are led to given our own natural condition. Hence, the aim of this essay is to comment on Unamuno’s criticism of Nietzsche and to point out the philosophical relevance of Unamuno’s attempt to provide a natural foundation for religious faith when assessing Nietzsche’s criticisms of the possibility of carrying out a Christian, agapeic way of life.     

Social Ecology: A Hermeneutical Framework for Reading Biblical Texts? A Latin American Perspective

Using the concept of “social ecology” developed by Murray Bookchin as a starting point, this article explores the reception of this idea in Latin America before elaborating some key principles derived from this concept for a hermeneutical strategy to approach biblical texts. In particular, the article argues that Bookchin's understanding of the seriousness of the ecological crisis and of its causes, his views on the issues around exploitation, hierarchy and domination, gender and age oppression, and his criticism of the prevailing economic and political dimension could provide a hermeneutical framework that is relevant for an ecologically sound and justice‐centred reading of biblical texts.     

Sex differences on the serial color-word test

The Serial Color-Word Test was administered to nonclinical volunteers of three age strata (17-29, 30-45, 46-65 yr.). Sex differences on the 17 variables of the test were explored for each age stratum. Only six significant intersex differences were found. In all age strata women scored significantly higher on linear regression of reading times in one of the last two subtests, i.e., R4 or R5.     

Action-based and vision-based selection of input: Two sources of control

In the first part of this paper we review evidence suggesting that there exists a mechanism that selects input on the basis of its similarity to the required action. This response-based input selection differs from the more established space- and object-based input selection in that it is not constrained by the structure of the input. Our evidence suggests that the two-choice Stroop effect is caused by this response-based selection mechanism. By contrast, it is known that the flanker effect is determined by the space- and object- based selection mechanisms. We explore whether the conflict resolution of the Stroop and flanker tasks is different as well by embedding these two tasks in a PRP (Psychological Refractory Period) paradigm. We show that the Stroop and the PRP effects are additive whereas the flanker and the PRP effects are underadditive, suggesting that the processes in charge of the conflict resolution in the Stroop and the flanker tasks are indeed different. We discuss possible reasons for this difference, and discuss possible ways in which the response-based mechanism can be implemented in information processing models.