Colonic sensitivity in irritable bowel syndrome and normal subjects according to their hemispheric preference and cognitive style

According to our earlier results, non-painful, weak afferent visceral signals may exert a steady influence on brain processes, including cognitive functions. In the present series colonic impulses of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) subjects served as a model of chronic impact from the gut. Hemispheric preference, as well as cognitive style of information processing served as indicators of covert changes in brain functions. In twentyone IBS patients and in ten control subjects of both sexes, the thresholds of minimal colonic distension sensitivity has been measured following the determination of hemispheric preference and of advantage in verbal or spatial information processing of the subjects. In IBS patients distension thresholds proved to be higher in verbals than in spatials, whereas in healthy controls the relationship of colonic thresholds and verbal versus, spatial advantage was reversed. Among the normal controls with left hemisphere preference a significantly higher distension threshold has been observed than in those with right hemisphere preference, whereas in the IBS group such threshold-differences were not observable.     

Lebensgeschichte als Selbstkonstitution bei Husserl

Ohne ZusammenfassungDer vorliegende Aufsatz ist während eines zweijährigen Forschungsaufenthaltes in Deutschland entstanden, den die Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung ermöglichte. Es sei hiermit mein Dank für diese Unterstützung ausgesprochen. Mein Dank gilt auch der Central European University, die meine Forschungstätigkeit im Rahmen eines Research Support Scheme förderte. Schließlich möchte ich den beiden Betreuern meiner Arbeit, Herrn Prof. Dr. Klaus Held (Wuppertal) und Herrn Prof. Dr. Bernhard Waldenfels (Bochum), für die vielfachen Anregungen, die ich von ihnen während dieser Zeit erhalten durfte, herzlich danken.     

Interpersonal relations as a source of risk of mobbing in the local police

Social relations in the workplace are one of the main sources of risk for the onset of mobbing. In this work, we analyzed, through the perceived social climate, the influence of interpersonal relations on the characterization of the processes of mobbing, in a sample of local police (N = 235). In particular, the policemen and women's opinions of the quality of the personal relations among the group members and the treatment they receive from the command posts were assessed. The results of the study show that the development of guidelines of social interaction based on discrimination and abuse of authority are predicting variables of mobbing in this group.     

Median decision techniques as an alternative to the classical statistical inference test

In the research area, the criterion to test a hypothesis is frequently the distance of each subject from the mean of the distribution. This concept of distance is constantly used and re-used as a source of evidence in the search for significant contrasts with respect to models of theoretical probability. This paper proposes a number of ideas regarding the use of new distance indicators related to statistics that rely less heavily on parametric assumptions, in particular, the use of median confidence intervals. We have simulated via EXCEL different data samples for a design of two independent groups under 15 different conditions in two different situations: mean equality and mean differences. The results showed the high sensitivity of the comparison of the confidence intervals, especially if a strict decision criterion is used. However, we did not obtain good results for sensitivity. In fact, in some cases, the comparison of the confidence intervals of the mean worked better than those of median.     

Acute psychological benefits of aerobic exercise: a field study into the effects of exercise characteristics

Eighty volunteers were tested in their natural exercise environment consisting of a fitness centre they regularly attended. Half of the sample exercised on a stationary bicycle, the other half on a treadmill. All participants filled in the Exercise-Induced Feeling Inventory before and after their 20 min of exercise that was performed at self-selected workload. The results revealed that exercise intensity and the other parallel measures like heart rate, perceived exercise intensity and estimates of burned calories were higher in participants who ran in contrast to those who cycled. There were no differences in self-reports of enjoyment of the exercise sessions and in the psychological improvements from pre- to post-exercise between the groups. It is concluded that significant psychological improvements occur even after a 20-min bout of exercise and these changes are independent of the workload or exercise intensity.     

Satisfaction and psychological well-being as antecedents of organisational commitment

Satisfaction and psychological well-being as antecedents of organisational commitment. The role of organisational commitment in public administration and its repercussions on the institution are examined in this study. It reports part of a larger research project that studies job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and psychological well-being as antecedents of organisational commitment. Data were collected from 697 public-sector employees, using questionnaires. Results showed that job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and psychological well-being were strong predictors of organisational commitment. Higher levels of job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and psychological well-being were associated with more favourable perceptions of organisational commitment. Furthermore, this study highlights the impact of dynamic work on the employee's commitment.     

Enhancing challenged students' recognition of mathematical relations through differential outcomes training

Previous studies have reported that the differential outcomes procedure enhances learning and memory in special populations with cognitive deficits (see Goeters, Blakely, & Poling, 1992, for a review). In the present study we extend these findings to healthy adults who were asked to discriminate between the symbols " > " and " < " in mathematical statements. In Experiment 1, the performance of participants who showed difficulties in discriminating between these symbols was better (shorter response times) for the differential outcomes condition than for the nondifferential outcomes condition. In Experiment 2, the difficulty of the task was increased by using signed decimal numbers. Similar to Experiment 1, participants who initially had difficulties in discriminating between the symbols showed better performance (higher accuracy) for the differential outcomes condition than for the nondifferential outcomes condition, but only when both numbers were negative. These findings suggest that the differential outcomes procedure can be used to improve performance of challenged healthy adults on discrimination tasks with mathematical symbols and relations.     

Sobre la Educación Estética en el Ámbito Familiar

En 2004, la ONU conmemoró el Año Internacional de la Familia. Es nuestro interés tratar aquí un aspecto de la educación con frecuencia inescuchado (la educación estética) en un ámbito educativo primordial como es la familia, y a menudo también pasado por alto o dado por supuesto, centrándonos especialmente en la experiencia del cine como colaboradora de la educación estética. Resaltamos la relevancia del estilo familiar de vida, los hábitos elementales de higiene, vestimenta y alimentación, el uso de juguetes, la decoración y, especialmente, el trato en las relaciones humanas: gestos, usos del habla en las conversaciones, etc. Todo ello colabora a poner en juego el cultivo de los sentidos externos: tacto, olfato, gusto, oído y vista, así como los internos: imaginación, memoria, experiencia de la vida. Y constituye una excelente preparación para la educación afectiva, moral, intelectual y social de los niños y las niñas. Una concreción pedagógica de la educación estética en la familia la constituye el cine. Éste requiere especialmente el acompañamiento de padres y educadores durante los primeros años para extraer la virtualidad educativa que el cine encierra. La estructura del texto responderá, por tanto, a tres apartados:

1. La educación estética en el desarrollo de la personalidad humana.
2. La familia como ámbito educativo en la esfera de lo estético.
3. Una concreción de la educación estética: el cine.

     

Concerning the Madrid Lecture: the equivocal character of Pavlov's reflexological objectivism and its influence on the distorted concept of the physiology-psychology relationship

The aim of this study is to bring to light and make clear the characteristic equivoque Pavlov made when he conceived the neurophysiological circuit involved in conditioned behavior as if this circuit contained or reduced, in its own terms, such behavior. I also wish to point out how this interpretation implies a distorted concept of the relationships between neurophysiology and behavior. As an alternative, it is proposed that behavior, which is always operant behavior, is not at all reducible to its neurophysiological ingredients, but instead acts like an arrow-head for adaptation that, in turn, confers a subordinate function to the neurophysiological ingredients involved. To make this evident, behavior is considered an operant organic activity that takes place in an environment of "remote co-present" texture, and different from its neurophysiological ingredients, which take place within the context of spatial contiguity relationships.