On the relevant systemsP andP * and some related systems

In this paper we study the systemsP andP ^* (see Arruda and da Costa,O paradoxo de Curry-Moh Shaw-Kwei, Boletim da Sociedade Matemtica de São Paulo 18 (1966)) and some related systems. In the last section, we prove that certain set theories havingP andP ^* as their underlying logics are non-trivial.     

Physician and patient: Respect for mutuality

Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics - Philosophers and physicians alike tend to discuss the physician-patient relationship in terms of physician privilege and patient autonomy, stressing the duty of...     

Near-death experiences and religion: A further investigation

The relationship between religion and near-death experiencers (NDEs) was examined by interviewing 40 near-death experiences who were given a series of instruments to measure religious orientation and religious change. No relationship was found between religious orientation prior to the NDE and the depth of the NDE. However, a significant correlation was found between the depth of the NDE and a subsequent increase both in the importance of religion and in religious activity. Various theoretical explanations of NDEs were examined to account for these findings.     

The history of a catatonic dog

This article is a condensed life-history of a dog (“V3”) born and reared in the Pavlovian Laboratory and studied until his death in 1961. A detailed study was made of his pathologic development, his relations to people, and the effects of drugs. Measurements recorded were heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, 24-hour activity, sexual reflexes, general behavior. Although early experiments were done chiefly for recording and were not considered noxious or traumatic, this dog’s general development and symptoms seem to have been “constitutionally” rather than environmentally determined. His external behavior was strikingly similar to that of a catatonic patient-flexibilitas cerea, general immobility. Of particular interest was the “Effect of Person”: in the presence of all humans who confronted him he showed catatonic postures, cardiovascular disorders (tachycardia up to 200 beats/min., bradycardia to 12 beats/min., drop of blood pressure from 150 to 75 mm Hg, arrest of heart-beat for as long as 8 seconds), moribund poses. His response to drugs illustrated the specificity to a definite “constitutional type”: sexual activity markedly increased by alcohol and rarely present except after administration of alcohol; no improvement after administration of tranquilizers, except alcohol and meprobamate, which made him act like a normal dog in behavior and in relations to people. His symptoms and reactions to both people and drugs were generally opposite to those of another dog, “Nick”, studied over his life span: Nick showed excessive activity in physiologic systems; hyperactivity (running); generally, improvement through “Effect of Person”; sexual inhibition with alcohol. Observations of the two dogs suggest that symptoms as well as reactions to drugs are the result of the “type” rather than the procedure used, that perhaps psychopathologic symptoms are due more to inborn constitution than to “conflict” (“collision”) between excitation and inhibition, and that neurotic or psychotic symptoms may not interfere with longevity-Nick lived to be 14 years old and died fighting; V3, who also spent most of his life in the laboratory, died at the age of 14.     

Dichoptic interaction of visual structure and light flashes

Perceptual interaction between monocular flashes and different amounts of continuously visible target structure shown to the other eye was investigated. A response variable called dominance of the flashes is defined and found to be a direct function of flash intensity and an inverse function of contraocular target structure. The dominance variable is distinguished from subjective brightness of the flashes and subjective complexity of the targets. The observed effects are attributed to limited central processing capacity with increased informational load.     

Sporadic transient atrioventricular block and slow heart rate in nervous pointer dogs

Two behaviorally distinct strains of pointer dogs, one bred for nervousness (pronounced freezing behavior, withdrawal behavior), the other bred for normal behavior, exhibit prominent differences in their heart rates and incidence of sporadic occurrences of atrioventricular heart block. Of 67 nervous-line dogs, 70 per cent showed second degree AV-block on at least one occasion, and their heart rates averaged 65 beats/min. Only 15 per cent of 52 normal-line dogs displayed AV-block (generally fewer instances per dog) and their heart rates averaged 110 beats/min. Fifth generation nervous-line puppies, two to six weeks old, exhibited occasional AV-block even at heart rates averaging 183 beats/min. The incidence and “severity” increased as the puppies aged. Dogs crossbred from second and third generation parents of the two main lines show intermediate incidences of AV-block and intermediate heart rates. The incidence of AV-block is predominant in females. This is interpreted as a sex-influenced, agedependent, polygenic mode of inheritance. Humoral factors probably account for the sex-influence, and psychological stress probably also plays a role. No sex difference is noted in heart rates.     

Study-time of sentences as a function of their specificity and of semantic exploration

In self-paced learning conditions the study-time of sentences is supposed to depend jointly upon the information content of the material and upon its exploration by the subject in the course of learning. In exp. 1 informative content was varied by using sentences constituted either of general or of specific words; study-time was found to be significantly longer for the latter sentences than for the former and the recall performance to be equal. Differential semantic exploration and storage were instigated by presenting in the series either pairs of similar, and thereby contrasted sentences, or isolated sentences. In exp. 2, study-time of the sentences was longer than that of the latter; but the first recall performance recorded with the constrasted sentences was also higher. The divergent effects of the nature of the material and of the activity of the subject upon study-time and recall performance were emphasized.