Five Elements of Normative Ethics - A General Theory of Normative Individualism

The article tries to inquire a third way in normative ethics between consequentialism or utilitarianism and deontology or Kantianism. To find such a third way in normative ethics, one has to analyze the elements of these classical theories and to look if they are justified. In this article it is argued that an adequate normative ethics has to contain the following five elements: (1) normative individualism, i. e., the view that in the last instance moral norms and values can only be justified by reference to the individuals concerned, as its basis; (2) consideration of the individuals’ concerns and interests—aims, desires, needs, strivings—insofar as they have a justificatory function; (3) a pluralism of references of these concerns and hence of moral norms and values to all possible elements of actions; (4) the necessity of a principle of aggregation and weighing with regard to these concerns; (5) finally, as a central principle of aggregation and weighing, the principle of relative reference to self and others, operating as a generalizing meta-principle that guides the application of concrete principles and decisions.     

Differential neuronal responses to the self and others in the extrastriate body area and the fusiform body area

The extrastriate body area (EBA) and the fusiform body area (FBA) are selectively activated by viewing human bodies. However, the role of these functionally defined brain areas in self-other discrimination is still unresolved. Thirty-one females were presented with 16 pictures of their own body and another body in a bikini and with scrambled images while fMRI was performed. Moreover, standardized stimulus material was used in order to localize the EBA and FBA. Region-of-interest analysis showed an enhanced BOLD response to the self-images relative to the non-self-images in the right EBA and FBA. The right EBA and FBA are activated differently by viewing oneself and others and might thus play a role in visual self-other discrimination.     

Derivation of the antiphase-boundary energy of L1 2 long-range-ordered precipitates from measurements of the minimum size of stable dislocation loops

In an alloy that is strengthened by long-range-ordered particles, a matrix dislocation generates an antiphase boundary (APB) when it cuts through such a particle. The specific energy n APB of this APB has been measured for two fcc alloys with spherical coherent L12 ordered particles: an Al-7.5at.%Li-alloy and the commercial Ni-base superalloy Nimonic PE16. Peak-aged specimens have been deformed and Orowan loops searched for using transmission electron microscopy. n APB has been derived from the radii of the smallest dislocation loops which have been left behind around particles. Such an approach had been used previously, for example, by Raynor and Silcock and by Nembach et al . Here an improved evaluation method has been applied; it is based on the results of computer simulations of the equilibrium configurations of dislocation loops.     

Die Wirkung von traumatischem Stress auf biopsychische Selbstorganisationsprozesse

Social frameworks have influenced the understanding of trauma-reactive psychic disorders during the course of the past two centuries.The 20th century has further shaped this understanding by the various concepts established by the different therapeutic schools.The incorporation of scientific results, as well as the theory of complex dynamic systems particularly that of synergetics supply now abundant impulses stimulating the discussion of posttraumatic stress disorders on a psychodynamic, neurophysiological, and systemspecific basis, thereby leaving those schools behind.Comparing synergetic models with the current state of neuroscientific research of post traumatic stress disease (PTSD) gives surprising insights of the dynamics of this disorder,and the resulting therapeutic principles.Specific therapeutic approaches, with the two phases of stabilisation and of trauma processing can be derived from such functional principles of neuronal networks.     

Attention,spatial representation,and visual neglect: simulating emergent attention and spatial memory in the selective attention for identification model (SAIM)

The selective attention for identification model (SAIM) is presented. This uses a spatial window to select visual information for recognition, binding parts to objects and generating translation-invariant recognition. The model provides a qualitative account of both normal and disordered attention. Simulations of normal attention demonstrate 2-object costs and effects of object familiarity on selection, global precedence, spatial cueing, and inhibition of return. When lesioned, SAIM demonstrated either view- or object-centered neglect or spatial extinction, depending on the type and extent of lesion. The model provides a framework to unify (a) object- and space-based theories of normal selection, (b) dissociations within the syndrome of unilateral neglect, and (c) attentional and representational accounts of neglect.     

Attention and spatial resolution: a theoretical and experimental study of visual search in hierarchical patterns

Our aim has been to study visual search in hierarchical patterns through a computational neuroscience perspective. In this way we were able to analyse the relationship between the global precedence effect and attention. The theoretical part of our investigations extended a model built upon the biased-competition hypothesis. An important feature of this extension is that different spatial frequencies are processed with different time constants. Simulations with this model resulted in specific predictions that were confirmed with a novel visual-search experiment utilising hierarchical patterns. Both experiment and simulations suggest that the global-precedence effect prevails under the condition of visual search.     

Panic patients reveal idiographic associations between anxiety symptoms and catastrophes in a semantic priming task

In the present study, a modified semantic priming paradigm was used to test whether panic patients more strongly associate catastrophes with anxiety symptoms than nonclinical subjects. Subjects named catastrophic target words (e.g. infarction) and target words neutral to anxiety themes (e.g. weekend) that followed auditive prime sentences immediately (i.e.0ms) or with a delay (i.e. 1500ms). Prime sentences described the perception of anxiety symptoms (e.g. You feel tense) or sensations neutral to anxiety (You feel relaxed). Consistent with an earlier study [Schniering C.A., & Rapee, R.M. (1997). A test of the cognitive model of panic: Primed lexical decision in panic disorder. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 11, 557-571] the two groups did not differ if semantic priming effects were calculated in the usual way, i.e. by averaging across identical stimuli for all subjects. As expected, however, panic patients demonstrated stronger semantic priming effects for catastrophes immediately following prime sentences if priming effects were calculated for idiographically selected stimuli. The latter result indicated stronger automatic associations between idiographic anxiety symptoms and catastrophes in panic patients consistent with the cognitive model of panic disorder (Clark, D.M. (1986). A cognitive approach to panic. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 24, 461-470). The restriction of stronger associations in panic patients to idiographic stimuli is explained from an evolutionary perspective.     

Anxiety and performance in runners: Effects of stress and anxiety on physical performance

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of state and trait anxiety on physical performance under both neutral and stressful conditions. In Study I, 43 male and female track athletes answered the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and twice underwent ergometric testing in the physiology laboratory after receiving a neutral or a stress-inducing instruction. In Study II, these 43 runners completed the state scale shortly before a test run in a practice session and once again just before the start in an official competition. Results showed a significant increase in self-reported state anxiety under the stress condition in both the laboratory and the field setting. At the same time, the mean physical performance, measured as physiological performance parameters (maximum oxygen intake, physical work capacity) or as running performance, significantly deteriorated under stress. The induced stress affected the heart rate in addition to the mere physical work load, with no sign of compensation occurring during the entire period of ergometric testing. Effects of anxiety on performance were tested by separate 2(trait) × 3(state) ANOVAs for each situation. For both laboratory situations, and for the practice situation as well, no significant relationships, neither linear nor nonlinear, were detected. In the competition situation, however, an inverted-U relationship was found in the low trait-anxious subgroup.