Mathematical progress: Between reason and society

It is shown how the historiographic purport of Lakatosian methodology of mathematics is structured on the theme of analysis and synthesis. This theme is explored and extended to the revolutionary phase around 1800. On the basis of this historical investigation it is argued that major innovations, crucial to the appraisal of mathematical progress, defy reconstruction as irreducibly rational processes and should instead essentially be understood as processes of social-cognitive interaction. A model of conceptual change is developed whose essential ingredients are the variability of rational responses to new intellectual and practical challenges arising in the cultural environment of mathematics, and the shifting selective pressure of society. The resulting view of mathematical development is compared with Kuhn's theory of scientific paradigms in the light of some personal communications.     

Attention in risky choice

Previous research on the processes involved in risky decisions has rarely linked process data to choice directly. We used a simple measure based on the relative amount of attentional deployment to different components (gains/losses and their probabilities) of a risky gamble during the choice process, and we related this measure to the actual choice. In an experiment we recorded the decisions, decision times, and eye movements of 80 participants who made decisions on 11 choice problems. We used the number of eye fixations and fixation transitions to trace the deployment of attention during the choice process and obtained the following main results. First, different components of a gamble attracted different amounts of attention depending on participants' actual choice. This was reflected in both the number of fixations and the fixation transitions. Second, the last-fixated gamble but not the last-fixated reason predicted participants' choices. Third, a comparison of data obtained with eye tracking and data obtained with verbal protocols from a previous study showed a large degree of convergence regarding the process of risky choice. Together these findings tend to support dimensional decision strategies such as the priority heuristic.     

BONE MARROW TRANSPLANTATION IN A PATIENT WHO EXPERIENCED TORTURE IN A PRISONER OF WAR CAMP: NARCISSISM AND SURVIVAL

Post-traumatic stress disorder has been described as a syndrome from which an individual may suffer as a result of extraordinary trauma. Torture of prisoners of war in Serbian camps during the war in Croatia is just such a stressful situation that requires mobilization of all defense mechanisms of an individual. The authors present a case study of a former prisoner of war who acquired acute myelogenous leukemia several months after release and was treated with bone marrow transplantation. On release the patient was medically examined, like all prisoners of war, and the findings did not suggest any disease. Because of the situation, the patient was in psychotherapeutic observation and treatment after his illness was diagnosed and throughout the transplantation treatment.     

A Mixed-method Study of Individual,Couple, and Parental Functioning During the State-regulated COVID-19 Lockdown in Spain

During the recent COVID-19 outbreak in Spain, we explored the individual and relational well-being of people confined together with their partners and/or children during the first 3 weeks of state-regulated lockdown. Adults 18 years or older (N = 407) completed an online survey that included demographic, household, and employment information along with standardized measures of psychological distress (State-Trait Anxiety and Beck Depression) and relationship functioning—either the Dyadic Adjustment Scale if there were no children in the household or a Basic Family Relations Evaluation Questionnaire (CERFB) measuring conjugal, parental, and coparental functions. Qualitative analyses of responses to an open-ended question about perceived changes in couple or family dynamics during lockdown revealed nine specific themes comprising two overarching categories: relational improvement and deterioration. The overall prevalence of improvement themes (61.7%) exceeded deterioration themes (41.0%), with increased (re)connection and conflict atmosphere cited most often. Quantitative analyses found elevated levels of state anxiety but not trait anxiety or depression during lockdown. Consistent with the qualitative results, couples having no children at home reported high levels of dyadic adjustment, but with children present CERFB parental functioning exceeded conjugal functioning, a pattern sometimes associated with child triangulation into adult conflicts. Although correlates of psychological distress (e.g., unemployment, perceived economic risk) were relatively stable across subgroups, predictors of relationship functioning varied substantially with household/parental status (e.g., telecommuting and employment facilitated conjugal functioning only for couples with children).     

Identifying decision strategies: A process- and outcome-based classification method

This article presents a classification method that makes possible the detection of important decision strategies that people use in nonrisky multiattribute decision tasks. The classification method incorporates a multimethod approach that combines elements of both structural modeling and process tracing. We begin with a discussion of nine common characteristics of decision strategies and then classify 13 decision strategies on the basis of these characteristics. Next, we demonstrate that six of the characteristics can be used to develop one outcome-based and three process-based metrics. In addition, we present an algorithm that shows how to use the metrics. We demonstrate that using our metrics in conjunction with a measure for direction of search allows identification of most of the 13 decision strategies. Finally, we outline the potential of our research for the design of decision support systems such as online shops.     

Motivational goals,group identifications,and psychosocial adjustment of returning migrants: The case of Jews returning to Russia

The present study investigated the motivational goals, group identifications, and psychosocial adjustment of Jews who returned to Russia after emigrating from the republics of the Former Soviet Union to different countries (n = 151). To gain a deeper understanding of these returning migrants, their traits were compared with those of Jews living in Russia who did not emigrate (n = 935). Compared to locals, returnees reported a higher preference for the openness to change and self‐enhancement values and a lower preference for the conservation values; there was no difference in the self‐transcendence values. Returning migrants had a relatively weak affiliation with the home country: they had a weaker identification with the home country than with the country of emigration, their identification with Russians was weaker than that among Jews who did not emigrate from Russia, and their intention to emigrate (again) from Russia was greater than that among locals. However, the Jewish identification of returning migrants was similar to that of locals. The adjustment of returning migrants varied across different dimensions: their economic adjustment was better than that of locals; however, the interpersonal adjustment of returnees was less successful than among locals.     

Zum Problem Der Teleologie

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