Integral approach to South African psychology with special reference to indigenous knowledge

In order to redress imbalances in South African psychological service provision, honor indigenous, transpersonal, community based perspectives, and introduce fresh insights and direction, this article presents an integral approach to psychology in South Africa. Areas highlighted for future research and praxis include integral and transpersonal psychology; spirituality; consciousness; especially moral consciousness, ancestral consciousness and reverence; indigenous knowledge systems, particularly indigenous healing; harmonisation of old and new, African, Eastern and Western forms of psychology; well-being and community development through health promotion practices and multicultural counselling.     

The Marikana Violence in South Africa: A Brief Psychodynamic Extrapolation

This study applies psychoanalytic concepts in making sense of the individual, group and collective factors that may have contributed towards the Marikana violence. Speculatively, individual factors might include the death instinct, repetition compulsion, and intra-psychic splitting. Related group dynamics such as identification with the aggressor, group and projective identification might be relevant as would the collective psychological influences of history of oppression, severe trans-generational traumatisation, and mystical cultural interpretations in a divided society. Further public truth, reconciliation and forgiveness processes in addition to other integrative forms of healing are proposed.     

Coping strategies and first year performance in postsecondary education

Coping was hypothesized to explain additional variance in first year grade point averages (GPAs) controlling for cognitive ability and conscientiousness. First year GPAs were assessed as criterion for performance in the first year. Results indicate active coping, denial, behavioral disengagement, and alcohol disengagement are related to first year GPA. Denial and alcohol disengagement coping strategies were significant predictors and negatively related to first year GPA in the final regression equation controlling for cognitive ability and conscientiousness. Latent growth modeling analysis demonstrated cognitive ability predicted both the intercept and slope of first year GPA. Conscientiousness was a predictor of initial GPA but not change. Lastly, coping was a significant predictor of change in GPA. Implications for research and theory are discussed.     

Word order and finiteness in Dutch and English Broca's and Wernicke's aphasia

The effect of two linguistic factors in Broca's and Wernicke's aphasia was examined using Dutch and English subjects. Three tasks were used to test (1). the comprehension and (2). the construction of sentences, where verbs (in Dutch) and verb arguments (in Dutch and English) are in canonical versus non-canonical position; (3). the production of finite versus infinitive verbs. Proportions of errors as well as types of errors made by each aphasic group are similar on the sentence comprehension and sentence anagram tasks. On the verb production task the performance pattern is, again, the same, but the error types are different. The discussion focuses on how the similarities and differences across languages and across aphasia types may be interpreted with respect to the underlying deficit in Broca's and Wernicke's aphasia.     

The tale is in the tail: an alternative hypothesis for psychophysical performance variability in dyslexia

Dyslexic groups have been reported to display poorer mean performance than groups of normal readers on a variety of psychophysical tasks. However, inspection of the distribution of individual scores for each group typically reveals that the majority of dyslexic observers actually perform within the normal range. Differences between group means often reflect the influence of a small number of dyslexic individuals who perform very poorly. While such findings are typically interpreted as evidence for specific perceptual deficiencies in dyslexia, caution in this approach is necessary. In this study we examined how general difficulties with task completion might manifest themselves in group psychophysical studies. Simulations of the effect of errant or inattentive trials on performance produced patterns of variability similar to those seen in dyslexic groups. Additionally, predicted relationships between the relative variability in dyslexic and control groups, and the magnitude of group differences bore close resemblance to the outcomes of a meta-analysis of empirical studies. These results suggest that general, nonsensory difficulties may underlie the poor performance of dyslexic groups on many psychophysical tasks. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

Pharmaco-behavioural evidence indicating a complex role for ryanodine receptor calcium release channels in memory processing for a passive avoidance task

Calcium signalling is an important process underlying neuronal function and consequently behaviour. The release of calcium from intracellular stores via the ryanodine receptor calcium release (RyR) channel has been implicated in both synaptic plasticity and to a limited extent in memory processing. While past investigations have suggested a role for RyR channels in long-term memory, the present study suggests their action is more complex. Using a single trial passive avoidance task developed for the day-old chick, it is proposed that RyR channels are necessary both prior to the expression of long-term memory and also in retrieval processes. Specifically, 5 mM dantrolene (a specific RyR channel blocker) resulted in a persistent retention loss from 40 min post-training while 10 nM dantrolene produced a transient retention loss centred at 40 min post-training. We speculate that in the context of memory formation, RyR channels may be activated by nitric oxide and in the context of memory retrieval may lead to the activation of large conductance calcium-activated potassium BK(Ca) channels which, when blocked by 50 nM iberiotoxin, also demonstrated a transient retention loss centred at 40 min post-training.     

Teacher acquisition of functional analysis methodology

The current study examined methods for training teachers to use functional analysis methods. Teachers first received written and verbal instructions detailing attention and demand conditions. They then received training that included modeling, rehearsal, and performance feedback. Finally, probes were taken during ongoing class instruction. Results indicate that teachers acquired the skills and used them in classroom settings.     

The MBTI and social information processing: an incremental validity study

The ability of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI; Myers & McCaulley, 1985) to predict performance on social cognitive tasks tapping information processing effort was assessed. Judgment and intuition interacted to predict amount of attributional adjustment on a dispositional attribution task. The MBTI scales predicted processing above and beyond measures of the five factors, rational-experiential preferences, and causal uncertainty. The relevance of these results for interpretation of the MBTI indexes is discussed.     

A scavenger of peroxynitrite prevents long-term memory formation using a single trial passive avoidance task for the day-old chick

The important role of nitric oxide (NO) in memory processing has been recognised for some time. However, the mechanisms through which NO may act are only partially understood. One highly reactive radical brought about by the reaction of NO and superoxide ions is peroxynitrite. The current study investigated the effect of peroxynitrite scavenging on retention for a single trial passive avoidance task developed for the day-old chick. Administration of a range of concentrations of the peroxynitrite scavenger Trolox (0.1 microM-1.2 mM) yielded a bimodal retention curve. This dose-response curve had nadirs at 300 and 800 microM. A time of administration study was conducted for each optimal concentration of Trolox and in both studies, the effective range of administration times extended from at least 10 min before training to 20 min post-training. Finally, a retention function was conducted for each optimum concentration of Trolox and in both studies a persistent retention loss was observed from 40 min post-training until the conclusion of the experiment 24 h post-training. The findings suggest that physiological levels of peroxynitrite may be required for the consolidation of long-term memory in this model of memory formation. Interestingly, the effective times of administration and time of retention loss onset are consistent with previous studies which blocked NO synthesis. Therefore it may be suggested that NO acts to facilitate long-term memory formation through the production of peroxynitrite.     

Categorical and coordinate relations in faces, or Fechner's law and face space instead?

E. E. Cooper and T. J. Wojan (2000) applied the categorical-coordinate relations distinction to faces on the basis of a finding that two-eyes-up versus one-eye-up distortions had opposite effects in between-class (face normality) and within-class (face identity) tasks. However, Cooper and Wojan failed to match amount of metric change between their 2 deviation types and tested only 1 deviation level. In the present study, eyeheight was shifted (e.g., both eyes up or both eyes down vs. one eye up and one eye down) parametrically (11 levels) and normality and identity ratings obtained. There was no evidence of categorical changes in perception where these would have been predicted by Cooper and Wojan's theory. In all cases, the relationship between physical and perceived distortion followed Fechner's law. Differences across distortion types in Fechner threshold (the minimum deviation altering perceived normality or identity) are explained in terms of the variability associated with different dimensions in face space.