The Jagannath Temple and Online Darshan

Darshan—the act of seeing the divine in an image—is an important form of worship for most Hindus. Darshan is now available via the Internet. In this article I consider the possible significance of online darshan for the important Jagannath Temple in Puri in the Indian State of Orissa and for devotees of the Hindu god Jagannath who resides there. From this case study I conclude that online darshan does not necessarily bring about a decline in the importance of temples and their deities. This challenges those globalisation theorists who claim that local sites decline in importance as a result of advanced communications technologies and instead supports Roland Robertson's theory of ‘glocalization’. I further conclude that despite this, online darshan is an important development for devotees of Jagannath, because it allows access to the deity which may previously have been difficult or even impossible for most of the year. I also consider online darshan in general and suggest that the glocalization processes that it is giving rise to are worthy of future research.     

Cooperative tapping: Time control under different feedback conditions

The same isochronous tone sequence was presented simultaneously to two mutually isolated subjects. In half the trials, accentuation in this sequence was accomplished by doubling the duration of the first and then of every fourth tone; in the other half, by doubling the frequency of those tones. The subjects’ task was to follow the rhythm of the resulting four-tone patterns by finger tapping to tone onsets. There were four auditory feedback (FB) conditions: (1) no FB; (2) FB from the subject’s own motor responses; (3) “alien” FB from the motor responses of the other pair member who, in turn, was listening to FB from his/her own tapping; (4) mutually “crossed” FB, where each pair member listened to FB from the tapping of the other. Tap onsets regularly preceded stimulus onsets. The observed order of the amount of this anticipation (from least to greatest) was: (1) own FB, (2) no FB, (3) alien FB, and (4) crossed FB. No mutual dynamic influence between simultaneously performing subjects was-detected. Anticipation was more pronounced for sequences that were accentuated by frequency rather than by duration changes. The type of accent also influenced timing of intertap intervals in the rhythmic patterns. For the frequency accent, regular timing was produced, whereas for the durational accent, shortening of the second and lengthening of the fourth (the last) intertap interval were observed. The presence and source of feedback as well as the character of accentuation are therefore relevant factors in the timing of auditorally controlled rhythmic motor behavior.     

Regressive myopathy with myasthenic syndrome in idiopathic gluten enteropathy]

The authors report on a case of sprue myopathy with myasthenic syndrome. Pathophysiological ideas are discussed and the necessity of complex examinations in myopathy-syndromes is emphasized.     

Comparison of the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery-Children's Revision and the WISC-R with learning disabled children

This investigation concerned the relationship between the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery--Children's Revision and the WISC--R for a sample of 32 children identified as learning disabled. The children's mean age was 9 yr., 11 mo.; they were identified as learning disabled on the basis of ability (WISC--R)/achievement discrepancy test scores. The sample was of low average intellectual ability according to the WISC--R and the Luria-Nebraska T-scores. Intercorrelations between scores on the WISC--R and Luria-Nebraska lists were generally nonsignificant, with the exception of language and arithmetic measures on each test. Also, 84% or 27 of the present sample of 32 were correctly identified as learning disabled using a criterion of three or more Luria-Nebraska subscale scores greater than one SD above the mean.     

Psychoacoustic evaluation of musical sounds

A review is given of several basic aspects of musical sounds, i.e., the perception of duration, the perception of sound impulses as events within temporal patterns, timbre, the equivalence of sensational intervals, roughness, and the pitch qualities of complex sounds. Selected examples illustrate how psychoacoustic results can contribute to the evaluation of musical sounds and to the understanding of the perception of music.     

The school-based interprofessional team: Recurring problems and some possible solutions

The interprofessional child study team can provide for greater accuracy in decision making and a creative extension of psychoeducational services to the school. Four problem areas presently interfere with most team's effective functioning: minimal parental and regular educator involvement, an unsystematic collection and analysis of the diagnostic information, a loosely construed decision-making/planning process, and a lack of interdisciplinary collaboration. A number of strategies are suggested to promote team effectiveness.