Suicidal behaviour and HIV disease: A case report

This case history describes the attempted suicide by jumping in front of a London Underground train of a man with advanced HIV disease. It illustrates the complex relationship between HIV disease and suicidal behaviour. Although the attempt was made by a man with AIDS, it is by no means evident that this disease was the sole or even the primary cause of his wish to die. This account is also interesting because of the unusual method used, the sudden onset of suicidal feelings and the patient's interpretation of the reason for his survival.     

Book reviews

Form and Validity in Indian Logic. Vijay Bharadwaja, 1990. Simla, Indian Institute of Advanced Study. 127 pp.

The Word and The World: India's Contribution to the Study of Language. Bimal Krishna Matilal, 1990 Delhi, Oxford University Press ix+189pp., Rs175.00

The Basic Ways of Knowing. Govardhan P. Bhatt, 1989 Delhi, Banarasidas xxviix+435 pp.

The Quest for Man. J. Van Nispen & D. Tiemersma (Eds), 1991 Assen/Maastricht, Van Gorcum ix+203 pp., Dfl39.50

Muslim‐Christian Encounters: Perceptions and Misperceptions. William Montgomery Watt, 1991 London, Routledge 164 pp.

Socrates in Mediaeval Arabic Literature. Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science, Texts and Studies Vol. X. Ilai Alon, 1991. Leiden: E. J. Brill/Jerusalem, The Magnes Press. pp. 198, US$50

Tsung‐mi and the Sinification of Buddhism. Peter N. Gregory, 1991 Princeton, Princeton University Press 368 pp., US$49.50

Modern Civilization: A Crisis of Fragmentation. S. C. Malik, 1989. New Delhi, Abhinav Publications. 182 pp., Rs 150.00

Nature in Asian Traditions of Thought: Essays in Environmental Philosophy. J. Baird Callicott & Roger T. Ames (Eds), 1989 Albany, NY, State University of New York Press 335+xxi pp., US$16.95     

RESPONSE TO CRITIQUES OF RELIGION IN AN AGE OF SCIENCE

Abstract. In replying to the four thoughtful critiques of my first Gifford volume I try to clarify the differences among us. I defend my use of Kuhn's concept of paradigms against Nancey Murphy's use of Lakatos's concept of research programs and then compare both of us with advocates of the “strong program” in the social construction of science. Sallie McFague identifies me with the empiricist, objectivist, “modernist” tradition and contrasts it to her own “postmodernist” acceptance of cultural relativism and the social construction of science, but I argue that I am seeking an intermediate position that redefines objectivity rather than rejecting it. Some themes common to feminist and process theology are also examin ed. In dialogue with Bob Russell I discuss the metaphysical and theological implications of the unity of space and time in relativity, the beginning of time in recent cosmology, and the thesis that God acts by determining events in indeterminate quantum systems. Finally I compare John Cobb's indebtedness to Whitehead with my own and suggest that I am more willing to adapt or modify process thought in the interpretation of scientific theories and religious experience.     

Criterion validation of two approaches to performance appraisal: The behavioral observation scale and the relative percentile method

We compared the criterion validity of a new relative performance appraisal format (percentile-based ranking) to that of an absolute format (BOS) in a sample of 88 unit managers. Overall, our results suggest that the relative format has higher criterion-related validity than does the absolute format. These findings contradict conventional wisdom that format-related differences in measures of performance are minimal and that relative approaches to performance appraisal are inferior.This research was supported by grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) to Richard D. Goffin, Douglas N. Jackson, John P. Meyer, Sampo V. Paunonen, and Mitchell G. Rothstein. Additional funding provided by a research grant from Imperial Oil Ltd. to Douglas N. Jackson.A version of these results was presented at the 7th Annual Meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Montreal, Canada, May, 1992. Limited portions of these data, addressing distinctly different research issues, were published in Gellatly, Paunonen, Meyer, Jackson, & Goffin (1991) and Meyer, Paunonen, Gellatly, Goffin, & Jackson (1989).     

Reported prevalence of attentional difficulties in a general sample of college students

The present study investigated the self-reported prevalence of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)symptoms in 770 college students using the Adult Rating Scale and the Wender Utah Rating Scale. Psychometric properties of these scales were explored. The study also investigated the performance of students with ADHD symptoms, relative to students without ADHD symptoms, on a battery of neuropsychological tasks. Results revealed that 7 and 8% of the students reported significant symptoms (i.e., 1.5 SD above the mean) on the Adult Rating Scale and the Wender Utah Rating scale, respectively, and 2.5% reported significant symptoms on both the Adult Rating Scale and the Wender Utah Rating Scale. Using more stringent criteria (two standard deviations), fewer (i.e, 4, 3.8%, and 0.5%) subjects reported significant symptoms associated with ADHD. Between-group differences were found on one of the neuropsychological tasks. The construct validity of the rating scales was supported. Limitations and implications for future research are advanced.Presented at the International Neuropsychological Society's Sixteenth European Conference, Angers, France, June 1994, and the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Los Angeles, CA, August 1994.     

From ideology-critique to epochal criticism

It is a danger in the discursive turn in the human sciences that social criticism be abandoned in favour of continuing the conversation. However, an analysis of the reflexive paradox inherent in every communication act provides the basis for a non-foundationalist critique of the historical epoch.     

Cessation and integration in classical yoga

In this paper I challenge and attempt to correct conclusions about Classical Yoga philosophy drawn by traditional and modern interpretations of Patañjali's Yoga‐sūtras. My interpretation of Patañjali's Yoga—which focuses on the meaning of “cessation” (nirodha) as given in Patañjali's central definition of Yoga (YS 1.2)—counters the radically dualistic and ontologically‐oriented interpretations of Yoga presented by many scholars, and offers an open‐ended, epistemologically‐oriented hermeneutic which, I maintain, is more appropriate for arriving at a genuine assessment of Patañjali's system (dar?ana) of Yoga.     

Clinical,developmental and social aspects of infant crying and colic

Persistent unexplained infant crying in the first few months is a common source of distress for parents and is costly for the health services. The aim was to assess the merits of developmental and social conceptualizations of this phenomenon, compared to the clinical approach as represented by the concept of colic. From a community sample of 530 infants, 67 who met the ‘rule of threes’ definition of colic by fussing and crying for 3 or more hours per day at 4-5 weeks of age were chosen. To avoid confusion, these infants were called ‘persistent criers’. Groups of ‘evening criers’ (N = 38) and ‘moderate cries’ (N = 55) were also selected. These 160 infants were assessed by researcher measures of their consolability and by maternal diary measures of their amounts of fussing, crying and colic behaviour when 5-6 weeks old. The persistent and evening criers cried more than the moderate criers. However, irritable, ‘fussy’ behaviour was the predominant form of distress for all three groups of infants. Colic bouts–defined as ‘bouts of intense, unsoothable crying and other behaviour, perhaps due to stomach or bowel pain’–were rare even among the persistent criers and only 7% of these infants were found to be inconsolable. The results support growing evidence that normal infant developmental processes are central to this phenomenon. In addition, social interactions between infants and parents, and parental subjective variables, appear to be involved. Colic was distinguished as a rare and separate form of distress by the infants' mothers. Further evidence needs to determine whether colic is a distinct clinical phenomenon or an extreme degree of normal distress interpreted within a western cultural framework.     

Book Reviews

J ung , C. G. The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga: Notes of the Seminar Given in 1932
P apadopoulos , R enos K. (ed.). Carl Gustav Jung: Critical Assessments
S poto , A ngelo . Jung's Typology in Perspective
S tein M urray (ed.). The Interactive Field In Analysis: Volume One
S tevens , A nthony . The Two-Million-Year Old Self
B ollas , C hristopher & S undelson , D avid . The New Informants, The Betrayal of Confidentiality in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy
S hepherd , R., J ohns , J. & R obinson H. R. (eds). D. W. Winnicott Thinking About Children
C lay , J ohn . R. D. Laing: A Divided Self
C oltart , N ina . The Baby and the Bathwater