Scaffolding within the structure of Dialogical Self: Hierarchical dynamics of semiotic mediation

Scaffolding is a notion that allows us to conceptualize direction towards change. As a form of guidance, scaffolding may result in both change and non-change. In this paper I apply the notion of scaffolding by signs (semiotic mediation) to the theory of Dialogical Self (DS). The DS is a construct that brings into psychology a new way of theoretical thought—thinking in dualities. Dualities are systemic units of two opposites that are mutually related by functional dynamic relations. Within the theory of DS, human psychological functioning is explained by transformations of constantly changed I-positions that are mapped both structurally (internal/external) and temporally (past/present/future). Semiotic mediation within the DS guarantees the person's psychological distancing from the here-and-now setting. This distancing is guided by promoter signs—generalized meanings of field-like form that orient the self's transformation. These signs are parts of the semiotic mediating processes where higher-level signs guide the range of openness of the sign hierarchy itself for further transformation when that is needed.     

What Is in a Name? Understanding the Implications of Participant Terminology

The authors discuss the history of research terminology in American psychology with respect to the various labels given to those upon whom we conduct research (“observer”–“subject”–“participant”–“client”). This history is supplemented with an analysis of participant terminology in APA manuals from four historical eras, from the 1950s to the present. The general trend in participant terminology reflects the overall trends in American psychology, beginning with a complex lexicon that admitted both the passive and the active research participant, followed by a dominance of the passive term ‘subject’ and ending with the terminological ambiguity and multiplicity reflected in contemporary psychology. This selective history serves to contextualize a discussion of the meaning, functions, and implications of the transformations in, and debates over, participant terminology.

National IQs predict educational attainment in math,reading and science across 56 nations

The results of the 2006 PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) study of reading comprehension, mathematical ability, and science understanding administered to 15 year olds in 56 countries [OECD (2007). PISA 2006: Science Competencies for Tomorrow's World. Paris: OECD.] are examined to assess the predictive validity of the national IQs presented by Lynn and Vanhanen [Lynn, R., & Vanhanen, T. (2002). IQ and the wealth of nations. Westport, CT: Praeger., Lynn, R., & Vanhanen, T. (2006). IQ and global inequality. Augusta, GA: Washington Summit Books.], and to assess the contributions of national differences in IQ and educational variables to national differences in educational attainment. It was found that national scores in reading comprehension, mathematical ability, and science understanding are correlated with Lynn & Vanhanen (L & V) national IQs at 0.84; corrected for attenuation, 0.935. This establishes the high validity of Lynn & Vanhanen national IQs. The contribution of national differences in IQ and education variables to national differences in educational attainment obtained in the 2006 PISA 56 nation study showed that the predictive validity of IQ alone was 0.84, and that national IQs together with one economic and two education variables had the validity 0.90 in predicting PISA 2006 results.     

Beyond the Institutionalized Fetish of the “Neurosciences”: Taking Brain Seriously

In their book Kritik der Neuropsychologie (Giessen: Psychosozial Verlag, 2016, 123 pp. ISBN 978–3–8379-2563-0), Hans Werbik and Gerhard Benetka provide a thorough analysis of the modus operandi of our contemporary neurosciences and their success in promising the public and funding institutions great breakthroughs in understanding the human mind through the study of the brain. As the authors prove such promises are inadequate given the qualities of the human psyche that cannot be reduced to the complex mechanisms of the activation of brain circuits because there cannot be isomorphism between the brain and the ongoing dynamic relating of the mind with the flow of subjective experiencing. The authors provide a scenario for possible solutions coming from cultural psychology which need further advancement of psychology’s methodology.     

The fate of the forgotten: Chamberlain’s work reconsidered

This article discusses the early psychological traditions developed at Clark University under the guidance of G. Stanley Hall. Anthropology and cultural psychology are both rooted in the notion that humans are social beings. That idea constituted a brief moment of theoretical unity between psychology and anthropology in the study of human language in its psychological functions. In that context, the work of Alexander Chamberlain is explored as a major contribution. Chamberlain—if viewed in the jargon of our contemporary social scientists—was deeply “interdisciplinary” in his work. Despite the positive meaning of the term “interdisciplinary” in contemporary discourse about the social sciences, the realities of social organization of any science entail separation rather than integration. Chamberlain’s work took place in parallel in anthropology and in developmental psychology under the interdisciplinary emphasis of “child study” as set up by G. Stanley Hall. Hall made child study the distinctive feature of the “Clark tradition” of psychology. Chamberlain’s work constituted both the beginning and the end of the (miniscule) “Clark tradition” in anthropology.     

Consciousness as a Process: From the Loneliness of William James to the Buzzing and Booming Voices of Contemporary Science

This Special Issue of IPBS brings the old metaphor of William James—consciousness as a “stream of thought”—to a contemporary critical inspection. It is demonstrated—based on materials of language (Panksepp 2008; Shanahan 2008), perception (Engelmann 2008) and dialogical self (Bertau 2008) that the classic river metaphor is an inadequate depiction of the multi-level psychological processes that are regulated by the affective systems of the brain and hierarchically integrated through dialogical and semiotic mechanisms.

The Fate of the Forgotten: Chamberlain''s Work Reconsidered

This article discusses the early psychological traditions developed at Clark University under the guidance of G. Stanley Hall. Anthropology and cultural psychology are both rooted in the notion that humans are social beings. That idea constituted a brief moment of theoretical unity between psychology and anthropology in the study of human language in its psychological functions. In that context, the work of Alexander Chamberlain is explored as a major contribution. Chamberlain--if viewed in the jargon of our contemporary social scientists--was deeply "interdisciplinary" in his work. Despite the positive meaning of the term "interdisciplinary" in contemporary discourse about the social sciences, the realities of social organization of any science entail separation rather than integration. Chamberlain's work took place in parallel in anthropology and in developmental psychology under the interdisciplinary emphasis of "child study" as set up by G. Stanley Hall. Hall made child study the distinctive feature of the "Clark tradition" of psychology. Chamberlain's work constituted both the beginning and the end of the (miniscule) "Clark tradition" in anthropology.