Das Problem der Willensmessung und das Grundgesetz der Assoziation. I

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

The Neuropsychology of Consciousness: The Mind-Body Problem Re-addressed

In this introductory contribution by the convenor of the 1996 Invited Presidential Symposium at the XXVI International Congress of Psychology, the recent renaissance of psychological, especially neuropsychological research into components and processes of consciousness is briefly reviewed. Conceptual dimensions of “consciousness” are distinguished, with an emphasis on consciousness in the sense of awareness, wakefulness, and control of overt behaviour, which are also central concepts in the subsequent symposium contributions.     

Sicherheit Vor,Mit Rußland? Nato-osterweiterung und Folgen

Studies in East European Thought -     

THE ACCULTURATION OF ITALIAN IMMIGRANT GIRLS IN CANADA

Several measures of acculturation reveal that Italian immigrant girls in Canada are exposed to a higher level of role specialization than non-immigrant girls. They are granted less autonomy in decision making than non-immigrant girls or Italian immigrant boys. After the first few years of North American residence immigrant girls are given more responsibility within the home. Their demands for greater autonomy outside the home are however not likely to be recognized until the second generation. The results are interpreted in terms of the female's greater salience in maintaining traditional family culture which is felt to be threatened by migration to North America.     

Preference for signalled reinforcement

Key pecking was reinforced on a two-component multiple schedule. A variable-interval schedule controlled reinforcement in both components. During one component, access to reinforcement was preceded by a tone; in the other component, a standard unsignalled schedule was in effect. After performance stabilized, subjects were given a choice between the signalled and unsignalled schedules. They were placed in the chamber with the unsignalled schedule in effect on the right key. A single response on the left, or changeover, key produced the signalled schedule for 1 min. Both pigeons in Experiment I pecked the changeover key at a rate sufficient to remain under the signalled schedule for over 90% of the session. Removing and reintroducing the tone demonstrated that the changeover-key responses were due to the occurrence of the tone. In Experiment II, when pecking the changeover key produced the unsignalled schedule, pecking the changeover key declined. The results may be explained either in terms of Hendry's information hypothesis or as escape from an intermittent positive reinforcement schedule.     

Der Gestaltbegriff im Lichte der neuen Logik

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Psychotherapie bei Depression

Due to significant limitations in mental and physical being, social relationships, and working and functional abilities, prevention and treatment of depressive disorders—predicted to be the most common disorder in 2030—are of particular importance. In the S3 guideline Unipolar Depression, psychotherapy has gained in significance for the acute treatment of unipolar depression. It is noteworthy that psychotherapy is in general recommended as monotherapy or in combination in all degrees of severity of depression. The lasting effects of longer-term psychotherapies are often underestimated. A reflection of the current body of evidence based on the empirical research paradigm and its impact on clinical practice is presented.     

Health‐adjusted neuropsychological test norms based on 463 older Swedish car drivers

There is a need for improved normative information in particular for older persons. The present study provides neuropsychological test norms on seven cognitive tests used in a sample representing the general older driving population, when uncontrolled and controlled for physical health. A group of 463 healthy Swedish car drivers, aged 65 to 84 years, participated in a medical and neuropsychological examination. The latter included tests of visual scanning, mental shifting, visual spatial function, memory, reaction time, selective attention, and simultaneous capacity. Hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that, when uncontrolled for health, old age was associated with significant impairment on all seven tests. Education was associated with a significant advantage for all tests except most reaction time subtests. Women outperformed men on selective attention. Controlling for health did not consistently change the associations with education, but generally weakened those with age, indicating rises in normative scores of up to 0.36 SD (residual). In terms of variance explained, impaired health predicted on average 2.5%, age 2.9%, education 2.1% and gender 0.1%. It was concluded (1) that individual regression‐based predictions of expected values have the advantage of allowing control for the impact of health on normative scores in addition to the adjustment for various demographic and performance‐related variables and (2) that health‐adjusted norms have the potential to classify functional status more accurately, to the extent that these norms diverge from norms uncontrolled for physical health.