Person-centred coping research

In this concluding article we discuss the three approaches to biographical stress and coping research presented in this issue, under four main headings. The first topic comprises the comparison of the three approaches with regard to their biographical features. In a second part we turn to the issue of coping and examine differences as well as similarities between the coping concept of Hans Thomae, on the one hand and that of Lazarus and Folkman on the other hand. The third and fourth of our discussion points deal with two central topics, that are accentuated in present personality psychology: the person-situation issue and the idiographic-nomothetic debate. With regard to both topics, we discuss the ideas and research findings which Lazarus and Folkman, as well as Thomae are contributing to these issues. We conclude our discussion of biographical approaches to stress and coping by proposing a person-centred approach, that can be regarded as a further development of theoretical conceptualizations contained in the approaches of Lazarus and Thomae.     

„Ich möchte an Sie glauben können!“

During daily psychoanalytic treatment something happens that can be described with a term from the Old Testament: “to know”, giving psychoanalytic praxis a religious dimension. The author illustrates this thesis with a case report. First he tries to show how an interpretation of the casuistic material appears in the scope of the well-known concept of religion as an expression of dissoluble narcissistic conflicts. Then he applies Winnicott’s idea of “potential space” as a new scope for interpretation of the case. The conception of the “destruction of the object” according to Winnicott will be related exemplarily to the history of Jesus’ death on the cross and the miracle of his survival. By heeding the world of ideas of Klein and Bion, the author comes to the conclusion that religiosity is an anthropological constant, which cannot be reduced to a pathologic narcissistic event.     

Spatial extent and figural factors in backward masking

Spatial and figural characteristics of backward masking were studied, with two collinear arcs presented end-to-end and serving as target and mask, respectively. Stimulus onset asynchrony was 50 ms while interstimulus interval was 0 ms. Mask exposure duration required for masking was determined as a function of target length with mask length as a parameter. The exposure duration of the mask required for complete masking varied directly with target length, but inversely with mask length. The fact that masking strength increased with mask duration while all other parameters were kept constant suggests that masking depended on stimulus termination asynchrony. Maximal masking occurred for target arcs as long as 5.0 deg of visual angle, exceeding previously reported distances. Misaligned or differently shaped stimuli produced less masking, suggesting that figural factors play a role in long-range backward masking.     

A RESPONSE TO ERVIN LASZLO: QUANTUM AND CONSCIOUSNESS

Abstract. I respond to Ervin Laszlo's suggestions and criticism regarding my essay in this issue of Zygon. Virtual atomic orbitals are used as a model to illustrate the existence of a general realm of potentiality in physical reality from which the actual world emanates. Laszlo's suggestions for “paradigm repair” are supported and accepted as essentially being in agreement with my intentions and as offering highly useful clarifications. I compare virtual states to historic ideas of forms as metaphysical principles of being that inspire thoughts regarding the actions of a Cosmic Consciousness in the processes of the universe. Metaphysical and theological interpretations of the results of scientific research are defended, provided that they are not used to interfere a priori with the technical program of scientific research.     

Gehirn und Gestalt

Brain and Gestalt II. Neuronal Mechanisms Summary. New results in the study of visual perception are presented from a psychophysical, neurophysiological and neuroinformatics viewpoint and discussed in relation to Gestalt psychological ideas. Four topics are emphasized: figure-ground segregation, perception of surfaces, motion perception, eye movements and attention. Zusammenfassung. Neue Ergebnisse in der Erforschung der visuellen Wahrnehmung werden aus psychophysischer, neurophysiologischer und neuroinformatischer Sicht dargestellt und ihre Bedeutung für gestaltpsychologische Ideen diskutiert. Vier Themenbereiche stehen im Vordergrund: Figur-Grund-Abhebung, Wahrnehmung von Flächen, Bewegungswahrnehmung, Augenbewegungen und Aufmerksamkeit.     

History of modern psychology in Germany1 in 19th‐ and 20th‐century thought and society

This entry surveys the characteristics, stages, and lines of development of modern psychology as an empirical psychology in Germany during the 19th and 20th centuries. These developments occurred in the context of very different political periods in German history, during a time span extending from the period of the Restoration after the Vienna Congress of 1814/15 to the present‐day “Berlin Republic”. At the centre lies the question of continuities and discontinuities in the evolution of psychology during the profound sociocultural changes that marked the politically heterogeneous developmental phases of German history. The stages are indicated by headings treating the development of psychology during the period of Restoration after 1814/15, in the German Empire (1871–1918), in the Weimar Republic (1919–1933), during the time of National Socialism (1933–45), in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, 1949–1990), in the German Democratic Republic (GDR, 1949–1990), and in united Germany after 1990. The result will be to demonstrate how psychology in 19th‐ and 20th‐century Germany developed from modest beginnings into a richly elaborated scientific field with diverse institutions and a differentiated professional structure. The fate of individual German psychologists during this time can be only tangentially considered.