Concerning the Importance of Ontological Issues for Cultural Psychology: a Reply to Comments

The paper continues the “ontological” discussion in IBPS, addressing the question of the importance of ontological issues for contemporary development of cultural psychology. The language psychological science speaks is considered as an ontological issue and a most topical one for cultural psychology, aiming at “constructing a psychology that is universal while being culture-inclusive” (Valsiner 2009, p.2). Ontological issues could stay implicit and neglected, as long as the ‘etant, “the mode of being”, “the particularities” were discussed within the circle of adherents of one and the same school, who implicitly had in mind the same ‘entre. However, as soon as the discussion involves representatives of different schools, ontological issues become crucial for mutual understanding and meanings of the words have to be explicated. Same words like “psyche”, “subjectivity”, “social”, “culture”, etc., ? often mean different things when they are pronounces or written by representatives of different theoretical trends. The discussion of the ‘etant without clear indicating of the ‘entre under consideration is likely to turn into a Babel. Global modernity requires constant efforts and insistent desire for mutual understanding across the diversified global scientific community. Thus, creative collaboration in epistemological developments has to ground on clear comprehension of the ontological stances of the debaters.     

Summary statistics in the attentional blink

We used the attentional blink (AB) paradigm to investigate the processing stage at which extraction of summary statistics from visual stimuli (“ensemble coding”) occurs. Experiment 1 examined whether ensemble coding requires attentional engagement with the items in the ensemble. Participants performed two sequential tasks on each trial: gender discrimination of a single face (T1) and estimating the average emotional expression of an ensemble of four faces (or of a single face, as a control condition) as T2. Ensemble coding was affected by the AB when the tasks were separated by a short temporal lag. In Experiment 2, the order of the tasks was reversed to test whether ensemble coding requires more working-memory resources, and therefore induces a larger AB, than estimating the expression of a single face. Each condition produced a similar magnitude AB in the subsequent gender-discrimination T2 task. Experiment 3 additionally investigated whether the previous results were due to participants adopting a subsampling strategy during the ensemble-coding task. Contrary to this explanation, we found different patterns of performance in the ensemble-coding condition and a condition in which participants were instructed to focus on only a single face within an ensemble. Taken together, these findings suggest that ensemble coding emerges automatically as a result of the deployment of attentional resources across the ensemble of stimuli, prior to information being consolidated in working memory.     

Spacing effects in real‐world classroom vocabulary learning

As a primary goal, educators often strive to maximize the amount of information pupils remember. In the lab, psychologists have found efficient memory strategies for retaining school‐related materials. One such strategy is the spacing effect, a memory advantage that occurs when learning is distributed across time instead of crammed into a single study session. Spaced learning is not often explicitly utilized in actual classrooms, perhaps due to a paucity of research in applied settings and with school‐aged children. The current study examined the spacing effect in real‐world fifth‐grade classrooms. We taught 39 children unfamiliar English words using both massed and spaced learning. Five weeks later, we tested vocabulary recall. One‐week spacing produced superior long‐term retention compared to massed learning. This finding demonstrates that the spacing effect can be generalized to vocabulary learning in applied settings and middle‐school‐aged children. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Familienplanung junger onkologischer Patienten

Cancer patients in young adulthood are affected by the cancer diagnosis in a period of life where future parenthood or fulfilling of a potential wish to have children plays an important role. To perform fertility preserving treatment, patients should be fully informed before any treatment is carried out. The following review broaches the issue of whether and how fertility concerns are discussed in the medical consultation. Therefore, relevant papers were identified by a database search between the years 2000 and 2010. A total of 21 studies were included which focussed on physician-patient communication from the point of view of the patients or healthcare professionals. Oncologists do not routinely speak to patients about fertility issues. Both oncologists and patients expressed communication difficulties. An improvement of the medical interview concerning family planning could be achieved by provision of guidelines, training for healthcare professionals, cooperation between oncologists and reproductive medicine and the provision of educational patient material.     

The Influence of Personality on Workplace Bullying and Discrimination

This study explored the similarity of underlying personality traits of workplace bullying and discrimination. University students self-reported the frequency of bullying others in the workplace and discriminating against African Americans, homosexuals, and the obese. They completed questionnaires measuring prejudice and personality traits. The major findings were that social dominance orientation, low social desirability scores, and being male affected bullying and discrimination. Perspective taking affected bullying; and right-wing authoritarianism, anxiety, and being White affected discrimination. Prejudice influenced relations between personality and discrimination, but not bullying. It was concluded that despite strong behavioral similarities, bullying and discrimination have somewhat different underlying determinants. Certain traits make them distinct, increasing the likelihood of one choosing either a prejudice-based target or a non-prejudice-based target.     

Effect of stress induced by electrical stimulation of the hypothalamus on the electrical stability of the heart in rabbits

The influence of stress on cardiac electrical stability (CES) and chaotic dynamics of the electrical activity of the heart was studied in acute and chronic experiments in rabbits. Stress was caused by 2-3 h daily immobilization of the animals with electrical stimulation of emotiogenic centers of the hypothalamus through implanted electrodes. CES was estimated by the thresholds for ventricular arrhythmia: paroxysmal ventricular tachycardia, repeated ventricular extrasystoles and ventricular fibrillation (VF). The results showed: (i) CES in stressed rabbits was decreased significantly compared with controls; (ii) the level of chaos at the onset of VF in stressed rabbits was increased significantly compared with controls; (iii) heart rate of stressed rabbits was significantly greater than in controls; (iv) changes in CES parameters depended on whether stress was acute or chronic; (v) acute stress promoted transition of spontaneously reversible VF into spontaneously irreversible VF. Thus, stress increased the degree of disorganization of heart electrical activity and also decreased its electrical stability. The experiments indicate that stress is a destabilizing factor influencing the reversibility of heart rate disorders. The probability of such reversibility depends on whether stress is acute or chronic: acute stress is more likely to lead to irreversible spontaneous VF.     

Angstbewältigung

In the psychiatric outpatient clinic of the University Hospital Tulln, the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) – an occupational therapy, evidence-based, and diagnosis-independent assessment – is used to collect and assess performance problems in everyday life. Subjectively perceived everyday problems are assessed with regard to performance and satisfaction on a scale from 1–10 at the start and upon completion of treatment. The particular focus is on the impact and relevance of anxiety symptoms. Using the example of a 35-year-old woman with obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety, the possibilities of diagnosis, treatment planning, and quality assurance are shown and the relevance for the treatment process is illustrated.     

Effects of NMDA receptor channel blockade on aggression in isolated male mice

N‐Methyl‐D ‐aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists are perspective candidates for medication development for a number of diseases/states that are associated with increased aggressiveness (e.g., opioid withdrawal). The prototypic NMDA receptor antagonist phencyclidine (PCP) itself is a widely abused substance and is known to elevate levels of aggression in drug users. The present study was aimed at testing several drugs that share with PCP the ability to block NMDA receptor–associated channel. The resident‐intruder procedure was used to assess drug effects on aggressive behavior in isolated male mice. Resident aggressive mice were administered NMDA channel blockers (PCP; 0.3–10 mg/kg), dizocilpine (MK‐801; 0.01–0.3 mg/kg), memantine (1–30 mg/kg), and MRZ 2/579 (0.1–5.6 mg/kg). The competitive NMDA receptor antagonist D CPPene (0.1–5.6 mg/kg) was also tested as a compound representing an alternative approach to reduce activity of NMDA receptor complex. PCP, dizocilpine, and memantine inhibited expression of aggressive behaviors only at doses that produced ataxia. The novel channel blocker MRZ 2/579 also produced ataxia at the highest dose level but failed to affect aggressiveness. Reduction in aggression with a corresponding increase in sociability was observed after administration of D ‐CPPene. Overall, the present results suggest that NMDA receptor channel blockers do not exert selective effects on aggressive behavior. Aggr. Behav. 25:381–396, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Parents' child‐rearing values and beliefs in the United States and Russia: the impact of culture and social class

Parents' values for their children and their beliefs about appropriate child‐rearing practices contribute to the ways in which they try to shape their children's development. This paper examines the values and beliefs of 71 parents (37 mothers and 34 fathers) from two cities in the United States and Russia. Half of the families were middle class (determined by education and occupation criteria) and half were working class. The results revealed no cross‐societal differences in value for self‐direction in the children; perhaps reflecting the recent economic and ideological changes in Russia. In contrast, significant social class differences, for both mothers and fathers, were found in child‐rearing values and beliefs. Middle class parents in both societies were more likely to value self‐direction and believe that children should have freedom in and around the home, whereas working class parents were more likely to believe that children should be expected to conform to rules. The results of this study underscore the role of within‐society heterogeneity, as a function of social class, in parents' values and beliefs about child‐rearing.