Selbsthilfegruppen im Rahmen stationärer psychotherapeutischer Behandlungen

Psychosomatic in-patient treatment applies a combination of various methods in order to facilitate learning by insight and corrective emotional experiences in a therapeutic community. The establishment of a self-help group on the ward can be a useful complementary element in such a comprehensive approach. However, empirical research on this specific topic does not yet exist. Based on clinical experience, necessary preconditions as well as the pros and cons of integrating self-help into professional treatment are described. The assessment of 850 patients in a clinic for psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy concerning a self-help group on the ward are presented. Relationships between patients’ evaluation of the self-help group and various other variables as well as the overall treatment effect were studied. Empirical data provide evidence of a differential effect of the self-help group on the ward: the majority of the patients experienced the self-help group as useful. Whether the patient is able to benefit from group therapy seems to be an intermediate variable and the therapists’ attitude towards self-help groups also seems to play an important role.     

Decade of the Mind

In the Fall of 2007, ten neuroscientists published a proposal for an interdisciplinary research initiative, the Decade of the Mind, that would focus on four "broad but intertwined areas": mental health, research on high-level cognitive functions, education, and computational applications (such as intelligent machines). I review the basic ideas behind the proposal and discuss the four proposed areas of research. I argue that for research on higher cognitive functions and in particular, for research and practice in education, the Decade of the Mind is a welcome initiative that may change our lives for the better. Therefore, the proposal, which is scientifically interdisciplinary in nature, has to be politically international.     

On implicit–explicit consistency: the moderating role of individual differences in awareness and adjustment

A moderated process model is presented that attempts to explain the consistency between implicit and explicit indicators as a function of awareness, i.e. the degree to which persons become aware of their implicit attitude, and adjustment, i.e. the degree to which they adjust for the explicit response. In two experiments on attitudes of West Germans toward East Germans and Turks, a number of dispositional moderators pertaining to awareness and adjustment were tested. Concerning moderators affecting awareness, no reliable first‐order effects were found for Private Self‐Consciousness or Attitudinal Self‐Knowledge. However, Attitude Importance generated the expected effect. Concerning moderators influencing adjustment, consistent effects were obtained for Motivation to Control Prejudiced Reactions. Social Desirability and Self‐Monitoring did not moderate the implicit–explicit relationship in the expected direction. Some evidence was found for a second‐order moderator effect between awareness and adjustment, suggesting that adjustment effects may be more pronounced under conditions of high awareness. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

经典中的经典——《马克思恩格斯全集》历史考证版(MEGA)的历史、编辑语文学基础与视角

本文主要通过《马克思恩格斯全集》历史考证版(MEGA)的出版历史的概述以及对MEGA1和MEGA2的编辑出版过程中以严格学术标准对语文学和文本学原则的坚持与创新的探讨,试图阐明MEGA的引导原则,并且举例说明MEGA2的编辑出版工作对关于马克思和恩格斯的学术研究、尤其是对马克思恩格斯著作的历史定位和智力语境的理解具有重要意义。     

Development of the Basel Version of the Awareness of Social Inference Test – Theory of Mind (BASIT-ToM) in healthy adults

Impairments of Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities occur in a wide range of brain disorders. Therefore, reliable and ecologically valid examination of these abilities is a crucial part of any comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. An established and ecologically valid, English-language test identifying deficits in ToM abilities is “The Awareness of Social Inference Test – Social Inference Minimal (TASIT-SIM)”. However, no comparable German-language ToM test currently exists. In this study, we aimed to develop the first German-language adaption of TASIT-SIM in healthy adults. We selected 13 scenes [four scenes per message type (i.e., honesty, simple sarcasm, paradoxical sarcasm) and one practice scene] out of the 30 TASIT-SIM scenes. In collaboration with a film institute, we filmed each scene at three different intensities. These intensity version scenes were then administered to 240 healthy adults, equally distributed in sex and age, ranging from 35 to 92 years. By applying Rasch analysis, we selected intensity versions that showed neither floor nor ceiling effects in the majority of ToM questions in participants whose ToM abilities were in the medium range. In conclusion, we have developed the first German-language adaption of TASIT-SIM, i.e., the “Basel Version of the Awareness of Social Inference Test – Theory of Mind (BASIT-ToM)”. The BASIT-ToM incorporates the strengths of TASIT-SIM, while overcoming its limitations such as inconsistencies in cinematic realization and ceiling effects in healthy participants. Next, the BASIT-ToM needs to be validated in healthy people and clinical populations.     

Recommendations for Increasing Replicability in Psychology

Replicability of findings is at the heart of any empirical science. The aim of this article is to move the current replicability debate in psychology towards concrete recommendations for improvement. We focus on research practices but also offer guidelines for reviewers, editors, journal management, teachers, granting institutions, and university promotion committees, highlighting some of the emerging and existing practical solutions that can facilitate implementation of these recommendations. The challenges for improving replicability in psychological science are systemic. Improvement can occur only if changes are made at many levels of practice, evaluation, and reward. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

“Beyond Frontiers of Traditional Project Management”: The Concept of “Project Management Second Order (PM-2)” as an Approach of Evolutionary Management

Fundamental changes in sciences offer new perspectives for the management of complexity. Increased complexity in society, economics, and technology requires a new and suitable organization and management. What are the consequences and results for project management? That is the theme of this article. First of all it will given a short introduction to project management, which will be later called “traditional project management” or “project management 1st order (PM-1).” Then, the challenges by the fundamental changes in sciences and the increased complexity in society, economics, and technology will be discussed. It will state that traditional project management cannot solve these challenges. The widespread working-themes and results of the research program “Beyond Frontiers of Traditional Project Management” as an answer to these challenges will be presented at a glance. Subsequently, it will discuss some selected results of the research program:

• The principle-definition and foundation of “Evolution of 1st and 2nd Order.”

• The Evolution of 1st Order and the impact on Project Management methods and processes.

• Evolution of 2nd Order and the Grand Evolutionary Systems Theory (GEST) of E. Laszlo as also the impact on Project Management methods and processes.

• Management of crisis: turn a change to advantage or risk-assurance?

Thereafter, the concept of “Project Management Second Order (PM-2)” is presented as a highlighted result of the research program, as a new paradigm in project management, and as an answer to the challenges, described earlier will be explained in detail. Finally, a real example of transfer evolutionary and self-organizational management principles in a real project life will be demonstrated.     

Contextual interference processing during fast categorisations of facial expressions

We examined interference effects of emotionally associated background colours during fast valence categorisations of negative, neutral and positive expressions. According to implicitly learned colour–emotion associations, facial expressions were presented with colours that either matched the valence of these expressions or not. Experiment 1 included infrequent non-matching trials and Experiment 2 a balanced ratio of matching and non-matching trials. Besides general modulatory effects of contextual features on the processing of facial expressions, we found differential effects depending on the valance of target facial expressions. Whereas performance accuracy was mainly affected for neutral expressions, performance speed was specifically modulated by emotional expressions indicating some susceptibility of emotional expressions to contextual features. Experiment 3 used two further colour–emotion combinations, but revealed only marginal interference effects most likely due to missing colour–emotion associations. The results are discussed with respect to inherent processing demands of emotional and neutral expressions and their susceptibility to contextual interference.