Luther’s Trinitarian Hermeneutic and the Old Testament

In this study, the author shows that Luther’s trinitarian understanding is shaped by the royal Psalms’ dialogical model as well as informed by a hermeneutics that moors a trinitarian semantics in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament. The analysis concentrates on Luther’s translation into German of two Hebrew names for God and of passages classically associated with the trinitarian doctrine (Psalm 110:1; Psalm 2:2.12). The result is a trinitarian structure of transparency. The text’s syntax, narrative and direct speech mirror literally the transparency of the divine essence through the distinguishing characteristics of each trinitarian person.     

Imagined own-body transformations during passive self-motion

Spatial perspective taking is a crucial social skill that underlies many of our everyday interactions. Previous studies have suggested that spatial perspective taking is an embodied process that involves the integration of both motor and proprioceptive information. Given the importance of vestibular signals for own-body perception, mental own-body imagery, and bodily self-consciousness, in the present study we hypothesized that vestibular stimulation due to passive own-body displacements should also modulate spatial perspective taking. Participants performed an own-body transformation task while being passively rotated in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction on a human motion platform. A congruency effect was observed, reflected in faster reaction times if the implied mental body rotation direction matched the actual rotation direction of the chair. These findings indicate that vestibular stimulation modulates and facilitates mental perspective taking, thereby highlighting the importance of integrating multisensory bodily information for spatial perspective taking.     

Goethe’s Polarity of Light and Darkness

Rarely does research in the history and philosophy of science lead to new empirical results, but that is exactly what has happened in one of the essays of this special issue: Rang and Grebe-Ellis have developed new experimental techniques to perform measurements Goethe proposed 217 years ago. These measurements fit neatly with Goethe’s idea of polarity—his complementary spectrum is not only an optical, but also a thermodynamical counterpart of Newton’s spectrum. I use the new measurements, firstly, to argue against the asymmetries between light and darkness posited by Lyre and Schreiber; and, secondly, to explicate the alternative theory (the heterogeneity of darkness) that Goethe had introduced to urge scientific pluralism. In my replies to exegetical criticism by Böhler, Hampe and Zemplén, I show that the main goal of Goethe’s Farbenlehre was indeed to expose symmetries between light and darkness. Furthermore, I argue that it is worthwhile to focus on the experiments, arguments and hypotheses of the Farbenlehre, and not merely on rhetorical, narrative or stylistical aspects, as Böhler and Hampe would have it. Goethe’s criticism of Newton is often dismissed, but it is in fact surprisingly relevant today.     

Relationships Between Cortisol,Optimism, and Perseverance Measured in Two Military Settings

Optimism and perseverance are 2 important assets for soldiers to be able to perform competently in high-risk environments and to complete complex and stressful tasks. Traditionally, optimism is measured using questionnaires and most frequently in a retrospective manner, for example, after a mission is completed. As such, ability to persevere in challenging environments is generally taken into account when it is too late, that is, when the soldier is showing severe signs of deficiency or failing to persevere. Therefore, there is a need for more objective measurements with which to predict perseverance. We conducted and present 2 studies in which the hormone cortisol seems to play a key role, relating with optimism, and possibly predicting perseverance. In the first study, we measured cortisol levels during a computer-simulated military training mission. A significant correlation between cortisol levels and optimism measured by the revised Life Orientation Test (LOT-R) Scale was found. In the second study, we followed 29 recruits through a demanding military training course required for joining the Dutch Air Mobile Brigade. The recruits who persevered and completed the course had a higher cortisol response to a stressful training event compared with those who leave the course. A regression model showed that a combination of the soldiers’ optimism and cortisol response best predicted perseverance. This study shows that a combination of attitudinal instruments and a biomarker has potential for predicting military training course attrition.     

Stabilität posttraumatischer Intrusionen bei Polizeibeamten

Objectives

This prospective study examined the course of posttraumatic symptoms of police officers across a time span of 12 months (T1: directly, T2: 6 months and T3: 12 months) after confrontation with an event of potentially traumatic nature while on duty.

Method

A total of 50 police officers were diagnosed 6 months after the event (T2) using a structured interview (SCID-I and SCID-II). The global functioning was operationalized at T1 and T2 by the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAF) and the degree of impairment by the Impairment Score (IS). Furthermore, the intensity of posttraumatic symptoms was assessed at T1 and T2 by the Impact of Event Scale - Revised (IES-R). After 12 months (T3) the intensity of posttraumatic symptoms of 40 police officers was assessed again by a mail enquiry.

Results

Of the police officers 14 (28%) received the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after 6 months. In the PTSD group a significant drop in the level of functioning and a significant increase in the degree of psychiatric impairment could be found. Concerning the stability of the intensity of posttraumatic intrusions (IES-R subscale intrusions) the PTSD group showed in comparison to the non-PTSD group a slower decrease of symptoms over the period of 12 months (ordinal interaction) and no such strong amelioration of the symptoms as for avoidance and hyperarousal could be found.

Conclusions

Although the police force are, due to pre-employment screening and the professional training, both mentally and physically healthy in comparison with the general population, the results point at the risk potential of exceptional events for police officers. Due to the fact that the intensity of posttraumatic intrusions remained on a relatively stable level it seems indispensable to render these police officers further professional support.     

How vestibular stimulation interacts with illusory hand ownership

Artificial stimulation of the peripheral vestibular system has been shown to improve ownership of body parts in neurological patients, suggesting vestibular contributions to bodily self-consciousness. Here, we investigated whether galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) interferes with the mechanisms underlying ownership, touch, and the localization of one’s own hand in healthy participants by using the “rubber hand illusion” paradigm. Our results show that left anodal GVS increases illusory ownership of the fake hand and illusory location of touch. We propose that these changes are due to vestibular interference with spatial and/or temporal mechanisms of visual-tactile integration leading to an enhancement of visual capture. As only left anodal GVS lead to such changes, and based on neurological data on body part ownership, we suggest that this vestibular interference is mediated by the right temporo-parietal junction and the posterior insula.     

Self-esteem, academic self-concept, and achievement: how the learning environment moderates the dynamics of self-concept

The authors examine the directionality of effects between global self-esteem, domain-specific academic self-concepts, and academic achievement. Special emphasis is placed on learning environments as potential moderators of the direction of these effects. According to the meritocracy principle presented here, so-called bottom-up effects (i.e., self-esteem is influenced by academic self-concept) are more pronounced in meritocratic learning environments than in ego-protective learning environments. This hypothesis was examined using a three-wave cross-lagged panel design with a large sample of 7th graders from East and West Germany, a total of 5,648 students who were tested shortly after German reunification. Reciprocal effects were found between self-esteem, academic self-concept, and academic achievement. In conformance with the meritocracy principle, support for bottom-up effects was stronger in the meritocratic learning environment.     

Perinatal infection, fetal inflammatory response, white matter damage, and cognitive limitations in children born preterm

Only sparse information is available about a possible association between antenatal infection outside the brain and subsequent cognitive limitations among preterm infants. Based on published studies, we provide a theoretical schema that links them via the fetal inflammatory response and neonatal white matter damage. We conclude that the relationship between antenatal infection and cognitive limitations deserves much further attention by researchers interested in the prevention of this undesirable outcome of prematurity.     

The effect of smoothing functions on data obtained from a FFT

This research investigated the effect on power spectra when data-smoothing functions were used on EEG data prior to submitting them to a FFT. We used two smoothing function options: not using any smoothing function and using the Parzen smoothing function. We developed a program to evaluate each of these functions with real and standard data. When a set of data is submitted to smoothing prior to being submitted to a FFT, there are statistically significant differences in the power spectra obtained from the FFT. This finding holds true for standard waveforms as well as for real EEG data.