Die ökologische Dimension der Psychoanalyse und das Konzept der inneren Nachhaltigkeit

Zusammenfassung. Der Autor begründet in seiner Arbeit eine „?kologisch-psychoanalytische” Theorieperspektive, in der er die innere Verwandtschaft zwischen dem modernen ?kologiekritischen Denken und den Menschenbildannahmen der freudianischen Psychoanalyse aufzeigt. Die „kritische ?kologie” befasst sich mit der Frage nach einer sinnvollen, „nachhaltigen” Gestaltung der Kultur-Natur-Beziehung, die Psychoanalyse erforscht und behandelt die innere Selbstbeziehung des Menschen zwischen dem kulturgepr?gt-kulturproduktiven „Ich” und den eigengesetzlichen, natural fundierten motivationalen Seiten der Psyche, die bei Freud als „Es” gefasst werden. Auch die modernen objektbeziehungstheoretischen und selbstpsychologischen Weiterentwicklungen der Psychoanalyse k?nnen vor einem ?kologisch-psychoanalytischen Hintergrund so aufgefasst werden, dass Freuds Fragestellung nach der ge- oder misslingenden Balance bzw. Integration zwischen den motivationalen (Interaktions-) Strebungen der „inneren Natur” einerseits und den Anforderungen der „kulturellen Selbsterzeugung” des Menschen andererseits rahmengebendes Grundthema bleibt. Der Autor macht in seinem Artikel deutlich, dass Psychoanalyse und „kritische ?kologie” gegenseitig voneinander profitieren k?nnen.

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The ecological dimension of psychoanalysis and the concept of inner sustainability

Summary. The author develops an ”ecological-psychoanalytical” perspective of theory that shows the inner relationship between the modern eco-critical thinking and the anthropology of Freudian psychoanalysis. ”Critical ecology” engages in the search for a ”sustainable” organisation of the culture-nature-relationship. Psychoanalysis explores and treats the inner self-relation of man among the culture-imprinted/culture-producing ”Ego” and the nature-founded motivational aspects of psychic, that Freud called the ”Id.” The modern developments of object-relation theory and self psychology can be interpreted as reaffirming Freuds thesis of a well balanced or neurotising integration of motivational (interaction-) drives of ”inner nature” at one hand, and the demands of the ”cultural autogenesis” of man on the other. The author suggests that psychoanalysis and human ecology theory can each profit from the other.

     

Inactivation of the ventral tegmental area abolished the general excitatory influence of Pavlovian cues on instrumental performance

Pavlovian stimuli can markedly elevate instrumental responding, an effect known as Pavlovian-instrumental transfer (PIT). As the role of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) in PIT is yet unknown, we examined the effects of transient VTA inactivation by direct microinjections of a mixture of the GABA(A) and GABA(B) receptor agonists, muscimol and baclofen. Results reveal that PIT, i.e., the increase in instrumental responding during presentation of a Pavlovian stimulus, was abolished by intra-VTA microinjections of muscimol/baclofen. These data provide the first evidence that the VTA mediates Pavlovian influences on instrumental behavior.     

Wissenschaftstheorie der grazer schule: Meinong und Frankl

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Preparing the Ground for Kant’s Highest Good in the World

Philosophia - In his new book, Rossi (2019) emphasizes the prominent role of enlightened religion in the political project of establishing perpetual peace. My paper discusses Rossi’s stance...     

Peace and Islam: In theory and practice

The article centres on the humanistic and peace‐oriented elements in the foundational sources of Islam, the Qur'an and the Prophet's life, especially on Muhammad's attitude towards war and peace. As the Qur'an clearly attests, Muhammad continued to search for reconciliation and mutual understanding,. with Jews and Christians as well as with opponents and enemies. As to jihad, Q. 2:90 and Q. 22:39 unambiguously prohibit offensive war, in fact, any kind of aggression, cruelty and wanton destruction. The Qur'an prescribes a humane conduct of war. Wherever politically possible, peace has the priority. Finally, the author exemplifies contemporary Muslim attitudes towards war and peace and describes Muslim peace initiatives.     

Anticipatory nausea in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy: Classical conditioning etiology and therapeutical implications

The delivery of cytotoxic drugs in cancer treatment is often accompanied by posttreatment side effects (e.g., nausea). Moreover, there is evidence that cancer patients are at risk to develop these side effects in anticipation of chemotherapy (i.e., anticipatory nausea [AN]). AN can be explained as the result of a classical conditioning process with the cytotoxic drug as the unconditioned stimulus (US). Stimuli paired with the US (e.g., smells, tastes) can become conditioned stimuli (CSs) eliciting AN as the conditioned response (CR). The present study was conducted to test whether AN shows characteristics of a CR. Fifty-five ambulatory cancer patients were asked to record nine kinds of physical symptoms (e.g., nausea, vomiting, sweating) on time-scheduled symptom lists: after an infusion (indicating posttreatment symptoms) and prior to their next infusion (indicating anticipatory symptoms). Each measurement period covered a maximum of 48 hours. AN was reported by ten patients (18.08%). Data revealed (a) a statistically significant association between posttreatment nausea and vomiting, respectively, and AN; (b) the occurrence of AN increased with drug emetogenity (i.e., US-intensity); and (c) the duration of AN increased with temporal proximity to the infusion. The results support the conditioning model. Thus, it is proposed to prevent AN by classical conditioning techniques (e.g., overshadowing).     

Perception and production of object-related grasping in 6-month-olds

In this study, 6-month-olds’ perception of an object-related human grasping action was compared with their level of grasping performance using a within-participants design. In the action perception task, infants were presented with the video of an actor’s grasping movement toward an occluded target object. Subsequently, an expected and an unexpected final state of this grasping movement were presented simultaneously, and infants’ looking times were measured. In the action production task, infants were presented with three graspable objects. Infants’ grasping behavior was coded to be either palmar or thumb-opposite grasping. Results indicate that infants who were already able to perform a thumb-opposite grasp differentiated between the two final states in the action perception task by looking longer toward the unexpected final state. In contrast, infants who showed only palmar grasps looked equally long toward both final states. This finding supports the assumption that action perception and action control are already closely related in infants as young as 6 months.     

The strategic regulation of children's memory performance and suggestibility

We report two empirical studies that investigated previously reported benefits of a high accuracy motivation, and thus a high threshold, for children's and adults' event recall and for their ability to resist false suggestions. In the studies, 6-, 7-, and 8-year-olds, as well as adults, were shown a brief video about an event and were later asked unbiased and misleading questions about it. In Study 1, participants were either (a) given the typical accuracy instructions (including the option to answer with "I don't know"), (b) reminded of the accuracy instructions during the interview, or (c) immediately given feedback and a token for every correct answer. The results showed that the reminders were ineffective in stimulating strategic control behavior in children, independent of age. In Study 2, the confounding effects of feedback and incentives were disentangled by contrasting (a) free report, (b) feedback only, (c) incentives only, and (d) feedback plus incentives. Analyses on recall performance and suggestibility revealed that both feedback and incentives are necessary to increase children's accurate memory reports.