Plotinus’ Account of the Cognitive Powers of the Soul: Sense Perception and Discursive Thought

This paper focuses on Plotinus?? account of the soul??s cognitive powers of sense perception and discursive thought, with particular reference to the treatises 3. 6 [26], 4. 4 [28] and 5. 3 [49] of the Enneads. Part 1 of the paper discusses Plotinus?? direct realism in perception. Parts 2 and 3 focus on Plotinus?? account of knowledge in Enneads 5. 3 [49] 2?C3. Plotinus there argues that we make judgements regarding how the external world is by means of discursive reasoning. This latter claim, however, is in tension with what Plotinus argues elsewhere regarding our perceptual apprehension of the external world (3. 6 [26] 1; 4. 4 [28] 23). This puzzle is addressed in Part 3 of the paper, which investigates Plotinus?? view that there exist some sense perceptions of which we are unaware. Finally, Part 4 looks at Plotinus?? understanding of Plato??s famous wax block analogy, in 5. 3 (49). The overall conclusion of the paper is that Plotinus?? account of knowledge is radically different from that of the Cartesian tradition.     

Coming to terms: quantifying the benefits of linguistic coordination

Sharing a public language facilitates particularly efficient forms of joint perception and action by giving interlocutors refined tools for directing attention and aligning conceptual models and action. We hypothesized that interlocutors who flexibly align their linguistic practices and converge on a shared language will improve their cooperative performance on joint tasks. To test this prediction, we employed a novel experimental design, in which pairs of participants cooperated linguistically to solve a perceptual task. We found that dyad members generally showed a high propensity to adapt to each other's linguistic practices. However, although general linguistic alignment did not have a positive effect on performance, the alignment of particular task-relevant vocabularies strongly correlated with collective performance. In other words, the more dyad members selectively aligned linguistic tools fit for the task, the better they performed. Our work thus uncovers the interplay between social dynamics and sensitivity to task affordances in successful cooperation.     

Mood-congruent free recall bias in anxiety

The present study evaluated the status of mood-congruent free recall bias in anxious individuals following incidental encoding of target words. In the first experiment, high trait anxiety individuals showed increased recall of threat-related information after an orienting task promoting lexical processing of target words. In a second experiment, both lexical and semantic orienting tasks were performed at study. In this experiment, anxious individuals displayed a mood-congruent recall bias only for target information processed at a lexical level. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Mood-congruent free recall bias in anxious individuals is not a consequence of response bias

The status of mood-congruent free recall bias in anxious individuals was evaluated following incidental encoding of target words. Individuals with high and low levels of trait anxiety completed a modified Stroop task, which revealed an attentional bias for threat-related stimuli in anxious individuals. This group was significantly slower in naming the colour in which threat-related words were displayed compared to neutral words. In a subsequent free recall test for the words used in the modified Stroop task, anxious individuals recalled more threat-related words compared to low-anxious people. This difference was significant even when controlling for the false recall of items that had not been presented during study. These results support the view put forward by Russo, Fox, Bellinger, and Nguyen-Van-Tam (2001) that mood-congruent free recall bias in anxious individuals can be observed if the target material is encoded at a relatively shallow level. Moreover, contrary to Dowens and Calvo (2003), the current results show that the memory advantage for threat-related information in anxious individuals is not a consequence of response bias.     

The body emerging from the "neverland" of nothingness

The author considers sensory perceptions arising from the body to be the first expressions of self-consciousness and mental existence in patients who are overwhelmed by a dimensionless abyss of nothingness. This perspective can help the analyst in catalyzing the patient's integration with his deepest levels of mental functioning. Clinical material from the four-session-per-week analysis of a psychotic patient is discussed. To this analysis and, finding the body meant finding "the land that never was," a "land" that could begin to exist in analysis thanks to a relational working through within the analytic couple.     

Spacing effects in recognition memory: When meaning matters

The present study showed that using incidental learning tasks promoting structural/perceptual processing of targets it is possible to obtain a reliable spacing effect for nonwords in a yes/no recognition memory task, whereas no spacing effect is detected for words. These data are, collectively, incompatible with current theories of spacing effects. A theoretical proposal to account for these findings is outlined.     

Beyond the Psychosexual: The Body–Mind Relationship Discussion of “Somatic Experiencing”

The author discusses the importance of focusing on the body in analytic work since it functions as an important springboard for the patient to discover his or her unique existence. It also helps develop a dialogue between the mind and the body’s sensory level. This is a more archaic domain than the more often emphasized psychoanalytic tradition of organizing our thinking psychosexually. The author also underscores the differences between psychoanalysis and Somatic Experiencing and the risks and advantages of modulating or heightening sensory experience.     

Is amenorrhea a clinically useful criterion for the diagnosis of anorexia nervosa?

Aim of the study was to evaluate the clinical characteristics and the treatment outcome of underweight patients with eating disorder (ED) not otherwise specified without amenorrhea (EDNOS-WA), compared with classical anorexia nervosa (AN) cases. Seventy-three consecutive female patients (57 AN, and 16 EDNOS-WA) were evaluated before and after a 20-week cognitive behaviour inpatient treatment (CBT-I). Assessment included anthropometry, the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). At logistic regression analysis, amenorrhea was only predicted by baseline BMI and intense exercise, not by psychopathological variables. Response to CBT-I was good and similar between groups, without differences in the dropout rate or time-to-dropout. Our data lend support to the hypothesis that the criterion “amenorrhea” is of no clinical utility in the diagnosis and treatment of AN and could be removed in the forthcoming DSM-V proposal.