Definition of compassion-evoking images in a Mexican sample

To assemble a calibrated set of compassion-eliciting visual stimuli, 60 clinically healthy Mexican volunteers (36 women, 24 men; M age = 27.5 yr., SD = 2.4) assessed 84 pictures selected from the International Affective Picture System catalogue using the dimensions of Valence, Arousal, and Dominance included in the Self-assessment Manikin scale and an additional dimension of Compassion. Pictures showing suffering in social contexts and expressions of sadness elicited similar responses of compassion. The highest compassion response was reported for pictures showing illness and pain. Men and women differed in the intensity but not the quality of the compassionate responses. Compassion included attributes of negative emotions such as displeasure. The quality of the emotional response was not different from that previously reported for samples in the U.S.A., Spain, and Brazil. A set of 28 pictures was selected as high-compassion-evoking images and 28 as null-compassion controls suitable for studies designed to ascertain the neural substrates of this moral emotion.     

The Hopelessness Scale: a factor analysis

A confirmatory factor analysis of the Beck Hopelessness Scale in a sample of 340 Italian students did not support the 3-factor model reported for previous samples of psychiatric patients. A follow-up principal axis factor analysis yielded two interpretable correlated factors, suggesting that the structure of the scale may differ across clinical and nonclinical groups and as a function of nationality.     

Glucocorticoid administration into the dorsal striatum [corrected] facilitates memory consolidation of inhibitory avoidance training but not of the context or footshock components

It is well established that glucocorticoid administration into a variety of brain regions facilitates memory consolidation of fear-conditioning tasks, including inhibitory avoidance. The present findings indicate that the natural glucocorticoid corticosterone administered into the dorsal striatum (i.e., caudate nucleus) of male Wistar rats produced dose- and time-dependent enhancement of inhibitory avoidance memory consolidation. However, as assessed with a modified inhibitory avoidance procedure that took place on two sequential days to separate context training from footshock training, corticosterone administration into the dorsal striatum did not enhance memory of either the contextual or aversively motivational aspects of the task.     

Spatial coding and central patterns: is there something special about the eyes?

In this study we investigated in a Simon-like task whether task-irrelevant spatial information, delivered by centrally presented patterns, interfered with response selection in the same way as laterally presented stimuli. Second, we asked whether such interference was equal for different kinds of stimuli. Participants were required to respond to the colour of two framed squares, two arrows, or two schematic eyes by pressing one of two lateralized response keys. The results consistently show that the Simon effect occurs independently of the nature of the stimulus, as classically reported for lateralized stimuli. Response times were influenced by the direction and frame-relative position of the stimuli, being faster for responses corresponding to the direction indicated by the stimuli than for noncorresponding responses regardless of stimulus types. Contrary to findings with lateralized nondirectional stimuli, such an effect increased with increasing RTs indicating that for centrally presented patterns the extraction of spatial information is time consuming.     

Effect of incentives on retention in an outpatient treatment for cocaine addicts

The high drop-out rate in treatment programs is one of the most important problems in the area of drug addictions. This study evaluated the effect of the use of incentives on retention in an outpatient program for cocaine addicts. The effect of individual variables on program drop-out was also analysed. Participants were 66 subjects who were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: standard treatment, treatment with incentives I, and treatment with incentives II. The patients of these two groups received incentives contingent on cocaine abstinence with two different magnitudes. Retention rate at six months was 35% in the standard treatment, 78.6% in the treatment with incentives I, and 53.3% in the treatment with incentives II. The global prognostic capacity of the individual variables (sociodemographic, history and consumption pattern, psychopathological variables, and EuropASI scores) was 85.7%, with the psychopathological variables being more closely related to retention. These results suggest that the use of incentives may be an effective strategy to improve retention in outpatient treatments for cocaine addiction.     

Doing the opposite to what another person is doing

The three studies presented here aim to contribute to a better understanding of the role of the coordinate system of a person's body and of the environment in spatial organization underlying the recognition and production of gestures. The paper introduces a new approach by investigating what people consider to be opposite gestures in addition to identical gestures.     

Between Pragmatism and Critical Theory: Social Philosophy Today

This paper aims at renovating the prospects for social philosophy through a confrontation between pragmatism and critical theory. In particular, it contends that the resources of pragmatism for advancing a project of emancipatory social philosophy have so far been neglected. After contrasting the two major traditions in social philosophy—the analytical and the critical—I proceed to outline the main traits of a pragmatist social philosophy. By inscribing pragmatism within the tradition of social philosophy, my aim is to promote a new understanding of pragmatism as one of the central Euro-American traditions in social and political philosophy, deserving to be on an equal footing with critical theory and political liberalism. And, furthermore, one whose critical and radical force may be of great help in the wake of the dismissal of the metaphysical certainties upon which the critical program of social philosophy had once set its hopes of social emancipation.     

THE EVOLUTION OF HUMAN BIRTH AND TRANSHUMANIST PROPOSALS OF ENHANCEMENT

Some transhumanists argue that we must engage with theories and facts about our evolutionary past in order to promote future enhancements of the human body. At the same time, they call our attention to the flawed character of evolution and argue that there is a mismatch between adaptation to ancestral environments and contemporary life. One important trait of our evolutionary past which should not be ignored, and yet may hinder the continued perfection of humankind, is the peculiarly human way of bearing and raising children. The suffering associated with childbirth and a long childhood have demanded trade‐offs that have enhanced our species, leading to cooperation, creativity, intelligence and resilience. Behaviors such as mother–infant engagement, empathy, storytelling, and ritual have also helped to create what we value most in human beings. Therefore, the moral, cognitive, and emotional enhancements proposed by these transhumanists may be impaired by their partial appropriation of evolution, insofar as the bittersweet experience of parenthood is left aside.