Russian nationalism and the “Yanov thesis”

The Russian New Right: Right‐Wing Ideologies in the Contemporary USSR by Alexander Yanov, Berkeley, California, Institute of International Studies of the University of California, 1978, 188 pp., $4.50.     

Backward inhibitory learning in honeybees: a behavioral analysis of reinforcement processing

One class of theoretical accounts of associative learning suggests that reinforcers are processed according to learning rules that minimize the predictive error between the expected strength of future reinforcement and its actual strength. The omission of reinforcement in a situation where it is expected leads to inhibitory learning of stimuli indicative for such a violation of the prediction. There are, however, results indicating that inhibitory learning can also be induced by other mechanisms. Here, we present data from olfactory reward conditioning in honeybees that show that (1) one- and multiple-trial backward conditioning results in conditioned inhibition (CI); (2) the inhibition is maximal for a 15-sec interval between US and CS; (3) there is a nonmonotonic dependency on the degree of CI from the US-CS interval during backward pairing; and (4) the prior association of context stimuli with reinforcement is not necessary for the development of CI. These results cannot be explained by models that only minimize a prediction error. Rather, they are consistent with models of associative learning that, in addition, assume that learning depends on the temporal overlap of a CS with two processes, a fast excitatory and a slow inhibitory one, both evoked by a reinforcer. The fmdings from this behavioral analysis of reinforcement processing are compared with the known properties of an individual, identified neuron involved in reinforcement processing in the bee brain, to further understand the mechanisms underlying predictive reward learning.     

The creative process in psychoanalytic treatment

Conclusion In summary, then, what is conducive to creative functioning is arelaxation of one's rationality: the analyst who feels exhilarated rather than threatened, receptive rather than anxious, at the hint of an appearance of the unexpected, at the peeking out of something that may challenge his understanding, that may not fit the theory neatly—he is the one who is capable of more creativity. The analyst might thus orient himself to give rein to his own inner processes, his inner radar rather than his intellect, and thus without preconceived theoretical expectations aspire to discover anew that which is uncovered ineach patient. It is this which makes each analysis a fresh experience, not a stale rehash, for the therapist; it is this which makes the analysis an authentic encounter for the patient—thus, an adventuring together.Another factor grows out of the above. If the analyst orients himself to think-feel-respondvia that deeper more personal channel of images — closer to the language of dream images early in the history of analysis recognized as the royal road to the unconscious—then he may find his creative responsiveness more liberated, his intuition in general more active for the work of the session. He thereby may enliven his reactivity not only along the pithy, affect-enriched modality of images, but also along other dimensions of intervention involving more nuanced responses of all sorts.Read at the convention of the Metropolitan Academy of Psychoanalytic Training, March 12, 1971, New York City, panel on The Creative Process.     

Symmetry as a method of proof

This paper is a logical study of valid uses of symmetry in deductive reasoning, of what underlying principles make some appeals to symmetry legitimate but others illegitimate. The issue is first motivated informally. A framework is then given covering a fairly broad range of symmetry arguments, and the formulation of symmetry provided is shown to be a valid principle of reasoning, as is a slightly stronger principle of reasoning, one that is shown to be in some sense as strong as possible. The relationship between symmetry and isomorphism is discussed, and finally the framework is extended to a more general model-theoretic setting.     

An experimental space combining individual and social performances

This report describes several primate environments in which two or more animals shared a common social area. Automatic programming was used to permit concurrent individual sessions. Some of the behavioral phenomena observed in these environments, including reinforcing properties of social interactions, are discussed.