Working memory, deafness and sign language

Working memory (WM) for sign language has an architecture similar to that for speech-based languages at both functional and neural levels. However, there are some processing differences between language modalities that are not yet fully explained, although a number of hypotheses have been mooted. This article reviews some of the literature on differences in sensory, perceptual and cognitive processing systems induced by auditory deprivation and sign language use and discusses how these differences may contribute to differences in WM architecture for signed and speech-based languages. In conclusion, it is suggested that left-hemisphere reorganization of the motion-processing system as a result of native sign-language use may interfere with the development of the order processing system in WM.     

Transference, the transcendent function, and transcendence

People in analysis come into direct contact with the transcendent – that which surpasses not only our ego consciousness but the whole psyche – through the transcendent function working in the transference–countertransference field. Reductive and synthetic methods of interpretation of transference, in both objective and subjective levels of meaning, inaugurate moving the ego out of center stage into the process of relating to the Self. The transcendent function is the means of enlarging psychic space in the transference field to make room for coinciding opposites and a 'creative solution' that arises from their conversation. That solution, or set of symbols, addresses us with such compelling authority that Jung likens it to 'the voice of God', A clinical case illustrates the connection of transference, the transcendent function, and the experience of the transcendent which, I believe, we must identify as such in order to go on relating to it.     

SIGNS AS DETERRENTS OF ILLEGAL PARKING IN SPACES DESIGNATED FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH PHYSICAL DISABILITIES

The percentage of illegal parking in spaces reserved for the physically disabled was monitored under three sign conditions: ground markings, ground markings plus vertical signs, and vertical signs containing a message that concerned citizens were watching the spaces. Illegal parking dropped from 69.3% of 102 vehicles during the initial ground-sign condition to 57.3% of 36 vehicles in the first vertical-sign condition. Following removal of the vertical signs, illegal parking increased to 68.7% of 43 vehicles. During the second vertical-sign condition, illegal parking dropped to 53.7% of 32 vehicles, followed by an increase to 69.5% of 68 vehicles after the vertical signs were removed. The lowest rate of illegal parking (27.1% of 78 vehicles) occurred in the vertical-sign-plus-message condition. Illegal parking subsequently increased to 34.6% (of 94 vehicles) when the message sign was removed, followed by an increase to 65.2% (of 105 vehicles) when the vertical signs were removed.     

THE ROLE OF REFERENTIAL SPEECH IN SIGN LEARNING BY MENTALLY RETARDED CHILDREN: A COMPARISON OF TOTAL COMMUNICATION AND SIGN-ALONE TRAINING

We conducted two experiments to assess the role of referential speech during sign training in which the spoken words corresponding to signs were receptively known to the participants. An alternating treatments design was used to compare sign acquisition across two teaching conditions in which referents were presented either with or without the corresponding verbal label. During the first experiment, signs were taught concurrently; during the second experiment, signs within each of the respective conditions were taught in a serial fashion. In both experiments, signs taught by total communication were acquired faster than those taught by sign-alone training.     

Serial conditioning as a function of stimulus, response, and temporal dependencies

Six experiments were used to examine the effects of explicit response, stimulus, and temporal dependencies on responding in an interfood interval. The first two experiments demonstrated that 10-segment 60-s interfood clocks controlled similar distributions of key pecking in pigeons regardless of whether response–reinforcement contiguity was required, allowed, or precluded. The third and fourth experiments found that in the absence of an explicit response–reinforcement dependency, systematic explicit stimuli in an interfood interval were sufficient to establish and maintain the characteristic distribution of key pecking and that an interval without an explicit clock failed to establish or maintain key pecking. The last two experiments demonstrated that the interfood interval need not be of fixed length, and that a simple correlation of stimuli with increments from either a minimum to a maximum imminency or probability of food presentation controlled behavior in a similar manner. Successively higher rates generally occurred to successively later stimuli in the upper half of the range.     

Sign,Image and Language in The Book of Changes CYijing 易经）

It is challenging to estimate the degree to which the system of the Trigrams and Hexagrams in The Book of Changes （Yijing） had an impact on the whole history of Chinese thought. The universal paradigm from which it was derived formed the basis of a semiotic theory of evolution which, because of structural analogies, was applied to all fields and aspects of human life where decision making and action in correspondence with a cosmic principle was required. To achieve that goal, countless commentaries on and interpretations of the Yijing have been written. They can be divided into two schools. The first used the Yijing as a book for divination, in combination with manifestations of the universe and nature. The second interpreted it with a philosophical background, making it part of the tradition of Confucian thought. Modem scholars have also contributed some new approaches to the Yijing. My paper is based on the assumption that the Trigrams and Hexagrams of the Yijing cannot be understood in a purely representational way. They do not represent things apart from their relation to human needs or consciousness. Because of the co-determination of text and reader as a task without determinate end-points, it proves to be a unique case of effective-history. In the Yijing, there is no real line between culture and nature, sign/image/language and fact, the universe of semiosis and other universes. With its use of signs, images and language, the Yijing confirms that the universe of semiosis is the universe of heaven, earth and man. Against this background, my explanations will not only focus on the Trigrams and Hexagrams. My paper will also deal with the following topics： （1） interpenetration of linguistic meaning and objective reality and （2） the social nature of verbal or literary expression.     

Special Issues in Psychotherapy with Minority Deaf Women

Abstract

Minority Deaf women have been traditionally underserved by mental health professionals, and specifically, therapists are unaware of issues unique to this population. It would be highly unlikely for a minority Deaf woman to have a therapist who matches her in racial background, hearing status, and communication mode. Therefore, the therapy process will be completely cross-cultural. Therapists who provide psychotherapy services to minority Deaf women need to be aware that their clients are members of a community where deafness is a culture and not a disability. Minority Deaf women are also likely to report feeling forced to choose between competing identities in order to get important needs met. In the following article, case examples are provided which illustrate some of the major issues that are likely to arise in therapy with minority Deaf women. These issues include: access to important information; communication, support and level of involvement with biological families; competing cultural demands; health concerns; and coping with chronic mental illness.     

Learning about the equal sign: Does comparing with inequality symbols help?

This study investigated whether instruction that involves comparing the equal sign with other relational symbols is more effective at imparting a relational interpretation of the equal sign than instruction about the equal sign alone. Third- and fourth-grade students in a comparing symbols group learned about the greater than, less than, and equal signs and had the opportunity to compare the inequality symbols with the equal sign. Students in an equal sign group learned about the equal sign only. A third group of students served as a control group. Three aspects of students’ knowledge were assessed before and after the lesson: (a) conceptual understanding of the equal sign, (b) equation encoding, and (c) problem solving. Students in the comparing symbols group showed greater gains in conceptual understanding from pretest to posttest than students in the other two groups, and students in the comparing symbols group also scored higher on a posttest that assessed knowledge about inequality symbols and inequality problem solving. Thus, they learned about three symbols in the same amount of time as other students learned about the equal sign alone or not at all. Therefore, an instructional approach involving comparison can be an effective tool for learning about concepts in mathematics.