Re-reading Anscombe on ‘I’

According to a ‘Straight’ reading of Elizabeth Anscombe’s (1975 Anscombe, E. 1975. “The First Person.” In her Mind and Language, edited by S. Guttenplan, 45–65. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Google Scholar]) ‘The First Person’, she holds a radically non-referring view of ‘I’. Specifically, ‘I’ is analogous to the expletive ‘it’ in ‘It’s raining’. I argue that this is not her conclusion. Her substantive view, rather is that if what you mean by ‘reference’ is a certain rich and recherché notion tracing to Frege, then ‘I’ is not a referring term. Her methodological point is that one shouldn’t be ‘bewitched by language’ into thinking that ‘I’, because of its syntax, must exhibit ‘reference’ in this sense.     

Exploring mystery: can Christian meditation at school nurture students’ relationships with God?

ABSTRACT

While there is growing international interest in meditation and mindfulness initiatives in schools, little research has focused on exploring the impact of such practices on students’ spirituality. This paper reports data from a mixed method study involving primary school classes engaged in the regular practice of Christian meditation between Years 4 to 6 in Catholic schools in New South Wales, Australia. Student focus group data (n = 114 students) and a student survey (n = 250 students) suggest Christian meditation offers an inclusive and ‘hospitable’ space for many students, where their spiritual well-being can be nurtured, including their connection to God. However, the findings suggest that accompanying dialogue with students around the purpose and possibilities of Christian meditation may help to better situate the practice as a ‘hospitable space’ thus enabling deeper engagement with the spiritual in contemporary Catholic classrooms.     

Transforming churches: the lived religion of religious organizations in a contemporary context

ABSTRACT

This article analyzes patterns of transformation in a specific majority religious institution, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark (ELCD), through a case study of communicative actions related to new church practices. The argument is that the patterns most often identified in the study of the religion of late-modern individuals, which is an “ever-changing, multifaceted, often messy—even contradictory—amalgam of beliefs and practices” (McGuire 2008, 4), are also relevant when scholars describe changes at the level of religious organizations. Meredith McGuire’s concepts are supplemented with other discussions of the transformation of traditions in a contemporary context. Our research question is: what characterizes the communicative actions concerning the transformation of traditions within the ELCD today? The empirical material consists of communicative actions related to practices associated with Halloween and Valentine’s Day from two distinct contexts: 1) the public debate about the Church in the newspaper The Christian Daily and 2) public announcements in the official online Church calendar. This leads to a discussion of the creative agency of religious institutions as part of the complex pattern of contemporary religion. The article argues in favor of an increased focus on the development of new practices in churches as examples of lived religion at the level of institutional religion.     

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and Neurological Outcomes: A Review for Practitioners

ABSTRACT

Thirty-eight million women will experience intimate partner violence (IPV) during the course of their lifetime. Many of these women will experience brain injuries as a result of IPV and may not seek medical attention. Several types of practitioners who work with IPV survivors consistently, e.g., first responders, advocates, and clinicians, may be unfamiliar with brain functioning, screening, assessment, and treatment. This article reviews the dual traumas of IPV and TBI, the impact on neurological processes and symptomatology, and short and long-term outcomes. Recommendations for screening, intervention, interprofessional collaboration, and research are outlined.     

Characterization of visual scanning while driving for the identification of drivers’ profiles

Assessing the driving skills of people with cognitive or visual impairments is often complex. The analysis of visual exploration strategies can be a good solution to identify the implementation or not of good strategies of information search in the visual scene (adaptation and compensation). In this study, we compared the visual exploration behaviours of 26 healthy, 19 glaucoma and 21 elderly participants. For this purpose, we used a driving simulator for which a visual field measurement test had been adapted to obtain measurements in static and dynamic conditions. The dynamics of the gaze was also measured. Our results showed that each of the three groups of participants had specific characteristics of visual exploration. Using a classification algorithm, we were able to show that it was possible to identify the group which a participant belonged to on the basis of the visual exploration’s characteristics. This finding opens the door to many applications in the context of driving assistance and training.     

The clinical utility of the auditory P300 latency subcomponent event-related potential in preclinical diagnosis of patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease

The present meta-analysis investigated the clinical utility of the auditory P300 latency event-related potential in differentiating patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and unaffected controls. Effect size estimates were computed from mean P300 latency measurements at midline electrodes between patients and unaffected controls using the random effects restricted maximum likelihood model. The effects of clinical and ERP/EEG methological variables were assessed in a moderator analysis. P300 latency was found to be significantly prolonged in patients with AD (and MCI) compared to unaffected controls. Shortened P300 latencies were observed when comparing patients with MCI to patients with AD. Clinically relevant differences in P300 latency effect sizes were associated with mean age, interstimulus interval, stimulus difference, target frequency, reference electrode, and sampling rate. The meta-analytic findings provide robust statistical evidence for the use of the auditory P300 latency subcomponent as a biological marker of prodromal AD.     

Discrepancy between subjective autobiographical reliving and objective recall: The past as seen by Alzheimer’s disease patients

This paper investigated whether Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients may demonstrate a discrepancy between subjective autobiographical reliving and objective recall. To this end, 31 AD patients and 35 controls were asked to retrieve three autobiographical memories. For each memory, participants were asked to rate its subjective characteristics (e.g., reliving, travel in time, visual imagery…). Besides this subjective assessment, we analyzed recall objectively with regard to specificity. Results showed poorer subjective autobiographical reliving and objective recall in AD patients than in controls. A discrepancy (i.e., higher level of subjective reliving than of objective recall) was observed in AD but not in control participants. Despite a compromise in their objective recall, AD patients seemed to attribute a high value to their subjective autobiographical experience. This discrepancy can be attributed to a potential genuine consciousness experience in which mild AD patients can, to some extent, experience some subjective features of the past.     

Loving the World We Are: Anthropology and Relationality in Laudato si’

There is a tension between Laudato si's consistent emphasis on relationships and interconnectedness and its acceptance of anthropocentrism. While Laudato si’ does reject certain problematic forms of anthropocentrism, the encyclical does not assert an alternative to this traditional framework. This article contends that “relatiocentrism” provides the best avenue for developing the convictions expressed within Laudato si’ while moving beyond the limitations of the encyclical itself. In so doing, this essay explores the use of narrative as a means of shaping identity by mapping significant relationships and points of meaning. It examines the central anthropological claims of the encyclical and the tensions these create with anthropocentric narratives. And it examines relatiocentrism in light of the biblical creation accounts, the eschatological perspective of Laudato si’, and virtue ethics. The essay concludes by suggesting further theological and moral implications of this shift in perspective.     

The relationship between fluid intelligence and sustained inattentional blindness in 7-to-14-year-old children

Previous researches have shown that people with higher fluid intelligence are more likely to detect the unexpected stimuli. The current study systematically explored the relationship between fluid intelligence and sustained inattentional blindness in children. In Experiment 1, we measured one hundred and seventy-nine 7-to-14-year-old children’s fluid intelligence and sustained inattentional blindness. The results showed that fluid intelligence was negatively related to sustained inattentional blindness only in 7-to-8-year-old children. In Experiment 2, we explored sustained inattentional blindness in sixty children with high Raven’s scores. We found that compared with children who have average Raven’s scores aged 11-to-12 years old, children with high Raven’s scores were unable to better avoid sustained inattentional blindness. In general, this research implies that the relation between fluid intelligence and sustained inattentional blindness is weak. Fluid intelligence could predict sustained inattentional blindness only when children do not have enough perceptual capacities to complete the primary task.