The synergy of memory, affects and metaphor

Recently, the concept of metaphor has been revitalized as a result of the convergence of interest in this subject from a variety of disciplines including neurobiology, linguistics and cognitive science. Metaphor is now viewed as an emergent property of mind. Metaphor is rooted in the body in two senses: metaphor is used to organize bodily sensation cognitively, especially affects, and secondly, metaphor is rooted in the body as it rests on the border between mind and brain. Metaphor is therefore viewed as a developmentally early, primitive mental function related to synesthesia. There is a significant distinction between frozen or foreclosed metaphors and open and generative metaphors. The foreclosed metaphor will dominate the perception of others in cases of trauma and can be understood as an explanation of transference repetition. Clinical examples of foreclosed metaphors are illustrated by vignettes of patients who have suffered traumas. Examples taken from two artists are used to illustrate instances in which the artist's own unassimilated experiences appear as generative metaphors.     

Function, goals and intention: children's teleological reasoning about objects

A fundamental aspect of adult thought is the 'teleological' tendency to assume that objects exist for a purpose. When seeing an unfamiliar artifact or strange anatomical part on an animal, the first question an adult will usually ask is 'what's that for?' - a query that assumes that the object can be teleologically explained in terms of its function. Current debate focuses on the origin and scope of teleological thought, and its role in children's emerging theories of the biological world. The bias to view objects as 'designed for a purpose' probably derives from children's privileged understanding of intentional behavior and artifacts. This makes children prone to a 'promiscuous teleology' in which artifacts and natural objects of all types are viewed as existing for a function. Because of this, I argue that we should be cautious about taking the existence of an early teleological bias as evidence that there is biological understanding that exists independently of a psychological construal of living things.     

Formal,systematic, and metasystematic operations with a balance-beam task series: A reply to Kallio's claim of no distinct systematic stage

This reply discusses the measurement of formal, systematic, and metasystematic stages. Recent multidomain studies have shown disparate results and we suggest that these results could be attributed not to actual variations in adult development or the existence or non-existence of stage, but instead may reflect differences in methodology regarding task, domain, and scoring. Our study indicates that when tested in only one domain—balance beams and extensions of those tasks—participants who performed at the higher stage were also able to perform at the lower stages. These results also coincide with similar studies conducted.     

Missed opportunities: Psychological ramifications of counterfactual thought in midlife women

Counterfactual thinking entails the process of imagining alternatives to reality—what might have been. The present study examines the frequency, content, and emotional and cognitive concomitants of counterfactual thinking about past missed opportunities in midlife women. At age 43, nearly two-thirds of the sample of educated adult women reported having missed certain opportunities at some time in their lives. Most of the counterfactual thoughts concerned missed opportunities for greater challenge in work. Emotional distress at age 33 did not predict later counterfactual thought. Instead, counterfactual thinking at age 43 was associated with concurrent emotional distress. However, acknowledging counterfactual thinking about the past was also associated with envisioning ways to change things for the better in the future. This suggests the possibility that the negative appraisal often entailed in counterfactual thinking may be associated with emotional distress in the short run but with motivational benefits in the long run, at least for middle-aged women.     

The subjective quality of episodic future thought and the experience of meaning in life

Two studies assessed whether mentally simulating specific future events to occur in familiar (vs. unfamiliar) settings indirectly increases meaning life via the subjective quality of the simulations. Participants in both studies (N = 344) were randomly assigned to visualize themselves doing something in familiar (e.g. home) or unfamiliar (e.g. fantasy world) settings in the future. They then rated the subjective quality of these visualizations and completed a measure of meaning in life. We replicated previous findings by showing that mental simulations involving familiar settings were of greater subjective quality than simulations involving unfamiliar settings. However, we also found that simulating future events in familiar (vs. unfamiliar) settings indirectly increased the perceived meaningfulness of life. These findings integrate research in cognitive psychology with research on the psychology of well-being and reveal how mental time travel contributes to the perception that one’s life has meaning.     

抵制说服:自我损耗对大学生态度改变的影响

以87名大学生为被试,采用2(损耗,非损耗)×2(强说服信息,弱说服信息)的实验设计,让被试完成损耗或非损耗任务后,阅读与其已有观念相反的或强或弱的说服信息,再测查其态度及认知反应,考察自我损耗对说服后态度的影响,并进一步考察认知反应在自我损耗与说服后态度关系中的作用。结果发现:(1)损耗组比非损耗组更容易顺从说服信息;(2)自我损耗及说服信息质量对说服后态度的交互作用边缘显著:在非损耗的情况下,个体阅读强、弱不同质量信息产生的态度有显著差异,在损耗情况下,个体阅读强、弱不同质量信息产生的态度差异不显著;阅读强说服信息,损耗组和非损耗组的态度差异不显著,阅读弱说服信息,损耗组的态度显著高于非损耗组;(3)自我损耗不影响个体的总体想法数量,但影响其思维偏好,自我损耗后个体更容易产生与说服信息一致的想法,中介分析表明自我损耗对说服后态度的影响是以思维偏好为中介的。     

Can societal language amendments change gender representation? The case of Norway

This study investigates the influence of stereotypical information and the grammatical masculine on the representation of gender in Norwegian by applying a sentence evaluation paradigm. In this study participants had to decide whether a second sentence containing explicit information about the gender of one of more of the characters (e.g. . . . one of the women . . . ) was a sensible continuation of a first sentence introducing a role name (e.g. The spies came out . . . ). Participants' representations were biased by the stereotypicality of the role names when reading female (e.g. nurses) and male (e.g. pilots) stereotyped role names (replicating findings from the English sample in a previous publication), but male biased when reading neutral role names (replicating findings from the French and the German samples in a previous publication).     

论《齐民要术》农业思想中的忧患意识

贾思勰的《齐民要术》在农业思想中蕴含着挥之不去的忧患意识,具体表现为：劝君以农为本,重视救荒农作物的栽培,发展基于大农业观的多种经营等,以期实现他那“要在安民,富而教之”的宏愿。     

经支气管镜介入治疗的现状与思考

经支气管镜介入治疗已逐渐成为治疗中央气道病变的新手段。为使该项技术在我国规范化开展,呼吸科医生必须严格掌握其治疗适应证,明确治疗目的并正确选择治疗方法。本文还介绍了不同类型的支气管结核在内镜下的治疗方法以及支气管镜下实施肺减容治疗重度肺气肿这项新型技术,同时指出了我国在支气管镜介入治疗方面的不足和建议。     

Unsymbolized thinking

Unsymbolized thinking—the experience of an explicit, differentiated thought that does not include the experience of words, images, or any other symbols—is a frequently occurring yet little known phenomenon. Unsymbolized thinking is a distinct phenomenon, not merely, for example, an incompletely formed inner speech or a vague image, and is one of the five most common features of inner experience (the other four: inner speech, inner seeing, feelings, and sensory awareness). Despite its high frequency, many people, including many professional students of consciousness, believe that such an experience is impossible. However, because the existence of unsymbolized thinking indicates that much experienced thinking takes place without any experience of words or other symbols, acknowledging the existence of unsymbolized thinking may have substantial theoretical import.