Book Review: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Based on the model proposed by Morrison, Haddock &; Tarrier (1995) on auditory hallucinations, this study explores the relationships between certain metacognitive variables and number of thoughts, the discomfort they produce, number of auditory illusions and the quality with which they are perceived in a sample from a non-clinical population. After group administration of the Metacognitions Questionnaire, 61 participants were randomly assigned to a suppression group (n?=?31) or a focalization group (n?=?30) in relation to thoughts with different degrees of self-discrepancy. Forty-eight hours after the set task, a non-vocal auditory stimulus was presented, and subjects were required to say whether they heard any words and, if so, how clearly. The results show how the metacognitive factors studied are useful for predicting our findings only for the suppression group and not for that of focalization. These data are discussed in the light of Morrison et al.'s model of auditory hallucinations.     

关于定州汉墓竹简《论语》的几个问题

1973年定州汉墓出土竹简《论语》是现今所见最早的《论语》抄本,通过统计对照简文避讳用字,我们认为定州汉墓竹简《论语》当属汉高祖刘邦时期抄本。因为《古论》是汉武帝时期才出现,而《鲁论》与《齐论》的产生年代又晚于《古论》,所以竹简《论语》已经超出了传统已知汉代三论的范围,属汉初今文隶书《论语》。     

To feel is to know relations: James' concept of stream of thought and contemporary studies on procedural knowledge

The theory of William James concerning the temporal and dynamic nature of mind is analyzed as implying that thought is a flow of subjective experience that belongs to the material flow of living beings, and therefore, that knowledge is primarily affective and practical rather than declarative and contemplative. In this context, we will discuss contemporary theory and research relevant to the discussion about declarative and procedural knowledge, with the focus on a literature review in the neurosciences of knowledge. Then we reconstruct James' theory of mind as flow, in terms of relatedness, feeling, and temporality of experience. The Principles suggest that declarative knowledge is not independent, but derived and supported by a more basic knowledge that is both procedural and affective in nature. Finally, we discuss possible lesson for nowadays efforts to develop a dynamic account of the procedural nature of knowledge.     

The relationship between suppression and subsequent intrusions: the mediating role of peritraumatic dissociation and anxiety

Background and objectives: Although previous studies showed that thought and emotion suppression represent risk factors for intrusions development, the mechanisms that explain these relations were less explored. This study aims to examine the relationships between thought and emotion suppression and the symptoms of intrusion following the exposure to a trauma-related event. Moreover, we explored if these relationships would be mediated by peritraumatic state dissociation and state anxiety.

Design and methods: The trauma film paradigm was used and the participants were students (N?=?148) experimentally exposed to an aversive film to model a traumatic experience. Thought and emotion suppression were measured before the trauma exposure. After exposure, the participants completed scales for measuring state dissociation and state anxiety. Intrusive images and thoughts of the film were recorded in the subsequent week using an intrusion diary.

Results: Thought suppression predicted intrusive thoughts frequency, and this effect was mediated by the peritraumatic anxiety. State anxiety predicted both intrusive images and thoughts, while state dissociation only predicted intrusive images.

Conclusions: Intrusive images and intrusive thoughts are different phenomena and they are predicted by different variables. The practical implications of these results for posttraumatic stress disorder treatment and secondary traumatization are discussed.     

Effects of a cognitive-behavioral intervention on field hockey players’ appraisals of organizational stressors

ObjectivesWe assessed the effects of a cognitive-behavioral intervention on English field hockey players’ appraisals of organizational stressors, emotions, and performance satisfaction.DesignA concurrent, across-participants, multiple-baseline, single-case research design with a three months post-intervention follow-up.MethodFour high-level female field hockey players participated in a four phase intervention that lasted between 24 and 26 weeks: rapport-building and observation (phase I), baseline monitoring (phase II), educating the players and facilitating acquisition of a cognitive restructuring technique (phase III), and encouraging integration of the technique during sport performance (phase IV). Questionnaires and social validation were used to record the participants' appraisals, emotions, and performance satisfaction throughout the intervention. A three months post-intervention follow-up was conducted to assess the participants’ retention of the intervention effects.ResultsReduced threat and loss appraisals and elevated challenge appraisals were reported immediately after Phase III had been introduced. Pleasant emotions and performance satisfaction increased while unpleasant emotions decreased throughout the intervention. Social validation immediately post-intervention and at the end of the follow-up period indicated sustained adaptive changes in each of the outcome variables.ConclusionsCognitive restructuring represents a promising technique for optimizing high-level hockey players’ appraisals. Challenge appraisals and pleasant emotions appear to be linked with increased performance satisfaction and positive intervention effects can be retained for a period of three months post-intervention. Researchers should examine the effectiveness and efficacy of the cognitive restructuring technique with other populations to develop a robust evidence base for appraisal optimization in sport.     

Posttraumatic stress disorder after motor vehicle accidents: 3-year follow-up of a prospective longitudinal study

The paper presents a 3-year follow-up of a prospective longitudinal study of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after motor vehicle accidents (J. Abnormal Psychol., 107 (1998) 508). Participants were 546 patients who had been assessed when attending an emergency clinic shortly after a motor vehicle accident, and at 3 months and 1 year afterwards. The prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder PTSD at 3 years was 11%. Maintaining psychological factors, i.e. negative interpretation of intrusions, rumination, thought suppression and anger cognitions, were important in predicting the persistence of PTSD at 3 years, as were persistent health and financial problems after the accident. Other predictors were female sex, hospital admission for injuries, perceived threat and dissociation during the accident, and litigation.     

ERP responses to images of abstract artworks,photographs of natural scenes,and artificially created uncomfortable images

The idea of efficient coding in the visual brain allows for predictions for the processing of various types of images, including certain artworks, natural images and uncomfortable images. Efficient processing is thought to result in lower responses compared to less efficient processing. The efficiency of the processing is suggested to depend on the architecture of the visual system and the properties of the input image. In this study, neural responses were estimated using EEG across the categories of a set of five images of abstract artworks, a set of five photographs of natural images and a set of five computer-generated uncomfortable images. EEG responses to contrast-matched images were found to be lower for the set of five abstract artworks used in the study compared to the set of photographs of natural images, lending preliminary support for the idea that certain abstract artworks, for example the work of Pollock, may be processed efficiently.     

Temporal focus,temporal distance,and mind-wandering valence: Results from an experience sampling and an experimental study

When mind-wandering, people may think about events that happened in the past, or events that may happen in the future. Using experience sampling, we first aimed to replicate the finding that future-oriented thoughts show a greater positivity bias than past-oriented thoughts. Furthermore, we investigated whether there is a relation between the temporal distance of past- and future-oriented thoughts and the frequency of positive thoughts, a factor that has received little attention in previous work. Second, we experimentally investigated the relation between temporal focus, temporal distance, and thought valence. Both studies showed that future-oriented thoughts were more positive compared to past-oriented thoughts. Regarding temporal distance, thoughts about the distant past and future were more positive than thoughts about the near past and future in the experiment. However, the experience sampling study did not provide clear insight into this relation. Potential theoretical and methodological explanations for these findings are discussed.     

德国古典哲学以来的经济伦理思想及其对马克思的影响

马克思经济伦理思想不仅深受英、法古典经济学的影响,也受到德国古典哲学、历史学派以及青年黑格尔派思想的影响,诸如经济伦理的视角、方法以及劳动、异化、拜物教等问题,马克思都对其有着分析、批判与继承。     

孟子王道理想的心性向度

王道理想是孟子政治哲学的核心,作为一套超乎现实却又对现实具有普遍导向意义的治国理念,其践行的基石被孟子归结在人的心性之上。立足于“心”孟子提出王道缘起于“仁”,基于“性”孟子断言王道的落实在于“义”;由“心”“性”的统一确立了仁义一体的构想,据此认为,“居仁由义”是王道理想得以向现实转化的基本思路。