Orthodox Christianity in Italy: historical continuity and social discontinuity

From the historical point of view, the presence of Orthodox churches in Italy is a reality established over several centuries; from the sociological point of view, however, their presence is a new phenomenon. As a result of the significant processes of immigration from Eastern Europe over the last 15 years, their importance within the social and religious contexts has grown considerably, to the point that Orthodoxy is rivalling Islam as the second-largest religion in the country. In this article I aim first of all to provide a historical framework for the relationship between the ‘Western world’, especially Italian, and the ‘Eastern world’ of Orthodoxy. Then I shall briefly analyse two examples of different interactions between Orthodoxy and the Roman Catholic context in Italy: the Montaner parish and the monastic community of Bose. Finally I shall present some outcomes from the first research project on the presence of Orthodox churches carried out in Italy during 2011, illustrating the mapping of the spread of the various jurisdictions in the Italian regions, and deepening some elements such as the relationship with the Italian state, the leadership of the various communities and the dynamics of interaction between the Orthodox churches and Catholicism.     

Optimising retention through multiple study opportunities over days: The benefit of an expanding schedule of repetitions

Few studies have investigated how scheduling repeated studies of the same material over several days influences its subsequent retention. The study-phase retrieval hypothesis predicts that, under these circumstances, expanding intervals between repetitions will promote the greatest likelihood that the participant will be reminded of previous occurrences of the item, thus leading to a benefit for subsequent recall. In the present article, participants studied vocabulary pairs that were repeated according to one of three schedules. In the expanding schedule, pairs were presented on days 1, 2 and 13; in the uniform schedule, on days 1, 7 and 13; and in the contracting schedule, on days 1, 12 and 13. Cued-recall was assessed after a retention interval (RI) of 2, 6 or 13 days. Consistent with predictions, the expanding schedule generally led to better performance than the other schedules. However, further analyses suggested that the benefit of an expanding schedule may be greater when the RI is longer.     

Retrieval opportunities while multitasking improve name recall

In two experiments we tested whether providing retrieval opportunities while people were multitasking would improve memory for names. College students (n=195) in Experiment 1 did addition problems and intermittently were “introduced” to 12 face–name pairs to learn. For half the names students were given three within-list retrieval opportunities. Name recall (cued with the faces) was tested either immediately or after 24 hours. Retrieval opportunities improved name recall with both immediate and delayed tests. Experiment 2 more closely resembled the multitasking required in a real-life social situation. College students (n=98) viewed a videotape and were asked to learn the names of 12 dormitory residents who were introduced during an ongoing conversation. Retrieval opportunities were provided for 8 of the 12 residents by having them appear three additional times in the video without repeating their names. Retrieval opportunities improved name recall, but the effect was much smaller than in Experiment 1. The present research demonstrates that distributed retrieval can be effective when people are multitasking including when the multitasking involves a conversation.     

On Shame – In Response to Dan Zahavi,Self and Other

Abstract

In chapter 14 of Zahavi’s recent book, Self and Other, the notion of shame is discussed. In feeling shame one experiences oneself as experienced by others. For Sartre, that experience in itself is sufficient for shame, as one experiences oneself as determined in the experience of others and hence as shamefully not self-determining. But Zahavi introduces an extra condition for shame, which is a ‘global decrease in self-esteem’. This paper questions the need for this condition and argues that seeing oneself as shameful in the eyes of others needs to be spelt out in a pragmatist way in terms of certain shame-involving practices rather than in a purely phenomenological way.     

全科医学临床诊疗中的决策

临床诊疗的每个步骤,几乎都涉及如何决策的问题.医生应该将患者的利益放在首位,告诉患者拟采取的这些步骤其效果、风险及花费,让患者作出最终的决定.全科医学的精髓是“以人为本”,全科医师更应该帮助患者决策、让患者决策.而全科医疗的特点也决定了必须如此和可能如此.     

翻译训练对大学生心理词汇概念间联系的影响

采用词汇联想实验,通过两项实验探讨了翻译训练对大学生心理词汇概念联结的影响。结果表明：①翻译专业大学生的母语心理词汇与二语心理词汇概念联系特性存在显著差异,相对于母语,二语的概念联系较多受语音和字形等非语义联系的影响;②翻译训练和实践可促进大学生英语心理词汇的语义联结,减弱英语词汇语音和字形等语言形式的影响;③翻译训练和实践对大学生心理词汇的主题关联联系意识的促进效应高于对其分类学意识的促进效应。     

反馈干预对学习判断的影响

将反馈干预作为外部线索引入元记忆研究,采用重复学习任务,在第一轮次学习-测验之后插入反馈干预,用两个实验分别考查任务反馈和能力反馈两种形式下的反馈效价对第二轮次即时学习判断的影响.结果表明：①在学习过程中,学习者会进行自我监测;②在任务反馈形式下,反馈信息与自我监测信息冲突,导致反馈干预对元认知监测和认知过程没有影响;③在能力反馈形式下,反馈信息与自我监测信息的冲突消失,结果消极反馈影响了元认知监测.由此得出结论：只有在不与自我监测信息冲突的情况下,反馈干预才对学习判断产生影响.此外,在有反馈干预的情况下,两个实验中都出现了显著的练习伴随低估效应.     

A New Conventionalist Theory of Promising

Conventionalists about promising believe that it is wrong to break a promise because the promisor takes advantage of a useful social convention only to fail to do his part in maintaining it. Anti-conventionalists claim that the wrong of breaking a promise has nothing essentially to do with a social convention. Anti-conventionalists are right that the social convention is not necessary to explain the wrong of breaking most promises. But conventionalists are right that the convention plays an essential role in any satisfactory account of promising. A new conventionalism can explain this by appealing to special features of social conventions. Two of these special features have important implications for any moral requirements they mediate, such as the requirement to keep one's promises and the moral requirements attached to social or occupational roles. First, these requirements will not depend on features of a situation that are inaccessible to typical participants in the convention. Second, these requirements often cannot be tailored to fit the overly unusual circumstances of participants.     

Retrieval practice and elaborative encoding benefit memory in younger and older adults

Retrieval practice has been identified as a powerful tool for promoting retention. Few studies have examined whether retrieval practice enhances performance in older adults as it does in younger adults. Younger and older adults learned unrelated word pairs and were administered a test after a short (10 min) and long (2 day) delay. Encoding condition was manipulated between subjects, with participants studying the pairs twice, studying them once and taking an immediate test with feedback, or encoding them twice under different deep encoding conditions. In both age groups, equivalent benefits of testing relative to restudy were found. Deep processing also improved memory relative to restudy, suggesting that one factor that might benefit retention is varying the type of encoding task (either by testing or by providing a different instructional manipulation) to increase the accessibility of cues. Retrieval practice can support older adults’ memory and is a viable target for training.     

Engagement With Self‐Practice/Self‐Reflection as a Professional Development Activity: The Role of Therapist Beliefs

A number of research studies support self‐practice/self‐reflection (SP/SR) as an experiential learning process that facilitates the acquisition of therapeutic skill in a number of cognitive‐behavioural therapy (CBT) competencies and as showing potential as a valuable professional development activity. Engaging therapists to participate in SP/SR programmes is sometimes difficult, and when they are offered the option to participate in SP/SR programmes as part of professional development, relatively few volunteer. This study investigates the role of therapist beliefs about SP/SR as a potential obstacle to engagement. An online survey was developed to assess the strength of 14 commonly held therapist beliefs concerning the consequences of participating voluntarily in a SP/SR programme. Participants were a combined sample of 44 Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners and high‐intensity CBT therapists employed by an Improving Access to Psychological Therapies service in the United Kingdom. Few negative beliefs about SP/SR emerged. The majority of respondents believed SP/SR programmes were relevant to their work situation, but perceived “lack of time” as a significant barrier to participation. Three factors are considered in relation to introducing SP/SR as a workforce professional development activity: (a) The importance of managing therapist perceptions regarding time; (b) SP/SR as a mechanism to increase self‐care and reduce burnout; and (c) The need to focus mental health services' attention on the potential of SP/SR programmes to increase staff morale and improve service delivery.