Muscular Activity in the Arm during Lexical Retrieval: Implications for Gesture-Speech Theories

The origin and functions of the hand and arm gestures that accompany speech production are poorly understood. It has been proposed that gestures facilitate lexical retrieval, but little is known about when retrieval is accompanied by gestural activity and how this activity is related to the semantics of the word to be retrieved. Electromyographic (EMG) activity of the dominant forearm was recorded during a retrieval task in which participants tried to identify target words from their definitions. EMG amplitudes were significantly greater for concrete than for abstract words. The relationship between EMG amplitude and other conceptual attributes of the target words was examined. EMG was positively related to a word’s judged spatiality, concreteness, drawability, and manipulability. The implications of these findings for theories of the relation between speech production and gesture are discussed.This experiment was done by the first author under the supervision of the second author in partial completion of the Ph.D. degree at Columbia University. We gratefully acknowledge the advice and comments of Lois Putnam, Robert Remez, James Magnuson, Michele Miozzo, and Robert B. Tallarico, and the assistance of Stephen Krieger, Lauren Walsh, Jennifer Kim, and Jillian White.     

The Humanizing Brain: An Introduction

The rediscovery of the sacred needs to take into account the neural underpinnings of faith and meaning and also draw on the insights of the emerging discipline of complexity studies, which explore a tendency toward adaptive self-organization that seemingly is inherent in the universe. Both neuroscience and complexity studies contribute to our understanding of the brain's activity as it transforms raw stimuli into recognizable patterns, and thus "humanizes" all our perceptions and understandings. The brain is our physical anchor in the natural environment— and its human capacities orbit us into the emerging world of culture (including religion), which provides a template for the brain's function of making sense of an ambiguous reality. The humanizing brain holds together scientific causality and religious meaning, working both bottom-up (linking the physical and the experiential) and top-down (beginning with the whole of things, or God). These processes we know as "mind" (experienced as intentionality, subjective consciousness, empathy, imagination, memory, adaptability). We maintain that such processes are not only subjective but built into "the way things really are." Thus, they carry the most privileged information about the nature of reality to which we human beings have access. For not only are we humans observers and logicians, but we are embedded in the larger reality; and as we strive to make sense of it all, we become both Homo sapiens and Homo religiosus .     

Quantitative Anatomy: Power Beyond the Images

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a frontiermedical technology that, in contrast to the othercomputer-assisted technologies providing anatomicalpictures, produces functional images. I argue that PETalso opens up an avenue for shifting from images (asa tool for representation of biomedical data) back toanalysis of measurements (as a tool for quantificationof physiology). Admittedly, quantification of functionrequires structural constraints. I coined the emerginginterpretational framework quantitative anatomyin an attempt to conceptualize the PET merger betweenmeasuring and imaging, the two competing meansmedicine uses to examine the human body. Anatomyjustifies interpretations that fit the existingknowledge of a larger clinical audience, whilestatistical data possess an unexplored potential tointroduce mathematical rigor in the evaluation offunction, but are still a black box for the majorityof clinicians. This epistemological change is beingcarried out by PET users in action as well as indiscourse.     

Dissociation and the self in the magical pre-Oedipal field

This paper explores the clinical relevance of Jung's idea of the Self in pre-Oedipal and pre-individuation psychology. Incorporating data from neurobiology and recent theories of memory and narrative reconstruction, a post-modern conception of the Self is proposed akin to what Jung called a 'dream of totality'. Such a conception of the Self is distinguished from a reified structure or a deified imago, and is considered to be that aspect of psychological functioning consonant with emerging meanings, and the birth of new psychological ground. Links are made back to Flournoy, William James, and depth psychology's early interest in teleology, the occult, and the creative capacities of the psyche. Updating this mystery tradition, clinical material illustrates how narratives of the Self are present in such pre-Oedipal dynamics as dissociation and projective identification. These dynamics are understood not only as primitive defences but as reconstitutive symbolic metaphors and mythopoetic expressions of an emergent rather than a superordinate Self.     

Wisdom at the end of life: Hospice patients’ reflections on the meaning of life and death

The processes of aging and confronting mortality are often accompanied by unique psychological challenges. From the perspective of positive psychology, such challenges can yield opportunities for growth, including increased wisdom. This qualitative study explored 15 terminally ill hospice patients’ perspectives on wisdom, the dying process, and the meaning of life using consensual qualitative research methods. Most participants cited humility as a key component of wisdom, emphasizing that “Wisdom is when we realize ‘I don’t really know much’.” Other components of wisdom included self-knowledge, rationality, experiential learning, listening to and learning from others, and sharing knowledge with others. Participants also suggested that the process of facing illness and death presents opportunities for positive growth, including changing priorities and learning to appreciate life more fully in the present moment. In considering the sources of meaning in their lives, participants emphasized relational connections, personal growth, spirituality, vocational fulfilment, and living a full life. Participants also shared their reflections on important past experiences and regrets. Lastly, participants offered advice to others based on their experiences facing illness and mortality. Implications for psychological care of the dying and future research are discussed.     

Relational Message Interpretations of Nonverbal Matching Behavior: An Application of the Social Meaning Model

Abstract

The social meaning model asserts that some nonverbal behaviors have consensually recognized relational meanings within a given social community. According to this perspective, the interpretations made by encoders, decoders, and 3rd-party observers of the same nonverbal behavior should be congruent. The authors applied the model to the identification of relational message interpretations of nonverbal matching behavior. Confederates either matched or did not match the nonverbal behaviors of conversational participants while being watched by nonparticipant observers. All three nonconfederate participants provided interpretations of the confederates' relational messages. As the authors had expected, there were moderate correlations between the 3 perspectives, with observers usually providing less favorable assessments than the conversational participants. The authors also examined the influence of positive and negative stimulus behavior on relational message interpretations.     

Presence of meaning and search for meaning as mediators between spirituality and psychological well-being in a South African sample

Spirituality and meaning in life are important pathways to well-being. Research has conceptually and empirically linked spirituality, religiousness and meaning in life. The present study was concerned with investigating presence of meaning (MLQ-P) and search for meaning (MLQ-S) as mediators between spirituality (religious and existential well-being) and hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. A multi-cultural sample of 326 South African students completed the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS), Questionnaire for Eudaimonic Well-Being (QEWB) and the Mental Health Continuum Short-Form (MHC-SF). Structural equation modelling in Mplus was used to study direct and indirect effects. Findings show that the presence of meaning in life explains more paths between spirituality and psychological well-being than search for meaning. MLQ-P mediated the paths between existential well-being and four of the five indices of psychological well-being. MLQ-S did not mediate any path between spirituality (existential and religious well-being) and psychological well-being outcomes.     

童年期心理虐待与忽视对高中生自杀意念的影响：述情障碍的中介作用和寻求意义感的调节作用

为了探讨童年期心理虐待与忽视与自杀意念之间的关系及其作用机制,本研究采用心理虐待与忽视量表、多伦多述情障碍量表、青少年自杀意念量表及生命意义感量表中的寻求意义感分量表对1074名高中生进行调查。结果表明：（1）童年期心理虐待与忽视对自杀意念有正向预测作用,并且能够通过述情障碍的中介作用影响高中生自杀意念;（2）寻求意义感调节了这一中介过程的直接路径和后半段路径,对后半段路径的调节作用存在性别差异。