Audiotactile multisensory interactions in human information processing

Abstract:  The last few years has seen a very rapid growth of interest in how signals from different sensory modalities are integrated in the brain to form the unified percepts that fill our daily lives. Research on multisensory interactions between vision, touch, and proprioception has revealed the existence of multisensory spatial representations that code the location of external events relative to our own bodies. In this review, we highlight recent converging evidence from both human and animal studies that has revealed that spatially-modulated multisensory interactions also occur between hearing and touch, especially in the space immediately surrounding the head. These spatial audiotactile interactions for stimuli presented close to the head can affect not only the spatial aspects of perception, but also various other non-spatial aspects of audiotactile information processing. Finally, we highlight some of the most important questions for future research in this area.     

Creativity and dialectical phenomena From dialectical edge to dialectical space1

The seeds of creativity have the potential to germinate and flourish within the rich, ambiguous and unsettling tapestry of the core dialectical tensions related to the central organizing dialectic, life and death, generated in the patient‐analyst relating. The author introduces the concept of the ‘dialectical edge’ and describes it as the pivotal point in the dialectical struggle within these core dialectical dilemmas. This is a fluid, emotionally evocative threshold, where there is maximum potential for change, as well as for homeostatic stagnation. Drawing on Winnicott, the author illustrates how the presence of an edge within these dialectical dilemmas has the potential to open up into a creative, reflective space. He suggests that this, however, will depend on the therapist's capacity to contain/hold at this edge the arousing and intense affects‐such as anxiety, dread, excitement and passion‐that are inevitably generated at these pivotal relational moments. This will determine whether the patient will move forwards into the light of a creative, reflective, dialectical space, or backwards into collapsed, non‐reflective darkness, where fluid oscillation is transformed into rigid ossification. The author uses a clinical example to illustrate these dialectical phenomena, with a special focus on two clinically relevant dialectics, i.e. ‘ritual versus spontaneity’ and ‘closeness versus separateness’.     

The mystery of the well-attended group. A model of Personal Construct Therapy for adolescent self-harm and depression in a community CAMHS service

This paper describes a style of weekly group therapy offered in a city CAMHS department for adolescent girls who are depressed and self-harming. Research has found that such girls typically have other psychological problems, such as anger, anxiety, low self-esteem, poor school performance, grief reactions and poor school attendance. This paper describes a group based upon Personal Construct Theory (Kelly, 1955 Kelly, G. (1955). The psychology of personal constructs, Vol. 1. New York: Routledge  [Google Scholar]) which addresses the management of symptoms and the problems underlying them. It takes into account each girl's unique history and her personal priorities, and group sessions aim to encourage each individual to understand and address their own difficulties. The group is open, has no set number of sessions to attend, and has no set week-by-week curriculum. Instead, it takes the individual's personal construction of their difficulties and works with it through the principles and techniques of Personal Construct Therapy. The group has been well-attended and has a positive atmosphere in sessions with the emphasis upon each individual taking responsibility for her own progress inside and outside the group. This paper will describe the principles and practice that are used in the group and the need for further research into the efficacy of this therapeutic treatment is highlighted.     

Who they are and what de se: Burge on quasi-memory

Tyler Burge has recently argued that quasi-memory-based psychological reductionist accounts of diachronic personal identity are deeply problematic. According to Burge, these accounts either fail to include appropriately de se elements or presuppose facts about diachronic personal identity—facts of the very kind that the accounts are supposed to explain. Neither of these objections is compelling. The first is based in confusion about the version of reductionism to which it putatively applies. The second loses its force when we recognize that reductionism is a metaphysical thesis, not an epistemological one.

青少年假想观众和个人神话观念的研究述评

该文介绍了青春期特殊的心理特点——假想观众和个人神化的概念和不同的理论模型,对这些模型相关的实证研究进行了回顾,总结了这两个观念和青少年心理发展某些关系（分离—个性化过程、冒险行为和抑郁等）的研究,从理论基础、测量工具等角度探索了目前研究存在的问题,以及目前研究结果相互矛盾的原因,最后从概念界定、文化差异等方面分析了今后研究的方向     

Public Space

“Public space” is the space where individuals see and are seen by others as they engage in public affairs. Hannah Arendt links this space with “public freedom.” The being of such freedom, she asserts, depends on its appearing. It consists of “deeds and words which are meant to appear, whose very existence hinges on appearance.” Such appearance, however, requires the public space. Reflecting on Arendt’s remarks, a number of questions arise: What does the dependence of freedom on public space tell us about the nature of freedom? How does public freedom relate to the freedom of a private individual? Does the latter also depend on its appearing? Which is generatively prior: freedom or public space, i.e., the actions that publicly manifest freedom or the space required for their appearance? How does public power shape this space? In this article, I approach these questions through a phenomenological study of public space.     

3～6岁儿童空间非标准测量认知加工线索研究

本研究选取北京市3所幼儿园108名3~6岁儿童为被试,采用个别测查法对儿童进行非标准空间测量时所依据的认知加工线索进行研究,结果表明:1、3~6岁儿童在一维空间测量中从两个端点和端点之间的连续空间提取信息进行量的判断,当从端点和端点之间的连续空间提取的线索不一致时,多数儿童不能对其进行整合;2、3~6岁儿童二维空间测量主要遵循一维规则,并且一维规则适用于各种图形;3、儿童根据空间量中显著特征进行量的判断,儿童对作为判断依据的显著特征的选择受各维度对比度影响。     

社会认知复杂性的量化指标及其关系

在Kelly个人构念理论的基础上,Bieri提出用构念的分化程度衡量个体社会认知复杂性的思路,并具体用从不同构念上评价每个角色时评分的匹配个数作为复杂性的最化指标。此后,研究者从不同分析思路提出了一系列新的复杂性指标,如根据对构念的相关分析所得组内相关、RMS、SMC等,基于因素分析所得第一因素解释率、主要因素个数及其解释率等,冲突分析所得整体冲突百分比,此外还有MPP、LPP、ASO等各种Fiedler分数。本研究以402名初中一二年级青少年为被试。采用库格测验收集数据,以Gridstat4．0、Excel、SPSSl0．0等软件统计数据,分析了上述各种复杂性指标的内在关联,为同类研究选择使用这些指标提供了依据。     

儿童早期空间非标准测量能力发展研究进展

测量是数学的主题之一。空间非标准测量能力的发展对儿童数学认知能力的发展有重要作用,对儿童思维抽象性、逻辑性、创造性的培养,问题解决能力的提高有重要影响。文章通过对近四十年来儿童空间非标准测量能力发展研究的成果进行概括分析,发现研究者主要对儿童空间非标准测量的认知加工线索,长度测量策略与工具的使用,空间非标准测量知识的获得顺序以及相关的测量教学顺序,空间非标准测量能力与守恒和推理能力的关系等问题进行了研究。并在此基础上提出了儿童空间非标准测量能力发展研究需进一步探讨的问题。     

Personal Political Salience: The Role of Personality in Collective Identity and Action

Personal political salience (PPS) is proposed as a personality characteristic that assesses individuals' linkage of political events with their personal identities. Its role in facilitating the development of politicized collective identity and action is examined. In four samples of midlife and activist women, we show that PPS was consistently related both to politicized gender identity and political participation. Further analyses show similar results for PPS, politicized racial identity, and political participation. Politicized gender identity mediated the relationship between PPS and women's rights activism, and politicized racial identity mediated the relationship between PPS and civil rights activism. PPS is demonstrated to independently predict political action and also to provide a personality link between group memberships, politicized collective identity, and political participation.