Development of the Basel Version of the Awareness of Social Inference Test – Theory of Mind (BASIT-ToM) in healthy adults

Impairments of Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities occur in a wide range of brain disorders. Therefore, reliable and ecologically valid examination of these abilities is a crucial part of any comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. An established and ecologically valid, English-language test identifying deficits in ToM abilities is “The Awareness of Social Inference Test – Social Inference Minimal (TASIT-SIM)”. However, no comparable German-language ToM test currently exists. In this study, we aimed to develop the first German-language adaption of TASIT-SIM in healthy adults. We selected 13 scenes [four scenes per message type (i.e., honesty, simple sarcasm, paradoxical sarcasm) and one practice scene] out of the 30 TASIT-SIM scenes. In collaboration with a film institute, we filmed each scene at three different intensities. These intensity version scenes were then administered to 240 healthy adults, equally distributed in sex and age, ranging from 35 to 92 years. By applying Rasch analysis, we selected intensity versions that showed neither floor nor ceiling effects in the majority of ToM questions in participants whose ToM abilities were in the medium range. In conclusion, we have developed the first German-language adaption of TASIT-SIM, i.e., the “Basel Version of the Awareness of Social Inference Test – Theory of Mind (BASIT-ToM)”. The BASIT-ToM incorporates the strengths of TASIT-SIM, while overcoming its limitations such as inconsistencies in cinematic realization and ceiling effects in healthy participants. Next, the BASIT-ToM needs to be validated in healthy people and clinical populations.     

客体工作记忆的保持对时距知觉的影响

初步探讨毫秒范围内,客体信息保持对时间知觉的影响。实验一发现,知觉到的时间不受记忆负荷的影响,但当保持时间短时,低负荷的反应时低于高负荷的反应时;实验二仅要求被试完成时间知觉任务,发现知觉负荷异于记忆负荷对时间知觉的影响。结果说明,客体工作记忆保持对时间知觉的影响受到工作记忆资源的调节。     

The two-alternative observing response procedure in rats: Preference for nondiscriminative stimuli and the effect of delay

A two-alternative choice procedure was used with rats to examine preference for discriminative stimuli (correlated with the occurrence of reinforcement) versus uncorrelated cues. Choice of discriminative stimuli was below chance, despite the use of very low levels of reinforcement (12.5% for some rats) known to produce a preference for discriminative cues. Levers that had been retracted during the stimulus presentation in Experiment 1 were extended in Experiment 2 to assess the role of response elicitation during the observed stimuli. In Experiment 3, the impact of cue-duration behaviors was further evaluated by lengthening the duration of the cues and providing an opportunity for an escape response. The preference for nondiscriminative stimuli was reversed only with increased exposure to the cues. The present results point to fundamental differences in the prevailing context of the choice procedure as compared to the usual free-operant observing design.     

Gaze Patterns When Looking at Emotional Pictures: Motivationally Biased Attention

Pictures of either emotionally neutral, pleasant (affectionate), or unpleasant (threat and injury) scenes were paired with nonemotional control pictures and presented for 3 s, while eye fixations were monitored. Preferential attention to the emotional picture of eah pair occurred at an early processing stage: The probability of placement of the first fixation and the proportion of viewing time during the first 500 ms were higher for both pleasant and unpleasant pictures than for neutral pictures, whereas later fixation location and time were not differentially affected. This suggests that, when emotional and nonemotional stimuli are presented simultaneously, emotional meaning captures initial overt orienting and engages attention early, as measured by gaze direction and duration. The possibility that this effect could be accounted for by perceptual differences—such as luminance and complexity—between emotional and neutral pictures was ruled out.     

对话学习与道德教育论

C .O .Schrag的哲学解释学和K .J.Gergen的社会结构主义等理论对我们阐明以学生活动为中心的对话学习理论具有启发性。对话学习是我们能够开创美好未来的最佳教育理论。人类是通过对话创造未来可能的生活。人类的未来充满各种不确定性 ,惟有对话才能把这种不确定性转化为确定性和可能性 ,并且把未来的可能性转化为学生的创造性活动。学生是在进行对话的过程中表现自己并得到成长。对话是通过语言的相互交流、相互解释和相互理解来达到共识的过程。另外 ,对话既是学生实现自我潜能的过程 ,同时也是创造文化的过程。学生在面对面的相互理解、相互交流、相互切磋的对话过程中能够创造出新的理念。通过这种对话过程 ,学生将创造出更有价值的人生 ,也将创造出道德的和美学的文化共同体。活生生的对话使你和我成为“亲近的我们” ,使共同体的生活更具有道德性和创造性。总之 ,以学生活动为中心的对话学习教育理论的实施将有力地推进学校、国家和人类的充满道德和创造力的文化共同体。我们社会和教育现状也要求 ,必须要从以老师为中心的教育体制转向以学生对话为中心的新的教育体制。     

Kenotic Trinitarian Panentheism

Abstract :  The "openness of God" movement has made a bold, even courageous move away from static models of God. Yet, as the articles here by Pinnock and Bracken show, divisions remain that call for mediation. Both sides have failed to see that a closer connection is possible between process and orthodox thought. The framework is panentheism , the belief that the world is in some sense within God, even though God also transcends the world. Process thinkers are right to conceive God even more radically as the "supremely related one," yet mistaken in their belief that creation ex nihilo and trinitarian models of God are thereby excluded.     

TECHNO‐SECULARISM AND “REVEALED RELIGION”: SOME PROBLEMS WITH CAIAZZA'S ANALYSIS

Abstract. Instead of focusing my remarks on John Caiazza's interesting and important thesis about the way in which modern technology is drastically secularizing our culture today, I examine the frame within which he sets out his thesis, a frame I regard as seriously flawed. Caiazza's argument is concerned with the broad range of religion/science/technology issues in today's world, but the only religion that he seems to take seriously is what he calls “revealed religion” (Christianity). His consideration of religion is thus narrow and cramped, and this makes it difficult to assess properly the significance of what he calls techno‐secularism. I suggest that employing a broader conception of religion would enable us to see more clearly what is really at stake in the rise of techno‐secularism. Instead of defining the issues in the polarizing terms of revealed religion versus secularity, I argue for a more integrative approach in which concepts are developed that can bring together and hold together major religious insights and themes with modern scientific thinking. If, for example, we give up the anthropomorphism of the traditional idea of God as creator and think of God as simply creativity, it becomes possible to integrate theological insights with current scientific thinking and to formulate the issues posed by the rise of techno‐secularism in a more illuminating way. This in turn should facilitate effective address of those issues.     

Finer Distinctions: Variability in Satisfied Older Couples’ Problem‐Solving Behaviors

This study utilized observational and self‐report data from 64 maritally satisfied and stable older couples to explore if there were meaningful differences in how couples approached marital disagreements. Using a typology approach to classify couples based on their behaviors in a 15‐minute problem‐solving interaction, findings revealed four types of couples: (1) problem solvers (characterized by both spouses’ higher problem‐solving skills and warmth), (2) supporters (characterized by both spouses’ notable warmth), (3) even couples (characterized by both spouses’ moderate problem‐solving skills and warmth), and (4) cool couples (characterized by both spouses’ greater negativity and lower problem‐solving skills and warmth). Despite the differences in these behaviors, all couples had relatively high marital satisfaction and functioning. However, across nearly all indices, spouses in the cool couple cluster reported poorer marital functioning, particularly when compared to the problem solvers and supporters. These findings suggest that even modest doses of negativity (e.g., eye roll) may be problematic for some satisfied couples later in life. The implications of these typologies are discussed as they pertain to practitioners’ efforts to tailor their approaches to a wider swath of the population.     

Go/no‐go procedure with compound stimuli with children with autism

The go/no‐go with compound stimuli is an alternative to matching‐to‐sample to produce conditional and emergent relations in adults. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of this procedure with two children diagnosed with autism. We trained and tested participants to respond to conditional relations among arbitrary stimuli using the go/no‐go procedure. Both learned all the trained conditional relations without developing response bias or responding to no‐go trials. Participants demonstrated performance consistent with symmetry, but not equivalence.