Der “dritte Weg” der “neo-eurasischen” Zeitschrift “Elementy” -- zurück ins Dritte Reich?

Studies in East European Thought - Articulated in the twenties, the doctrines of the exiled Russian ‘Evrazijstvo’ movement are undergoing a renaissance in Russia today. As the...     

Reverie: between thought and prayer

Abstract:  Taking inspiration from a quotation by Lao Tzu, this paper considers 'reverie' as a dynamic process of containment as well as a state of mind. Reverie as a quality of thought akin to prayer is explored in the relationship between self and other. In infant observation, the paper contemplates the development of a baby's capacity to reach beyond the personal world to an archetypal experience of being held, where the creation of an internal space in mind could indicate the beginnings of spiritual awareness. 'Maternal/analytic reverie' views the passage of unconscious communication between patient and analyst as the result of a 'window' opening in the meniscus of the analyst's self. 'Paternal/supervisory reverie' reflects on the impact on a patient of an extra containing mind of a supervisor. 'Archetypal reverie' considers the transforming impact of numinous dreams on the psyche, and reflects on the power of prayer. Drawing on clinical examples from these four areas, the aim is to demonstrate the usefulness of the 'void within' and the perceptive function of emptiness in the 'doors and windows' of our mind.     

Adjusting To a New Racial Climate: Maintenance of Personal Integrity

This paper will focus on the writer’s experience as a native New Yorker relocating to Montgomery, Alabama. The writer will share how he adjusted and coped with overt discrimination and racism in the context of the high school in which he attended there-a majority white high school on the “other” side of town. The writer will share how he employed the following coping mechanisms as methods of adjusting to his new environment: translating emotional experiences into words (relaxation and talk therapy), involvement with other black positive peers, careful assessment before acting, withdrawal and avoidance, and consuming African-American literature.     

Neural correlates of a default response in a delayed go/no-go task

Working memory, the ability to temporarily retain task-relevant information across a delay, is frequently investigated using delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) or delayed Go/No-Go tasks (DGNG). In DMTS tasks, sample cues instruct the animal which type of response has to be executed at the end of a delay. Typically, performance decreases with increasing delay duration, indicating that working memory fades across a delay. However, no such performance decrease has been found when the sample cues exist of present vs. absent stimuli, suggesting that pigeons do not rely on working memory, but seem to respond by default in those trials. We trained 3 pigeons in a DGNG task and found a similar default response pattern: The diverging slopes of the retention functions on correct Go and No-Go trials suggested that pigeons by default omitted their response following No-Go stimuli, but actively retained task-relevant information across the delay for successful responses on Go trials. We conducted single-cell recordings in the avian nidopallium caudolaterale, a structure comparable to the mammalian prefrontal cortex. On Go trials, many neurons displayed sustained elevated activity during the delay preceding the response, replicating previous findings and suggesting that task-relevant information was neurally represented and maintained across the delay. However, the same units did not show enhanced delay activity preceding correct response suppressions in No-Go trials. This activation-inactivation pattern presumably constitutes a neural correlate of the default response strategy observed in the DGNG task.     

Reflections on <Emphasis Type="Italic">The Passion of the Christ</Emphasis>

The purpose of this article is to offer pastoral reflections on the movie by Mel Gibson entitled The Passion of the Christ.     

Gender Role Stereotyping of Parents in Children’s Picture Books: The Invisible Father

Previous studies reveal the reinforcement of gender stereotypes by picture books children read during the formative years. In these books, boys tend to be portrayed as active leaders, and girls as passive followers. Women and girls are under-represented. Men often exhibit career skills, and women perform traditional tasks in the home. Even when careers are nontraditional, personality characteristics and other qualities and behaviors are often stereotypical. Previous researchers emphasized the narrowly defined roles of women and children in picture books. In this study, we focused on the representation of mothers and fathers, and examined whether men are stereotyped as relatively absent or inept parents. A content analysis of the gender roles exhibited in 200 prominent childrens picture books demonstrated that fathers are largely under-represented, and, when they do appear, they are withdrawn and ineffectual parents. Further research could establish whether seriously deficient models of fatherhood in childrens literature affect the incidence of present, caring fathers in society.     

A Comparison of Results and Acceptability of Functional Behavioral Assessment Procedures with a Group of Middle School Students with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders (E/BD)

There is currently controversy over the validity and applicability of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) procedures with students with emotional/behavioral disorders (E/BD). A set of FBA procedures, including teacher and student interviews and direct classroom observations, were carried out with eight students with disabilities (7 classified E/BD, one classified LD). Results indicated that when all three methods (teacher/student interviews, classroom observations) yielded a ranking for a function they agreed 64% of those occasions. For those situations in which there was overall disagreement there was agreement between teacher interview and classroom observations most of the time. Social validity data indicated that both students and teachers felt that the assessment procedures were a useful and productive process.     

Working Memory and Learning in Early Alzheimer’s Disease

Cognitive deficits associated with early Alzheimers disease (AD) have been recently operationalised in terms of an acquisition deficit and the research supporting this view is presented. However, there is still debate concerning the nature of this deficit and how underlying cognitive processes may be detrimentally affecting the ability to acquire new information in early AD. This review argues that the pattern of cognitive deficits contributing to the acquisition impairment in early AD patients may be readily interpreted within the context of a working memory model. Isolating the component processes of working memory that underlie the acquisition deficit in early AD patients will aid in the design of clinical applications that are focussed at enhancing the ability to acquire new information in everyday life.     

Predictive Genetic Testing for Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer: Psychological Distress and Illness Representations 1 Year Following Disclosure

This prospective study evaluates emotional functioning and illness representations in 68 unaffected women (34 carriers/34 noncarriers) 1 year after predictive testing for BRCA1/2 mutations when offered within a multidisciplinary approach. Carriers had higher subjective risk perception of breast cancer than noncarriers. Carriers who did not have prophylactic oophorectomy had the highest risk perception of ovarian cancer. No differences were found between carriers and noncarriers regarding perceived seriousness and perceived control of breast and ovarian cancer. Mean levels of distress were within normal ranges. Only few women showed an overall pattern of clinically elevated distress. Cancer-specific distress and state-anxiety significantly decreased in noncarriers from pre- to posttest while general distress remained about the same. There were no significant changes in distress in the group of carriers except for ovarian cancer distress which significantly decreased from pre- to posttest. Our study did not reveal adverse effects of predictive testing when offered in the context of a multidisciplinary approach.     

Racial Differences in Responses to the Caregiver Strain Questionnaire

The aim of this study was to examine differences in responses to the Caregiver Strain Questionnaire (CGSQ) between African American and White caregivers of children with emotional and behavioral challenges. Significant item- and scale-level differences were detected across groups with African Americans consistently reporting less strain. We examined whether these differences were more likely due to nonequivalent measurement than to real differences in the experience of caregiver strain. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the model fit the data well for both racial groups, but there were some differences in structural components. Internal consistency was equivalent across the groups. In an examination of criterion validity, regression analyses showed that African American caregivers experienced a slower rate of increase in objective caregiver strain at a given increase in child internalizing problems. No other race differences were found in the regression analyses. In general, we conclude that the CGSQ can be useful for detecting caregiver strain and identifying family support needs for both White and African American caregivers. Differences across groups in reports of caregiver strain, however, call for more research on racial differences in the impact on the family of caring for a child with emotional and behavioral disorders.