Theodor Bibliander's Machumetis saracenorum principis eiusque successorum vitae,doctrina ac ipse alcoran (1543) as the Sixteenth-century “Encyclopedia” of Islam

The Machumetis saracenorum principis (1543, second edition 1550), compiled by the Zurich theologian Theodor Bibliander, has long been recognized as one of the most significant texts on Islam published in the Latin West in the Early Modern era. The Qur'an translation it contained (the first ever to be printed) was not superseded for over 100 years. This article explores how the work functions as a whole text in the context of Bibliander's life and theology, with particular attention paid to its paratexts (that is, its framing devices) and organization. Bibliander's compilation is discovered to be a self-contradictory, problematic text. In the sixteenth century, new information on the Turks and their religion did not replace, but rather was placed simply alongside other materials, sometimes substantiating older materials, sometimes directly contradicting them. This ambiguity opened up space for new and different readings while supporting, simultaneously, the received tradition. All of this points to the important transitional nature of the sixteenth century in Christian–Islamic engagement.     

Quantitative research without measurement. Reinterpreting the better-than-average-effect

Established measurement practices have been criticized from various theoretical perspectives. The purpose of this article is to argue that quantitative research could be more defensible if contested assumptions about measurement were abandoned, and to illustrate this thesis with the example of the better-than-average-effect (BTAE). If research on the BTAE is conceptualized as an interpretive endeavor, one can provide arguments that do not rely on psychological measurement for the claim that the BTAE is evidence for self-delusion in people. I outline these arguments and elaborate them by discussing a typical study on the BTAE. Furthermore, I show how a measurement-free characterization of the BTAE reveals an important research gap and points to the specific scientific value of research on the BTAE. Finally, I offer three general suggestions for conducting future interpretive quantitative research: justifying why a quantitative method is suitable for investigating a certain phenomenon, providing a comprehensive interpretation of the numerical results, and exploring participants’ understanding of the study material.     

A follow-up developmental study of hypothesis behavior among mentally retarded and nonretarded children

To clarify the roles of IQ and mental age (MA) in hypothesis behavior, MA-matched subjects at three levels of IQ (70, 100, and 130) and three levels of MA ($\text{5}\text{1}\text{2}\text{, 7}\text{1}\text{2}\text{,}\text{and}\text{9}\text{1}\text{2}\text{years}$) received blank-trial discrimination learning problems using procedures designed to discourage position-oriented responding. With position responding discouraged, earlier findings were contradicted in that no hypothesis measure showed a main effect of IQ. This suggest that previously reported IQ group differences in hypothesis behavior may not reflect cognitive deficits inherently linked to low IQ, but instead may reflect the influence of specific methodological factors. The finding and interpretation are consistent with Zigler's (American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 1969, 73, 536–556) “developmental” theory of retardation and inconsistent with the general “difference” position. In additional findings, the predictions that subjects at all three MA levels would use hypotheses, and that retarded children from special-education classes would use hypotheses more often than retarded children “mainstreamed” in classes for the nonretarded were confirmed.     

Alchemy in the image of the analyst

The author aims to demonstrate the activation in the transference relationship of a figure representing 'sameness' in a number of forms. In the first clinical vignette, she shows how a child projects his own difficulty symmetrically on to the analyst, with the aim of creating the conjunction of opposites which the psyche needs for its growth.
During the archetypal reworking which adolescence provides we again find this figure of 'sameness' in the foreground, in the phase of homosexual object choice. A second clinical vignette shows how this figure of 'sameness' can be represented in the fantasy or the desire of becoming an analyst.
The author puts forward the hypothesis that this fantasy represents an imago whose characteristics include being a tool for linking feeling and thinking in the inner world; it is constituted in the entre deux , the space between self and other, and, like Winnicott's transitional object, it facilitates the capacity to symbolize. Being 'off centre' with regard to infantile positions in relation to the parental imagos, this imago offers a vantage point for 'evaluation' ( sich auseinandersetzen ) and 'consideration' ( betrachten ). Finally this imago is transistory, because its destiny is to be deconstructed (as shown in the third clinical vignette which concerns an adult patient), in order to be integrated through the work of analysis.     

权力的社会认知研究述评

作为人类古老现象的权力,却是社会心理学的一个崭新课题。近年来,社会心理学家从社会认知的视角对权力心理进行了很多具有启发性的研究。理论和实证研究表明,权力的存在或激发广泛地影响了个体有意和无意的社会认知、情绪和社会行为,这些心理和行为既包含消极的成分,也包含中性和积极的成分。文章指出了权力心理学具有“强调社会认知、基础认知甚至神经机制”等特点和趋势。     

Effect of anosmia on the behavior of standard non-aggressive male mice opponents during agonistic encounters

This study assessed whether the differences observed in a previous experiment [Martinez M, Salvador A, Simon VM (1994): Aggressive Behavior 20:441–451] in the behavior of isolated male mice over several agonistic encounters in which they confronted either an “anosmic” or an “intact” non-aggressive “standard opponent” were due to the differences in the behavior of the opponents themselves. Ethologically-inspired analysis was used to assess the behavior of the opponents during the first agonistic encounter. Anosmic opponents spent less time in social investigation and defense and more time in immobility than intact ones. These results suggest that the differences in the behavior of the opponents could be one of the causes of the differences observed in the behavior of the aggressive males confronting them. However, more research is needed to study if other variables, such as the production of odors, are also affected by the state (deprived or intact) of the olfactory sense. These findings provide additional support for the view that the type of opponent used in studies on intermale aggression is of paramount importance.Aggr. Behav. 23:179–181, 1997.© 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

孟子论牛羊之别新解

《孟子·梁惠王》所记载的一个故事中的牛与羊的区别 ,可以用结构主义符号学的方法来思考。在这个故事中 ,齐宣王用“以羊易牛”的策略解决了既不能杀牛又不能废衅钟之礼的两难抉择。从结构主义符号学的角度来看 ,这里的牛羊之别 ,是经验中的有生命的动物牛与语言中的无生命的羊概念之间的区别。齐宣王以羊易牛的实质 ,是用一个没有生命的羊概念替换了一头有生命的动物牛。牛羊之别代表了经验和语言的区别 ,这正是中国传统哲学与西方后现代哲学的根本区别。     

药物成瘾过程的心理-神经理论模型

药物成瘾一般被界定为强迫性药物寻求和药物摄入的行为模式,是一个由偶尔用药逐渐过渡到强迫性用药模式的过程。成瘾过程伴随着一系列脑机能和心理机能的改变,但对药物滥用如何导致这些改变以及这些改变如何诱发成瘾却存在着不同的解释。本文在简要评述拮抗过程模型和异常学习模型的基础上,重点讨论了诱因一易感化模型的主要观点及其行为实验和神经心理学证据,并提出成瘾理论研究进一步整合的可能性。