QUAL and the dynamics of evolution

The emergence of the first structures that are capable of “replication” is a mysterious problem of evolution. The majority of the scientists dealing with evolution agree on the point that this is the very property that differenciate animate and inanimate beings. The main purpose of the present paper is to prove that the phenomenon of replication cannot be forced into frames of the Bios, but is an inherent attribute of the material, and the biological replication is a more advanced and perfect manifestation of this attribute.

The cohesion and resistance, in a general sense, is the attribute of any material system, i.e. it is an attribute of coexistence that makes possible its life. This may be the property that was identified as Jacob Böhme's mystic concept “Qual”. The self‐preservation, the cohesion in a general sense is manifested against the different destructive effects by scattering the “attacked” system into successor systems. This process makes possible for the different successive systems to get among other, differing circumstances than they were before the destructive forces began to exercise their impact. These other circumstances however include the possibility of the emergence of other systems of interrelatedness, and the successive system may become different from the parent system. The multiplication and scattering, due to the impact of destruction, at the same time increase the system's surface of interaction, and this leads to an organization of higher level.     

Combined therapy with borderline and narcissistic inpatients at the cassel hospital

An account is given here of a rather unorthodox approach to psychodynamic therapy with Borderline patients in part of the therapeutic community at the Cassel Hospital. ‘Combined therapy’ here refers to the setting in which one therapist sees patients in groups and individual sessions concurrently. The paper demonstrates the manner in which this approach brings to the fore the massive destructiveness and rage which so often lies at the core of these patients' difficulties. This is done by describing the development of the group over its first nine months. The therapist comes to be split in the patient's perception, the group sessions representing separation in all its most hated aspects rather than as a prerequisite for differentiation and growth. The resultant rage and destructiveness threaten to render the group unworkable and dangerous. The individual sessions, by contrast, represent a fantasy of being regressed and at one with the ideal mother. It is my belief that these difficulties can be contained only within a therapeutic community. The strength of this approach lies in the vivid reconstruction of a central conflict for these patients and corresponding potential for working through difficulties in the area of separation and individuation. It is also particularly effective in bringing the therapeutic community alive within the therapy. The discussion attempts to address some of the complex theoretical issues raised by the transformation of the transference in both settings which occurs when they are used together and with the same therapist.     

Assessing the impact of group treatment for aggressive inpatients

The purpose of this research was to determine if psychodynamic group psychotherapy decreases the occurrence of physical assault by male group members. The design of the study was a randomized clinical trial. Patients assigned to the control group received the customary clinical care. Patients assigned to the Group Therapy attended a psychodynamic psychotherapy group to help them cope with their aggressive impulses. Both quantitative and qualitative measures were used. Group members showed decreased expression of anger at followup, increased effort to control anger at followup, and decline in aggressive behavior. Control subjects demonstrated no change in level of angry feelings, increased expression of anger at follow-up, decrease in effort to control anger at follow-up, and no change in aggressive behavior. A model for conducting a psychodynamic psychotherapy group for assaultive men was developed which describes process and content aspects as well as leader interventions by group phase.     

An embodiment effect in computer-based learning with animated pedagogical agents

How do social cues such as gesturing, facial expression, eye gaze, and human-like movement affect multimedia learning with onscreen agents? To help address this question, students were asked to twice view a 4-min narrated presentation on how solar cells work in which the screen showed an animated pedagogical agent standing to the left of 11 successive slides. Across three experiments, learners performed better on a transfer test when a human-voiced agent displayed human-like gestures, facial expression, eye gaze, and body movement than when the agent did not, yielding an embodiment effect. In Experiment 2 the embodiment effect was found when the agent spoke in a human voice but not in a machine voice. In Experiment 3, the embodiment effect was found both when students were told the onscreen agent was consistent with their choice of agent characteristics and when inconsistent. Students who viewed a highly embodied agent also rated the social attributes of the agent more positively than did students who viewed a nongesturing agent. The results are explained by social agency theory, in which social cues in a multimedia message prime a feeling of social partnership in the learner, which leads to deeper cognitive processing during learning, and results in a more meaningful learning outcome as reflected in transfer test performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).