This article attempts to show the importance of the concept of superstition in understanding a range of psychological problems. With this aim, we critically analyze several constructs that, without actually using the term “superstition,” concern this phenomenon and its role in the development of mental disorders. First we discuss “Thought–Action Fusion” and “magical thinking,” two concepts from the cognitive tradition that view superstition as basically an ideational phenomenon. Second, we look at “Experiential Avoidance,” a post-Skinnerian concept that understands superstition as (...) a type of avoidance behavior for certain private events. Third, we discuss superstition as an emotional phenomenon, in particular, Jean-Paul Sartre’s phenomenological analysis of emotions as magical operations. Finally, we review a cultural approach to superstition and its influence on psychopathology. In this perspective, superstition is seen as a cultural form linked to the historical–social context, which is fostered by certain social practices or institutions, including (perhaps surprisingly) certain features of modernity. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Defending a Phenomenological–Behavioral Perspective: Culture, Behavior, and ExperienceMarino Pérez-Álvarez (bio), José M. García-Montes (bio), Adolfo J. Cangas (bio), and Louis A. Sass (bio)KeywordsBehavior, contextual phenomenology, culture, experienceWe should like to express our sincere thanks to all the authors for their commentaries on our articles. Given the restrictions of space (a limitation they too had to contend with), we can only respond to a few aspects of their interesting (...) remarks. We shall reply of course on the basis of our own approach—an approach that sets out to integrate culture, behavior, and experience, and that might be termed contextual phenomenology, phenomenological behaviorism, or perhaps most accurately (albeit more awkwardly), the phenomenological–behavioral perspective.In her commentary, Ibáñez-Guerra (2008), referring to the target articles “Phenomenology and behaviorism” (Pérez-Álvarez, Sass, and Cangas 2008) and “The role of superstition in psychopathology” (García-Montes et al. 2008), wonders whether our maintaining of the spirit of Skinner, as well as our recourse to phenomenology, might not themselves represent forms of superstitious behavior. She points out that it is not always a good idea to put new wine in old barrels. For her, the new wine and new barrels would be represented by social constructivism, of which she is reminded by some aspects of our work. But in making her own case, Ibáñez-Guerra (2008) reveals certain common prejudices concerning behaviorism, prejudices that have apparently persisted even after reading our article. Thus, for example, she does not see operant behavior as incorporating intentionality (what, in the target article, is presented in terms of final causality), because she assumes that intentionality would necessarily imply a mentalist and dualist notion involving a supposed internal mental entity that causes behavior. Skinner (1974) himself noted and rejected this very assumption in a passage that clearly distinguishes his own approach from what he calls a “stimulus-response formula”: “Possibly no charge,” he wrote,is more often leveled against behaviorism or a science of behavior than that it cannot deal with purpose or intention. A stimulus-response formula has no answer, but operant behavior is the very field of purpose and [End Page 281] intention. By its nature it is directed toward the future: a person acts in order that something will happen, and the order is temporal.(pp. 55–6)The place Skinner gives to intentionality and purpose is elaborated in our target article.Furthermore, Ibáñez-Guerra (2008) assumes that, on methodological grounds, Skinner rejects all that is not observable, or at least that cannot be operationalized. This, however, is simply incorrect, at least as regards Skinner’s radical behaviorism. As the reader may recall, radical (as opposed to methodological) behaviorism is neither operationalist nor does it reject private or subjective events because of their unobservability. Indeed, Skinner specifically acknowledges that such events are in fact observable—at least for one person: the subject him- or herself. The question for Skinner is to understand how the part of the world that is only observable and experiential for oneself is constructed or formed. In the end, it turns out that radical behaviorism is more radical, in the Aristotelian ontological sense (see Pérez-Alvarez, Sass, and García-Montes 2008), than post-modern constructionism. Indeed, as we remarked, radical behaviorism can still surprise us today. Similarly, phenomenology is starting to be missed in the clinical context (Andreasen 2007). We believe that radical behaviorism and phenomenology, mutually readjusted, are in fact excellent wines for the times we live in—if only we knew how to appreciate them.In their commentary on “Phenomenology and behaviorism: A mutual readjustment,” Fletcher and Hayes (2008) argue that the philosophy and theory of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)/Relational Frame Theory (RFT) already contain the salutary aspects of phenomenology that we highlight in our target article. Their insistence on reducing the affinities we find between phenomenology and behaviorism to ACT/RFT consists, in our view, in a scientific–technical argument that is more scientistic than strictly philosophical in nature. Their insistence on the scientific–technical argument itself implies an unclarified philosophical assumption. On what grounds do experimental data constitute the last word? Has... (shrink)

This work begins by proposing the need for exploring the mode of being of mental disorders. It is a philosophical study in an Aristotelian perspective, with special emphasis on the anthropological–cultural dimension. It is difficult for such an inquiry to be carried out from within psychiatry or clinical psychology, committed as these fields are to their own logic and practical conditions. The issues are, in any case, more ontological than strictly clinical in nature. We therefore turn to Aristotle, and specifically (...) his doctrine of the four “causes,” to flesh out the social and cultural dimensions of mental disorders. In accordance with the present analysis, the material cause of disorders would be found in the contingencies of life; the formal cause would pertain primarily to the way clinical conditions themselves can serve as models of ‘being ill’ in our society; the efficient cause would correspond to the patients themselves, understood as active (albeit less than fully conscious) agents as well as to the pharmaceutical industry and the mass media; the final cause would be found in different adaptive functions served by the disorder. We conclude that the “mode of being” of most (if not all) mental disorders—in particular, their status as mental disorders—can often have more to do with cultural forms than with biological factors. (shrink)

This article considers the relationship between phenomenology and behaviorism in a new perspective. First, we present the phenomenological approach of the Spanish philosopher Ortega y Gasset (1883–1953). Ortega’s perspective involves a transformation of classical phenomenology in a direction that emphasizes ‘life as action’ and ‘historical reason’ as a form of explanation. These aspects of Ortega’s approach are of interest to contemporary phenomenology, and enable phenomenology’s relationship with behaviorism to be reconsidered. Second, we present Skinner’s radical behaviorism, the variant of behaviorism (...) most relevant to phenomenology. Of particular importance here is radical behaviorism’s emphasis on final causality and its approach to ‘private events’ in terms of the interpersonal functions served by these events. Third, we propose a mutual correction, both of behaviorism by phenomenology and of phenomenology by behaviorism, in which behaviorism’s notion of the environment may better be conceptualized through the phenomenological notion of the ‘lived-world,’ and phenomenology could adopt radical behaviorism’s dialectical and constructivist perspective. Finally, we discuss several implications for understanding psychopathology. (shrink)

The life of Saint Teresa of Jesus, the most famous mystic of sixteenth-century Spain, was characterized by recurrent visions and states of ecstasy. In this paper, we examine social components related to Teresa’s personal crises and the historical conditions of her times, factors that must be taken into account to understand these unusual forms of experience and behavior. Many of these factors (e.g., increasing individualism and reflexivity) are precursors of the condition of modern times. Indeed, certain parallels can be observed (...) between Saint Teresa and certain present-day psychopathological disorders. The analogy should not, however, be carried too far. Religion played a particularly crucial role in Teresa’s cultural context; as a result, it would be misleading to view her mystical experiences as resulting from a mental disorder. (shrink)

El presente artículo presenta los nuevos e importantes descubrimientos en la terraza litoral al pie del oasis de niebla, a partir de Noviembre de 2003, que junto a estudios anteriores conforman un cuadro general bastante completo de los patrones de asentamiento, modus vivendi, costumbres y actividades económicas de los antiguos pobladores costeros del norte de Chile, que reafirman la enorme importancia que adquirió el ecosistema de oasis de niebla costero en el género de vida, tipos de asentamiento y desplazamientos de (...) los cazadores-recolectores marinos del litoral norte. (shrink)

El objetivo de este texto es investigar sobre los posibles puntos de encuentro entre la psicoterapia existencial, un paradigma psicológico arraigado en las filosofías de la existencia, y el posicionamiento del profesor Marino Pérez Álvarez, quien se define a sí mismo como conductista radical, respecto a su manera de entender la existencia humana y el modelo más adecuado de psicoterapia. Para ello se proponen seis puntos de encuentro: necesidad de una fundamentación filosófica para la psicología, crítica al cientificismo (...) y al modelo médico, interpretación de los trastornos mentales como problemas de la vida cotidiana, recuperación del paciente como protagonista de la terapia, crítica a la psicología positiva y crítica al dualismo cartesiano. (shrink)

Recent research has shown that cultural, linguistic, and sociodemographic peculiarities influence the measurement of trait emotional intelligence. Assessing trait EI in different populations fosters cross-cultural research and expands the construct’s nomological network. In mental health, the trait EI of clinical populations has been scarcely researched. Accordingly, the present study examined the relationship between trait EI and key sociodemographic variables on Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire datasets with mental healthcare patients from three different Spanish-speaking countries. Collectively, these datasets comprised 528 participants, 23% (...) from Chile, 28% from Peru, and 49% from Spain. The sociodemographic variables we used for trait EI comparisons were gender, age, educational level, civil status, and occupational status. Analyses involved Multigroup Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling and analysis of covariance. Our results revealed significant between-country differences in trait EI across the studied sociodemographic variables and interactions between these variables. Measurement invariance across the datasets was attained up to the scalar level regarding gender and education, although analyses on age, civil status, and occupation displayed non-invariance. The resultant psychometric evidence supports the suitability of the TEIQue-SF for the accurate cross-cultural assessment of trait EI in mental health settings. It also highlights the importance of incorporating trait EI into extant psychotherapeutic frameworks to enhance non-pharmacological treatment efficacy. (shrink)

Two aspects of consciousness are first considered: consciousness as awareness (phenomenological meaning) and consciousness as strategic control (functional meaning). As to awareness, three types can be distinguished: first, awareness as the phenomenal experiences of objects and events; second, awareness as meta-awareness, i.e., the awareness of mental life itself; third, awareness as self-awareness, i.e., the awareness of being oneself. While phenomenal experience and self-awareness are usually present during dreaming (even if many modifications are possible), meta-awareness is usually absent (apart from some (...) particular experiences of self-reflectiveness) with the major exception of lucid dreaming. Consciousness as strategic control may also be present in dreams. The functioning of consciousness is then analyzed, following a cognitive model of dream production. In such a model, the dream is supposed to be the product of the interaction of three components: (a) the bottom-up activation of mnemonic elements coming from LTM systems, (b) interpretative and elaborative top-down processes, and (c) monitoring of phenomenal experience. A feedback circulation is activated among the components, where the top-down interpretative organization and the conscious monitoring of the oneiric scene elicitates other mnemonic contents, according to the requirements of the dream plot. This dream productive activity is submitted to unconscious and conscious processes. (shrink)

El presente artículo pretende seguir el rastro de la noción de λόγοι σπερματικοί, clave de la explicación física estoica sobre la generación, y su inserción en la corriente neoplatónica, por la que consideramos que llega a Agustín de Hipona, quien la utiliza en su exégesis de los relatos de la creación que aparecen en las Escrituras. La racionalidad seminal es analógica, atraviesa y da sentido a la constitución misma del cosmos, y es ella misma, en su más elevada expresión, el (...) Λόγος que era en el principio, fundamento de lo real. (shrink)

This paper examines the contribution of the PhD dissertation of the American cytologist Michael F. Guyer (1874-1959) to the early establishment (in 1902-1903) of the parallel relationship between cytological chromosome behaviour in meiosis and Mendel's laws. Guyer's suggestions were among the first, which attempted to relate the variation observed in the offspring in hybridisation studies by a coherent cytological chromosome mechanism to meiosis before the rediscovery of Mendel's principles. This suggested for the first time that the chromosome mechanism involved a (...) conjugation of maternal and paternal chromosomes during the synapsis followed by a segregation of parental chromosomes in the final germ cells and a random union of the final germ cells in the fertilization. It shows that this early suggestion was similar to William Austin Cannon's later chromosome proposal attempting to explain Mendel's principles and had some influence on Walter Sutton's cytological suggestion explaining correctly the behaviour of Mendel's particle by 1903. (shrink)

Notch is a mechanosensitive receptor that requires direct cell–cell contact for its activation. Both the strength and the range of notch signaling depend on the size and geometry of the contact sites between cells. These properties of cell–cell contacts in turn depend on cell shape and polarity. At the molecular level, the E3 ubiquitin ligase Neuralized links receptor activation with epithelial cell remodeling. Neur regulates the endocytosis of the Notch ligand Delta, hence Notch activation. It also targets the apical polarity (...) protein Stardust to promote the endocytosis of the Crumbs complex, thereby contributing to epithelium remodeling. Here, we review the interplay between Notch signaling and cell polarity and discuss the possible significance of linking Notch signaling with epithelial cell polarity via a common regulator. Notch receptor activation depends on direct cell–cell contacts that in turn depends on cell shape and cellular polarity. The size and geometry of cell–cell contacts have an impact on the strength and range of signaling. The E3 ubiquitin ligase Neuralized regulates the endocytosis and signaling activity of Delta. The activity of Neuralized is tightly regulated during development. Neuralized also modulates epithelial cell polarity by targeting the apical polarity protein Stardust and by promoting the endocytosis of Crumbs. Thus, the cell-specific expression of Neuralized couples Notch receptor activation with cell polarity regulation in epithelia. (shrink)

This article seeks to locate Louis Althusser’s late preoccupation with the status of Marxists in philosophy through a survey of archival and marginal texts written on and amid struggles within the French education system. This material evidences that Althusser held a long-term ambition to reconcile the demands of being a Marxist in his professional life with the demands of being a philosopher in his political life. On this basis, this article offers an expanded contextualisation of the stakes that weighed upon (...) Althusser’s shifting understanding and inhabitation of a Marxist position in philosophy. It aims to show that Althusser’s involvement with, and changing attitudes towards, the educational institution (and in particular the teaching of philosophy) played a significant role in forging the discontinuities in his conceptualisation of Marxist philosophy. The article additionally traces the afterlife of this practice in the work of Jacques Derrida and the Groupe de recherches sur l’enseignement de a philosophe (GREPH). (shrink)

This paper proposes to call «countermodern aesthetics» a philosophical line that, reaching from the last Kant to Heidegger, would oppose to the modern dominance of theory while acknowledging the inner connection of the aesthetic to truth, to the tragic truth. It presents then cinema as a mass medium that modern aesthetics interprets according to its own conception of art in order to fit it into the advanced capitalist system and its ideology. And, finally, ir argues that S.Zizek´s alternative understanding of (...) cinema, because of the tragic condition of its very underlying metaphysics, continues the tradition that has been presented as «counter-modern aesthetics». (shrink)

Este trabajo intenta analizar las tensiones e interrelaciones entre el paradigma del reconocimiento y el paradigma de la redistribución. En concreto se analiza críticamente la obra de Nancy Frazer. En este sentido, se propone el paradigma de la inclusión, para un tercer ámbito, el de la política. Este paradigma se basaría en el ideal de la igual dignidad y la tricotomía inclusión/exclusión/participación. También se plantean reservas a la noción de paridad participativa, que según Fraser, hace conmensurables todas las demandas de (...) justicia. La conclusión es que redistribución y reconocimiento son irreductibles, están interrelacionados y en tensión. Para los casos de soluciones contrapuestas, se propone la noción de inconmensurabilidad que sostienen los defensores del pluralismo de valores -Berlin,Gray-. En casos de conflicto, redistribución y reconocimiento abocarían a una respuesta similar a cómo se debería resolver un dilema. (shrink)

El presente estudio busca determinar posibles diferencias por sexo en la aparición de variables asociadas al síndrome de Burnout medidos a través del clima y la satisfacción organizacional en una muestra de 233 trabajadores de la ciudad de Arica, pertenecientes a cinco diferentes actividades económicas (educación, salud, comercio de tangibles e intangibles, y administración pública).

Genetic relatedness figures heavily in contemporary ethical debates on egg freezing, although the arguments lack empirical‐based evidence. Rather than adding another theoretical view on the moral relevance of genetic connections, this paper instead proposes an empirically grounded perspective based on two independent qualitative interview‐based studies conducted in Belgium and France. Three themes emerge from our empirical data: (1) prioritizing family building; (2) centering the gestational experience of motherhood; and (3) identifying the complexities and limitations of adoption. These themes suggest that (...) the relationship between egg freezing, genetics, biological motherhood, and adoption is highly complex and less straightforward than what is often assumed in the egg freezing debate. Our study provides more detailed insights into women's ambivalent experiences regarding those reproductive options. We discuss the ethical implications of our empirical findings and hold that pursuing genetic desire is not necessarily the main moral reason why women freeze their eggs. (shrink)

En este trabajo se define formamente el concepto de representacion en química utilizando homomorfismos desde estructuras algebraicas, que llamamos sistemas de tipo C, en otras estructuras especiales de símbolos muy relacionados con los que son habituales en la qímica experimental. Para la definicion de los sistemas de tipo C se ha seleccionado un conjunto minimo de relaciones y funciones, que son necesarias para expresar proposiciones significativas en química. Tambien se define un lenguaje formal de primer orden adecuado a los sistemas (...) de tipo C, que llamamos L. EI resultado principal que se demuestra es que toda representación que verifica las mismas sentencias de L que un sistema de tipo C, es necesariamente isomorfo a él. Se concluye por lo tanto que puede existir un problema linguístico subyacente en la aplicacion que de la mecaníca cuántica se hace en la química teórica.The concept of representation in chemistry bas been formallv defined by means of homomorphisms from algebraical structures, which we call type-C systems, to some special sets of symbols which can be related to the symbols ordinarily used in experimental chemistry. A minimum number of relations and functions, which would suffice to express significant propositions in chemistry, have been chosen to define type-C systems. A first order formal language L adequate to type-C systems has been defined. It has been shown that each representation that verifies the same sentences of L as a type-C system is necessarily isomorphic to it. It is concluded that a systematic study of the representation problem in chemistry is in order because a deep language problem underlies the application of quantum mechanies to chemical problems. (shrink)

I present some puzzling cases regarding knowledge and its relation to rational credence. They seem to entail a failure of an apparently correct principle: if S knows P, then the epistemic justi...

The susceptibility of online learning to cheating behavior remains a contentious and unresolved issue. A cross-sectional explanatory research design was utilized to test the hypothesized factors influencing academic cheating in online learning. Our study involved 562 participants, selected through a non-probability sampling technique, who were surveyed using online questionnaires designed to measure the identified factors. We tested the hypotheses by utilizing path analysis through the partial least square regression approach within the SMART-PLS software. The demographics such as gender and age (...) of the students, along with the roles of teachers and school administration significantly influenced the students’ instances of self-reported academic cheating. The students’ attitude toward academic cheating emerged as an important factor in predicting cheating behaviors. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research explorations into other potential factors that may contribute to academic dishonesty in online learning. (shrink)

L’auteur propose, au travers de la notion d’intersubjectivité issue des travaux groupalistes, d’ouvrir à un décryptage holistique des processus psychiques inférant à la parole, et au comportement d’enfants. Au travers du croisement des points de vue diachroniques et synchroniques, la question des maillages intersubjectifs entre parents et enfant y est traitée. Au travers du cadre d’un Point Rencontre, un cas et quelques vignettes cliniques permettent de repérer ces enjeux intersubjectifs et tentent de fournir une réflexion pour renouer des liens filiaux (...) dans des problématiques de rupture. L’auteur cherche à apporter des pistes pour aider le travailleur social à prendre de la distance, et mieux saisir ce qui se joue dans un cadre ou une institution particulière. La notion de chaos déterministe représente un cadre épistémologique qui souligne les notions de complexité à gérer. (shrink)

Norton’s very simple case of indeterminism in classical mechanics has given rise to a literature critical of his result. I am interested here in posing a new objection different from the ones made to date. The first section of the paper expounds the essence of Norton’s model and my criticism of it. I then propose a specific modification in the absence of gravitational interaction. The final section takes into consideration a surprising consequence for classical mechanics from the new model introduced (...) here. (shrink)

Según Williamson, saber y creer son estados mentales, pero creer algo verdadero y creer justificadamente algo verdadero no lo son. Ese tratamiento discriminatorio es relevante para la epistemología de Williamson. Su principal tesis epistemológica negativa y su principal tesis epistemológica positiva están en peligro si su teoría metafísica sobre lo mental es incorrecta. Presento aquí un problema para dicha teoría: impone limitaciones implausibles a los posibles usos de conceptos y expresiones lingüísticas. Describiré algunas opciones que tendría Williamson para evitar el (...) problema; pero sostendré que acarrean cierta dosis de arbitrariedad. (shrink)

The educational reform movement in social studies has focused on constructivist and inquiry-oriented approaches to the teaching of history. Since many social studies teacher education students have had little experience with such approaches in their own schooling, special attention needs to be given to these topics within teacher preparation programs if they are to be implemented in schools. One pathway for accomplishing this is through investigations of local history. This article presents an exploratory qualitative research study investigating pre-service teachers' understanding (...) of inquiry and the impact of a set of lessons in a methods class using local history in the service of inquiry-oriented learning. The results suggest that local history can be an effective tool for stimulating interest in and a deeper understanding of inquiry-oriented teaching. (shrink)

Empirical political theory has grown in importance. In empirical political theory, attention to data is part of the evaluative step. A concern was raised that being attentive to the content of political science data implies that such attentiveness would limit the normative contours of empirical political theory, and will create a status-quo bias. This concern has been called the ‘problem of critical distance’. One way to appraise the significance of this problem is to examine the work done by empirical political (...) theorists such as Anderson (on racial integration), Wenar (on international trade), and Carens (on immigration). All three scholars suggest radical policies that differ from existing institutions and rules. The likelihood that a theory will suffer from the problem of critical distance will depend on the type of usage of data by a given theorist, her/his normative standpoint, and the manner in which they coalesce or differ. (shrink)

El presente trabajo reflexiona críticamente en torno a la inclusión educativa sobre la base de: a) la labor investigativa desarrollada acerca del derecho a la educación a partir de narrativas de jóvenes con discapacidad en la educación superior, como también de b) diferentes encuentros con estudiantes y docentes de distintos niveles educativos y c) las actividades desarrolladas en el marco de distintas redes en las que confluyen el activismo y el campo académic. Presenta los temas de modo espiralado, es decir, (...) con la intención de desarrollar reflexiones que permitan avanzar en un posicionamiento crítico-activo, pero volviendo permanentemente sobre algunos nudos centrales que tensan el devenir de la inclusión educativa y la discapacidad: la ideología de la normalidad, la lógica binaria, el capacitismo, la colonialidad, los procesos de identificación y la necesidad de promover un giro epistémico para el trabajo institucional cotidiano, tanto en el terreno macro como micropolítico. Se destacan tanto las responsabilidades ineludibles del Estado y de sus sistemas educativos como también de todas las partes que los conformamos. (shrink)

En este artículo se analiza el paso lingüístico de la razón moderna de su monologicidad al diálogo inter-subjetivo con el otro. La razón no es sólo una experiencia para objetivar el mundo, sino para comprenderlo y comunicarnos entre nosotros. Ello implica una pragmática inter-subjetiva donde el mundo de vida alcance ese relieve comunicacional que nos hace viable un diálogo que nos permita razonar con argumentos éticos-políticos y consensuar prácticas comunicativas democráticas más liberadoras.

Is the boundary between the normal and the pathological real or fiction? Are health and disease just a matter of fact or are they value-laden? Here we present some examples of how alleged diseases can be invented and propagated by the industry (disease mongering) or by the methodology of medical science itself. We show that the boundary between health and disease is blurred and depends on individual and social representations, culture relative ways of categorising things and people, and by the (...) society’s degree of medicalisation. However, we do not mean that it is not real, rather that it is more complex than expected, as the subjectivity of social constructions and individual experiences makes them no less real. Finally, we conclude that health and disease belong to both objective and subjective kinds of reality, so the fictional can be real. (shrink)