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Contents
The Opening of the Black Box: Is Psychology Prepared?
Uriel G. Foa and David L. Margules, Temple University
The Journal of Mind and Behavior, Autumn 1983, Volume 4, Number 4, Pages 435–449, ISSN 0271–0137
Advances in methods for observing
the neural and hormonal events that coordinate behavior pose a
challenge for psychology. Such research suggests that these events
are complex and highly organized developmentally. They are more
likely to be understood when considered in their relationship
to one another than when taken in isolation. Further, examples
from a variety of areas appear to indicate that variables at different
levels are rarely related one-by-one Rather, the rule appears
to be of pattern-to-pattern. On the psychological side a theory
of patterns appears to be wanting. Some of the metatheoretical
problems involved in developing such a theory are discussed. Methods
of analysis for a large number of variables are available provided
these variables are organized in patterns A psychological theory
meeting the new challenge requires autonomous developments within
psychology, since it is unlikely to grow from advances in the
neurological sciences.
Requests for reprints should be sent to Uriel G. Foa,
505 Weiss Hall,
Temple university,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122.
The Experience of a Conscious Self
Thomas Natsoulas, University of California, Davis
The Journal of Mind and Behavior, Autumn 1983, Volume 4, Number 4, Pages 451–478, ISSN 0271–0137
Contrary to what a number of prominent
psychologists have lately proposed, the present article argues
that there is no inner conscious subject. Insofar as a mental
episode may be said to have a subject, or to be had by a conscious
self, it is always the self-aware human being who is its subject.
The human being's experience of a conscious self, as being distinct
from himself or herself, amounts to a natural dissociation produced
by the human being's self-awarenesses. There is a strong tendency
to distinguish anything of which one is aware from that which
is aware of it. This leaves, finally, and inner subject of which
one cannot be aware, but to which one has learned to make a purported
reference each time one is directly aware of mental episode.
Requests for reprints should be sent to T. Natsoulas, Ph.D.,
Psychology Department,
University of California,
Davis, California 95616.
Causal Attributions:
Phenomenological and Dialectical Aspects
Robert E. Lana and Marianthi Georgoudi, Temple University
The Journal of Mind and Behavior, Autumn 1983, Volume 4, Number 4, Pages 479–489, ISSN 0271–0137
The theory of causal attribution
is examined within a phenomenological/dialectical framework. It
is suggested that causal attributions be seen as dynamic, evolving
processes which encompass a constant interplay of chance versus
causal notions expressed in the subjects' decisionary process.
A modification of the unified causal scheme imposed by attribution
theorists on the explanation of behavior is proposed which considers
the subjects' intentionality in the constitution of meaningful
explanations within a social context. The 'reason-cause' distinction
is, thus, given primary importance. Furthermore, it is suggested
that the dichotomy between dispositional and situational factors
be substituted by a dynamic, dialectic interplay between these
factors aiming at the construction of social meaning.
Requests for reprints should be sent to Robert E. Lana, Ph.D.,
Office of the Dean,
Graduate School,
Temple University,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122.
The Implications of Langer's Philosophy of Mind for a Science of Psychology
Joseph R. Royce, University of Alberta
The Journal of Mind and Behavior, Autumn 1983, Volume 4, Number 4, Pages 491–505, ISSN 0271–0137
This paper constitutes a two part
exposition of Langer's trilogy on Mind: An Essay on Human Feeling.
Part I, which presents Langer's critique of contemporary psychology,
includes the following criticisms: the blind adoption of physics'
world view as the model for conducting psychological science,
the cultist application of mathematics in psychology, the anthropomorphizing
of animal behavior, and the erroneous claim that subhuman primates
are capable of using human language. In Part II the following
Langer prescriptions for corrective action are presented: develop
prescientific, generative ideas about the nature of mind, such
as the concept of "feeling"; replace behavioral concepts with
mentalistic concepts, such as the concept of mental act; conduct
a thorough analysis of the evolution of mind as a basis for distinguishing
between animal and human mentality. Langer presents two major
criteria for distinguishing between human and animal - the ability
to symbolize, and t he development of intellectual and moral values
in human societies. Langer's trilogy is deemed worthy of extended
analysis because it holds the potential of changing the conceptual
foundations of psychology.
Requests for reprints should be sent to Joseph R. Royce, Ph.D.,
The Center for Advanced Study in Theoretical Psychology,
The University of Alberta,
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E9.
General Contextualism, Ecological Science and Cognitive Research
Robert R. Hoffman, Adelphi University and James M. Nead, University of Minnesota
The Journal of Mind and Behavior, Autumn 1983, Volume 4, Number 4, Pages 507–559, ISSN 0271–0137
The present paper is an attempt
at specifying some principles of a new research-oriented movement
which appears to be taking place in experimental psychology, a
movement toward contextualist, ecological, and functionalist views.
In order to analyze various "world views," we rely on the theory
of S.C. Pepper. Our focus is on cognitive science, which includes
the experimental psychology of cognition and the study of artificial
intelligence. Since a major concern of cognitive science is the
issue of "mental representation," a main concern of the present
paper is with philosophies and theories of mental representations.
Analysis of the metaphors that are relied upon in discussions
about mental representations highlights some basic claims of cognitive
science, for example, the claim that representations must be analyzed
primarily in terms of their computational efficiency.. Our analysis
of the contextualist view focuses on research examples taken from
Gibsonian ecological psychology and the recent research on event
cognition by Jenkins and his colleagues. This research includes
studies on expert knowledge, prose comprehension, event perception,
motion perception, face perception, and speech perception. Contextualism
entail a reinterpretation of the purposes and goals of cognitive
psychology. Not only does contextualism define itself through
contrasts with the prevalent information processing views, but
more fundamentally, ecological research on perception and recent
research on event cognition rely on a common set of positive contextualist
principles.
Requests for reprints should be sent to Robert R. Hoffman,
Department of Psychology,
Adelphi University,
Garden City, New York 11530.
Book Review >
Theories of the Chakras: A Bridge to Higher Consciousness.
Hiroshi Motoyama. Wheaton, Illinois: Theosophical Publishing House, 1982.
Reviewed by Barbara Ivanova, Moscow, USSR
The Journal of Mind and Behavior, Autumn 1983, Volume 4, Number 4, Pages 561–562, ISSN 0271–0137
[Note: Early paragraph, no abstract
available.] For many decades established science has been too
pragmatical to understand roots and causes, inner meanings and
the real connections between investigated facts and natural phenomena:
the way they lead our thought and influence our lives. In recent
years we have seen a new breakthrough, which can help us to go
beyond the limits of statistics, digitals and superficial "finger-philosophy"
- that is, the predominating idea that things are only "real"
or "true," if we can touch them with the "fingers" of formal control
methods or apparatuses. Now the time is ripe to give more attention
to the real truth, the inner realities, the main instrument of
connection with the Universe - the human being. One of the merits
of such books as the Theories of the Chakras: A Bridge to Higher
Consciousness by Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama (selected by UNESCO
in 1974 as one of the world's ten foremost parapsychologists,
Japan, 1982), is exactly the investigation of these connections.
Dr. Motoyama's theories serve a a real bridge between the empirical
dimension of t today's science and the inner dimensions of higher
awareness. Works on this level help us to go beyond our superficial
understanding of this tragic and transitional age.
Requests for reprints should be
sent to The Institute of Mind and Behavior, P.O. Box 522, Village
Station, New York City, New York 10014.
Book Review >
Robert Lowell: A Biography.
Ian Hamilton. New York: Random House, 1982.
Reviewed by Gordon Patterson, Florida
Institute of Technology.
The Journal of Mind and Behavior, Autumn 1983, Volume 4, number 4, Pages 563–564 ISSN 0271–0137
[Note: First paragraph, no abstract
available.] Robert Lowell died six years ago. He lived a turbulent,
confused and sometimes brilliant life. The English poet and literary
critic, Ian Hamilton, has captured much of Lowell's personality
in his Robert Lowell: A Biography. Hamilton spent five
years tracking down sources, interviewing Lowell's acquaintances,
and examining Lowell's personal papers. It paid off. At times,
such as in his analysis of Lowell's Life Studies (1959),
he deepens our appreciation of Lowell's mind. It is regrettable
that Hamilton rarely allows himself to speculate on the relationship
between Lowell's life, his imagination, his work, and his epoch's
poetic sensibility. Nevertheless, the book deserves praise. Future
students of Anglo-American literature will be ill advised if they
ignore this book.
Requests for reprints should be sent to Gordon Patterson, Ph.D.,
Department of Humanities,
Florida Institute of Technology,
Melbourne, Florida 32901.
Book Review >
On Literacy.
Robert Pattison. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1982.
Reviewed by William J. Hampton, Tempo Advertising and Public Relations.
The Journal of Mind and Behavior, Autumn 1983, Volume 4, number 4, Pages 565–567 ISSN 0271–0137
[Note: First paragraph, no abstract
available.] It is the notion of Robert Pattison, a teacher of
humanities at Southampton College, that people generally do not
have a very clear idea of what "literacy" means, or ought to mean,
and that the word therefore needs more precise defining than it
has thus far gotten. This has caused him to produce On Literacy,
subtitled The Politics of the Word From Homer to the Age of
Rock, a work which turns out to be a curious amalgam of shrewd
observation about what language has meant to its users over the
centuries and solemn, stuffed-owl nonsense.
Requests for reprints should be sent to William J. Hampton,
Tempo Advertising and Public Relations, Inc.,
620 Pawnee Street,
Jackson, Michigan 49203.
Book Review >
Saints, Scholars, and Schizophrenics: Mental Illness in Rural Ireland.
Nancy Scheper-Hughes. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982.
Reviewed by Steven E. Connelly, Indiana State University.
The Journal of Mind and Behavior, Autumn 1983, Volume 4, number 4, Pages 569–573 ISSN 0271–0137
[Note: First paragraph, no abstract
available.]First published in 1979, Nancy Scheper-Hughes's Saints,
Scholars, and Schizophrenics won the Margaret Mead Award in
1981 as a work that "interprets anthropological data and principles
in ways that make them meaningful to a broadly concerned public."
To be sure, accessibility is precedent among the many virtues
of this small masterpiece, for accessibility is the hub from which
its virtues radiate. By her own declaration, Scheper-Hughes is
committed to writing for "the public" rather than for a "scientific
elite," and this commitment is realized: she writes gracefully,
lucidly, and with a minimum of jargon. Indeed, her very rare lapses
into jargon occur only when she feels it necessary to appeal to
established authority in support of her thesis. Generally her
prose is so clear that not only the non-specialist but the average
reader can comprehend her arguments and understand the issues
she raises. Certainly her subjects grasped the implications of
this study; one of the pleasures of this first paperback edition
is Scheper-Hughes's new preface, which speaks to the ethical dilemma
of publicly exploring the lives of people who become cone's friends,
people capable of reading and understanding such a public examination
of their lives. The reactions of the residents of her pseudonymous
parish of Ballybran underscore a fundamental question applicable
to all such studies, a question that many researchers avoid completely,
but that Scheper-Hughes, to her credit, asks: Cui bonum?
Requests for reprints should be sent to Steven E. Connelly, Ph.D.,
Department of English,
Indiana State University,
Terre Haute, Indiana 47809.
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