Imparcticle
Jul14-04, 11:38 PM
I'm subscribed to a science and consciousness e-mail news letter. I just got (rather late actually) a set of articles that are seriously interesting, and I'm sure you'll find them interesting as well.
==================================
SCIENCE & CONSCIOUSNESS REVIEW
SCI-CON.ORG NEWSLETTER
==================================
May 13, 2004
ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE
==================================
1. SCR Feature - A specific drug for consciousness, Bernard J. Baars
2. News - Animal minds
3. News - Autonomic responding to aversive words without conscious
valence discrimination
4. News - Increasing Implicit Self-Esteem Through Classical Conditioning
5. News - Why it hurts less to be a man
6. New issue - Self and subjectivity
7. New books from MIT Press
8. New book - Philosophy of the brain
9. New book - Consciousness, Emotional Self-Regulation and the Brain
10. Book reviews from Metapsychology
__________________________________________________ _______________________
__________________________________________________ _______________________
************************
1. SCR Feature - A specific drug for consciousness
Bernard J. Baars
Original to SCR
************************
Millions of people rely on strong coffee every morning to really wake
up. All-night truck drivers sometimes take amphetamines to stay
conscious on the road, and for centuries South American peoples have
chewed coca leaves to stay alert and increase physical endurance. Yet
none of these compounds are specific consciousness drugs. They
stimulate waking along with many side effects. A novel pharmaceutical,
modafinil (provigil), may be the most specific consciousness-promoting
drug yet.
Read more: http://www.sci-con.org/articles/20040701.html
__________________________________________________ _______________________
__________________________________________________ _______________________
************************
2. Animal Minds
New Scientist Print Edition
************************
Do animals have minds of their own, and if they do, what might they be
like? It is an innocent-sounding question, but one that has provoked
tremendous strife among scientists and non-scientists alike. Try telling
a dog-lover that their pet is devoid of personality. Yet there are those
who insist that only humans have minds worthy of the name, because it is
only humans who have complex language. Others apply the definition to
humans and some other primates. Others still ascribe a mind of some
description to all animals, and claim we just need more research to
determine what sort of minds they have. Now we are on the verge of a
revolution that may settle the question.
Read More:
http://archive.newscientist.com/secure/article/article.jsp?rp=2&id=mg18224515.100
[requires subscription, free 7-day trial available]
__________________________________________________ _______________________
__________________________________________________ _______________________
************************
3. Autonomic responding to aversive words without conscious valence
discrimination
Laetitia Silverta, Sylvain Delplanquea, Hammou Bouwalerh
Universit de Lille, France
************************
A growing body of data suggests that the emotional dimension of a
stimulus can be processed without conscious identification of the
stimulus. The arousal system could be activated by unrecognised
biologically significant stimuli through simple physical stimulus
features related to threat, without any evaluation of the meaning of the
stimulus. However, unconscious processing of emotionally laden words
cannot rely only on perceptual features but must include some analysis
of symbolic meaning. The first aim of the present study was to assess
whether masked (unrecognised) aversive words can elicit enhanced skin
conductance responses (SCRs), a major autonomic index of emotional
arousal, in normal participants. Our second aim was to determine whether
any autonomic activation related to affective value of words is
independent from access of this value to consciousness. Thus, the
presentation duration of masked aversive and neutral words was
determined, for each participant, in such a way that (1) identification
was precluded, (2) valence discrimination was at chance, as indicated by
performance in a forced-choice two-alternative task and by confidence
ratings of the responses, and (3) emotional and neutral words were not
detected differentially. SCRs were recorded during masked and unmasked
presentations of both types of word. SCRs elicited by unmasked words,
and also by masked words, were of greater magnitude when the words were
emotional than when they were neutral. Consequently, in normal
participants, autonomic activation can be a discriminative marker of the
affective dimension of unrecognised verbal material in the absence of
conscious valence identification.
Read More:
http://tinyurl.com/2snn3 [ScienceDirect]
__________________________________________________ _______________________
__________________________________________________ _______________________
************************
4. Increasing Implicit Self-Esteem Through Classical Conditioning
Jodene R. Baccus, Mark W. Baldwin, and Dominic J. Packer
McGill University, Canada
************************
Implicit self-esteem is the automatic, nonconscious aspect of
self-esteem. This study demonstrated that implicit self-esteem can be
increased using a computer game that repeatedly pairs self-relevant
information with smiling faces. These findings, which are consistent
with principles of classical conditioning, establish the associative and
interpersonal nature of implicit self-esteem and demonstrate the
potential benefit of applying basic learning principles in this domain.
Read More:
http://www.psychologicalscience.org/members/journal_issues/psinpress/Baccus.pdf
__________________________________________________ _______________________
__________________________________________________ _______________________
************************
5. Why it hurts less to be a man
Nature Science Update
************************
It will come as no surprise to some... men are less sensitive than
women, at least to pain. Researchers have found that the male hormone
testosterone masks feelings of discomfort. They believe that such
tolerance effects may help men to maintain their stamina in fights, when
testosterone levels are high.
Read More:
http://tinyurl.com/2w3rn [Nature.com]
__________________________________________________ _______________________
__________________________________________________ _______________________
************************
6. Self and subjectivity
Volume 3 Number 3/July-September 2004 of Self and Identity is now
available on the Taylor & Francis - Psychology Press web site at
http://psychologypress.metapress.com.
************************
This issue contains:
Self-Construal and Cooperation: Is the Interdependent Self More
Cooperative Than the Independent Self?
p. 177
Sonja Utz
URL of article:
http://psychologypress.metapress.com/link.asp?id=AQHBA1054U3NG7N0
Helping New Acquaintances Make the Right Impression: Balancing Image
Concerns of Others and Self
p. 191
Barry R Schlenker, Audra Lifka, Scott A Wowra
URL of article:
http://psychologypress.metapress.com/link.asp?id=H4XEW7Y5Y05AJP5L
Feeling Controlled and Drinking Motives Among College Students:
Contingent Self-Esteem as a Mediator
p. 207
Clayton Neighbors, Mary E Larimer, Irene Markman Geisner, C Raymond Knee
URL of article:
http://psychologypress.metapress.com/link.asp?id=66Q6RWPC1FE7Y8XH
Empathy and the Self-Absorption Paradox II: Self-Rumination and
Self-Reflection as Mediators Between Shame, Guilt, and Empathy
p. 225
Jeff Joireman
URL of article:
http://psychologypress.metapress.com/link.asp?id=70YT9056C5DBJYVX
A Three-Factor Model of Social Identity
p. 239
James E Cameron
URL of article:
http://psychologypress.metapress.com/link.asp?id=VK29UV7RU2WJD4FB
Stress-Buffering Effects of Self-Complexity: Reduced Affective Spillover
or Self-Regulatory Processes?
p. 263
Klaus Rothermund, Christian Meiniger
URL of article:
http://psychologypress.metapress.com/link.asp?id=N7T65YKT2WCWCCQC
__________________________________________________ _______________________
__________________________________________________ _______________________
************************
7. New Books from MIT Press
What Is Thought?
By Eric B. Baum
************************
Toward a computational explanation of thought: an argument that
underlying mind is a complex but compact program that corresponds to the
underlying complex structure of the world.
http://mitpress.mit.edu/item.asp?ttype=2&tid=9978&mlid=291
Visual Agnosia Second Edition
By Martha J. Farah
The second edition of the classic book on visual agnosia, updated to
include disorders of semantic knowledge and topographic recognition, and
integrating perspectives from functional neuroimaging throughout.
http://mitpress.mit.edu/item.asp?ttype=2&tid=10116&mlid=291
==================================
SCIENCE & CONSCIOUSNESS REVIEW
SCI-CON.ORG NEWSLETTER
==================================
May 13, 2004
ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE
==================================
1. SCR Feature - A specific drug for consciousness, Bernard J. Baars
2. News - Animal minds
3. News - Autonomic responding to aversive words without conscious
valence discrimination
4. News - Increasing Implicit Self-Esteem Through Classical Conditioning
5. News - Why it hurts less to be a man
6. New issue - Self and subjectivity
7. New books from MIT Press
8. New book - Philosophy of the brain
9. New book - Consciousness, Emotional Self-Regulation and the Brain
10. Book reviews from Metapsychology
__________________________________________________ _______________________
__________________________________________________ _______________________
************************
1. SCR Feature - A specific drug for consciousness
Bernard J. Baars
Original to SCR
************************
Millions of people rely on strong coffee every morning to really wake
up. All-night truck drivers sometimes take amphetamines to stay
conscious on the road, and for centuries South American peoples have
chewed coca leaves to stay alert and increase physical endurance. Yet
none of these compounds are specific consciousness drugs. They
stimulate waking along with many side effects. A novel pharmaceutical,
modafinil (provigil), may be the most specific consciousness-promoting
drug yet.
Read more: http://www.sci-con.org/articles/20040701.html
__________________________________________________ _______________________
__________________________________________________ _______________________
************************
2. Animal Minds
New Scientist Print Edition
************************
Do animals have minds of their own, and if they do, what might they be
like? It is an innocent-sounding question, but one that has provoked
tremendous strife among scientists and non-scientists alike. Try telling
a dog-lover that their pet is devoid of personality. Yet there are those
who insist that only humans have minds worthy of the name, because it is
only humans who have complex language. Others apply the definition to
humans and some other primates. Others still ascribe a mind of some
description to all animals, and claim we just need more research to
determine what sort of minds they have. Now we are on the verge of a
revolution that may settle the question.
Read More:
http://archive.newscientist.com/secure/article/article.jsp?rp=2&id=mg18224515.100
[requires subscription, free 7-day trial available]
__________________________________________________ _______________________
__________________________________________________ _______________________
************************
3. Autonomic responding to aversive words without conscious valence
discrimination
Laetitia Silverta, Sylvain Delplanquea, Hammou Bouwalerh
Universit de Lille, France
************************
A growing body of data suggests that the emotional dimension of a
stimulus can be processed without conscious identification of the
stimulus. The arousal system could be activated by unrecognised
biologically significant stimuli through simple physical stimulus
features related to threat, without any evaluation of the meaning of the
stimulus. However, unconscious processing of emotionally laden words
cannot rely only on perceptual features but must include some analysis
of symbolic meaning. The first aim of the present study was to assess
whether masked (unrecognised) aversive words can elicit enhanced skin
conductance responses (SCRs), a major autonomic index of emotional
arousal, in normal participants. Our second aim was to determine whether
any autonomic activation related to affective value of words is
independent from access of this value to consciousness. Thus, the
presentation duration of masked aversive and neutral words was
determined, for each participant, in such a way that (1) identification
was precluded, (2) valence discrimination was at chance, as indicated by
performance in a forced-choice two-alternative task and by confidence
ratings of the responses, and (3) emotional and neutral words were not
detected differentially. SCRs were recorded during masked and unmasked
presentations of both types of word. SCRs elicited by unmasked words,
and also by masked words, were of greater magnitude when the words were
emotional than when they were neutral. Consequently, in normal
participants, autonomic activation can be a discriminative marker of the
affective dimension of unrecognised verbal material in the absence of
conscious valence identification.
Read More:
http://tinyurl.com/2snn3 [ScienceDirect]
__________________________________________________ _______________________
__________________________________________________ _______________________
************************
4. Increasing Implicit Self-Esteem Through Classical Conditioning
Jodene R. Baccus, Mark W. Baldwin, and Dominic J. Packer
McGill University, Canada
************************
Implicit self-esteem is the automatic, nonconscious aspect of
self-esteem. This study demonstrated that implicit self-esteem can be
increased using a computer game that repeatedly pairs self-relevant
information with smiling faces. These findings, which are consistent
with principles of classical conditioning, establish the associative and
interpersonal nature of implicit self-esteem and demonstrate the
potential benefit of applying basic learning principles in this domain.
Read More:
http://www.psychologicalscience.org/members/journal_issues/psinpress/Baccus.pdf
__________________________________________________ _______________________
__________________________________________________ _______________________
************************
5. Why it hurts less to be a man
Nature Science Update
************************
It will come as no surprise to some... men are less sensitive than
women, at least to pain. Researchers have found that the male hormone
testosterone masks feelings of discomfort. They believe that such
tolerance effects may help men to maintain their stamina in fights, when
testosterone levels are high.
Read More:
http://tinyurl.com/2w3rn [Nature.com]
__________________________________________________ _______________________
__________________________________________________ _______________________
************************
6. Self and subjectivity
Volume 3 Number 3/July-September 2004 of Self and Identity is now
available on the Taylor & Francis - Psychology Press web site at
http://psychologypress.metapress.com.
************************
This issue contains:
Self-Construal and Cooperation: Is the Interdependent Self More
Cooperative Than the Independent Self?
p. 177
Sonja Utz
URL of article:
http://psychologypress.metapress.com/link.asp?id=AQHBA1054U3NG7N0
Helping New Acquaintances Make the Right Impression: Balancing Image
Concerns of Others and Self
p. 191
Barry R Schlenker, Audra Lifka, Scott A Wowra
URL of article:
http://psychologypress.metapress.com/link.asp?id=H4XEW7Y5Y05AJP5L
Feeling Controlled and Drinking Motives Among College Students:
Contingent Self-Esteem as a Mediator
p. 207
Clayton Neighbors, Mary E Larimer, Irene Markman Geisner, C Raymond Knee
URL of article:
http://psychologypress.metapress.com/link.asp?id=66Q6RWPC1FE7Y8XH
Empathy and the Self-Absorption Paradox II: Self-Rumination and
Self-Reflection as Mediators Between Shame, Guilt, and Empathy
p. 225
Jeff Joireman
URL of article:
http://psychologypress.metapress.com/link.asp?id=70YT9056C5DBJYVX
A Three-Factor Model of Social Identity
p. 239
James E Cameron
URL of article:
http://psychologypress.metapress.com/link.asp?id=VK29UV7RU2WJD4FB
Stress-Buffering Effects of Self-Complexity: Reduced Affective Spillover
or Self-Regulatory Processes?
p. 263
Klaus Rothermund, Christian Meiniger
URL of article:
http://psychologypress.metapress.com/link.asp?id=N7T65YKT2WCWCCQC
__________________________________________________ _______________________
__________________________________________________ _______________________
************************
7. New Books from MIT Press
What Is Thought?
By Eric B. Baum
************************
Toward a computational explanation of thought: an argument that
underlying mind is a complex but compact program that corresponds to the
underlying complex structure of the world.
http://mitpress.mit.edu/item.asp?ttype=2&tid=9978&mlid=291
Visual Agnosia Second Edition
By Martha J. Farah
The second edition of the classic book on visual agnosia, updated to
include disorders of semantic knowledge and topographic recognition, and
integrating perspectives from functional neuroimaging throughout.
http://mitpress.mit.edu/item.asp?ttype=2&tid=10116&mlid=291