First-person Approaches Research Articles

Validity and Rigour in Soma Design-Sketching with the Soma

We report on the design processes of two ongoing soma design projects: the Pelvic Chair and the Breathing Wings. These projects take a first-person, soma design approach, grounded in a holistic perspective of the mind and body (the soma). We contribute a reflective account of our soma design processes that deepens the field’s understanding of how soma design is achieved through first-person approaches. We show how we use our somas, our first-person experiences, to stimulate a design process, to prototype through and to use as a way of critiquing emerging designs. Grounding our analysis in new materialism, we show how our designs are in essence, “performative intra-actions”. Using our own somas, our designs open up for experiences within certain constraints, allowing for a material-discursive agency of sorts. Many different somas may be intra-acted through our designs, even if it was our somas who started them.

Towards a Contemplative Research Framework for Training Self-Observation in HCI: A Study of Compassion Cultivation

With the emergence in human–computer interaction (HCI) of researching contemplative practices, authentic descriptions of first-person lived experience informing design are few. Most researchers in HCI are not trained in observing the mind. We draw on learnings from neurophenomenology, inspired by well-established Buddhist techniques for mind-training. We present a self-observation ofTonglen, a Buddhist meditation technique for compassion, conducted over 12 weeks. We found that to keenly observe and document the practice, it is important to go through preparatory stages of stabilising attention and observing the mind. For the practitioner-cum-researcher, the technique should be embedded into a framework training self-observation and developing meta-awareness, supported by documentation of somatic snapshots and reflective journal writing. The first-person method of self-enquiry and account of self-evidence offer insight and directions for refining first-person approaches for future HCI research in body and mind cultivation, and design implications for interactive technologies supporting any practice with a contemplative component.

Looking from within: Comparing first-person approaches to studying experience

Fostering our understanding of how humans behave, feel and think is a fundamental goal of psychological research. Widely used methods in psychological research are self-report and behavioral measures which require an experimenter to collect data from another person. By comparison, first-person measures that assess more subtle facets of subjective experiences, are less widely used. Without integrating such more subtle first-person measures, however, fundamental aspects of psychological phenomena remain inaccessible to psychological theorizing. To explore the value and potential contribution of first-person methods, the current article aims to provide an overview over already established first-person methods and compare them on relevant dimensions. Based on these results, researchers can select suitable first-person methods to study different facets of subjective experiences. Overall, the investigation of psychological phenomena from a first-person perspective can complement and enrich existing research from a third-person perspective.

Integrating Contemplative and Ignatian Pedagogies in a Buddhist Studies Classroom

The burgeoning application of contemplative pedagogy (CP) in Buddhist studies courses has been widely discussed; yet, how educators incorporate it with other teaching strategies has not attracted much scholarly attention. Drawing from the author’s teaching experience at a Jesuit University, this article demonstrates that integrating CP’s first-person, second-person, and third-person approaches with the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm (IPP) will create a multidimensional environment in learning Buddhism in higher education. This article first argues that the issue of avoiding even implied proselytizing can be successfully overcome, as it is related to the application of Buddhist-inspired contemplative practice, such as Cognitively-Based Compassion Training®, in class. Next, based on the principles of CP and the IPP, this study shows specific examples of multisensory contemplation activities that expand students’ ways of knowing about Buddhist practice and foster their consideration for others. Third, to complement the Jesuit educational purpose of students’ spiritual growth, and the CP’s advocating for inner growth, this research navigates these concerns in a way that also enhances students’ learning in the course content. In conclusion, a combination of CP and the IPP facilitates the whole-person development as well as deepens students’ understanding of Buddhism.

The many ways of speaking as ‘I’: Wuna Wu’s first-person documentaries from Taiwan

ABSTRACTTouted as a representative of the ‘Me’ generation of documentary makers in twenty-first-century Taiwan, Wuna Wu has appeared as both filmmaker and social actor in her documentaries. Even when the ostensible subject matter of the film is not Wu, she has often inserted herself into the story and the frame. This raises questions of why she elects to be visible to the documentary viewer, what her visibility and performativity in front of the camera allows her to achieve, and what she gains by using a first-person voiceover narration. This essay examines Wu’s first-person positioning in three prize-winning documentaries: Happy or Not (2002), Farewell 1999 (2003) and Let’s Fall in Love (2008) and argues that she has experimented with a wide variety of first-person positionings, ranging from that which renders her vulnerable to that which self-empowers. Her diverse first-person approaches underscore the question of documentary ethics, the importance of mediation for self-identity, and the opportunities for building sociality and community through documentary. Her first-person films bring out the interconnectedness between self and other, providing a window on the residual effects, in modern Taiwan, of the Confucian concept of the self as relationally defined.

Emotional Influences on Cognitive Flexibility Depend on Individual Differences: A Combined Micro-Phenomenological and Psychophysiological Study.

Imagine a scenario where you are cooking and suddenly, the contents of the pot start to come out, and the oven bell rings. You would have to stop what you are doing and start responding to the changing demands, switching between different objects, operations and mental sets. This ability is known as cognitive flexibility. Now, add to this scenario a strong emotional atmosphere that invades you as you spontaneously recall a difficult situation you had that morning. How would you behave? Recent studies suggest that emotional states do modulate cognitive flexibility, but these findings are still controversial. Moreover, there is a lack of evidence regarding the underlying brain processes. The purpose of the present study was, therefore, to examine such interaction while monitoring changes in ongoing cortical activity using EEG. In order to answer this question, we used two musical stimuli to induce emotional states (positive/high arousal/open stance and negative/high arousal/closed stance). Twenty-nine participants performed two blocks of the Madrid Card Sorting Task in a neutral silence condition and then four blocks while listening to the counterbalanced musical stimuli. To explore this interaction, we used a combination of first-person (micro-phenomenological interview) and third-person (behavior and EEG) approaches. Our results show that compared to the positive stimuli and silence condition, negative stimuli decrease reaction times (RTs) for the shift signal. Our data show that the valance of the first emotional block is determinant in the RTs of the subsequent blocks. Additionally, the analysis of the micro-phenomenological interview and the integration of first- and third-person data show that the emotional disposition generated by the music could facilitate task performance for some participants or hamper it for others, independently of its emotional valence. When the emotional disposition hampered task execution, RTs were slower, and the P300 potential showed a reduced amplitude compared to the facilitated condition. These findings show that the interaction between emotion and cognitive flexibility is more complex than previously thought and points to a new way of understanding the underlying mechanisms by incorporating an in-depth analysis of individual subjective experience.

Enquiring into the qualitative nature of anger: Challenges and strengths of the introspective method

Anger is known to be a negatively valenced emotion that can trigger different forms of harmful actions. Traditionally, it is studied from a third-person point of view using behavioural tasks or trait questionnaires. These methods can grasp outwardly observable behavioural expressions of anger but cannot tap into its experiential dimension. Hence, first-person approaches can be useful to get a more complete picture. In the current study we investigated the experiential facet of anger episodes using a first-person introspective approach. Findings from our introspective trial showed 1) that the anger experience can be subdivided into a cognitive, affective, somatic, and volitional component, 2) that anger unfolds in a temporal manner with distinct characteristical stages and 3) that anger can be inhibited through cognitive control strategies. While conducting our introspective research, we observed several methodological challenges of this particular method. An overview of how to deal with these issues is provided, thus contributing to anger research in both a theoretical and a methodological way.

The Relevance of Explanatory First-Person Approaches (EFPA) for Understanding Psychopathological Phenomena. The Role of Phenomenology.

The main aim of this paper is to demonstrate the contributions of phenomenology-inspired approaches to the explanation of psychopathological phenomena. First, I introduce the notion of Explanatory First-Person Approaches (EFPA) which share the assumption that the explanation of consciousness and conscious phenomena necessitates, at least partially, phenomenal facts functioning as explanans. Phenomenal facts refer to facts about structures and processes of consciousness. To differentiate phenomenology from other EFPA and to extract its distinctive feature, I compare phenomenology to the method falling under the category of EFPA it overlaps with the most: new introspective methods as recently described. I then present genetic phenomenology as the distinctive feature of phenomenology and show how particularly genetic phenomenology complements biological explanations of psychopathological phenomena in the context of psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. Moreover, I present Cognitive Theory (CT) as the most acknowledged EFPA in the broader scientific community, demonstrate CT’s limitations in explaining conscious phenomena in the context of psychological disturbances such as depression, and show how genetic phenomenology can also significantly complement the cognitive approach. An example in the context of burnout-depression will be given. The overall argument for the significance of phenomenology is as follows: Genetic phenomenology renders phenomenology a distinctive kind of EFPA; genetic phenomenology can complement one of the most dominant non-EFPA accounts in the science of psychiatric disorders: biological reductionism; and genetic phenomenology can complement the most dominant existing EFPA in the science of psychological disturbances: Cognitive Theory.

ON INTROSPECTION AND INTROSPECTIONISM

For some time now, the topics of introspection, inner experience and so-called first-person approaches to the mental, have been the subject of attention in philosophy, psychology and consciousness studies. Indeed, some philosophers (such as David Chalmers) think that a central task of the latter field is to systematically relate and integrate data about subjective experience (first-person data) and data about behavior and brain processes (third-person data).

The structure of psychiatric science.

This essay addresses two interrelated questions: What is the structure of current psychiatric science and what should its goals be? The author analyzed all studies addressing the etiology of psychiatric disorders in the first four 2013 issues of 12 psychiatry and psychology journals. He classified the resulting 197 articles by the risk factors examined using five biological, four psychological, and three environmental levels. The risk factors were widely dispersed across levels, suggesting that our field is inherently multilevel and already practicing empirically based pluralism. However, over two-thirds of the studies had a within-level focus. Two cross-level patterns emerged between 1) systems neuroscience and neuropsychology and 2) molecular or latent genetic factors and environmental risks. The author suggests three fundamental goals for etiological psychiatric research. The first is an eclectic effort to clarify risk factors regardless of level, including those assessed using imaginative understanding, with careful attention to causal inference. An interventionist framework focusing on isolating causal effects is recommended for this effort. The second goal is to clarify mechanisms of illness that will require tracing causal pathways across levels downward to biological neuroscience and upward to social factors, thereby elucidating the important cross-level interactions. Here the philosophy of biology literature on mechanisms can be a useful guide. Third, we have to trace the effects of these causal pathways back up into the mental realm, moving from the Jasperian level of explanation to that of understanding. This final effort will help us expand our empathic abilities to better understand how symptoms are experienced in the minds of our patients.

First-person approaches in neuroscience of consciousness: Brain dynamics correlate with the intention to act

The belief in free will has been frequently challenged since Benjamin Libet published his famous experiment in 1983. Although Libet's experiment is highly dependent upon subjective reports, no study has been conducted that focused on a first-person or introspective perspective of the task. We took a neurophenomenological approach in an N=1 study providing reliable and valid measures of the first-person perspective in conjunction with brain dynamics. We found that a larger readiness potential (RP) is attributable to more frequent occurrences of self-initiated movements during negative deflections of the slow cortical potentials (SCP). These negative deflections occur in parallel with an inner impulse reported by an expert meditator which may in turn lead to a voluntary act. We demonstrate in this proof-of-principle approach that the first-person perspective obtained by an expert meditator in conjunction with neural signal analysis can contribute to our understanding of the neural underpinnings of voluntary acts.

Merging second-person and first-person neuroscience

Schilbach et al. contrast second-person and third-person approaches to social neuroscience. We discuss relations between second-person and first-person approaches, arguing that they cannot be studied in isolation. Contingency is central for converging first- and second-person approaches. Studies of embodiment show how contingencies scaffold first-person perspective and how the transition from a third- to a second-person perspective fundamentally involves first-person contributions.

L’accès aux vécus pré-réflexifs. Quelles perspectives pour la médecine en général et la psychiatrie en particulier ?

Explicitation interview, as a help of verbalization of the action by the subject himself, has been developped by P. Vermersch, who laid the theorical and practical guidelines. In this article, we offer to consider the potential contributions of this method to medical practice, especially psychiatry, but also in first-person approaches in neurosciences. We take side for phenomenological perspective, which gives primacy to the experience of the subject. Initially, we question the medical experience, through the importance of subjectivity in clinical practice. In a second time, we detail the methodology for conducting the explicitation interview and to guarantee its quality. Finally, we consider the epistemological and philosophical aspects inherent in the practice of this interview and the questions it raises about the structure of our consciousness.

The Relevance of Consciousness Studies for Theatre History and Practice in the Context of Globalisation

INTRODUCTION: CONSCIOUSNESS STUDIES AND "FIRST PERSON APPROACHES" The study of human consciousness has become suf.ciently mainstream over the last 10-15 years to make two journals (Consciousness and Cognition and Journal of Consciousness Studies), and numerous books by leading publishers such as OUP and MIT Press, commercially successful. The Center for Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona in Tucson, USA, has led the.eld, with its large bi-annual conferences (since 1994), and the British Psychological Association has approved new sections in Transpersonal Psychology" and "Consciousness and Experiential Psychology" (each with annual conferences and their own peer-reviewed, though smaller scale journals) as late as 1997.