Human Psychological Functioning Research Articles

Enigma of Pyramidal Neurons: Chirality-Centric View on Biological Evolution. Congruence to Molecular, Cellular, Physiological, Cognitive, and Psychological Functions

The mechanism of brain information processing unfolds within spatial and temporal domains inherently linked to the concept of space–time symmetry. Biological evolution, beginning with the prevalent molecular chirality, results in the handedness of human cognitive and psychological functions (the phenomena known as biochirality). The key element in the chain of chirality transfer from the downstream to upstream processes is the pyramidal neuron (PyrN) morphology–function paradigm (archetype). The most apparent landmark of PyrNs is the geometry of the cell soma. However, “why/how PyrN’s soma gains the shape of quasi-tetrahedral symmetry” has never been explicitly articulated. Resolving the above inquiry is only possible based on the broad-view assumption that encoding 3D space requires specific 3D geometry of the neuronal detector and corresponding network. Accordingly, our hypothesis states that if the primary function of PyrNs, at the organism level, is sensory space symmetry perception, then the pyramidal shape of soma is the best evolutionary-selected geometry to support sensory-motor coupling. The biological system’s non-equilibrium (NE) state is fundamentally linked to an asymmetric, non-racemic, steady state of molecular constituents. The chiral theory of pyramidal soma shape conceptually agrees that living systems have evolved as non-equilibrium systems that exchange energy with the environment. The molecular mechanism involved in developing PyrN’s soma is studied in detail. However, the crucial missing element—the reference to the fundamental link between molecular chirality and the function of spatial navigation—is the main obstacle to resolving the question in demand: why did PyrNs’ soma gain the shape of quasi-tetrahedral symmetry?

CONCEPT OF DIET (AHARA) ACCORDING TO AYURVEDIC PERSPECTIVES: A REVIEW

Ahara is the most important and basic requirement for living beings. Ahara is considered one of the three upastambhas of life. Various concepts and principles of ahara are described in Ayurveda. Some of the unique concepts like satmya – asatmya, pathya – apathya, aharavidhividhan, dwadasha anna pravicharana, ashta ahara vidhi visheshayatana are mentioned for healthy and unhealthy persons. While incorporating the Ayurvedic diet, we must consider the prakriti, agnibala and panchbhautik composition of ahara. Modern life is swift and stressful, and because of that, we have to face lifestyle disorders like diabetes mellitus, hypertension and obesity. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to state that diet is the most important aspect in treating diseases such as diabetes mellitus and obesity. As Ayurveda gives more importance to ahara and rules of taking food, it prevents and reduces the number of complications in these patients. If we prevent a disease, then the cost of treatment is reduced, leading to the betterment of society and health promotion of individuals. Ahara is important in maintaining the human body's normal physiological and psychological functioning. It provides strength, complexion, nourishment and longevity.

Mediation and Learner Reciprocity

The Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) is an effective tool for assessing language learners’ speaking ability. While it is commonly employed in institutional contexts, the OPI has been criticized for not granting due attention to the assistance that the tester offers to the learner. Dynamic Assessment (DA), rooted in Vygotsky’s theory of the development of human higher psychological functions, believes the use of different forms of mediation, when tailored to learners’ needs, enables learners to perform beyond their current level, thus providing insights into their emerging abilities. This study explores the use of DA within the OPI framework. Through a microgenetic analysis of the mediation-learner interactions observed in a series of mock OPI sessions conducted in Mandarin Chinese, we identified the mediation and reciprocity typological moves that are significant to learner development. The analysis showed DA’s potential for not only pinpointing areas of difficulty but also identifying the learner’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and supporting their microgenetic progress. The findings indicate that DA would add an important, yet long neglected, dimension to the OPI framework.

Этические аспекты качества жизни больных атеросклерозом

The concept of quality of life is an integral characteristic of human physical, psychological, emotional, and social functioning. The disorders associated with atherosclerosis reduce the patients’ quality of life. Surgical treatment improves physical health of patients with atherosclerosis affecting primarily precranial arteries. The decrease in the indicators of physical functioning, role-playing, and bodily pain in patients with atherosclerosis mostly affecting the arteries of lower extremities persists in the late postoperative period. Comprehensive analysis of the broad spectrum of factors, such as clinical and demographic, anatomic, laboratory and instrumental, medical and social, and psychological factors, is the key to successful revascularization associated with the lowest risk of possible adverse events that makes it possible to implement the personalized approach to treatment and rehabilitation of patients. Ethical regulation of the quality of life assessment by the patient, his/her relatives and medical professionals is required. Reconciling the positions of the parties on the issue requires bioethical expertise in studying indicators of the quality of life.

Comparative Analysis of the Quality of Life Scales Parameters in Patients with Combination of Stable Ischemic Heart Disease and Metabolic Syndrome

Modern epidemiological studies confirm that comorbid diseases and conditions can have significant impact on diagnostic and treatment of the underlying disease. The problem of the comorbidy of stable coronary heart disease (SCHD) and metabolic syndrome (MS) has high medical and social significance, need high costs for diagnosis and treatment, and leads to decreased of quality of life (QOL). QOL is an important indicator of the health status of patients, which comprehensively characterizes human physical, psychological, emotional and social functioning. The objective: to conduct a comparative analysis of the QOL of patients with combination of SCAD and MS versus patients with isolated SCHD. Materials and methods. The study included 102 patients: 52 people with MS in combination with SCAD and 50 patients with SCHD only. There were 42 (51.2%) men (mean age 49.8 ± 5.3 years), and 40 (48.8%) women (mean age 51.6 ± 6.7 years). The QoL score was assessed by general medical questionnaire – the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item (SF-36), in which all scales form two indicators: mental and physical health and a specialized questionnaire for patient with stable angina pectoris – SAQ (Seattle Angina Questionnaire). The diagnosis of SCHD with functional class (FC) assessment was performed by European Society of Cardiology criteria. MS was established if three out of five diagnostic criteria were met. Results. Patients with comorbid MS and SCHD demonstrated significantly lower QoL scores, both in psychological and physical components of health (according to the SF-36 questionnaire) compared to patients with SCHD alone (p <0.05). An analysis of the SAQ questionnaire data also showed significantly lower points in group of patients with NAS and SCHD combination compared to the group of patients with isolated SCHD (in total, by 8.76%; p <0.05). Conclusion. Patients with metabolic syndrome in combination with stable coronary heart disease (SCHD) had a statistically significantly lower level of quality of life according to the evaluation by both SF-36 nonspecific questionnaire and the SAQ specific questionnaire comparing to group of patients with isolated SCAD.

Psychiatry is essential for now but might eventually disappear (although this is unlikely to happen any time soon).

Objective:To provide an overview of specific aspects of historical and possible future trajectories of psychiatry.Conclusions:Psychiatric treatments alleviate suffering, promote physical health, and are associated with increased longevity. As the biological underpinnings of mental illnesses are slowly uncovered, they generally cease to be primarily part of psychiatry (e.g. epilepsy, anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis). If this process continues, the biological basis of all symptom-based ‘mental illnesses’ might be described, and psychiatry absorbed into neurology and other disciplines. This will be a positive development if it provides better treatment for mental illness and psychiatric symptoms in other conditions, which is psychiatry’s sole concern. Psychiatry’s own survival as a distinct discipline is irrelevant if other disciplines can do the job better, possibly in collaboration. Given the tiny impact of neuroscience on psychiatry to date, the disappearance of psychiatry is unlikely to occur anytime soon, if ever. It is possible that human psychological functioning and psychiatric suffering are sufficiently complex and changeable as to defy complete, fine-grained, neuroscientific explanation. This would leave a role for psychiatry indefinitely, treating the immensely disabling, biologically unexplained clusters of symptoms that we currently call ‘mental illnesses’, increasingly in collaboration with, or absorbed within, other disciplines in medicine.

The Hierarchy of Defense Mechanisms: Assessing Defensive Functioning With the Defense Mechanisms Rating Scales Q-Sort.

The psychodynamic concept of defense mechanisms is nowadays considered by professionals with various theoretical orientations of great importance in the understanding of human development and psychological functioning. More than half century of empirical research has demonstrated the impact of defensive functioning in psychological well-being, personality organization and treatment process-outcome. Despite the availability of a large number of measures for their evaluation, only a few instruments assess the whole hierarchy of defenses, based on the Defense Mechanisms Rating Scales (DMRS), which arguably offers an observer-rated gold standard of assessment. The present article illustrates the theoretical and methodological background of the DMRS-Q, the Q-sort version of the DMRS for clinical use. Starting from the definition and function of the 30 defense mechanisms included in the hierarchy, we extracted 150 items that captured a full range of defensive manifestations according to the DMRS theory. The DMRS-Q set is described in this paper with reference to the DMRS manual. Directions are also provided for using the DMRS-Q online software for the free and unlimited coding of defense mechanisms. After each coding, the DMRS-Q software provides a report including qualitative and quantitative scores reflecting the individual’s defensive functioning. Qualitative scores are displayed as the Defensive Profile Narratives (DPN), while quantitative scores are reported as Overall Defensive Functioning (ODF), defensive categories, defense levels, and individual defense mechanisms. Syntax for the scoring is displayed in the results and a clinical vignette of a psychotherapy session coded with the DMRS-Q is provided. The DMRS-Q is an easy-to-use, free, computerized measure that can help clinicians in monitoring changes in defense mechanisms, addressing therapeutic intervention, fostering symptoms decreasing and therapeutic alliance. Moreover, the DMRS-Q might be a valid tool for teaching the hierarchy of defense mechanisms and increase the observer-rated assessment of this construct in several research fields.

Psychology of borders: An integral proposal to understand border phenomena in human life

This introduction aims to present a comprehensive proposal for studying border phenomena in human life that emerges from the contributions that compose this special issue. This theoretical proposal attempts to include the psychological dimension of border phenomenon, an aspect that has not been fully considered in the field of border studies so far. To this end, we first present the border concept from a cultural psychology point of view. Then we discuss the articles that compose this special issue and their implications for understanding border phenomena in human psychological functioning. These articles explore the border notion in its semiotic, discursive, and dialogic dimension. They also help with understanding the impact of the border on identity formation and negotiation as well as the diverse daily border practices that shape the human mind. Finally, we present the main conclusions drawn from this theoretical elaboration and propose new challenges to continue investigating the relationship between psychology and borders.

Automation Inner Speech as an Anthropomorphic Feature Affecting Human Trust: Current Issues and Future Directions

This paper aims to discuss the possible role of inner speech in influencing trust in human–automation interaction. Inner speech is an everyday covert inner monolog or dialog with oneself, which is essential for human psychological life and functioning as it is linked to self-regulation and self-awareness. Recently, in the field of machine consciousness, computational models using different forms of robot speech have been developed that make it possible to implement inner speech in robots. As is discussed, robot inner speech could be a new feature affecting human trust by increasing robot transparency and anthropomorphism.

Signs as borders and borders as signs

This article focuses on bordering as a fundamental semiotic process of human psychological functioning. First, we discuss similarities between semiosis and bordering and explore their relationships. In the perspective of cultural psychology of semiotic dynamics, psychic life is a process of purposeful production and interpretation of signs, carried out through cycles of culturally guided, selective internalization and externalization. Signs and borders are not only entities “out there”: they emerge in the purposeful movement of the organism in the course of future-oriented action in everyday life. Second, we discuss borders in mind and society as particular types of signs, through which humans regulate their own and others’ conduct. Finally, we propose a general genetic law of bordering development: borders are first conceived as tools created and established by humans as interpsychic activities. Later, the sign is internalized and begins to regulate psychological functioning. It also becomes a psychological tool for dealing with other humans and with the environment.

Interpretive approaches to culture: Understanding and investigating children’s psychological development

While psychologists increasingly recognize the role of cultural processes in children’s psychological development, few analyze these cultural processes directly. This paper demonstrates how such cultural processes can be revealed by using interpretive approaches to culture and child development. Interpretive approaches maintain definitions of culture that are common in the literature more generally, highlighting that culture refers to both “substance” (i.e. beliefs, values, and practices that are shared, historical, and organized) and “communities” (i.e. groups of people). However, interpretive approaches use and treat this definition differently than do most developmental studies by emphasizing contextual understanding and description over linear and internal causation. Interpretive approaches therefore have implications for both the kind of knowledge researchers produce about culture and development, and for the kinds of ways in which researchers engage with cultural communities during the research process. In the paper, I outline the “substance” side and the “community” side of culture in turn, drawing on examples from my own work on parent-child conversations and moral development within U.S. evangelical and mainline Christian religious cultures in order to illustrate what an interpretive approach could look like. Through these examples, I highlight the active role of individuals in their development and in defining their cultural communities through practices of self-monitoring. The implications of interpretive approaches for applied developmental science include expanded scientific understanding of human psychological functioning and more generous and engaged intercultural relations.

Rethinking the Relationships Between Time Perspectives and Well-Being: Four Hypothetical Models Conceptualizing the Dynamic Interplay Between Temporal Framing and Mechanisms Boosting Mental Well-Being.

Time perspective (TP) is a central aspect of human daily psychological functioning, with a pronounced impact on human thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. The particular TP dimensions are strongly associated with a range of various mental well-being indicators and were shown to predict as much as 40% of their variance. However, the relationship between TPs and specific mechanisms that enhance mental well-being still requires further exploration. In the present article, we conceptually analyze a potential interplay of TPs and three well-confirmed well-being “boosters” (WBBs)—gratitude, savoring the moment, and prioritizing positivity—which may prove responsible for the vital effects of TP on mental well-being. Each of the “boosters” has a clear temporal anchoring: gratitude stems from the appreciation of the past, savoring the moment refers mainly to the experience of the present, and prioritizing positivity engages planning behaviors that require future focus. We propose four theoretical models to be verified in further experimental research. The first model, the trait-behavior model, proposes that trait TPs increase the tendency to use particular WBBs in order to increase mental well-being. The second model, referred to as the accumulation model, offers that TPs mediate between WBBs and mental well-being; and finally, a regular practice of a specific WBB develops a specific TP (e.g., exercising a gratitude intervention enhances past-positive TP). The third model, the feedback loop, suggests that WBBs and TPs strengthen one another and contribute to higher mental well-being. The last model, which can be called the match–mismatch model, presents the influence of WBBs on mental well-being, where a particular TP plays a role of a moderator (e.g., present-hedonistic TP moderates the relationship between savoring and well-being). Implications of potential confirmation of each of the models for theory and practice are also discussed.

A new measure to assess external and internal shame: development, factor structure and psychometric properties of the External and Internal Shame Scale

Shame plays a central role in psychosocial functioning, being a transdiagnostic emotion associated with several mental health conditions. According to the evolutionary biopsychosocial model, shame is a painful and difficult emotion that may be categorized into two distinct focal components: external and internal shame. External shame is focused on the experience of the self as seen in a judgemental way by others, whereas internal shame is conceptualized as self-focused negative evaluations and feelings about the self. The current study aimed to develop the External and Internal Shame Scale (EISS) to assess in a single measure these two dimensions. The study was conducted in a community sample comprising 665 participants (18 to 61 years old). Three models were tested through confirmatory factor analysis. One higher order factor (global shame) with two lower order factors (external and internal shame) revealed a good fit to the data. The scale reliability and its association with other related constructs measures were also addressed. Additionally, gender differences on shame were explored. Results showed that EISS subscales and global score presented good internal consistency, concurrent validity and were associated with depressive symptoms. Regarding gender differences, results revealed that women presented significantly higher scores both in external and internal shame. The EISS showed to be a short, robust and reliable measure. The EISS allows the assessment of the specific dimensions of external and internal shame as well as a global sense of shame experience and may therefore be an important contribution for clinical work and research in human psychological functioning.

The interplay between psychological need satisfaction and psychological need frustration within a work context: A variable and person-oriented approach

A plethora of empirical data support a positive (or “brighter”) pathway to optimal human functioning as specified within Basic Psychological Needs Theory (Ryan and Deci in Psychol Inq 11(4):319–33, 2000). Yet, far less is known about the negative (or “darker”) pathway, a process evoking of human dysfunction and ill-being (cf. Vansteenkiste and Ryan in J Psychother Integr 23(3):263, 2013). Further, debate surrounds the independence and interplay between psychological need satisfaction and psychological need frustration and how these dynamic constructs are experienced within individuals. In this work, variable and person-oriented analyses were employed to: (i) investigate the relationships between the basic psychological needs and symptoms of stress, depression and anxiety as well as with life satisfaction; and (ii) identify different psychological need profiles and their relationship with psychological function. Participants (N = 2236; M Age = 42.16 years; SD = 7.8) were UK-based operational firefighters who completed an online survey. Results of regression analyses showed a moderating effect of psychological need satisfaction on the relationship between need frustration and negative psychological symptoms. Latent profile analyses revealed five distinct basic psychological need profiles that carry implications for human psychological functioning. Some support for an asymmetrical relationship between need satisfaction and need frustration emerged (Vansteenkiste and Ryan in J Psychother Integr 23(3):263, 2013), yet, examples of above average need satisfaction and frustration scores were also observed. Worker profiles where psychological need frustration prevailed over need satisfaction had the poorest psychological health.

Beyond Past and Present: Meaning Making, Narrative Self and Future-Orientation.

Jerome Bruner's contribution to understanding human psychological functioning is manifold. In this commentary I focus on his suggestion that human action is always purposeful and directed towards imagined goals, and interrogate the contributions made by Salvatore and Fasulo in light of this idea. I develop further the ideas discussed in these papers to propose a conceptualisation of future-orientedness of human meaning-making, and discuss how narrating as a process of creating and enacting possibilities for the future could be understood. In my commentary I emphasize that human meaning making is not only about making sense of things that have already happened, but also about imagining a future where self and self's relation to others could be otherwise. I suggest that conceptual models of meaning making need to move beyond a mere focus on past and present and instead consider the process of becoming in relation to and together with others.

Towards a Cultural Psychology: Meaning and Social Practice as Key Elements

Several prominent scholars in the Social Sciences have defended the need for a new way of studying the relationship between culture and the individual. Over the last three decades, it has been common to find studies under the heading of Cultural Psychology (CP), which have focussed on the role of culture in historical and ontogenetic development. However, among the defenders of CP, there have been specific disagreements over theoretical and methodological aspects of the project. This lack of agreement is revealed by the different conceptions of the role of meaning and social practice in human psychological functioning. This paper aims is to analyze some different approaches to CP, and the role of meaning plays in its constitution. For us, the central claim of CP is that the human mind should be seen as inter-penetrated by intentional worlds that are culturally and historically situated, and this psychology must to study the ways psyche and culture; person and context, self and other, practitioner and practice live together, and jointly make each other up. In addition, CP has also identified the symbolic mediation of mind and culture as its analytical focus. Finally, we defend that culture and mind are to be treated as forms of culturally differentiated meaning practices. To make possible this enterprise, we propose the necessity to develop the notion of mediated and situated actions as a unit of analysis of Cultural Psychology.

Cultural psychology and children’s understanding of institutional reality / La psicología cultural y la comprensión de los niños de la realidad institucional

This article will describe and illustrate an approach to empirical investigation that is grounded in a basic principle of cultural psychology: that culture is a constituent of human psychological functioning. Cultural artefacts provide the means by which people interact with the world around them and with other people. Humans live in artificial environments, and in a real sense humans too are artificial. Specifically, humans live in societies composed of institutions, such as family, school, workplace, and children must become able to assume roles in these institutions. To investigate children’s development, which is our interest, it is necessary not merely to study children in their cultural context, but also to design and implement changes in that cultural context. Untangling the complex, changing relationship between child and cultural context is greatly facilitated by actively transforming this institutional reality, in interaction with the children. We illustrate this point with descriptions of a project, five years in duration, in Ciudad Bolívar, Colombia, in which we established a small institution, a Fifth Dimension, in which children participated in playful and educational activities.

The Color Red Is Implicitly Associated With Social Status in the United Kingdom and China.

Research and theorizing on human societies have shown that the color red plays a large role in human psychological functioning. The aim of the present study was to test the association between red and high-status symbols across cultural contexts. Using the Implicit Association Test (IAT) paradigm, across seven experiments (N = 357), we demonstrated that participants exhibited a faster association of red color and logos of high-status stimuli compared to red color and logos of low-status stimuli. The effect was shown among both males and females, with two different types of status symbols (car logos and university logos), and with four different contrast colors (white, gray, green, blue). Moreover, this association was observed in both United Kingdom and China. These findings provide compelling evidence for the implicit association between the color red and high social status across two different cultural contexts.

Religiosity moderates the relationship between time perspective and life satisfaction

Religiosity is linked with fundamental issues in life, which is why it has a very strong influence on human psychological functioning. The present study is focused on intrinsic religiosity (IR) and extrinsic religiosity (ER) as moderators of the link between time perspective and life satisfaction. The participants were 591 Poles, aged 18 to 73. They completed three measures: Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI), and the Religious Orientation Scale–Revised (ROS-R). The results suggest that religiosity, especially ER, functions as a buffer reducing the strength of the negative relationship between negative time perspectives – i.e., Past-Negative perspective and Present-Fatalistic time perspective – and life satisfaction. One of the contexts in which the results were interpreted was the instrumental approach to religion, in which religion is treated as a means to gain benefits for oneself, such as forgetting about problems, justification, or a sense of mental comfort.

What, why and how? Meta-Reflections on Cultural Psychological Approaches to the Scientific Study of Phenomena Called Religious

This deliberately essayistic paper deals with strengths of and limits to cultural psychology, especially in its application to research on religion. It is presented as only one possible approach, composite in itself and drawing on a variety of theories, insights, methods and techniques, but working on one of the fundamental aspects of human psychological functioning, and therefore as indispensable to efforts to explore and understand anything called religious as any other psychological approach may be. Furthermore, the paper makes an explicit plea for an interdisciplinary approach to psychology. Whether researchers will employ cultural psychology or another approaches from contemporary psychological sciences will depend on their personal preferences, their professional training, the type of context they are functioning and hopefully also on the kind of phenomenon pointed out to them as religious by a certain (sub)culture.