Subjective Psychological States Research Articles

Online Autism Literacy to Improve Acceptance of Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

The spectrum of autism developmental disorders is vast and diverse, ranging from mild to severe impairments. If parents lack knowledge about autism, maternal acceptance levels tend to be low. Autism literacy through the internet serves as a medium to provide beneficial, extensive, cost-effective, and easily accessible information and knowledge. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of online autism literacy in increasing maternal acceptance of autistic children. The research utilized a single-subject design, involving only one subject, following the ABA Single-case Experiment Design. The single-case experimental method was employed in this study, where autism literacy intervention was delivered through the website www.careautism.wordpress.com. A Maternal Acceptance Scale was used to evaluate the subject's psychological state before and after the intervention. The research's significance lies in providing empirical evidence on the effectiveness of online autism literacy in enhancing maternal acceptance of autistic children. Visual inspection and descriptive analysis methods were employed for data analysis. The study's results indicate that autism literacy intervention through the internet can improve maternal acceptance of autistic children, with an increased mean score between the baseline and intervention phases.

Light environment affects the efficiency of surgical suture training

BackgroundSuture knotting is the basis of surgical skills. In the process of surgical skills learning, the surrounding environment, especially the light, will affect the efficiency of learning. This study investigated the effect of optical environment on the learning of stitching and knotting skills.MethodsA total of 44 medical students were randomly divided into four groups and participated in the study of suture knotting in four different optical environments. During the process, we assess objective pressure level by testing salivary amylase activity Likert scale and objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) was used to estimate the subjective psychological state and overall skill mastery in surgical suturing respectively.ResultsUnder high illumination conditions (700 lx), the salivary amylase activity of the high color temperature group (6000 K) was significantly higher than that of the low color temperature group (4000 K) (p < 0.0001). Similarly, under low illumination (300 lx), the salivary amylase activity of the high color temperature group was also significantly higher than that of the low color temperature group (p < 0.05). The student under high illumination conditions (700 lx) and the low color temperature (6000 K) have an autonomy score between 37–45, which is significantly higher compared to the other three groups (p < 0.0001). Group 2 has an average OSCE score of 95.09, which were significantly higher than those of the other three groups (p < 0.05).ConclusionHigh illumination combined with low color temperature is considered as the optimal training conditions, promoting trainees' optimism, reducing stress levels, and enhancing learning efficiency. These results highlight the pivotal role of light environment in improving the quality and efficiency of surgical skills training.

English

Most of the diseases affecting plant nurseries are soil borne and to eradicate the pathogens from growing media different sterilization (chemical, solar and steam) techniques are used. Steam sterilization is more efficient and environmentally friendly technology. To test the effectiveness of steam sterilization in controlling growth of fungal pathogens, different fungal species were isolated from various potting media (soil, sand, silt, FYM and coconut coir) pre and post steam sterilization and the isolates were characterized. Pre-sterilization fungal isolation was performed using serial dilution method which revealed different fungal species i.e., Aspergillus flavus, A. niger, Fussarium solani, Penicillium spp, Rhizoctonia spp, Curvularia spp, and Pythium spp. After sterilization, one group of potting media was kept open and the other one was tightly packed and placed at ambient temperature. These open and covered media types were evaluated for fungal regrowth by isolation after 7 days, 15 days and 30 days intervals. Different fungal contaminants were found in the potting media that was kept opened after sterilization. However, interestingly no soil related fungal pathogens were observed in the packed potting media 30 days post sterilization. These findings extended the current knowledge of steam sterilization of potting media and suggest that steam sterilization can effectively eliminate the fungal pathogens from the media. Further, it could be effectively used to produce sanitated plant nurseries and minimize the spread of soil borne diseases.

Lived Future in Addiction

Abstract: Aim: The article presents the basic tenants of dialectical phenomenological psychopathology (DPP) of temporal experience in substance-related disorders. Results: DPP examines the conditions of possibility of lived experiences. It goes beyond mere qualitative descriptions of subjective psychological states to identify their pre-reflective structures. The modifications of these structures are considered essential to mental disorders, including additions. The paper argues that the phenomenon of addiction arises when there is a failure of the dynamic process of temporal balances and imbalances between the dimensions of lived past, present, and future. In such an altered state, the present pathologically dominates over past and future. Personal history and future consequences of intoxicated behaviour are disregarded. The future in particular loses its ‘normal’ characteristic of a probable horizon of present experience and becomes ‘actualized’ as present continuous. At the same time, a part of the future ‘dissociates’ from the present objective situation and becomes improbable. To substantiate these claims, the article presents four case vignettes of clients suffering from such pathological entanglement of temporal dimensions. Conclusions: DPP may be seen as an invaluable approach to examine the dialectical structure of human experience. As such, it constitutes a promising paradigm for the 21st century person-centered psychiatry.

Adults with autism spectrum disorder show atypical patterns of thoughts and feelings during rest.

Mind wandering constitutes a major part of everyday experience and is inherently related to how we feel and identify ourselves. Thus, probing the character and content of thoughts and feelings experienced during mind-wandering episodes could lead to a better understanding of the human mind in health and disease. How mind wandering and spontaneous thought processes are affected in disorders such as autism is poorly understood. Here, we used the eyes-closed rest condition to stimulate mind wandering and quantified the subjective experiences using the Amsterdam Resting-State Questionnaire—which quantifies subjective psychological states of resting-state cognition across 10 domains—in 88 adults with autism spectrum disorder and 90 controls. We observed an atypical pattern of both thoughts and feelings in the autism spectrum disorder cohort, specifically in the domains of Theory of Mind, Comfort, and Discontinuity of Mind. We propose that the use of the Amsterdam Resting-State Questionnaire as a standardized cognitive instrument could advance our understanding of thoughts and feelings in autism spectrum disorder as well as in a wide variety of other brain disorders and how these may change due to therapeutic interventions.Lay abstractEveryone knows the feeling of letting one’s mind wander freely in a quiet moment. The thoughts and feelings experienced in those moments have been shown to influence our well-being—and vice versa. In this study, we looked at which thoughts and feelings are being experienced by adults with autism spectrum disorder and compared them to adults without autism spectrum disorder. In total, 88 adults with autism spectrum disorder and 90 adults without autism spectrum disorder were asked to rest for 5 min with their eyes closed and let their mind wander. Directly after, they filled in the Amsterdam Resting-State Questionnaire, which probes what participants were feeling and thinking during the period of rest. We found that adults with autism spectrum disorder tend to think less about others, felt less comfortable, and had more disrupted thoughts during the rest compared to adults without autism spectrum disorder. Interestingly, autism spectrum disorder participants reporting lower levels of comfort during the rest also reported more autism spectrum disorder symptoms, specifically in social behaviors and skills, attention switching, and imagination. We propose to use the eyes-closed rest condition in combination with the Amsterdam Resting-State Questionnaire more widely to shed light on aberrant thoughts and feelings in brain disorders and to study the effect of therapeutic interventions.

A Philosophical Study on Infinity of Artwork

예술작품과의 만남은 간단하게 설명할 수 없는 신비로움을 지니고 있다. 예술작품을 접하고서 우리는 커다란 충격을 받을 때도 있고, 심오한 깨우침을 얻을 때도 있다. 한 편의 소설이 사람들의 의식과 삶에 큰 영향을 주고, 시 한 구절이 인생을 변화시키기도 한다. 사진 한 장이 많은 이들에게 감동을 전해줄 뿐만 아니라, 세상을 바꿀 수도 있다는 것에 놀라기도 한다. 그러나 때때로 작품은 우리에게 완전히 무감각하게 다가오기도 한다. 심지어 같은 작품을 동시에 접하고서 사람들 간에 다르게 이해할 뿐만 아니라, 동일한 사람도 같은 작품에 대해서 시차를 두고서 다르게 이해하기도 한다. 예술은 자명성을 결핍하고 있으며 논쟁적인 주제라는 점은 의심의 여지가 없다. 이러한 논쟁에 대해 미적 주관주의가 널리 퍼져 있는 현재, 사람들은 작품이 아닌 주관의 심적 상태를 통해서 이를 해명하려는 것이 일반적인 방식이다. 그러나 개인의 미적 의식을 통해서 예술작품을 이해하는 관점은 편한 방식이기는 하지만 예술의 신비를 해명함에 있어서 분명한 한계가 있는 방식이다. 이는 작품 자체에 주목하는 방식이 아니라, 작품을 감상자 주관으로 환원하여 이해하는 방식이다. 단순하게 주체의 미적 경험으로 환원되지 않는 작품의 고유한 의미에 대한 해명은 예술이해를 위해서는 필수적인 요소이다. 예술작품이 미적 경험의 대상이라는 사실을 고려한다면, 예술을 미적 경험과 연관하여 이해하는 것은 분명히 중요한 방식이다. 그러나 작품은 개인의 미적 경험 이상의 고유한 의미를 내포하고 있기에 작품에 대한 해석은 예술이해에 있어서 필수적이다. 이 글은 예술작품의 이해에 있어서 단순하게 주관적인 미적 의식으로 환원되지 않는 고유한 예술작품에 대한 논의를 중심으로 예술경험을 해명하고자 한다. 특히 예술작품과의 만남이 일의적으로 규정되지 않는다는 것을 “미적 무한성(aesthetic infinity)”으로 규정하고, 미학이 탄생한 근대 이후, 이와 관련된 예술 철학자들의 사상을 살펴보고자 한다.Some mystique follows an encounter with a work of art that can not be explained simply with words. After an encounter with a work of art, people may experience a significant shock or profound realization. A novel may have significant effects on the consciousness of reader;s. One line of a poem may change a reader’s life forever. A photograph not only affects many of its viewers but may also change the world. People, however, may also be indifferent to a work of art from time to time. After two people simultaneously encounter a work of art, each may have different understandings of it. Even the same individual may have different understandings of a work at different points in their life. There is no doubt that understanding art is a controversial topic. In today’s world in which aesthetic subjectivism prevails, people generally attempt to approach this issue on the basis of subjective psychological states rather than works of art. However, understanding art through one’s individual aesthetic consciousness is clearly limited in explaining the mystique of art, despite this perspective’s convenience. This approach does not focus on a work of art itself but reduces and understands it based on the appreciator’s subjective ideas. One essential element of understanding art requires an explanation about the unique meanings of a work that are not simply reduced to the subject’s aesthetic experiences. If a work of art is an object of aesthetic experience, it is clearly important to understand it by connecting it to other aesthetic experiences. A work of art, however, contains unique meanings beyond an individual’s aesthetic experiences, which makes it essential to interpret the meaning of a work. This study intended to provide explanations about aesthetic experiences by focusing on discussions about unique works of art that cannot be reduced simply through one’s subjective aesthetic consciousness. Defining the concept of “aesthetic infinity”, which refers to an encounter with a work of art that cannot be defined in a single meaning, this study examined the related ideas of art philosophers since the birth of aesthetics.

Дослідження афективно-чуттєвого компоненту професійної підготовки майбутніх фахівців

The article is devoted to the diagnostics of the affective and sensitive component of future specialists’ professional competence, which reflects the subjective psychological states that accompany students in the process of learning (both formal and informal) and determine the level of emotional involvement of young people. The objectives of the article are as follows: the description of the main tendencies of the formation affective and sensitive component of the future social educators’ training; the study of students’ existing state of feelings and attitudes to formal and informal education as the starting conditions for their further professional self-realization. The diagnosis was carried out using the author's questionnaire for a comparative analysis of the young people’ attitude towards the organization, content, results of formal and informal education. It is established that the main difficulties in the process of training students consider the obsolete and uselessness of some subjects and topics; lack of modern literature on educational disciplines; "Boring" of educational activity; impossibility of constructive interaction with teachers; separation of learning from life, lack of time, unsatisfactory learning conditions. Among the factors that students like the most in the learning process, they point out the opportunity to communicate with interesting people, the opportunity to learn new, and the opportunity to discuss on the lessons. Almost half of the participants of the experiment (45.65%) are dissatisfied with their emotional state in the process of learning; they estimate the atmosphere of learning as unfavorable. The conclusion is formulated on the need to create comfortable conditions for the professional training of young people, which will allow developing the emotional and sensitive sphere and positive attitude to learning and to future professional activities.

The Differences Between Winners and Losers in Competition: the Relation of Cognitive and Emotional Aspects During a Competition to Hemodynamic Responses

Sympathetic nervous activity plays an important role in behavior related to competition. However, the hemodynamic response patterns of winners and losers during competition remain largely unknown. This study examined the differences between winners’ and losers’ hemodynamic and psychological responses (their evaluation of perceived demands and resources and their positive and negative emotions) to competition. The participants included 30 university students, who completed a competitive mirror-drawing task (three times) in pairs as their cardiac output (CO) and total peripheral resistance (TPR) were measured. Additionally, they were required to answer a question regarding their subjective psychological state before and during the competition. The participants were assigned to a Winner or a Loser group based on outcomes. The Winner group presented greater CO changes than the Loser group, while the Loser group displayed greater TPR changes than the Winner group. Moreover, the Winner group scored significantly higher on resource/demand evaluation than the Loser group. Although we observed no significant differences in terms of negative emotion, only the Winner group showed increased positive emotions from precompetition to competition. This evidence suggests that winners and losers display different patterns of enhanced sympathetic-cardiovascular responses to competition; winners are characterized by a myocardial response pattern, while losers are characterized by a vascular response pattern. The psychological responses that depend on one’s position during a competition provide information on the quality of hemodynamic responses to competition.

The Role of Exercise-Induced Arousal and Exposure to Blue-Enriched Lighting on Vigilance.

It is currently assumed that exposure to an artificial blue-enriched light enhances human alertness and task performance, but recent research has suggested that behavioral effects are influenced by the basal state of arousal. Here, we tested whether the effect of blue-enriched lighting on vigilance performance depends on participants’ arousal level. Twenty-four participants completed four sessions (blue-enriched vs. dim light × low vs. high arousal) at 10 pm on four consecutive days, following a repeated-measures design. Participants’ arousal was manipulated parametrically through the execution of a cycling task at two intensities (low vs. moderate), and was checked by monitoring their heart rate. On each session, distal and proximal skin temperatures were recorded as a neuroergonomic index of vigilance, while participants performed a 20-min psychomotor vigilance task (PVT) under either blue-enriched light or dim light conditions. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS), and Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion Scale (RPE) were used to measure subjective psychological state. The results showed that the exercise-induced manipulation of arousal produced robust alerting effects in most measures, while the lighting manipulation only attenuated subjective sleepiness and enhanced positive affect, but it did not influence behavior or physiology. Acute exposure to a blue-enriched light was practically ineffective when the arousal level was over baseline. The present research favored the use of acute physical exercise over acute exposure to blue-enriched lighting in order to boost humans’ alertness when necessary, as in work settings where maintaining optimal levels of attention is difficult (shift work, night-work, vigilance tasks) and necessary to prevent human error and accidents.

Effects of a Brief Hypnosis Relaxation Induction on Subjective Psychological States, Cardiac Vagal Activity, and Breathing Frequency

This study investigated the effects of a brief hypnosis including relaxation suggestions on physiological markers of relaxation, cardiac vagal activity, and breathing frequency. Forty participants were tested in a within-subjects design. Participants listened to a recorded hypnosis session and to a nonhypnotic recording. No differences were found regarding cardiac vagal activity. Participants breathed significantly faster during the audio conditions (hypnosis and nonhypnotic recording) in comparison to resting measures. After hypnosis, subjective arousal was significantly lower and emotional valence was significantly more positive than after the nonhypnotic recording condition. The relaxing effects of hypnosis that includes relaxation suggestions appear to be located at the subjective level but not at the peripheral physiological level.

OPPOSITE PSYCHOLOGICAL STATES ASSOCIATED WITH RUNNING IN SOLITUDE AND STREET RACE PARTICIPATION

Running is associated with positive acute psychological effects. However, the context of running, which has received little empirical attention to date, could be expected to mediate the related subjective experiences. In this in-situ (real life) cross-sectional study, we compared the subjective psychological states before and after running in solitude and in street race running. Seventy males (n = 31 running alone and n = 39 running in a street race) completed the short version of the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), rated their core affect (conceptualized as the momentarily perceived overall physical and psychological feeling state), and their appraised satisfaction with the completed run. Although the two groups did not differ in satisfaction with their run, except for negative affect which did not change in either of the groups, the results revealed opposite trends in psychological experiences in all measures. Positive affect, mental-, and physical core affect increased after running in solitude while they all decreased after the street race. The current results suggest that peak affective experience occurs after the run when people plan and perform their run alone, while the comparable top experience occurs before the run , likely due to the excitement of participation and social interaction, during street race running. The current work sheds light on the strong impact of the running situation on the acute psychological states associated running. Article visualizations:

Auditory symptoms and psychological characteristics in adults with auditory processing disorders

Most adults with auditory processing disorder (APD) often have trouble at work. It is possible that these listening problems in adults with APD influence their mental health. Thus, we have to take the subject's personality and mental status into consideration when supporting subjects with APD. However, studies on APD in adults are comparatively rare. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the relationships between the results of auditory tests, APD symptoms, and psychological status in subjects with APD. This study included 22 adults who complained of listening problems in everyday life, and they underwent auditory processing tests and were questioned regarding their psychological characteristics.From the results of the auditory processing tests, all subjects showed low scores on at least one test; therefore, they were suspected of having APD. Especially, the scores were low on the auditory memory test. Furthermore, subjects with APD show relatively similar psychological characteristics to each other. However, there was no significant relationship between the results of the auditory processing tests and psychological characteristics.We have to take notice of a subject's psychological state when they perceive their listening difficulties as a large-scale problem and feel anxious as a result. For this purpose, we should take psychological characteristics into consideration at the time of the medical examination interview before audio-psychological testing.

Social Atmospheres: The Cultural Psychology of the “Šatrija” and “Trečias frontas” Societies

Analyses of many controversial episodes in twentieth century Lithuanian literary history increasingly call not only for debates about political and social processes, and about ideological contexts, but for examination of the cultural psychology of that era. Drawing on psychohistorical and emotional history approaches opens up the path to a more integrated understanding of historical situations and motivations. The author of this article undertakes to reconstruct and compare two literary societies – the neo-Catholic “Šatrija” and the leftist “Trečias frontas” (“Third Front”) – and the atmosphere around them during the late 1920s and early 1930s. Following Walter Benjamin, the concept of atmosphere takes into account the quality of sociocultural situations and relates objective historical contexts to subjective psychological states. The interplay between sociocultural environment and individual feelings is also stressed in foundational works of cultural psychology: correlations between them reveal common societal codes (c.f. Richard Schweder, Jerome Bruner, Michael Cole, Vytautas Kavolis). The article draws on a number of key elements in cultural psychology – relationship to authority and institutions, spaces and practices integrating the collective, private platonic and erotic relations – to analyze the wealth of memoir material left by members of the groups and individuals close to them. The study makes it possible to more clearly identify the liberal-salon and revolutionary-bohemian atmospheres that were operating among the young Lithuanian intellectuals in the late 1920s and early 1930s and to grasp that members of both groups faced various mechanisms of political and psychological repression. Their relationships with these mechanisms marked the beginning of a period of identity crisis for the members of “Šatrija” and “Trečias frontas” and led some of them to make radical ideological choices during the 1940s.

The effects of tai chi class on subjective exercise experiences: a preliminary study in community sports centre settings

BackgroundExercise Referral Schemes (ERS) are aimed at local residents to encourage them to become physically active. General practitioners use ERS when they feel their patients can benefit from organised physical...

The Relationship Between Job Stress and Urinary Cytokines in Healthy Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study

Cytokines such as angiogenin (ANG) and interleukin (IL-8) have been shown to be related to depressive symptoms and inflammatory diseases like coronary heart disease. They may thus be used as stress biomarkers to identify and prevent health problems. To investigate the relationship between cytokines and nurses' job-related stress, levels of urinary ANG and IL-8 were measured in healthy female hospital nurses in Japan. The level of job-related stress of the subjects was evaluated using the Nursing Stress Scale (NSS), with the participants being classified into high- or low-stress groups for each subscale according to their scores. The participants' subjective psychological states were assessed using the Profile of Mood States--Short Form Japanese version (POMS-SFJ). Urinary ANG, IL-8, and cortisol levels and subjective psychological states for two groups were compared for each NSS subscale. The fatigue and depression scores of POMS-SFJ subscales in the present study were higher than those of the general healthy Japanese population. Based on the mean score of the combined participants, nurses were experiencing the highest stress related to the pressure of having responsibility for patients' life support care (PPLC). Nurses reporting high levels of stress related to PPLC and conflict with physicians had high levels of urinary ANG. Urinary ANG levels may thus be associated with high levels of job stress.

Covariance Between Psychological and Endocrine Responses to Pharmacological Challenge and Psychosocial Stress: A Question of Timing

To test if the covariance of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and subjective-psychological responses to stress is dependent on different dynamics of these systems. Although stress theories typically assume substantial correlations of psychological and endocrine stress responses, studies have produced inconsistent results. One reason for this might be imperfect coupling of the different stress response systems. However, inconsistent correlations might also be a result of different on-/offsets of these stress responses, i.e., specific dynamics of the systems. HPA axis indicators and subjective-psychological states were repeatedly and synchronously measured in a pharmacological challenge test (injection of corticotropin-releasing hormone and infusion of arginine vasopressin; Study 1; n = 42) and a psychosocial stress situation (Trier Social Stress Test; Study 2; n = 219). Cross-correlation analysis was used to test for lag effects in HPA axis reactivity and psychoendocrine responses. Analyses revealed high cross-correlations of adrenocorticotropic hormone with cortisol responses (up to r = .80 in Study 1 and r = .56 in Study 2) and positive associations of psychological with endocrine stress responses (up to r = .48 in Study 1 and r = .54 in Study 2) at nonzero lags. Subjective-psychological responses preceded HPA axis responses. Moreover, high levels of cortisol were associated with lower later levels of anxiety and activation. The findings suggest that psychoendocrine stress responses are more closely coupled than previous studies suggested. Due to different dynamics of the systems, endocrine responses lag behind psychological responses.

Calculating utility: preclinical evidence for cost–benefit analysis by mesolimbic dopamine

Throughout our lives we constantly assess the costs and benefits of the possible future outcomes of our actions and use this information to guide behavior. There is accumulating evidence that dopamine contributes to a fundamental component of this computation-how rewards are compared with the costs incurred when obtaining them. We review the evidence for dopamine's role in cost-benefit decision making and outline a simple mathematical framework in which to represent the interactions between rewards, costs, behavioral state and dopamine. Dopamine's effects on cost-benefit decision making can be modeled using simple utility-function curves. This approach provides a useful framework for modeling existing data and generating experimental hypotheses that can be objectively and quantitatively tested by observing choice behavior without the necessity to account for subjective psychological states such as pleasure or desire. We suggest that dopamine plays a key role in overcoming response costs and enabling high-effort behaviors. A particularly important anatomical site of this action is the core of the nucleus accumbens. Here, dopamine is able to modulate activity originating from the frontal cortical systems that also assess costs and rewards. Internal deprivation states (e.g., hunger and thirst) also help to energize goal-seeking behaviors, probably in part by their rich influence on dopamine, which can in turn modify decision making policies.

Bien-être du porc : le point de vue de l'animal, approches biologiques et comportementales

Le bien-être fait référence à l’état psychologique subjectif de l’individu par rapport à son environnement interne et externe. Puisque nous ne sommes pas encore capables de lire directement les sensations et les émotions de l’animal, nous en sommes réduits à les inférer de l’analyse de leurs manifestations objectives, en particulier physiologiques et comportementales, qui ont été étudiées dans le contexte de la psychobiologie des émotions, du stress et de l’adaptation. L’activation des systèmes neuroendocriniens de réponse au stress (axe corticotrope et système nerveux sympathique) fournissent de nombreux marqueurs pour l’étude des réponses biologiques aux facteurs d’environnement. Cependant leur interprétation en termes de bien-être devra prendre en considération le rôle de ces systèmes dans la physiologie générale de l’organisme. On utilisera aussi des critères comportementaux (analyse du budget-temps et de l’utilisation de l’espace, comportements anormaux, expression des liens sociaux, tests de préférences) qu’il faudra analyser dans le contexte des acquis de l’éthologie appliquée. RÉSUMÉ

Psychologism Revisited in Logic, Metaphysics, and Epistemology

Psychologism is a philosophical ideology that seeks to explain the principles of logic, metaphysics, and epistemology as psychological phenomena. Psychologism has been the storm center of concerted criticisms since the nineteenth century, and is thought by many to have been refuted once and for all by Kant, Frege, Husserl, and others. The project of accounting for objective philosophical or mathematical truths in terms of subjective psychological states has been largely discredited in mainstream analytic thought. Ironically, psychologism has resurfaced in unexpected guises in the form of intuitionistic logic and mathematics, cognitivism, and naturalized epistemology. I examine some of the principal objections to psychologism – distinguishing roughly between good and bad or philosophically acceptable versus unacceptable psychologism – and consider the extent to which a new wave of psychologism may be gaining prominence in contemporary philosophy, and the light its successes and failures may shed on the original concept and underlying perspective of classical psychologism.

Self-esteem in children: do goal orientations matter?

Although perceived competence has been identified as an essential component of global self-esteem, individual differences in the way competence is conceptualised have been virtually ignored. Achievement goal theory suggests that two conceptions of competence operate in achievement contexts: competence can be conceived as capacity or improvement. These two conceptions are embedded within two goal orientations, namely task and ego orientation. The study examined the relationship of goal orientations and perceptions of athletic ability to global self-esteem. Children (N = 907) attending summer sports camps participated in the study. Children completed the Perception of Success Questionnaire and the Self-Esteem Scale and recorded their perceptions of normative athletic ability. High task-oriented children reported significantly higher self-esteem than low task-oriented children. Among high task-oriented boys, those with high perceived ability had higher self-esteem. In addition, high ego-oriented boys had high self-esteem when they perceived themselves as having high ability in relation to their peers. Finally, among low task-oriented girls, those with high perceived ability reported higher self-esteem. The findings are consistent with the tenets of achievement goal theory that success and failure are subjective psychological states. It is recommended that different conceptions of competence are considered in the study of self-esteem.