R Paul

Anthropological theories have discussed the effects of participation in high-arousal rituals in the formation of autobiographical memory; however, precise measurements for such effects are lacking. In this study, we examined episodic recall among participants in a highly arousing fire-walking ritual. To assess arousal, we used heart rate measurements. To assess the dynamics of episodic memories, we obtained reports immediately after the event and two months later. We evaluated memory accuracy from video footage. Immediately after the event, participants’ reports revealed limited recall, low confidence and high accuracy. Two months later we found more inaccurate memories and higher confidence. Whereas cognitive theories of ritual have predicted flashbulb memories for highly arousing rituals, we found that memories were strongly suppressed immediately after the event and only later evolved confidence and detail. Physiological measurements revealed a spectacular discrepancy between actual heart rates and self-reported arousal. This dissociation between subjective reports and objective measurements of arousal is consistent with a cognitive resource depletion model. We argue that expressive suppression may provide a link between individual memories and cultural understandings of high-arousal rituals.

Working memory (WM) is a cognitive system that allows us to select, organise, and integrate perceptual information with memories and current goal-directed intentions. As such, this system is central to day-to-day functioning and would be expected to be especially important in decision making and problem solving. We hypothesised that to the extent that individuals differ in WM capacity they would also be differentially vulnerable to the experience of depression and anxiety. Undergraduate students completed a computerised change detection task in which storage capacity and filtering efficiency measures were obtained. It was found that low WM storage and poor filtering efficiency interacted to predict higher levels of emotional distress as measured by self-reported depressive symptoms, ruminative coping, and state anxiety. It was suggested that low capacity and a poor ability to ignore task-irrelevant information may lead to poorer problem solving, more extreme judgements of oneself and circumstances, increased rumination, and poorer emotional regulation.

BackgroundMoral case deliberation as a form of clinical ethics support is usually implemented in health care institutions and educational programs. While there is no previous research on the use of clinical ethics support on the level of health care regulation, employees of regulatory bodies are regularly confronted with moral challenges. This pilot study describes and evaluates the use of MCD at the Dutch Health Care Inspectorate.The objective of this pilot study is to investigate: 1) the current way of dealing with moral issues at the IGZ; 2) experience with and evaluation of MCD as clinical ethics support, and 3) future preferences and needs regarding clinical ethics support for dealing with moral questions at the IGZ.MethodsWe performed an explorative pilot study. The research questions were assessed by means of: 1) interviews with MCD participants during four focus groups; and 2) interviews with six key stakeholders at the IGZ. De qualitative data is illustrated by data from questionnaires on MCD outcomes, perspective taking and MCD evaluation.ResultsProfessionals do not always recognize moral issues. Employees report a need for regular and structured moral support in health care regulation. The MCD meetings are evaluated positively. The most important outcomes of MCD are feeling secure and learning from others. Additional support is needed to successfully implement MCD at the Inspectorate.ConclusionWe conclude that the respondents perceive moral case deliberation as a useful form of clinical ethics support for dealing with moral questions and issues in health care regulation.

Max Charlesworth’s work in the late 1990s on ‘the scandal of religious diversity’ raises serious questions that have not yet been sufficiently recognized and certainly not resolved. How does ‘religion’ as a universal or at least very widespread phenomenon relate to the concrete world religions as institutions? This and other issues raised by Charlesworth are explored here: Are diverse ‘revelations’ incommensurable or is this the result of linguistic and cultural difference? Does relabelling such as ‘the Absolute’ or ‘Ultimate reality’ for ‘God’ resolve any difficulties? Is pluralism descriptive or prescriptive? The chapter concludes with an appraisal of Charlesworth’s unjustly neglected ‘Credo for the religious believer’.

Regular coffee drinkers show tolerance to the salivation-inducing effects of caffeine. We present evidence indicating that this tolerance results from a conditioned inhibition of salivation, with coffee as the conditioned stimulus. The tolerance disappears when caffeine is presented in an unfamiliar vehicle, and inhibition of salivation occurs when coffee drinkers drink decaffeinated coffee. These two findings are predictions of a conditioned opponent view, which holds that stimuli associated with the administration of caffeine induce physiological conditioned responses that oppose the basic effects of the drug. In contrast with salivation, the alerting effects of caffeine show little tolerance, and no evidence for conditioned opponent processes. Thus, different effects of the same drug can perhaps display totally different conditioning properties.