In this paper, we discuss symbolic, situational, and verbal mathematical processing. These three modes of processing are conducted by the mediums of symbolic, situational, and verbal mathematical representations. While symbolic processing is a suppressive-oriented mechanism, situational one is receptive-oriented and reliant on sensorimotor features of elements in the context of mathematical representation. Verbal processing is a linguistic-oriented mechanism that is supported by semantic networks. We suggest that these three mechanisms can be dynamically employed at the same time to process a mathematical idea or problem. We call this high-level process as dynamic cross-type representational transformation. Dynamic cross-type representational transformation is a mode of thought that enables the individual to dynamically shift between various types of mathematical representations and to employ a larger part of cognitive capacity and brain's networks. Finally, we conclude that this dynamic process can be regarded as one specific part of executive functions.

This article explores the contentious role of grading and ungrading in democratic dialogic education within conventional higher education. It critiques summative assessment for undermining genuine education by prioritizing compliance over inquiry, fostering distrust, and penalizing mistakes vital for educational growth. While institutionally mandated grading persists, the author introduces flexible pedagogical regimes accommodating diverse learner needs, including options for ungrading. These approaches prioritize student autonomy, emphasizing self-education rather than educational paternalism and credentialism. Challenges include cultural resistance, institutional constraints, and "school toxification." Despite obstacles, the author advocates for transformative practices that honor students' rights to self-education and preserve the integrity of democratic pedagogy.

This study investigates the effects of the Gateway Experience (GE) on psychological well-being. The GE has been developed several decades ago for the induction of altered states of consciousness. It incorporates several techniques such as hypnosis, meditation, and binaural beats, which are known to facilitate well-being, sleep, learning and memory, and emotional states, but have not been tested in the exact combination used by the GE. Twelve participants with no prior experience in meditation and related techniques were exposed to the GE (i.e. experimental condition) and a relaxation treatment (i.e. control condition) over the course of four weeks. Psychological well-being was measured at multiple timepoints using Ryff's Psychological Well-being Scale (PWS) which includes 18 items measuring six aspects of psychological well-being: Autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, purpose in life, and self-acceptance. Results of a two-way repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance showed that participants' psychological well-being improved significantly over time in the GE condition compared to the control condition on all measured scales. There was no effect of participants' sense of mysticality as measured by the Barrett's Revised Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ30). Mysticality has been suggested before to potentially influence the GE. These findings are in line with the theory and suggest that the GE could be a powerful tool to facilitate psychological well-being even in the short-term. Moreover, our findings are also relevant to our understanding of the GE from a historical point of view.

The first edition of the Grundzüge der Physiologischen Psychologie of Wilhelm Wundt which celebrated its 150th anniversary of publication. The Grundzüge was a constantly updated work that from 1874 to 1911 had 6 editions which laid the philosophical and methodological foundations of Wundt's project of psychology. The first edition of 1874 is maybe the most celebrated and remembered but the least studied and subject to a great deal of misinterpretation due to the few translations and the intrinsic complexity of the book. To understand what differentiated the Grundzüge from the other published works on physiological psychology that had been published ten years earlier, it was studied how it was received by its first readers and in general an intellectual context that made the appearance of works like Wundt's conducive. Most of the reviews affirmed that the originality of Wundt's work consisted in providing a philosophical solution to physiology that had definitively abandoned the doctrine of specific energies, which had been used to explain the origin of sensations. In this sense, the philosophers' reviews of Wundt's work were complimentary and saw in it a possibility of giving scientific treatment to certain questions that had previously been dealt with by philosophy. On the other hand, many physiologists regarded the Grundzüge as a transitional work that would be overcome when anatomy and physiology provided definitive answers. The Grunzüge was also a "publishing success" that inaugurated a successful relationship between Wundt and his publisher Wilhelm Engelmann that continued until the beginning of the twentieth century. This article aimed to reconstruct the genesis of the book by analyzing published works immediately prior to its writing that dealt, for example, with research in electrophysiology where he referred to the Gründzüge as a work in progress and that would help to answer many of the unsolved problems.

Philosophy can be seen either as a multi-faceted cultural artifact, like music and cooking, or as a specific human endeavour, a Herculean task of penetration into our ignorance, with its breakthroughs and setbacks and which began, as anthropologists postulate, when the "Homo faber" created the first cut flint. Either way, progress in philosophy is associated with indefinite digging by all of us towards the centre of knowledge - truth, and/or driven by the aesthetic intuition (creative imagination) of a few to crack the 'cosmic egg' or the sound of silence. Here I propose a view of philosophy and of its evolution, a vision borrowed from science, that of a dissipative structure.

In this paper, I present a crude, provisional theory of moral condemnation based on a discursive analysis of an interaction between two prominent political figures - on the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) - in the aftermath of the Iranian missile strike on Israel on 1 October 2024. Based on the analysis, I argue that moral condemnations may serve as a tool for regulating action, and I provide a game-based analogy which may help encapsule two central aspects of moral condemnation: the construction of moral responsibility and a relationship of guilt (setting the board); and the (attempt to) regulate action (playing the game). Finally, I propose that we may also use moral condemnations as a substitute for action - especially in instances where the actor is either unable or unwilling to intervene. By morally condemning we may create a socially and/or personally legitimate excuse for inaction through a displacement of the responsibility to act - thus, ultimately allowing oneself to not do anything by not doing nothing.

In this article, we present and discuss the essay Thalassa: A Theory of Genitality (1924) by Sándor Ferenczi, a pioneer and one of the greatest innovators of psychoanalysis. This essay-which Freud lauded as the most ingenious application of psychoanalysis-proposed a theory that can bridge the gap between the ontogenetic and phylogenetic development of genitality and the sexual act. Ferenczi speculatively elaborated a theory of genital development that connects two important Freudian works, namely Three Essays on Sexual Development (1905) and Beyond the Pleasure Principle (1920), with Haeckel's Fundamental Biogenetic Law, which discusses the recapitulation of phylogenesis in ontogenetic development. According to Ferenczi, coitus and sexual relations are driven by the desire to return to the mother's body, a desire that hearkens back to a period in evolution when life was entirely aquatic and life forms were ocean-dwelling. It has been claimed that the environmental catastrophes of sea recession and land emergence have had traumatic effects on animals' living conditions (resulting in the development of sexual differences) and genitality. Although the essay presented some fanciful, suggestive, and dubious theories, it remains relevant due to its epistemological and methodological implications, which are based on an utraquistic argumentative procedure (i.e., founded on the constant comparison of and recourse to isomorphisms and analogies among various disciplines, including biology, embryology, zoology, and psychoanalysis), laying the foundation for a method of bioanalysis.

Following Vygotsky's seminal work, sociocultural psychology has developed a powerful theory of imagination, considered as a process with mutual and transformative impacts with the social world. In this paper, we focus on the imagination of the future, which is an arena of special social and political contestation. We argue for integrating experimental methods into the scientific study of the re-composition, or synthesis process, in the imagination of the future. Provoking the imagination of the future in well-structured conditions allows for intra and interpersonal comparisons, as well as for comparisons through time. We introduce an experimental task, a "protokool", inspired by the work of a French group of science fiction writers, "le collectif Zanzibar"; we also suggest a way to analyse the data collected through this "telescope into the imagination of the future" looking at a specific process of imagining the future in dystopian and utopian ways. Finally, we present some main findings from the analysis of a corpus of 186 narratives collected in a 4-year study with Bachelor students in psychology and education. We show that the process of imagining the future is asymetrical for dystopian and utopian futures. We also point at some major patterns in these imaginations of the future, and evolutions over the four years. The research has theoretical and methodological implications for the study of the imagination of the future in sociocultural psychology.

Nathalie Bulle, writing in these pages, asks whether Vygotsky is indeed responsible for a major, foundational, contribution to integrative psychological and behavioral science. Bulle queries both "analysts" who strive to establish what Vygotsky's original texts actually meant in context and "emulators" who attempt to simulate his work on modern, hence not necessarily compatible, methodological "hardware". Here we query Bulle's distinction: as Vygotsky's legatees, we hold that analysis (at least in Vygotsky's sense) and emulation constitute each other. We demonstrate: first, we analyze Vygotsky's contribution using his own methodological prolegomena, "The Historical Sense of the Crisis in Psychology", newly translated in full for the first time, and we find that his crisis was not simply, as Bulle contends, due to "the triumph in Vygotsky's name of an objectivistic, natural science, approach to psychology"; it is better understood today as due to the kind of interpretative, "understanding" way of handling data that methodological individualism advocates. We then emulate Vygotsky's later semic method using data from post-seminar interviews about an initial teacher education seminar in Australia. We contend that Vygotsky's major, foundational, contribution to integrating psychological and behavioral science was twofold: he explained the methodological clash between the two and showed a way out of it through the study of meaning.

This article discusses social context of consciousness, the role of the brain and the psychological processes of their actions in the context of the socio-legal framework. Consciousness is understood without integrating with broader social and cultural situations. The understanding of consciousness also requires one's critical understanding of social context and group processes. Law has a more significant role in demystifying itself from the brain and consciousness trajectory and keeping a balance by considering precedents critically. This article also ventures into how consciousness can be understood in the social arena of decolonization and the possibility of neuroscience in informing the law in its reformation for justice.

This article introduces Homo Putans, the "supposing human," as a novel philosophical framework for understanding human existence. Supposing, distinct from mere thinking or imagination, involves hesitation, doubt, and a creative engagement with possibilities. It is characterized by its ability to confront ambiguity and construct meaning in the face of uncertainty. The proposed concept, "supposing," is examined as both a cognitive and philosophical act that bridges the gap between uncertainty and understanding. Drawing on historical and contemporary philosophical traditions, including Hans Vaihinger's Philosophy of As If and phenomenological insights from Husserl and Brentano, the study situates supposing as a significant process in human cognition and meaning-making. While rooted in philosophical inquiry, the article also considers conceptual alignments with cognitive science to explore how supposing shapes perception and decision-making. By thriving in ambiguity, supposing is framed as an act of constructing potential realities and engaging with the unknown.

Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus (T1DM) involves a complex treatment because its daily management requires patients to maintain a delicate balance to avoid the symptomatic discomfort of hypoglycemia. Although hypoglycemia has been studied from a biomedical perspective, there is limited research related to the meaning construction and affective regulation processes associated with it. The present study aims to understand the affective-semiotic processes involved in the hypoglycemic symptom of T1DM by analyzing its dynamic organization and affective-semiotic regulation. Methodologically, an idiographic perspective was chosen through the microgenetic analysis of in-depth interviews in a case study. The main results indicate that the initial sensation of physical discomfort is merely the starting point of a wider semiotic network that hyper-generalizes and expands itself towards broader aspects of life and identity. Life projections, whether short- or long-term, are mediated by the fear of the symptom, which, in turn, can shape one´s perception of life priorities in life and involves the potential to shape one's future in terms of the ability to maintain health. It is proposed that the hypoglycemic symptom, as a set of experiences with the capacity to destabilize the individual, should be considered in order to: (a) Evaluate how each one is affected through affective-semiotic fields of meaning directly linked to the perception of oneself as a subject, (b) Reduce the uncertainty associated with the body's vulnerability and contingency and, (c) Foster a greater personal empowerment with respect to the disease.

This paper analyzes Carlos Saura's film Tango through the theoretical lens of the Tie-Up Theory to explore how fictional narratives can serve as laboratories for investigating the embodied social cognition of romantic relationships. The study shows how dance, particularly tango, functions both as subject matter and cognitive metaphor in representing the complex dynamics of couple formation and maintenance. The film's meta-representational structure, combining the creation of a dance performance with the exploration of actual relationships, reveals how cultural forms serve as cognitive scaffolds for understanding complex social dynamics. The study contributes to our understanding of how artistic representation can reveal typically implicit aspects of relationship cognition by demonstrating the value of integrating multidisciplinary perspectives of cognitive theory, psychology of mating, and cultural theory.

Psychotherapy, as a cultural activity, faces the challenge of adapting to historical changes and emerging issues. In this article, a multilevel approach to psychotherapeutic intervention that encompasses the individual, relational, and contextual dimensions is proposed. The approach is based on an historical-cultural theoretical framework that integrates constructivist, systemic, and semiotic components to broaden perspectives for psychotherapy. The primary purpose is to integrate concepts derived from cultural psychology to structure ideas related to the theoretical understanding of intervention. A conceptual elaboration is presented to address the extension of the mind into the social and cultural contexts in continuous exchange between the self and others, as an essential vital process. First, the central concepts of semiosis, development, temporality, and dialogicality are presented as theoretical principles that guide this approach. The article elaborates on the cultural semiotic model as a framework to guide therapists' understanding of the issues prompting individuals to seek psychological consultation and change, proposing therapeutic aims, conceptual tools for intervention, and strategies for building the therapeutic relationship. The relevance of this theoretical proposal for psychotherapy, as cultural mediation cuts across individual, relational, and contextual levels, is discussed.

This study draws on the cultural-historical perspectives of Vygotsky and Galperin to examine the role of AI-generated feedback within the Assessment for Learning (AfL) process in fostering students' development as learners. By leveraging Galperin's concept of cultural tools and the developmental role of human activity, elaborated in his dissertation written almost a hundred years ago, this study elucidates how this theoretical framework can enhance our understanding of the pedagogical value of individually tailored feedback from AI, ultimately contributing to human development and inspire the Design Principles (DPs) of AI-based educational technologies. Essay Assessment Technology (EAT), designed according to the suggested DPs, is presented to illustrate the application of AfL strategies in schools, highlighting its potential to enhance students' learning and their development as learners.

The study's goal was to examine the tension between democratic school governance, requiring its participants to obey school rules, even though they might disagree with those rules, and personal responsibility, requiring the participants to act morally, in accordance with their conscience and their sense of what is right and makes sense for them, regardless of the democratic nature of the imposed school rules. This examination was based on three sources: 1) three Open Symposia with American and Russian democratic educationalists, 2) my review of the existing literature on civil disobedience and democratic education, and 3) my empirical study based on the interviews of participants of an American private democratic school, known as The Circle School, regarding their instances of civil disobedience. The three Open Symposia allowed me to develop a working definition of civil disobedience as a particular principled disobedience. One important finding arising from these Open Symposia was that neither democratic educator could come up with an example of civil disobedience in democratic schools. My literature analysis revealed four types of civil disobedience: instrumental, existential, safeguarding, and expedient. The participants of my interviews in a democratic school - current teenage students, staff, and alumni - reported many instances of diverse types of civil disobedience, but primarily existential. Despite a lack of discussions of civil disobedience in the school, I discovered that the democratic school apparently promotes civil disobedience as its unintended curriculum by promoting and supporting students' authorial agency, aiming at the students deciding what is good for them, and opposing educational paternalism.

Our present and evolved understanding has challenged the previously synonymous use of the terms 'sex' and 'gender'. We have moved beyond the binary categorization towards proliferation of gender identities. Thus, raising questions whether certain identities are traits or gender identities. This complexity of the issue is exacerbated by the cultural relativity of gender identity and by lack of a standardized list. Adopting a balanced approach, the article touches upon the prejudices against the gender minorities. Additionally, it touches upon the controversies surrounding gender identities and their development to ensure that the individuals can make more informed choices and engage in more meaningful discourse. It addresses issues of politicised debates, linguistic diversity, and the role of pharma industry in the sex-change procedures. The paradigm of gender has transcended the binary constructs in the contemporary discourse. However, it has ventured into unchartered territories revealing several unexplored facets that await scholarly investigation. The present paper critiques the concept of gender identities and the sociopolitical landscape surrounding it through the lens of Critical Theory. In conclusion, our understanding of gender is still limited and evolving. There is a need for adopting a more nuanced and informed approach to challenge the issues posed by this era of evolving gender expression and identities. The article concludes with policy recommendations based on insights gained from the article and suggestions for future research.

While widely considered Alexander Luria's (1902-1977) autobiography, The Making of Mind. A Personal Account of Soviet Psychology, published posthumously in 1979, is not a true autobiography but rather an autobiography with heterobiographic elements. However, the largely overlooked Spanish book, Mirando hacia atrás. La vida de un psicólogo soviético en retrospección, published in the same year, may be regarded as an authentic autobiography written by Luria. Based on the close reading of previously unknown archival sources, including Luria's autobiographic typescripts, the central argument of the article shows that it is likely that the history of this key figure in modern Soviet neuropsychology is embodied in various instances of his life-writing. Our reconstruction of Luria's life-writing is transnational in scope and multi-language based. It aims at drawing an overall account, which may later be followed by a series of contributions dealing with details of the history of Luria's life-writing.

Time dilation is an important issue in the field of physics. Introduced by the special relativity theory, it means that the time duration spent by an entity to reach a certain destination depends on the movement and speed of the entity. Time dilation has been widely addressed in other disciplines, including philosophy, psychology, and motivation. However, it has produced practical and theoretical controversies in the literature. The new version of relativity theory resolves these issues by extending time dilation to conceptual and mental factors and taking a process-based approach to the development of universe. The purpose of this paper is to discuss time dilation in different scientific arenas and explicate it in motivation from the perspective of motivational congruence theory (MCT). The theory provides a new explanation for the underlying mechanisms of time dilation as a mental phenomenon in motivation. According to MCT, a congruence between the context and extrinsic and intrinsic motivations escalates overall motivation. This, in turn, results in high levels of effort and engagement towards the task and leads to mental time dilation. That is, the individual becomes so engaged with the task that their subjective estimation of time duration becomes shorter, compared to an objective measurement of the elapsed time. The study provides hypotheses for further empirical research. MCT's view to time dilation aligns with advances in the fields of physics and philosophy. It contributes to the literature by presenting a new explanation for mental time dilation and elaborating the motivational mechanisms that underlie this phenomenon.

The concept of human goals is central to the study of psychology (i.e., motivation, behavior, and well-being), sociology (i.e., social structure, culture, and dynamics), education (i.e., setting objectives, student motivation, and growth strategies), management (i.e., leadership, employee motivation, productivity, organizational behavior), and economics (i.e., consumer and market behavior, decision making, labor relations), among others. Because it represents the ultimate desired destination that orients decisions and actions, it plays a central role in the theory and practice in these fields. Despite its centrality, the concept lacks theoretical consensus regarding its definition and distinctiveness from related concepts such as needs, motives, and values. Like these concepts, the goals literature suffers from the proliferation of both concepts and taxonomies, suggesting a need for a return to theoretical foundations. In this article, we advocate for a fundamental reconsideration of the concept of goals, anchoring it within a new psychological theory of human motivation based on first principles. The paper's primary contribution lies in demonstrating that the operational definitions utilized by academics and practitioners alike can be thought of as attempts to approach concepts of human motivation, specifically, emotional needs, without fully getting there. We review the leading definitions of human goals in the literature, concluding that they can be distilled to a fundamental set of human emotional needs, each associated with extensive literatures of their own. A comprehensive framework of 12 human emotional needs is introduced; it is argued that a comprehensive motivational framework offers significant advantages over current theoretical approaches, which tend to spin off an ever-expanding list of concepts. We consider the impact of embedding goals concepts within existing motivational constructs with clear benefits for: (a) theory development, (b) method development, and (c) practical applications, emphasizing the advantages of clear operational definitions.