Usos de referências biológicas em publicações de Saúde Mental Global / Uses of biological references in publications related to Global Mental Health

Resumo Desde sua emergência em 2007, o campo da Saúde Mental Global se depara com críticas que costumam advir das Ciências Sociais e Psiquiatria Transcultural. Um ponto criticado, que se supõe caracterizar o campo, é sua tendência a se pautar em explicações biológicas para problemas de saúde mental, que teriam assim quaisquer outras dimensões relegadas a segundo plano. A fim de analisar o quanto o movimento do Global Mental Health se baseia em explicações biológicas de transtornos mentais, no período de 2014 foi realizada uma pesquisa cruzando expressões ligadas à biologia e a de “global mental health” na base de dados PubMed, além de publicações mais recentes associadas ao movimento. No presente artigo, são apresentadas as conclusões sobre a incorporação de referências biológicas em textos recentes associados ao campo da Saúde Mental Global. Embora haja poucos textos com referências diretas à biologia, nota-se que elas parecem ocorrer para justificar a necessidade de políticas de saúde mental.

Abstract Since its emergence in 2007, the field of Global Mental Health has faced constant criticism by Transcultural Psychiatry and the Social Sciences. A main issue is the field's supposed tendency to make use of biological explanations so as to explain mental disorders, which would then have any other dimensions relegated to background. In order to analyze to what extent Global Mental Health relies on biological explanations, we searched during July of 2014 for expressions related to biology and “global mental health” in PubMed database and in recent publications associated with the field. In this article we present some conclusions about the incorporation of biological references in recent publications associated with Global Mental Health. Although there are very few explicit biological references in those texts, they seem to be used in order to justify the need for mental health policy. We also make some remarks about a context-specific view of biology.

To Discern the Medical Thoughts of Heo Joon, the Best Physician in Korean History: An Analysis of Disease Experiences and Treatment Cases in the Treasured Mirror of Eastern Medicine / 의사학

Heo Joon is one of the best-known physicians of the Chosun Dynasty, the last imperial dynasty (1392~1910) of Korea. He had served King Seonjo during his practice, and has produced many publications on medicine. Then, how did he actually treat the patients? So far, other than the case when he treated Gwanghaegun's smallpox, it is not clearly known how and when he attended and treated the ill. In his most famous book, the Treasured Mirror of Eastern Medicine (TMEM), he details the physiopathological mechanisms, diagnoses, treatments or prescriptions, and treatment cases, however, it is not clear if they're from his own clinical experiences. Nevertheless, based on the written method, the original information is reconstituted according to its respective editors of the TMEM, a particular case being included may be considered as an agreement and acceptance of an actual treatment executed. This research analyzes what type of medicinal theory that the main writer Heo Joon employed in his real treatments, as well as how he diagnosed and treated diseases. After analyzing the complete series of the TMEM, we found a total of 301 clinical cases. Here, one may wonder, why does the Section of Inner and External Bodily Elements, that deal with diseases and the structure of the body, have far outnumber cases than the Section of Miscellaneous Disorders? Why does the TMEM introduce the various types of disease experiences and treatment cases, medical cases, simple treatments, nurturing life, materia medica, and also include supernatural phenomena? Why does the TMEM include the experiences and cases from the book published in the Song, Jin, Yuan dynasty of China, moreover in the Ming Dynasty of its time. These questions can be answered to the extent that Heo Joon and the others who participated in completing the book sought to justify the new clinical medicine practices, and because it had to be acceptable to the Confucius beliefs which dominated the society, and also because the book came to light in a time when tensions between the pre-existing Chosun medicine and the newly introduced Chinese medicine were evident. Among the clinical cases in the TMEM, there are only 41 cases that can be considered as Medical Cases which include the pathology and treatment mechanism. After analyzing these mechanisms, we were able to discover that they cover not only the theories of the 4 great physicians of Jin-Yuan Dynasty, but also the theories of the Danxi's Medical Current, a big trend in the Early Ming Dynasty, and some of the most recent clinical cases that had been just reported at the time. However, Heo Joon did not lean towards a particular theory of medicine; rather, he insisted on establishing a classical medicine based on the traditional medicinal scriptures such as the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon or Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica, and had created his own Body-Viscera medicine, as Shin Dongwon's recent research. Moreover, he successfully secured his own right to be a clinical physician by customizing the amount of medication in prescriptions for the people of Chosun. Heo Joon was one of the chief physicians for the Royal Family of the Chosun Dynasty. Despite the tendency of traditional medicine to lean towards Taoism or Fangshu, for him the most important thing was the actual treatment of diseases. As a result, Heo Joon successfully treated smallpox by utilizing traditional medicinal methods, by breaking the taboo of not using medication on such diseases, as well as he was able to treat an unknown disease, scarlet fever, by discovering the pathological mechanism of the illness. Also he made bold decisions on altering existing prescriptions to treat diseases more efficiently. The TMEM consists of not only justified methods that integrate the different and scattered medicinal and clinical practices, which many insisted their originality, but also was backed with Heo Joon's such credible and endeavored clinical medicine.

Is selectivity an aphrodisiac? / ¿Es la selectivividad un afrodisiaco?

In a recent article, Eastwick, Finkel, Mochon, and Ariely (2007) reported data to indicate that selectivity might be an important factor in determining romantic desire. Using a speed-dating paradigm, they found that individuals who, on average, rated potential dates as highly desirable were likely to receive lower average ratings from their dates, as evidenced by what they termed as negative generalized correlations. However, the dyadic correlations were positive, suggesting that, across pairs, desire was somewhat reciprocated. Eastwick et al. go as far as to claim that "... daters somehow broadcast their unselec-tivity... " (page 318), which we find to be a deeply dissatisfying explanation. We present an alternative and more principled approach in order to account for the disassociation between the generalized and dyadic correlations. We implemented a multi-agent model that allows an assessment of the relative contributions of selectivity and matching on ratings of attractiveness. The model suggests that the match between potential daters' attractiveness is the most important predictor of romantic desire. We believe that Eastwick et al's (2007) article is just another example of a dangerous pattern in social psychology research: spectacular claims are made on the flimsiest of evidence.

En un artículo reciente, Eastwick, Finkel, Mochon y Ariely (2007) reportaron datos que indicaban que la selectividad podría ser un factor importante para determinar el deseo romántico. Usando un paradigma de citas rápidas, se encontró que los individuos que en promedio calificaron posibles citas como altamente deseables eran los que recibían más bajas calificaciones en promedio de sus citas, como lo que demuestra lo que ellos denominan como correlaciones negativas generalizadas. Sin embargo, las correlaciones diádicas fueron positivas, lo que sugiere que, a través de pares el deseo era algo recíproco. Eastwick et al. (2007) van más lejos al afirmar que " ... personas que se citan de alguna manera difunden su no selectividad... " (p 318), donde encontramos una explicación profundamente desalentadora. Presentamos una aproximación alternativa y un enfoque basado en la disociación entre las correlaciones generalizadas y diádicas. Hemos implementado un modelo multi-agente que permite una evaluación de las contribuciones relativas de la selectividad y la congruencia en las calificaciones de la atracción. El modelo sugiere que la igualación entre el atractivo potencial de personas que se citan es el predictor más importante del deseo romántico. Creemos que el artículo de Eastwick et al (2007) es sólo otro ejemplo de un patrón peligroso en la investigación en el campo de la psicología social: las afirmaciones espectaculares son realizadas con la evidencia más débil.

Psychosocial explanations in research articles in psychology: the portuguese case and comments to Torres & Neves / Explicações psicossociais em artigos de psicologia: o caso português e comentários a Torres e Neves

In the present paper we present a commentary on the talk given by Torres and Neves regarding the themes of research in Social Psychology in Brazil. This commentary focuses on issues of intercultural analyses referred to by these authors and their importance in the development of Social Psychology. We also aim to feed this debate with an illustration of the Portuguese scenario. Therefore, we present an analysis of the concepts, explanations and/or psychosocial analyses present in articles published between 2006 and 2012 in three Portuguese journals of Psychology (Análise Psicológica, Psicologia e Psychologica). The results show a high predominance of the "systems external to individuals", especially the ones related to systems of categorization and/or social identities in groups of different social status (Doise, 2012). These results are discussed, synthetically, in articulation with the defence of "cultural translation" as proposed by Torres and Neves.

Apresenta-se aqui um comentário à intervenção de Torres e Neves sobre os temas de pesquisa em psicologia social no Brasil. Este comentário foca-se nas questões de análise intercultural referidas por aqueles autores e da sua importância no desenvolvimento da psicologia social. Procura também alimentar este debate com uma ilustração do que se passa no cenário português. Assim, apresenta-se uma análise aos conceitos, explicações ou análises psicossociais presentes nos artigos publicados entre 2006 e 2012 em três revistas portuguesas (Análise Psicológica, Psicologia e Psychologica). Os resultados mostram uma grande predominância dos "sistemas externos aos indivíduos", em especial daqueles que se relacionam com sistemas de categorizações e/ou de identidades sociais de grupos com diferente estatuto social (Doise, 2012). Estes dados são discutidos, de forma sintética, em articulação com a defesa da "tradução cultural" que Torres e Neves fazem.

Objeções materialistas contra o dualismo cartesiano / Materialistic objections against cartesian dualism

Discutiremos cinco objeções básicas que os materialistas geralmente levantam contra o dualismo mente-corpo cartesiano: (1) Ele não é empiricamente testável ou confirmável; (2) É em princípio testável e confirmável, mas não confirmado; (3) É testável e confirmável, mas foi provado falso; (4) É desnecessário para explicar qualquer coisa; e (5) Não pode servir para explicar coisa alguma. Mostraremos como todas essas objeções são insatisfatórias. Se eu estiver certo em minha argumentação, a postura reducionista do materialismo contemporâneo contra a existência de substâncias cartesianas imateriais como agentes causais para a explicação do comportamento humano é demonstravelmente um dogma mais do que qualquer outra coisa. Ademais, a promessa do materialismo reducionista de explicar a personalidade humana, a consciência e o comportamento tampouco pode ser jamais realizada.

I discuss five basic objections materialists often raise to Cartesian Mind-Body Dualism: (1). It is not empirically testable or confirmable; (2). It is in principle testable and confirmable, but unconfirmed; (3). It is testable and confirmable, but has been shown false; (4). It is unnecessary to explain anything; and (5). It cannot serve to explain anything. I will show how unsatisfactory all these objections are. If I am right in what I argue the reductionist posture of contemporary materialism against the existence of Cartesian Immaterial Substances as causal agents in explaining human behavior, is demonstrably more dogma than anything else. Moreover, the promise of reductive materialism to explain human personality, consciousness, and behavior is unlikely ever to be fulfilled.

Operaciones discursivas y contextos argumentativos: sobre la comprensión del fenómeno físico de rebotar / Discursive operations and argumentative contexts: understanding the physical phenomenon of bouncing / Operações discursivas e contextos argumentativos: compreensão do fenômeno físico de rebote

En esta investigación se indaga cuáles son los cambios que generan tres contextos discursivos en las operaciones argumentativas y epistémicas utilizadas por niños de 8 a 10 años. Participaron 36 estudiantes de grado quinto de dos escuelas públicas de Cali, Colombia. El diseño experimental tuvo tres contextos basados en la teoría de Klahr (2000) sobre razonamiento científico: Argumentación, predicción, y experimentación. El desempeño argumentativo de los estudiantes en los tres contextos estuvo caracterizado por la utilización recurrente de operaciones como la afirmación y la justificación, y la aparición relativamente escasa de la oposición y la contra-oposición. En relación con el aspecto epistémico, los estudiantes incrementaron sucesivamente en el contexto de predicción y experimentación las evaluaciones empíricas, privilegiando las informaciones obtenidas en la resolución de la situación para dirimir y resolver los conflictos presentes en el discurso. Se encontró que los estudiantes en el contexto argumentativo utilizaron diversas variables para explicar el fenómeno de rebotar, siendo el material de construcción o la presencia de un gas al interior de los objetos las más comunes. En el contexto de experimentación aumentaron las explicaciones del fenómeno con dos variables simultáneas, siendo las de mayor proporción el peso y la presencia de un gas, y el material de construcción y la forma.

The objective of this research was to make inquiries about the changes that three different contexts generate in the argumentative and epistemological operations used by children aged between 8 and 10 years. Thirty-six fifth grade students from two public schools in Cali, Colombia, took part in the study. The experimental design involved three contexts based on Klahr's theory (2000) about scientific reasoning: argumentation, prediction and experimentation. The students' argumentative performance in the three contexts was characterized by the recurrent use of operations such as affirmation and justification and by the relatively low occurrence of opposition and counter-opposition. In relation to the epistemic aspect, the students successively increased the empirical evaluations in the prediction and experimentation context, favoring the information that was obtained in the resolution of the situation in order to solve the conflicts present in the discourse. It was found that the students in the argumentative context used several variables to explain the bouncing phenomenon where construction material and presence of gas inside the objects were the most common ones. In the experimentation context there was an increase in the explanations of the phenomenon based on two simultaneous variables being weight and presence of gas, those of bigger proportions, as well as construction material and shape.

Esta pesquisa averigua pelas mudanças que geram três contextos discursivos em operações argumentativas e epistêmicas aplicadas por crianças dos 8 aos 10 anos. Envolveu 36 alunos de quinto grau de duas escolas públicas em Cali, Colômbia. O desenho experimental teve três contextos baseados na teoria de Klahr (2000) sobre raciocínio científico: raciocínio, predição e experimentação. O desempenho argumentativo dos alunos nos três contextos caracterizou-se pelo uso recorrente de operações como a afirmação e a justificação, e pela ocorrência relativamente baixa de oposição e contra-oposição. Em relação ao aspecto epistemológico, os alunos aumentaram sucessivamente as avaliações empíricas no contexto da previsão e avaliação experimental empírica, priorizando a informação obtida na solução da situação para ajustar e resolver os conflitos presentes no discurso. Constatou-se que os estudantes utilizaram diversas variáveis no contexto argumentativo para explicar o fenômeno de rebote; as mais comuns foram o material de construção ou a presença de gás dentro dos objetos. No contexto da experimentação se incrementaram as explicações do fenômeno com duas variáveis simultâneas. As de maior preponderância foram a presença de um gás e o material de construção, ou o material de construção e a forma do objeto.

Concepts and methods in ecomorphology.

An analysis of the concepts of ecomorphology is presented within a framework of areas of research in morphology, namely descriptive, functional, ecological and evolutionary morphology. A clear distinction must be made between functional and ecological morphology. The former is based on the concept of function and the latter on the concept of biological role. Although ecomorphology lies within the general area of evolutionary biology, explanations in ecomorphology are nomological-deductive and are distinctly different from explanations in evolutionary morphology which are historical-narrative.