Almost everything we do depends on our ability to remember the past. This experiment sought to contribute quantitative data exploring two issues concerning memory. Miller (1956) theorised that an average person can hold 7 chunks of information in STM. This experiment confirms that 7 is also the average when a distracter test pushes the learnt words into LTM.

This research also examines the possibility that the relationship between two planetary symbols, Neptune and Mercury, can indicate differences in ability to recall. The experimental hypothesis predicts impaired ability for those with a Mercury Neptune aspect in their horoscopes. However, the results showed the reverse to be the case, with the Mercury Neptune group achieving a mean average score of 8.27 compared to the other group`s score of 6.66 out of 20. The work of Westran (2001) provides an interesting reference, since he too produced results of significance when examining a correlation between Mercury Neptune aspects and police detectives.

It is therefore proposed that use of the astrological model of the universe could provide cognitive psychology with a new worldview from which to develop different perspectives for research.

After 1700, astrology lost the respect it once commanded in medical circles. But the belief that the heavens influenced bodily health persisted – even in learned medicine -until well into the nineteenth century. The continuing vitality of these ideas owed much to the new empirical and mechanical outlook of their proponents. Taking their cue from the work of Robert Boyle and Richard Mead a number of British practioners amassed statistical evidence which purported to prove he influence of the Moon upon fevers and other diseases. Such ideas flourished in the colonies and in the medical services of the armed forces, but their exponents were not marginal men. Some, like James Lind, were widely respected and commanded support for their views from such influential figures as Erasmus Darwin.

This comment is an additional piece relatling to “Some Extreme Character Types” by Graham Douglas, an abstract of which can be found on this database. (See also “Developing the Geophysical Perspective” by the same author.)

Byzantium inherited the rich astrological tradition of Late Antiquity, especially that of Alexandria, where even in the 6th century A.D., astrology was taught in philosophical schools. The great number of Byzantine astrolgical MSS, which preserve works of famous authors and many anonymous treatises, shows the survival and continuity of astrology in Byzantium. Through medical astrology pysicians can better understand the temperament of an individual man and find out about his bodily constitution and psychic faculties, his inclination to chronic and acute diseases, the possibilities of curable or incurable cases, and finally the periods of lmajor danger for his health. They can conjecture about the evolution of a disease, choose a favourable time for an operation, or initiate a cure.

Astrology is no longer regarded as a science by many, because its claims are almost impossible to test empirically in controlled laboratory conditions and it cannot meet the scientific need to be reproducible. However, the majority of those who read their “star signs” can identify aspects of their personality in what they read and it is possible that this may influence their attiudes and actions. The literture has neglected astrological signs as a possible predictor of suicide ideation. To see whether astrological birth signs are associated with suicide and the method used, data was collected from the Public Hdalth Department in North Cheshire representing all the Cheshire Coroner’s verdicts of suicde, and open verdicts, in all deceased aged 60 and above between 1989 and 2000. The observed occurence of deaths due to natural causes and suicide, in relation to birth signs did not differ from what would be expected from chance. However, the distribution of suicide by hanging appeared significantly higher in those with a birth sign of Virgo and lowest in Sagittarius and Scorpio. The distribution of violent and non-violent suicides in relation to star signs showed higher occurence of violent death in persons born in the summer months.

There has been a great deal of recent interest in popular health care in early modern England, resulting in studies on a range of topics from practioners through remedial treatment. Over the past decade, the history of books has also attracted growing interest. This is partiularly true for the seventeenth century, a period marked by a dramatic rise in all types of printed works. The 1640s are especially significant in the evolution of printed vernacular medical publications which continued to flourish during the rest of the century. While recent studies on popular medical books have contributed greatly to our understanding of contemporary medical beliefs and pratices, they have failed to properly recognise the effect that almanacs had on early modern medicine. Although their primary function was not to disseminate medical information, most provided a great deal of medical informaton. Furthermore, these cheap, annual publications targeted and were read by a wide cross-section of the public, making them the first true form of British mass media. This article is based on the content of 1,392 almanacs printed between 1640 and 1700, which may make it the largest comparative study of the medical content of any early modern pritned works. The project has resulted in two major findings. First of all, almanacs played a major part in the dissemination, continuing popularity, and longevity of tradtioinal astrologial and Galenic beliefs and practices. Secondly, at the same time, almanacs played an important early role in the growth of medical materialism in Britain.

Rather than speaking broadly about the determinants of the nurse-patient realtionship, as I did in my book, in this article I have focused more narrowly on psychiatric mental health nurses and their patients. I cited, as the chief influence on the context of the relationship between the two, the psychological changes concomitant with the stellar transition from the Piscean to the Aquarian Age and the burdens these changes impose on the psyche of the individual. I talked a bit about the paradoxical nature of the psyche and how it relates to paradoxical psychotherapeutic approaches. I mentioned win, win negotiations as being skills necessary for coping in the Aquarian Age. I also mentioned that our own value system, although absolute for us, is not necessarily binding on the other unless it is mutually agreed upon beforehand. In addition, I spoke about the possibility of many theories and methods, each equally valid and workable in the solution of a particular problem. I said our approach to the patient will depend on our role conception as psychotherapist, our typology, and concomitant with that, our model of psychological processes and the theoretical framework in which it is couched. I have stated what I consider the four key points for all of us to be aware of in order to negotiate the new psychology. We need to differentiate between needs, wants and entitlement: we are entitled to our needs, but we are ultimately responsible for their fulfillment (whicih does not necessarily mean that we have to fulfill them ourselves). We need to be aware of the two-pronged aspect of every bit of communication; i.e., the simultaneous factual and directional message contained in each, and yet the selectivity of the tuning in by the receiver. We also need to be aware that any communication can imply a message about the object discussed or about one’s subjective relation to it, as well as the confusion and rage that can be caused by ambiguities and the misunderstanding of which of the two has been meant. We have to learn to live with the fact that all of us have one area of our personality that is reasonably well adapted and another that is still young and needs all our (and others’) help that it can get.

The status of women in the Middle Ages was ambiguous, because although they had great responsibility and expertise in practical affairs they were viewed as chattel and inferior to men. They were skilled in cookery, often of highly spiced didshes using a variety of ingredients and flavorings, and they were taught the use of medicinal herbs. They were often skilled in simple first aid, though they were not allowed to practise outside the home. An important exception to this was Hildegarde von Bingen, whose Physica brought her great renown. In it she became the first woman to discuss plants in relation to their medicinal properties. For most people in the Middle Ages, treatment revolved around herbs and diet, together with faith and holy relics and the use of (forbidden) pagan incantation and ritual. Astrology was often a necesssary adjunct to treatment. In Salerno, however, medicine had been practised from classical times, and medical training could last for 7 years or more. One of the greatest medieval medical texts is the Taculnum Sanitatis, which describes in detail the 6 essentials for the preservation of man’s health. Several vegetables and herbs are mentioned in connection with the kidneys, the picking and preparation of which are imbued with magic.

Although Chinese folklore holds that the Dragon Year is an auspicious time to have a birth, notable increases in Chinese fertility in Dragon Years did not occur before 1976. Demographic explanations for the belated occurence of this phenomenon rely on the notion of natural fertility: that is, couples’ lack of modern contraception had kept such decisions outside the realm of choice. The analysis presented in this article, however, shows that the bulk of the 1976 Dragon Year baby boom on Taiwan was due to strategies that had always been available: marriage timing, abortion, and coital behavior. The natural fertility paradigm thus is insufficent in explaining the motivation for this behavior and should be copmlemented by Insitutional approaches.

Three separate studies were carried out to examine the patterns of mental health care in an Indian village. The first examined the conceptual frameworks of the various traditional and modern healers. The second was an attitude study inquiring about the type of healer favoured for psychiatric consultation. The third was a population survey in which every person with one or more symptoms was asked if he or she had consulted anyone for relief of distress. Besides the modern doctors thre were three types of traditional healers: Vaids, practising an empircal system of indigenous medicine; Mantarwardis, curing through astrology and charms; and Patris, who acted as mediums for spirits and emons. It was found that a large majority (59%) of those with symptoms had consulted someone. The consultaiton was determined more by the severity of illness than by socio-demographic factors. Modern doctors were morepopular, but most people consulted both traditional and modern healers without regard to the latter’s contradictory coneptual framework. Literacy and other socio-demographic factdors had no influence on the type of consultation. A conclusion was reached that any scheme for introducing modern psychiatry into rural areas should make use of the locally popular healers, both traditional or modern.