Experimental Phenomenology as an Approach to the Study of Contemplative Practices

During history humans have developed a large variety of contemplative practices, in many different areas of life, and as part of many different traditions and contexts. Although some contemplative practices are very old, the research field of Contemplation Studies is young, and there are no agreed-upon definitions of central concepts such as contemplative practices and contemplative experiences. The present paper focuses on contemplative practices, defined as practices that are engaged in for the sake of the contemplative experiences they afford (e.g., the contemplation of nature, or the contemplation of various aspects of being-in-the world). The purpose of the present paper is to discuss the potential of experimental phenomenology to contribute to the development of the research field of Contemplation Studies. Experimental phenomenology is defined as the investigation of phenomenological practices and their effects on experience. Phenomenological practices involve intentional variations of experiencing by means of changes in the direction of attention and the choice of attitude, typically as guided by verbal instructions or self-instructions. It is suggested that contemplative practices represent a subcategory of phenomenological practices. Two different varieties of experimental phenomenology are described and illustrated in the present paper: (1) an informal variety which involves the development of new phenomenological practices by creative variation of procedures and observation of effects; and (2) a more rigorously scientific variety, which involves the systematic variation of phenomenological practices in accordance with experimental designs to study their experiential effects. It is suggested that the development of contemplative practices during the ages is the result of an informal experimenting of the first kind; this variety of experimental phenomenology can also be used to develop personalized health interventions in a clinical setting. As to the more rigorously scientific experimental phenomenology, it is possible that it may lead not only to an improved understanding of general principles underlying contemplative practices, but also to a more systematic development of new contemplative practices. The experimental-phenomenological approach to contemplative practices is illustrated by various examples involving mindfulness, gratitude, receiving and giving.

“I don’t Think These Devices are Very Culturally Sensitive.”—Impact of Automated Speech Recognition Errors on African Americans

Automated speech recognition (ASR) converts language into text and is used across a variety of applications to assist us in everyday life, from powering virtual assistants, natural language conversations, to enabling dictation services. While recent work suggests that there are racial disparities in the performance of ASR systems for speakers of African American Vernacular English, little is known about the psychological and experiential effects of these failures paper provides a detailed examination of the behavioral and psychological consequences of ASR voice errors and the difficulty African American users have with getting their intents recognized. The results demonstrate that ASR failures have a negative, detrimental impact on African American users. Specifically, African Americans feel othered when using technology powered by ASR—errors surface thoughts about identity, namely about race and geographic location—leaving them feeling that the technology was not made for them. As a result, African Americans accommodate their speech to have better success with the technology. We incorporate the insights and lessons learned from sociolinguistics in our suggestions for linguistically responsive ways to build more inclusive voice systems that consider African American users’ needs, attitudes, and speech patterns. Our findings suggest that the use of a diary study can enable researchers to best understand the experiences and needs of communities who are often misunderstood by ASR. We argue this methodological framework could enable researchers who are concerned with fairness in AI to better capture the needs of all speakers who are traditionally misheard by voice-activated, artificially intelligent (voice-AI) digital systems.

Shockwaves

Urban conflict literature has attempted new comparisons between contested cities in conflict zones and cities with no armed conflict. This literature tends to use representational frameworks around defensive planning and normative government discourses. In this article, I propose to expand these frameworks and to engage with epistemologies of lived experience to produce new relational accounts linking “conflict cities” with “ordinary cities”. The article accounts for the lived, sensory and atmospheric in exploring the legacies of conflict on the everyday urban environments. It then reflects on the everyday and experiential effects of counterterrorism in ordinary cities. While this is designed to minimize threat, it also alters urban spatiality in a way reminiscent of urban conflict zones. It then explores the unequal impacts of counterterrorism across urban publics, and their experiential connections with practices of counterinsurgency. The article is structured around two ‘shockwaves’ entwining lived experiences across seemingly unrelatable urban settings.

Transcriptomics-informed large-scale cortical model captures topography of pharmacological neuroimaging effects of LSD

Psychoactive drugs can transiently perturb brain physiology while preserving brain structure. The role of physiological state in shaping neural function can therefore be investigated through neuroimaging of pharmacologically-induced effects. This paradigm has revealed that neural and experiential effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) are attributable to its agonist activity at the serotonin-2A receptor. Here, we integrate brainwide transcriptomics with biophysically-based large-scale circuit modeling to simulate acute neuromodulatory effects of LSD on human cortical dynamics. Our model captures the topographic effects of LSD-induced changes in cortical BOLD functional connectivity. These findings suggest that serotonin-2A-mediated modulation of pyramidal cell gain is the circuit mechanism through which LSD alters cortical functional topography. Individual-subject fitting reveals that the model captures patterns of individual neural differences in drug response that predict altered states of consciousness. This work establishes a framework for linking molecular-level manipulations to salient changes in brain function, with implications for precision medicine.

Molotov Cocktails to Mass Marches: Strategic Nonviolence, Symbolic Violence, and the Mobilizing Effect of Riots

What effects do violent protests have on social movement mobilizations? In recent decades, the field of nonviolence studies has popularized a strategic nonviolence framework to understand activist tactics. This framework is problematic in two ways. First, dominant theories argue that violent protest actions demobilize nonviolent protest. However, there is less empirical support for this claim than often assumed. Current quantitative findings on the demobilizing effects of violent protest rely on a false dichotomy between violence and nonviolence that obscures the effects of low-level violent actions. Through statistical analysis of protest trends in the US over 72 years, I show that riots have an overall mobilizing impact on nonviolent protests. Second, the strategic nonviolence framing encourages an instrumental view of tactics that is prone to miss the symbolic and emotional aspects of different types of actions. Through qualitative interviews with participants in the black bloc tactic, I explore the experiential effects of the riot, and find that rioting can have deeply empowering emotional impacts on participants, with lasting effects that sustain activists’ political engagement. In combination, these results demonstrate that low-level violent actions interact with movements in more dynamic ways than dominant theories have understood. [Article copies available for a fee from The Transformative Studies Institute. E-mail address: [email protected] Website: http://www.transformativestudies.org ©2021 by The Transformative Studies Institute. All rights reserved.]

Beyond the Numbers: The Experiential Effects of Stereotype Threat on Students of Color at TCU

This study aims to examine if and how the effects of negative stereotypes of students of color are felt beyond the statistical measures of academic success, reaching into the classroom and social experiences of these students. Through face-to-face interviews with four Community Scholars on the campus of Texas Christian University, key stereotypes of students of color were identified and several implications examined. This paper provides an analysis of the ways in which the classroom dynamics and performance, as well as the social life and experiences, of students of color at TCU are impacted by their identity as students of color and the stereotypes that others hold about their abilities. These experiences are informed by the concept of stereotype threat, inwhich students experience identity contingencies when asked to perform in a situation relevant to the stereotypes held about their identity. Ultimately, this study hopes to inform better practices and spread awareness of the difficulties and challenges faced by students of color, both in the classroom and socially, during their experiences at TCU.

Molecular and Behavioral Effects of Infant Maltreatment across Generations in Rhesus Monkeys

Childhood maltreatment is among the most robust risk factors for subsequent psychiatric and medical disorders, and data in humans and rodents suggest that effects of adverse childhood experiences may be transmitted across generations. Recent indications for biological processes underlying this transfer of experiential effects are intriguing; yet, their relevance in primates is inconclusive due to limitations of current studies. In this study, we bridge research in rodent models and humans with a natural non-human primate model on intergenerational effects of childhood maltreatment. Using a unique, well-controlled, randomized cross-fostering design in rhesus monkeys, we test the influence of ancestral maltreatment on molecular, neuroendocrine and behavioral outcomes in offspring, and show that childhood maltreatment results in transmission of information to the subsequent generation independent of behavioral transmission. We further demonstrate differences in the offspring longitudinal DNA methylation profile of the FKBP5 gene, an important regulator of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis in offspring of the maltreatment lineage compared to the control lineage. Finally, we show that differences in FKBP5 methylation have functional effects on molecular, neuroendocrine and behavioral outcomes in offspring of the maltreatment ancestral line, even if the infants were never exposed to maltreatment nor interacted with their exposed ancestors. Although the molecular mechanism underlying our observations remains unknown, our data point to a potential germline-dependent effect. In summary, our data suggest that history of maltreatment in primates can induce molecular and behavioral changes in a subsequent generation independent of behavioral transmission that may influence risk for mental and physical diseases across generations.