Carole Sénéchal

Les côtés ténébreux de Mère Teresa

The impact of Mother Teresa’s work has no religious or geographical boundaries. In the four parts of this text, we try to understand this phenomenon. We first present the method used to collect the available information and then discuss a few biographical considerations to clarify her mission and the media’s contribution to her popularity. The third part identifies four stumbling blocks on her way to canonization: her rather dogmatic religious views, her way of caring for the sick, her political choices, and her suspicious management of funds that she received. Fourth, we discuss some elements of her life related to beatification, including her “night of faith,” the exorcism to which she was subjected as well as the validity of the miracle attributed to her. In conclusion, we question why the criticism of which she has been the target has been ignored by the Vatican.

Does unilateral insular resection disturb personality? A study with epileptic patients

The insula is now regarded as a potential site of epileptogenesis in drug-resistant epilepsy, and the advent of microsurgical techniques has allowed insular cortectomy to become a treatment of choice when the insular cortex is involved in the seizure focus. However, considering the evidence of an insular role in socio-emotional processing, it remains unknown whether these cortical resections disturb personality and social behavior as experienced in daily life. We examined such changes in a group of patients (n=19) who underwent epilepsy surgery involving partial or complete resection of the insula, and compared them to a group of patients who underwent standard temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) surgery (n=19) as a lesion-control group. Participants were assessed on the Iowa Scales of Personality Change, filled by a close relative at least six months after surgery. While postoperative changes did not significantly differ between groups on any of the ISPC items, insular resections were associated with mild but significant increases in irritability, emotional lability, anxiety, and frugality postoperatively, which, apart from anxiety, were not significant among TLE patients. Our results are congruent with the idea that the insula contributes to emotion processing. To our knowledge, this study is the first to systematically assess personality changes in a consecutive sample of patients with insular resections.

Le Père Noël, Piaget, Dieu et Darwin

Le but de cet article est de comprendre pourquoi, alors que les enfants attribuent les mêmes pouvoirs au Père Noël et à Dieu, la perte de croyance au premier n’entraîne pas la perte de croyance au second. Pour ce faire, nous effectuerons quatre analyses. La première concerne la relation entre la croyance au Père Noël et le développement cognitif. Dans la seconde partie, nous montrons que les enfants attribuent effectivement les mêmes pouvoirs au Père Noël et à Dieu. La troisième partie met en évidence que les dogmes religieux sont peu compatibles avec le développement cognitif des enfants. Enfin, trois arguments de nature évolutionniste devraient permettre d’éclairer le phénomène de la persistance des croyances religieuses. The aim of this article is to understand why, in spite of children attributing the same powers to Santa Claus and God, a loss of belief in the former does not lead to a loss of belief in the latter. To this end, we will perform four analyses. The first examines the relationship between a belief in Santa Claus and cognitive development. In the second part, we will show that children indeed attribute the same powers to Santa Claus and God. The third part demonstrates that religious dogmas are not very compatible with children’s cognitive development. Finally, three evolutionary arguments will shed light on the phenomenon of the persistence of religious beliefs.

L’insertion professionnelle des enseignants débutants au Québec

Resume Dans le but de verifier si les milieux scolaires tiennent compte de l’insertion professionnelle des enseignants debutants, une enquete a ete menee aupres des diplomes de 1998-1999-2000 en enseignement de l’Universite de Montreal. Cette enquete visait egalement a verifier dans quelle mesure la formation universitaire instauree depuis 1994 favorise l’insertion des nouveaux enseignants. Les resultats obtenus indiquent que 94 % (N=165 sur 176) de ces derniers considerent leur insertion professionnelle reussie. En outre, la plupart estiment leur formation universitaire adequate. En particulier, ils se disent satisfaits de la frequence et de la qualite des stages ; ils considerent egalement que leur formation couvre bien la diversite des tâches d’un enseignant. Pour ce qui est de la contribution des milieux scolaires a l’insertion professionnelle des enseignants debutants, ces derniers estiment que les Commissions scolaires ont encore beaucoup d’efforts a fournir pour la faciliter. Les resultats de l’enquete montrent aussi que sans l’etablissement de mesures precises, telles le mentorat, les groupes de discussion, l’insertion professionnelle serait plus difficile dans leur milieu scolaire. Finalement, bien que l’ensemble des nouveaux enseignants se plaigne de la lourdeur des tâches, l’epuisement professionnel ne semble pas jouer de facon determinante sur la reussite ou non de l’insertion.