To be accepted into social groups, individuals must internalize and reproduce appropriate group conventions, such as rituals. The copying of such rigid and socially stipulated behavioral sequences places heavy demands on executive function. Given previous research showing that challenging executive functioning improves it, it was hypothesized that engagement in ritualistic behaviors improves ch...

Life is normally expected to proceed through childhood, youth, adulthood and old age. What happens then if death occurs at some earlier phase of life and not at a far distant time in people’s everyday lives? This will most often be a sudden and unexpected death. How do the nearest family, friends and acquaintances of the deceased cope with this? How and why are new rituals created, how are they...

Gestures, theatrical performances, face-to-face interactions, dances and any other symbolic activity that does not use material objects is often irremediably lost in the archaeological perspective. Anthropological studies can provide countless examples, but most importantly, the archaeological research confirms the importance of symbolism and rituality. For example, theatre for Greeks and Roman...

Few sociological studies have examined care organisation in primary health settings in lowand middle-income countries. This paper explores the organisation of health care work in primary care clinics in CapeTown, South Africa, by analysing two elements of clinic organisation as rituals. The first is a formal,policy-driven element of care: directly observed therapy for tuberculosis p...

There is currently an ongoing demand for richer Intelligent Virtual Environments (IVEs) populated with social intelligent agents. As a result, many agent architectures are taking into account a plenitude of social factors to drive their agents’ behaviour. However, cultural aspects have been largely neglected so far, even though they are a crucial aspect of human societies. This is largely due t...

BACKGROUND Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by repeated and persistent attempts to control thoughts and actions with rituals. These rituals are used in order to prevent feared or personally distressing outcomes. Cognitive behavioral group therapy (CBGT) has been reported to be effective for treating OCD patients. However, about one-third (30%) of patients do not benefit from...

1. Artifacts: These are visible components of culture, they are easy to formulate, have some physical shape, yet its perception varies from one individual to another. 1. Rituals and ceremonies: New hire trainings, new hire welcome lunches, annual corporate conferences, awards, offsite meetings and trainings are few examples of most common rituals and ceremonies. 2. Symbols & Slogans: These are ...

BACKGROUND The author reports on the plants, rituals and spells used against worms and the so-called scantu (fright) in some areas of Sicily. The work is based on ethnobotanical research carried out, prevalently, between 2002-2006, in some areas of Eastern, South-Eastern, North-Central and South-Central Sicily. METHODS This research is based on dialogue. Senior 'healers' were contacted; furth...

BACKGROUND The practice of sacrifice has occurred in several cultures and religions throughout history and still exists today. Candomblé, a syncretical Afro-Brazilian religion, practices the sacrificial ritual called "Orô" by its adherents. The present work aims to document the use of animal species in these sacrificial practices in the cities of Caruaru (PE) and Campina Grande (PB) in Norteast...