Open peer commentary on the article “Constructivism and Mystical Experience” by Hugh Gash. Abstract: Can mystical experience usefully inform us, and if so can this be understood via constructivism and the other psychological sciences? Or are mystical and constructivist understandings too incompatible?

Open peer commentary on the article “I Can’t Yet and Growth Mindset” by Fiona Murphy & Hugh Gash. Abstract: The optimism of radical constructivism is contrasted with the relative pessimism of biological determinism in the context of educating young children. The plasticity of the learning brain is contrasted with the relatively fixed intelligence view linked to IQ testing.

Meditation experiences are viewed from a constructivist perspective. Concentrative and mindfulness approaches are compared. It is concluded that, although these meditative techniques differ (and often are used in conjunction), they both yield insight into how the mind processes experience at both the preverbal and verbal levels.

Open peer commentary on the article “Constructivism, Fast Thinking, Heuristics and Sustainable Development” by Hugh Gash. Abstract: Can radical constructivism, with its agnostic stance towards any form of mind-independent reality, offer a way forward for sustainable development? Do fast thinking and heuristics facilitate or inhibit such development? These questions are discussed in the context of constructivist psychotherapy and of human co-evolution.

The various phenomena associated with concentrative and mindfulness meditation are conceptualized in terms of Kelly’s personal construct theory. Reports of “unstressing,” “no-thought,” “deautomatization,” and so forth are examined and described from a constructivist viewpoint. It is argued here that personal construct theory is a powerful descriptive model for making sense of meditative experiences.