"Mom and dad": views on the relationship between direct-care staff and therapists in residential, adolescent treatment facilities

Some of the common conflicts that occur between therapists and direct-care staff in residential, adolescent treatment facilities are highlighted. These conflicts often parallel those occurring between an adolescent's parents. Common issues include the amount of time spent with the adolescent patient, questions of authority, and communication difficulties. These conflicts can have positive consequences, if each party recognizes that the other brings a needed perspective to adolescent treatment.     

Orientation-specificity in kinesthetic spatial learning: The role of multiple orientations

In the current study we tested whether multiple orientations in kinesthetic learning affected how flexibly spatial information is stored and later used in making location judgments. Three groups learned simple routes by walking them while blindfolded, with (1) multiple orientations achieved through normal walking, (2) multiple orientations achieved through backward walking, or (3) a single orientation achieved through walking without turning (which required forward, backward, and sideways walking). When subjects had experienced multiple orientations while learning the routes, later directional judgments were equally accurate (and equally rapid) regardless of whether the judgments were aligned or were contra-aligned with the orientation of the routes as originally learned. In contrast, when routes were learned in a single orientation (without turning), subsequent judgments on contra-aligned trials were both less accurate and slower than judgments on aligned trials. Thus, multiple orientations are important to establish orientation-free, flexible use of spatial information in a kinesthetic learning environment. This contrasts with the pattern of results typically found in visual spatial learning and suggests that the factors that affect orientation specificity of spatial use may differ across spatial modality.     

Preschoolers’ understanding of multiple orientations to reality: The adjectives task

Preschoolers’ understanding that an object can be accurately described using two different non-synonymous words was investigated using a task in which children (N = 36) had to judge which of two animals had provided correct adjectival labels for a series of pictures. For some pictures, only one animal provided a correct adjective, for some both animals were correct, and for some neither was correct. For all types of judgement, 4-year-olds outperformed 3-year-olds. Children in both age groups performed worst on trials where both animals were correct. Children's performance on the adjectives task related to concurrent understanding of the appearance–reality distinction, but not to false-belief task performance. Implications for children's mentalizing development are discussed.     

When transference isn't transference: Iatrogenesis of multiple role relations between practicing therapists

Charismatic, grandiose and authoritarian senior therapists often develop complicated relationships not only with practicing therapists who are their colleagues, but also their friends, supervisees, as well as patients. The patient/therapist in a multiple role relationship with such a senior person may be extremely vulnerable and very unaware of the true nature of the problem Under certain conditions, some of these patient/therapists have suffered ego dysfunction and decompensation which appeared to be iatrogenic in origin rather than due to the patient's transference resistance. The implications of these issues for the field of psychotherapy, and underlying dynamics in vulnerable patient/therapist's, and in grandiose, narcissistic group leaders, are highlighted, along with ways of identifying the intrapsychic, interpersonal, and institutional roots of this problem An earlier draft of this paper was presented at the 1990 Meeting of the American Group Psychotherapy Association in Boston.     

Alcoholism treatment and marriage and family therapists: An empirical study

This article reports on results of a mail questionnaire study conducted among 257 members of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (132 respondents, response rate of 51%) on their attitudes toward alcoholism issues (acceptance of alcoholism as a disease, treatment philosophies used with clients and/or families, and acceptance and use of Alcoholics Anonymous as a resource). Results indicated that 69% of respondents (as compared with 42% formerly) considered alcoholism a disease after MFT education. A combination of individual, family therapy, and AA (81.1%); family therapy (66.7%); and AA only (60.6%) were most often used. Controlled use of alcohol by clients in treatment was believed to be unethical by 43.2%, legal by 39.4% and ineffective by 54.5%.     

Inhibition of feature extraction with multiple instances of the target feature in different orientations

Summary Analyses of alphabetic confusion matrices have produced feature lists defined in terms of confusability of characters thought to contain them. Identical shapes of low confusability (e.g., b, d, p, q) therefore share few or no features. Several researchers have observed mutual inhibition of feature extraction with simultaneously presented confusable shapes. Mutual inhibition observed in the current experiments provides a basis for a definition of features in terms of orientation-independent structural relationships. In the first experiment, four alphanumeric characters were each confused with one other character in this same set; however, when another set was formed by reorienting some of these same shapes to become different characters (e.g., 6 to 9), these confusions disappeared. In the second experiment, characters within each set were exposed parafoveally in pairs to different groups of subjects. If members of a pair were similar in shape (disregarding orientation), identification accuracy was poorer than if they were not. Similar shapes in the same orientation were not signficantly more mutually inhibiting than similar shapes in different orientations.     

智慧与幸福感的关系：基于多元幸福取向的视角

智慧与幸福是人类的普遍追求。智慧与自我实现幸福感(eudaimonia well-being)正相关得到研究者的普遍认同。智慧与享乐主义幸福感(hedonia well-being)是何种关系, 仍在争论中。从智慧发展的角度, 学者提出了积极人格发展观和发展历程观, 对智慧与幸福感的关系进行更深入的理论探讨。结合中国文化及智慧和幸福感的研究进展, 提出发展水平观：随着智慧发展水平不断提高, 个体幸福感的来源、持续时间以及对身心健康的影响存在差异。未来宜重点解决两个问题：(1)选择和编制适宜的智慧和幸福感测量工具; (2)澄清智慧与幸福感的因果关系。     

Goal orientations in negotiations: the influence of goal orientations on fixed-pie perceptions and bargaining outcomes

As is the case for other achievement situations, people may approach negotiations emphasizing outcome and/or process goals. This paper examines the effects of process goal orientation (PGO) and outcome goal orientation (OGO) on individuals' fixed-pie perceptions and the negotiation of joint outcomes. Process and outcome goal orientations are associated with different personal beliefs about the world. We hypothesized that persons who are primarily oriented toward outcome goals, based on their fixed-entity perception of the world, would mainly concentrate on the final results or on the outcomes of the negotiation. They would tend to perceive negotiations as fixed, zero-sum, competitive situations, which have to be "won" by one of the parties at the expense of the other. On the other hand, we predicted that people who are strongly process-oriented, based on their malleable-entity perception of the world, would focus mainly on formulating and mastering the best strategies that lead to successful resolution of the negotiation. They would perceive positions to be "malleable" and, hence, would tend to perceive the negotiation as a non zero-sum situation. Additionally, the interaction between the two types of goal orientations and its effect on the parties' joint negotiation outcomes was examined. Results of two empirical studies indicated that OGO was significantly positively associated with fixed-pie bias (Study 1). The significant interaction between PGO and OGO (Study 2) demonstrated that a strong OGO combined with a strong PGO led to the best joint negotiation outcomes. Implications for goal orientation and negotiation theories are discussed.     

Contesting orientations,self-determined motivation,and sportspersonship: Further validation of the contesting orientations scale

ObjectivesTo examine the factorial validity of the Contesting Orientations Scale (COS) in a large sample of intercollegiate student-athletes, as well as to extend evidence of the COS’ concurrent validity by examining its relationship to autonomous and controlled motivations in sport. The ability of contesting orientations to predict sportspersonship over and above autonomous and controlled motivations was also examined.DesignCross-sectional and correlational.MethodsFive hundred and forty-four intercollegiate US athletes (57.2% male) from individual and team sports completed measures of contesting orientations, autonomous and controlled motivations, and sportspersonship.ResultsConfirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported the factorial validity of the COS, while correlational results supported its concurrent construct validity, with autonomous motivation associated with higher levels of partnership orientation and controlled motivation associated with higher levels of war orientation. In addition, sequential regression analyses supported the predictive utility of contesting orientations, with partnership orientation emerging as a significant positive predictor of four – and war orientation a negative predictor of three – dimensions of sportspersonship. Mediation analyses suggested that contesting orientations may partially mediate the relationship between autonomous and controlled motivations for some dimensions of sportspersonship.ConclusionsThe COS is a valid and reliable measure of contesting orientations. Partnership and war contesting orientations, moreover, add significantly to the prediction of sportspersonship over and above autonomous and controlled motivations. In practice, if the goal is to promote good sportspersonship, coaches and other adults involved in competitive sport should emphasize a partnership contesting orientation in addition to more autonomous forms of motivation.     

Building esprit de corps: learning to better navigate between "my" patient and "our" patient

Excellence in the care of hospital patients, particularly those in an intensive care unit, reflects esprit de corps among the care team. Esprit de corps depends on a delicate balance; each clinician must preserve a sense of personal responsibility for "my" patient and yet participate in the collaborative work essential to the care of "our" patient. A harmful imbalance occurs when a physician demands total control of the decision-making process, especially concerning end-of-life treatment options. Although emotional factors may push a physician to claim decision-making exclusivity, compounded by a legal framework that overemphasizes individual responsibility, esprit de corps can be preserved through timely communication among clinicians and a recognition that optimal care for "my" patient requires effective team practice.     

Body tilt effect on the reproduction of orientations: studies on the visual oblique effect and subjective orientations

Body tilt effects on the visual reproduction of orientations and the Class 2 oblique effect (E. A. Essock, 1980) were examined. Body tilts indicate whether the oblique effect (i.e., lower performance in oblique orientations than in vertical-horizontal orientations) is defined in an egocentric or a gravitational reference frame. Results showed that the oblique effect observed in upright posture disappeared in tilted conditions, mainly due to a decrease in the precision of the vertical and horizontal settings. In tilted conditions, the subjective visual vertical proved to be the orientation reproduced the most precisely. Thus, the oblique effect seemed to be not purely gravitationally or egocentrically defined but, rather, to depend on a subjective gravitational reference frame tilted in the same direction as body tilts.     

Conceptualizing the Dark Triad of personality: Links to Social Symptomatology

The current study examines the conceptualization of the sub-clinical Dark Triad personality traits (Psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and Narcissism; Paulhus & Williams, 2002) by relating them to normal and abnormal personality. Factor analyses using two samples (N₁ = 232, N₂ = 198) showed the Dark Triad traits clearly aggregated with each other, with Social Symptomatology, and with low agreeableness. More detailed analyses found that sub-clinical psychopathy is related to a core of socially malevolent traits and items that reflect self-reported deviant socialization in childhood, alienation from others, interpersonal problems, and impulsivity. For Machiavellianism, these relationships were apparent at the item level but not at the trait level. Narcissism, however, appears to be a more distinct construct that relates to aspects of psychopathology other than Social Symptomatology. Overall, results indicate that the Dark Triad is best conceptualized as a form of disordered personality, with links to low agreeableness.     

Meta Ain't Always Betta': Conceptualizing the Generic Chaplaincy Issue

Generic chaplaincy is the result of a devaluing of religiousworship and belief to the merely instrumental and experiential.It is an expectable consequence of non-belief in the uniqueobject that would render religious worship intrinsically meaningfuland valuable. Generic chaplaincy has no place because all desireGod, yet not all have found Him in the fullness with which Hehas revealed Himself to us, or even in the fullness with whichwe may be aware of Him through natural reason. In consequence,not all are equally aware of God. A chaplaincy that challengespatients respectfully, and encourages spiritual growth and awareness,including the overcoming of sin and error, is appropriate.     

The "prodromal" patient: both symptomatic and at-risk

This article discusses conceptual issues relevant to the prospective diagnosis of the schizophrenic prodrome. Recent efforts to diagnose these patients with operational criteria based on current symptoms are reviewed. Symptomatic patients so identified appear to be treatment-seeking and to have mild cognitive impairments. In addition to being currently symptomatic, these patients are imminently at risk for progression of illness and development of schizophrenia. Data from three international centers suggest that this risk is approximately 40% over the next year of follow-up if untreated. The implications of the reviewed data for the appropriateness of the term "prodromal" and for treatment/prevention research for these patients are discussed.