Die „Seelenkulturrevolution“

In this paper the work of the author as a psychoanalytic training therapist and supervisor at a counselling centre in a Chinese metropolis will be described. In the first part her experiences with adults of the age cohort 25–35 years will be described, the second generation after the Cultural Revolution. Special attention is devoted to biographically relevant life stages such as childhood, education and marriage in a transient society between a system of traditional Confucian values and that of the new capitalism. The second part of the paper focuses on culture-specific characteristics of a collectivist society from a psychoanalytic perspective, such as setting limits, saving face, empathy, transference and sexuality.     

„Die Umwelt macht mich krank“

Fears and physical complaints are frequently attributed to the environment. In the form of environmental illness or environmental syndromes they can often reach clinical relevance, even if no causal relationship between subjective stimuli and symptoms can even if be found. The role of psychotherapy is controversial, especially because patients fear for the legitimacy of their complaints and preferably seek somatic or alternative forms of treatment. In addition, there is limited evidence for the effectiveness of psychotherapy. In view of the high degree of suffering, especially as anticipatory anxiety, avoidance behavior, social retreat and distrust, and comorbidity with mental illness, psychotherapy can frequently enable patients to reach more self-efficacy, trust, a wider range of activities and thus a better quality of life.     

Die emotionale Natur des „semantischen“ Raumes

Ohne ZusammenfassungHerrn Professor Dr. Wolfgang Metzger zum 65. Geburtstag in Dankbarkeit gewidmet.     

Die „angenehmste Entfernung“ zur Betrachtung sozialer Objekte

Zusammenfassung 3 Experimente wurden durchgeführt, in denen die Versuchspersonen (39 Studenten) aufgefordert wurden, die ihnen am angenehmsten erscheinende Entfernung zu verschiedenen Reizobjekten zu wählen. Es zeigte sich, daß die Versuchspersonen näher an Personen als an Fotografien von Personen oder Gegenständen herangingen. Männliche Versuchspersonen gingen näher an weibliche als an männliche Reizpersonen heran. Es bestand außerdem die Tendenz einer größeren Annäherung an Personen, wenn diese die Versuchsperson anblickten. Die angenehmste Entfernung war individuell verschieden und über mehrere Wochen stabil. Sie war außerdem vom räumlichen Bezugssystem abhängig; in diesem Zusammenhang konnte die Ausbildung von Einstellungen gezeigt werden. Die Ergebnisse wurden im Hinblick auf ein Gleichgewichtsmodell sozialer Kräfte von Argyle u. Dean diskutiert.

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The most comfortable distance for observing social objects

Summary Three experiments were conducted in which subjects (39 students) were to choose the distance from various stimulus objects which appeared most comfortable to them. It was shown that subjects approached actual persons more closely than they did photographs of persons or objects. Male subjects approached female stimulus objects more closely than they did males. There was a tendency of greater approach if the stimulus persons gazed at the subjects. The most comfortable distance was specific for the individual and remained stable over a period of several weeks. It also depended upon the spatial frame of reference; in this connection the development of sets could be shown. The results were discussed in relation to a model for the equilibrium of social forces from Argyle and Dean.

     

Die „Technik der Psychoanalyse“ von Otto Rank

In the 1920s, Otto Rank broadened the psychoanalytic treatment space by the prelingual relational and self-experience in the time before, during and after birth. This meant that early prelingual experiences at the level of emotions and sensations is always covertly present in the analytic situation. The special emphasis on the earliest relationship to the mother was perceived in the patriarchal society of the time as inadequate and unjustifiable. But the last decades provided perceptions in different therapeutic settings which seem to confirm the observations of Rank. Just as important are the findings of the empirical research in early brain development and in after effects of early traumatic stress which show the shaping role of early development in a completely new light. There are also new insights into particularities of early human development due to evolution, especially about the psychological consequences of the “physiological premature birth”. From this knowledge a new framework arises for the understanding of early development and for the assessment of the observations and conclusions of Rank. From a contemporary viewpoint this provides valuable contributions to the psychoanalytic research of the last decades into early after birth mother-child relationships. They bear the potential for a deeper understanding of the prelingual level of the psychoanalytic treatment situation.     

Die Geschichte der „Stellungnahme zur psychoanalytischen Therapie“

Ohne Zusammenfassung

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„Die Botschaft hör ich wohl…“

From an evolutionary standpoint language developes from music and sounds. On grounds of that theory the role of intonation, timbre, volume and rhythm in speaking is considered as well as the messages that are transmitted beyond the lexical-semantic level primarily on the phonetic level. The vocal apparatus as a generator of tones, vibrations and rhythm is connected to the body as a whole and functions as a ?resonance body‘. Thereby, it gives the sound, when speaking or listening, a specific quality and meaning. That principle of giving and developing meaning in a sensory way exists already in the communication between mother and child before birth. Besides the secondary linguistical representations it remains lifelong of central importance in the generation and passing on of implicit knowledge. A psychoanalytic treatment is described as an example on how the phonetic level in speech influences the process and advances of therapy.     

Die Übertragung als Matrix der Traumgenerierung

Zusammenfassung  Traum und Übertragung sind die beiden Grundpfeiler der Erkenntnis in der Psychoanalyse. Sie stammen aus einer gemeinsamen Matrix und können als zwei verschiedene Ausdrucksformen des unbewussten Denkens über die analytische Beziehung beschrieben werden. Dieser Beitrag untersucht die Frage, wie die jeweils aktive Übertragungsform sich auf die Art und Weise des Träumens auswirkt. Sie stellt zwei unterschiedliche Übertragungsmodi als Pole in einem Kontinuum dar, die mit zwei unterschiedlichen Modi des Träumens einher gehen, die wiederum mit den beiden Grundformen des Gedächtnisses — explizit bzw. implizit — verknüpft sind. Wenn die Übertragung vorwiegend prozedurales Erfahrungswissen aus dem impliziten Gedächtnis aktiviert, dann enthält der Traumbericht Zeichenträume als Hinweise auf archaische Ich-Zustände. Diese sind sind der Prototyp der niederstrukturierten Träume. Wenn die Übertragung aber außerdem Erinnerungswissen aus dem deklarativen Gedächtnis aktiviert, enthält der Traumbericht Geschichten als unbewusste Kommentare über die psychoanalytische Begegnung. Solche höherstrukturierten Träume sind vor dem Hintergrund der klassischen neurotischen Übertragung zu betrachten.

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Transference as a matrix for dream generationOn high and low structured dreams

Dream and transference are the two substantial ways in psychoanalysis towards the understanding of the unconscious. Both are rooted in a common matrix and can be regarded as two different modes of expressing unconscious thinking about the analytical relationship. This contribution studies the question of how the respectively active form of transference effects the way of dreaming. There are two different modes of transference as the poles of a continuum, which are combined with two different modes of dreaming and which in turn are connected to the two basic forms of memory — the explicit and the implicit memory. If transference mainly activates procedural information from the implicit memory, then the dream report contains sign dreams which indicate digitally computed, presymbolic archaic ego-states. Those are the prototype of lower structured dreams. If transference in addition activates information from the declarative memory, the dream report contains analogically computed, symbolic episodes as unconscious comments on the psychoanalytical encounter. Such high structured dreams are to be regarded on the background of the classical neurotic transference.

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Zum 10-jährigen Bestehen des DPG-Instituts für Psychoanalyse Frankfurt am Main am 25.11.2004.

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Depression in the Context of Disability and the “Right to Die”

Arguments in favor of legalized assisted suicide often center on issues of personal privacy and freedom of choice over one's body. Many disability advocates assert, however, that autonomy arguments neglect the complex sociopolitical determinants of despair for people with disabilities. Specifically, they argue that social approval of suicide for individuals with irreversible conditions is discriminatory and that relaxing restrictions on assisted suicide would jeopardize, not advance, the freedom of persons with disabilities to direct the lives they choose. This paper examines the idea promoted by some proponents of assisted suicide that it is reasonable to be depressed about one's diminished quality of life in cases of irreversible illness or disability and, therefore, such depression should not call into question the individual's competence to request assistance in dying. The concept of rational depression is defined and examined in the context of: four real-life cases involving individuals with disabilities who requested assistance in dying; a set of criteria commonly applied to decision-making to determine rationality; and research bearing on the emotional status of people with disabilities. It is concluded that although disability is associated with particular socially mediated stressors, there is no theoretical or empirical evidence to indicate that depression and its role in the right to die is dynamically different, more natural, or more reasonable for disabled people than for non-disabled people.     

Der ästhetische Eindruck als Funktion der „objektiven“ und „phänomenalen“ Komplexität von Bildern

Zusammenfassung Es wird von der Annahme ausgegangen, daß die häufig gefundene verkehrt u-förmige Beziehung zwischen der objektiven Komplexität (syntaktischen Information) von Reizkonfigurationen und dem Grad des durch sie ausgelösten Wohlgefallens durch eine Variable phänomenale Komplexität vermittelt wird, die ihrerseits von der Schwierigkeit einer zentralen Codierung (kognitiven Repräsentation) der Reizgrundlage abhängt. Der Zusammenhang zwischen objektiver und phänomenaler Komplexität wird als verkehrt u-förmig, die Beziehung zwischen phänomenaler Komplexität und Wohlgefallen hingegen als monoton angenommen.Um den Grad der phänomenalen Komplexität zweidimensionaler visueller Bildmuster unabhängig von evaluativen Einflüssen schätzen zu können, wurde folgende Technik angewendet: Alle nach den Merkmalen Rasterfeinheit, Farbanzahl und Verteilung der Farbhäufigkeiten variierten konstruierten Rasterbilder wurden in standardisierte Einzelteile zerschnitten. Die Versuchspersonen erhielten die Aufgabe, jedes Bild nach Art eines Puzzles aus den Einzelteilen zu rekonstruieren. Als Indikator der phänomenalen Komplexität wurde die Rekonstruktionszeit herangezogen.Die gefundenen Beziehungen zwischen objektiver Komplexität, subjektiver Komplexität und Wohlgefallen entsprechen — zumindest im untersuchten Komplexitätsbereich — der oben angeführten Hypothese.

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The esthetic impression as a function of the objective and phenomenal complexity of pictures

Summary Previous studies frequently revealed an inverted u-shaped relation between objective complexity (syntactic information) and the degree of judged pleasingness of stimulus configurations. The study presented here rests on the hypothesis that this relation is mediated by a variable phenomenal complexity which depends on the difficulty of encoding the configuration perceptually. It is hypothesized that the relation between objective and phenomenal complexity is inverted u-shaped, whereas the relation between phenomenal complexity and pleasingness is monotonic.To get an estimate of the phenomenal complexity of two-dimensional visual patterns which is independent of evaluation effects the following technique was used: Each of the pattern was presented to the Ss in form of a puzzle and had to be reconstructed by aid of the original pattern. Patterns were generated on n × n-matrices with varying n, varying number of colors and varying distribution of color frequencies. As an indicator of phenomenal complexity the time needed to reconstruct the original pattern was used.The relations between objective complexity, phenomenal complexity and evaluation conformed quite well to the assumptions cited above — at least within the range of objective complexity investigated.

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Frau cand. phil. Andrea Werner danke ich für ihre wertvolle Hilfe bei der Durchführung und Auswertung der Versuche.     

„Nanotechnologie“ als neue „Schlüsseltechnologie“?—Versuch eines historischen und systematischen Vergleichs mit anderen Technologien

Nanotechnology seems to be a new “key-discipline”, which should lead to basic changes in many areas of living and producing. This estimation is questioned by a comparison with established technologies, which reach from heat engines to biotechnology. In this line it is possible to come to a more realistically assessment of nanotechnology. “Technologies” in the narrower sense are understood as techniques based scientifically and integrated systematically into a network. The development of these technologies starts first in the early modern times. Before this background the established technologies are characterised looking at relevant questions and problems, the role of researchers and inventors, the importance of theoretical foundations, important applications and innovations, as well as the relevance of visions and then confronted with nanotechnology in its present state. It is accentuated that there are no explicit theories and no specific applications of nanotechnology and it seems to be only a kind of chemical technology.

Die Kindstötung „in oder gleich nach der Geburt“

§ 217 of the German penal code, which intended a milder punishment for the homicide of an illegitimate child by the mother right after birth than for manslaughter, was abrogated without substitution in 1998. The reasoning behind this move does not convince. We will give a short summary of the history of this law. The privileged status of this crime was primarily justified in view of the denied pregnancy and the consequent state of the mother at the time of birth. Even after abrogation of §217 StGB there has to be differentiated between former reasons for privileged treatment, which now can justify from a juridicial point of view the use of §213 StGB (minor manslaughter), and those pathological states of mind which allow for the establishment of reduced or nullified legal responsibility.