Treating the “Wise Baby”

In a previous examination of Ferenczis concept of the Wise Baby (1996), I had noted both its applications and its limitations in the analytic treatment of an unusually intelligent adult. Ferenczis concepts of the origin of intellect in trauma and of the wise baby have often left the indistinct impression of being interrelated phenomena. In this paper, I regard as arguable the notion that very high intelligence is pathological when it is precocious. This return visit to the territory of the wise baby extends Ferenczis ideas about the origin and use of the intellect to include a consideration of what may constitute effective treatment for those who suffer from giftedness.Judith E. Vida, M.D. edits On the Arts for this journal. She is a Founding Member and Faculty of the Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis in Los Angeles, CA, a member of both American and International Psychoanalytic Associations, and of the Sándor Ferenczi Society of Budapest. Her private practice is in Pasadena, CA.Address correspondence to Judith E. Vida, 301 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Suite 406A, Pasadena, CA 91105, USA; e-mail: jvida@spence.net     

不畏压力怕宝贝——现代年轻人Baby恐惧症

蜜月之后的郭伟一直提心吊胆,因为他清楚自己接下来要与娇妻运行的传统婚姻程序就是生养孩子。作为一位高级经理人,其IQ、EQ皆无可挑剔,公共关系应付裕如,家庭生活也琴瑟和谐。然而,对于孩子,他的厌烦,或者说恐慌心理绝非专业培训可以改造的。     

Increasing parenting self-efficacy: The Fussy Baby Network® intervention

High levels of infant crying place families at risk for disrupted relationships, parenting stress, and even for child maltreatment. We conducted an evaluation of the Fussy Baby Network^® (FBN), a program supporting families struggling with infant crying and related concerns. The study contrasted 29 families who sought help from FBN with 27 families with excessively crying infants who did not seek services. Researchers measured parenting self-efficacy, depression, and stress in each group before and after the intervention. Results from hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated greater improvements over time in parenting self-efficacy for parents receiving FBN services. Furthermore, the greater improvements in parenting self-efficacy in the intervention group were not directly attributable to reductions in infant crying. These findings provide preliminary evidence that the FBN approach may be effective at boosting the confidence of parents struggling with caring for their infants. Future research with larger samples with baseline equivalence and stronger research designs should explore this intervention further. This study also suggests that interventions for families with excessively crying infants should move beyond the focus of reducing infant crying to a broader strategy of supporting parents and strengthening relationships between parents and their infants to build parenting capacity.     

“Test-Tube Baby” procedures: Stress and judgements under uncertainty

Patients participating in an in vim fertilisation with embryo transfer (IVF and ET) programme face uncertainty at each stage of the procedure. Research on heuristics and on stress lead to predictions about behaviour in situations of uncertainty. It was predicted that IVF and ET participants would overestimate the likelihood of success, due to publicity the process has received, and would underestimate the likelihood of an earlier, less publicised. stage in the procedure. Both predictions were confirmed in a total of 70 participants (26 women at out-patient clines, 23 of their partners and 21 surgical in-patients). All the men and all but one woman overestimated the likelihood of becoming pregnant and having a baby. and most of the surgical patients underestimated the likelihood of egg recovery. Estimates were not related to patients' confidence about their information, confirming previous evidence about confidence in inaccurate judgements based on heuristics. Data on patients' distress as indicated by mood rating show high anxiety at points of uncertainty and Pailure, as found in other studies of stress. While the couples shared their inaccurate judgements. they did not necessarily share their distress. The results are discussed in terms of patients' decision making. coping strategies and the implications for doctor-patient communication.     

Baby FaceTime: can toddlers learn from online video chat?

There is abundant evidence for the ‘video deficit’: children under 2 years old learn better in person than from video. We evaluated whether these findings applied to video chat by testing whether children aged 12–25 months could form relationships with and learn from on‐screen partners. We manipulated social contingency: children experienced either real‐time FaceTime conversations or pre‐recorded Videos as the partner taught novel words, actions and patterns. Children were attentive and responsive in both conditions, but only children in the FaceTime group responded to the partner in a temporally synced manner. After one week, children in the FaceTime condition (but not the Video condition) preferred and recognized their Partner, learned more novel patterns, and the oldest children learned more novel words. Results extend previous studies to demonstrate that children under 2 years show social and cognitive learning from video chat because it retains social contingency. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/rTXaAYd5adA     

„His Majesty the Baby“ (S. Freud)

Zusammenfassung Der Text zentriert sich um das Wiederaufleben des Narzissmus im psychoanalytischen Regressionsprozess, in dem sich der Analysand geborgen und vollst?ndig fühlt und ein „Zuhause sein“ erlebt. Diese Erlebensmatrixentstammt einer „pr?natalen Koen?sthesie“ (Grunberger), die wir aber wegen der darin enthaltenen biologischen Abh?ngigkeit zu verleugnen suchen. Im Wiederfinden dieses Erlebensimanalytischen Prozess etabliert sich eine monadische Beziehung, in der als gleichsam „extrojizierter Uterus“ (Grunberger) eine Wiedergutmachung und Vervollst?ndigung herbeigeführt werden kann. Der Analysand sucht den glückseligen Zustand in der Projektion dieser Vollst?ndigkeit auf den Analytiker best?tigt zu erleben und zu bewahren; die Annahme dieser Projektion l?sst Hoffnung und Vertrauen in das Selbstgefühl in ihm wachsen. Dieser regressiv-narzisstische Zustand kann mit einer übertragungsliebe verwechselt werden. Eine übertragungsdeutung, die auf der Getrenntheit des Analysanden vom Analytiker besteht, durchbricht den zu bewahrenden Reizschutz und wird als feindlich-verfolgend sowie kr?nkend erlebt. Damit aber wird die Projektion des Ichideals auf den Analytiker als Repr?sentanz der Hoffnung und die sich gleichsam „hinter dem Rücken des Analysanden“ herstellende Beziehung angegriffen, in der das Objekt sich schrittweise entwickelt und der übertragungsneurose Tür und Tor ?ffnet. Denn in der Monade, so Grunberger, wartet bereits das (Trieb-)Objekt. Es ist also diese narzisstische Regression, die die Triebkraft der Analyse darstellt, aus der der Analysand Kraft und Hoffnung sch?pft, die schmerzliche Analyse durchzuhalten und eine narzisstische Wiederherstellung seiner ersten (Trieb-)Objekte zu erleben.

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“His Majesty the Baby” (S. Freud)—The psychoanalytic treatment in the field of tension between narcissism and the transference neurosis

Abstract The text centers on the reactivation of narcissismin the psychoanalytic process of regression in which the analysand feels safe and complete and experiences a state of “being at home”. This experiential matrix derives from a “prenatal coenaesthesia” (Grunberger) which we attempt to deny, however, because of the implicit biological dependence. A monadic relationship gets established as a consequence of the recovery of this experience within the analytic relationship in which—almost like an “extrojected womb“ (Grunberger)–reparationand completion can be achieved. In the projection of this completeness into the analyst, the analysand seeks to find confirmation of this blissful state and its preservation, and the acceptance of this projection generates hope and trust in the self-feeling. This regressive-narcissistic state can be mistaken for transference love. Atransference interpretation which insists on the separatedness of the analysand from the analyst breaks through the stimulus barrier—which has to be preserved—and will be experienced as hostile-persecutory and hurtful. In this way, the projection of the ego-ideal into the analyst as the representative of hope and the relationship which, as it were, develops “behind the back of the analysand” will get attacked, a relationship in which the object develops step by step and opens the door for the transference neurosis because, as Grunberger points out, within the monad the (drive-)object is already waiting. Thus it is this narcissistic regression which constitutes the driving force of the analysis and from which the analysand gathers strength and hope to endure the painful analysis and to experience a narcissistic restoration of his first (drive-)objects.

     

Taking Representation Seriously: Rethinking Bioethics Through Clint Eastwood��s Million Dollar Baby

In this article, I propose a new model for understanding the function of representation in bioethics. Bioethicists have traditionally judged representations according to a mimetic paradigm, in which representations of bioethical dilemmas are assessed based on their correspondence to the "reality" of bioethics itself. In this article, I argue that this mimetic paradigm obscures the interaction between representation and reality and diverts bioethicists from analyzing the tensions in the representational object itself. I propose an anti-mimetic model of representation that is attuned to how representations can both maintain and potentially subvert dominant conceptions of bioethics. I illustrate this model through a case study of Clint Eastwood's film Million Dollar Baby. By focusing attention on the film's lack of adherence bioethical procedures and medical science, critics missed how an analysis of its representational logic provides a means of reimagining both bioethics and medical practice. In my conclusion, I build off this case study to assess how an incorporation of representational studies can deepen-and be deepened by-recent calls for interdisciplinarity in bioethics.     

‘Her Majesty the Baby’: narcissistic states in babies and young children

This article considers narcissistic states in babies and young children with some reference to the myth of Narcissus in Ovid’s Metamorphosis. The object-seeking character of babies from the beginning of life is elaborated in connection with selected research from mother–baby interaction. This forms the backdrop to a discussion of withdrawal into illusions of self-sufficiency and denial of dependence in adverse circumstances. Two clinical cases are discussed in some depth. One boy whose superiority, self-reliance and pseudo maturity is prompted by anxieties around separation as he approaches starting school is considered within the parameters of ordinary transient narcissism. The lengthy psychotherapy of another child, who developed entrenched narcissistic defences as a response to traumatic, abusive and neglectful experiences in early life, and who needed considerable help, is described in greater detail. Some links are made with difficulties associated with the emergence from narcissistic functioning and encountering the pain of separation and loss.     

Holding the Baby in Mind: Discussion of Joseph Lichtenberg's “Communication in Infancy”

Joseph Lichtenberg suggests that infants are held in their caregivers' symbolic world before they create one of their own. This idea is addressed from the perspective of parental reflective functioning. This construct offers a means of further understanding how a caregiver's capacity to elaborate upon the mental life of her child sets the stage for the child's internal experiences becoming known and developed or distorted and stunted within the context of the relationship. These ideas both complement and expand upon the research and theoretical work described by Lichtenberg in his consideration of the development of communication with self and other in infancy.     

Baby face wins? Examining election success based on candidate election bulletin via multilevel modeling

A growing body of research suggests that many voters rely on facial cues from political candidates to elect their leaders. Our study proposes that having a baby face could be an asset for a political candidate in a collectivist culture. Using election bulletin photographs from Taiwan's 2004, 2008 and 2012 legislative election, we look at the extent to which a candidate's baby face is related to election outcomes. Our multilevel modelling includes the number of candidates as Level 1 units, and the number of counties in which the candidates competed as Level 2 units. Vote share is the outcome variable. After considering the candidates' traits (perceived babyfacedness, competence, attractiveness and warmth) and background characteristics, babyfacedness was the strongest predictor of vote share. Results across three elections show consistent patterns: the more babyfaced the candidate, the greater the percentage of votes a candidate received, regardless of the candidate's gender, political affiliation or incumbency status. Babyfacedness is more influential than perceived competence, attractiveness and warmth.     

The Teddy-Bear Effect: Does Having a Baby Face Benefit Black Chief Executive Officers?

ABSTRACT— Prior research suggests that having a baby face is negatively correlated with success among White males in high positions of leadership. However, we explored the positive role of such "babyfaceness" in the success of high-ranking Black executives. Two studies revealed that Black chief executive officers (CEOs) were significantly more baby-faced than White CEOs. Black CEOs were also judged as being warmer than White CEOs, even though ordinary Blacks were rated categorically as being less warm than ordinary Whites. In addition, baby-faced Black CEOs tended to lead more prestigious corporations and earned higher salaries than mature-faced Black CEOs; these patterns did not emerge for White CEOs. Taken together, these findings suggest that babyfaceness is a disarming mechanism that facilitates the success of Black leaders by attenuating stereotypical perceptions that Blacks are threatening. Theoretical and practical implications for research on race, gender, and leadership are discussed.     

‘Baby brain’ in pregnancy: A review of social psychological explanations and future research directions

The colloquial concept of ‘baby brain’ suggests that throughout pregnancy and into the immediate postpartum period, women have reduced cognitive abilities and are more distracted, forgetful, and incompetent. To date, a plethora of cognitive and neuropsychological research testing the cognitive functioning of pregnant women relative to other groups has yielded inconsistent and unclear findings. However, there is a notable lack of literature that adopts a social psychological perspective, critically assessing the contribution of social context to the ‘baby brain’ phenomenon. In this paper, we review the current ‘baby brain’ literature and outline two potential social perspectives that provide insights into this research area: stereotype threat theory and objectification theory. We argue that inconsistencies in the ‘baby brain’ cognitive literature may be impacted by under-explored social phenomena, which may result from activation of stereotypes or objectifying cues throughout pregnancy and into early new motherhood. We end with suggestions for future social and personality psychological research directions in the area of ‘baby brain’.     

"Really? She Blicked the Baby?": Two-Year-Olds Learn Combinatorial Facts About Verbs by Listening

ABSTRACT— Children use syntax to guide verb learning. We asked whether the syntactic structure in which a novel verb occurs is meaningful to children even without a concurrent scene from which to infer the verb's semantic content. In two experiments, 2-year-olds observed dialogues in which interlocutors used a new verb in transitive ("Jane blicked the baby!") or intransitive ("Jane blicked!") sentences. The children later heard the verb in isolation ("Find blicking!") while watching a one-participant event and a two-participant event presented side by side. Children who had heard transitive dialogues looked reliably longer at the two-participant event than did those who had heard intransitive dialogues. This effect persisted even when children were tested on a different day, but disappeared when no novel verb accompanied the test events ( Experiment 2 ). Thus, 2-year-olds gather useful combinatorial information about a novel verb simply from hearing it in sentences, and later retrieve that information to guide interpretation of the verb.     

We’ve Come a Long Way,Baby!: Evolution and Revolution in CBT with Youth

As the gold standard in psychotherapy with children and adolescents, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) earned its stripes through the years. CBT evolved from treating individual disorders with single protocols to embracing a modular and transdiagnostic approach. Despite this impressive evolution, CBT initiated a revolution that continues to provide services to patients in this new era. CBT must maintain momentum to fuel progress and drive clinical reform. In this article, the need for training and dissemination are discussed. Revolutionary practices and delivery methods are suggested. CBT continues to push the envelope of revolution by partnering with neuroscience to bridge the gap between brain and body. Integrating findings from neuroscience with CBT-spectrum approaches and non-traditional treatment formats provides theoretical flexibility and additional treatment options for clinicians. Culturally-friendly applications to treat diverse youth and the use of common modules from third wave approaches are suggested. The use of technology such as smartphones, computers, and videogames is encouraged. Offering treatment in non-traditional settings and formats such as CBT-based camp programs is also addressed.     

“Shake It Baby, Shake It”: Media Preferences, Sexual Attitudes and Gender Stereotypes Among Adolescents

In this study exposure to and preferences for three important youth media (TV, music styles/music TV, internet) were examined in relation to adolescents' permissive sexual attitudes and gender stereotypes (i.e., views of men as sex-driven and tough, and of women as sex objects). Multivariate structural analysis of data from a school-based sample of 480 13 to 16-year-old Dutch students revealed that preferences, rather than exposure were associated with attitudes and stereotypes. For both girls and boys, preferences for hip-hop and hard-house music were associated positively with gender stereotypes and preference for classical music was negatively associated with gender stereotypes. Particularly for boys, using internet to find explicit sexual content emerged as a powerful indicator of all attitudes and stereotypes.     

Post-discharge outcomes for mothers and the mother–infant relationship following admission to a psychiatric Mother–Baby Unit

Mother–Baby Unit research has focussed on maternal psychopathology over the course of an admission. Less is known about the baby's well-being, the shared relationship, or the mother's recovery. In an initial sample of 45 women, we describe discharge and post-discharge outcomes for maternal psychopathology (using maternal report and the Global Assessment of Function, GAF) and the mother–infant relationship (using the Child and Adult Relational Experimental Index, CARE Index). Three months post-discharge, one third of women described themselves as “completely recovered,” one third were experiencing significant deterioration and 17% were readmitted to inpatient care. Poorer GAF scores were associated with a clinical diagnosis of comorbid personality disorder, antenatal presence of the index illness, partner illicit substance use, maternal perception of her bond, infant social withdrawal, and child protection concern. Post-discharge, the mother–infant relationship results were concerning. Only 17% were regarded as adequate. Improvement was observed across this period in 56% but relational deterioration occurred for 35%. Maternal and relational outcomes were weakly correlated at discharge (r² = 0.29, p = 0.07) but this was lost post-discharge (r² = 0.03, p = 0.89). The shared relationship and infant mental health should both be targets for intervention; both during MBU admission, and post-discharge.     

“Dying for a Baby” and Other “Confusions of Tongues”: A Discussion of “Childless”

This paper discusses the beautiful case presented by Rebeccca Harrington in “Childless.” This discussion focuses on Harrington’s narrated ambivalences around reproduction and the traumatic repetitions experienced by her patient Shira. As her case unfolds, Harrington recognizes the ways her silences around Shira’s engagement with assisted reproductive technologies reenacted a form of a parental blindness to abuse. Building on Harrington’s ideas, this discussion integrates queer and psychoanalytic theory to ponder some ways the fetus has become a fetish for U.S. culture and how this shift appears to be a form of temporally based affect regulation that collapses spaces of ambivalence around maternity for women. Within these cultural dynamics, this discussion emphasizes Harrington’s call for psychoanalysis as a field to analyze its own pronatalist agenda.     

Tri-parent Baby Technology and Preservation of Lineage: An Analysis from the Perspective of Maqasid al-Shari’ah Based Islamic Bioethics

Science and Engineering Ethics - Tri-parent baby technology is an assisted reproductive treatment which aims to minimize or eliminate maternal inheritance of mutated mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). The...     

“Throwing Baby out with the Bath water#x201D;: Some Reflections on the Evolution of Reproductive Technology}

This article discusses section 156 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 which prohibits the use of eggs from aborted female foetuses for the purposes of reproduction. I argue that the pre-legislative debates focus only on the biological relationship between the aborted foetus and any ensuing child and foreclose the possibility of useful discussion about the potential merits of such technology. Kristeva's theory of abjection has been used in order to elucidate the strength of feeling about the use of eggs from the expelled foetus. I suggest that the ‘yuk’ factor stems from the potential for the blurring of the boundaries between life and death. In addition, I suggest that the stress placed on the biological link means that the foetus is ascribed special properties not given to live donors. Woman's very crucial role in reproductive technologies is therefore erased. The article argues that there are very good reasons why the debate on the subject should remain open. At present women donors have to undergo highly intrusive procedures in order to give eggs and the process is not without its health risks. The use of eggs from aborted foetuses certainly raises important consent issues but these could be addressed by placing women at the centre of the decision making process, starting with the recognition that it is women and not foetuses who have the remit and responsibility for giving consent for the use of their genetic material. Moreover, there should be an acknowledgement that women are perfectly capable of making informed decisions about donation and of considering the potential implications of participating in egg donation. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

“The Baby With the Cream Puffs”: Further Complications in Oedipal Complexities,Commentary on Paper by Jody Messler Davies

Sexual misconduct by analysts and psychotherapists is a topic that causes great public concern. The profession should certainly respond to this concern. But the problem of sexual misconduct also provides a stimulus to new theorizing leading to an engagement with issues of social justice. I argue that there are three contentious issues: First, I criticize the growing practice of “safe”; analysis, seen as a misplaced response to the problem of sexual misconduct. Second, I urge a fresh look at the theme of incestuous sexual fantasy in family process. This would provide a broader theoretical base for the exploration of sexual desire in analysis. Third, I seek to retheorize the father in general and paternal sexuality in particular. New thinking about paternal erotics turns out to have many sociopolitical implications.