A review of processing and analysing visual metaphors in psychology

IntroductionA visual metaphor is an image depicting an incongruity in the spatial distribution of visual elements, which is not consistent with reality. In this paper, we present an overview of theoretical and empirical studies on visual metaphor processing.ObjectiveFirstly, attention is given to the spatial distribution of visual elements, which defines the type of visual metaphors as well as the meaning operations required to understand the communicative message. The paper then reviews several empirical studies that collect behavioural measures for assessing visual metaphor processing using questionnaires and exploring the role played by cognitive abilities. In line with the contemporary literature, we then present three semiotic dimensions for visual metaphor processing, namely the expression, conceptualisation, and communication. We then present a pilot study that focusses on these three dimensions. Few research studies have collected behavioural data for visual metaphors processing. This may be due to the lack of theoretical framework in the corresponding field of research. These three semiotic dimensions highlight the value of pursuing research on visual metaphors in the scope of psychology. The presented pilot study could be a starting point for the investigation of visual metaphors in the framework of psychology.ConclusionWe propose future avenues of research that consider the visual structure of metaphors and meaning operations while assessing the influence of cognitive abilities in visual metaphor processing.     

Language,cultural psychology,and family therapy: Japanese examples from an international perspective

Psychotherapists may find the study of foreign languages valuable in understanding the cultural psychology of relationships. The logic and grammar of the language used to form relationships may offer some insight into how relationships breakdown and can be restored in psychotherapy. Language and thought are inseparable in the Whorf and Sapir hypothesis.This paper illustrates how other-centeredness, indirection, indecision, and apology are embedded in Japanese grammar and become the foundation for Japanese relationships. Two other central ideas of Japanese culture,Amae (interdependency) andOmote/Ura (public and private selves), are also presented with implications for presenting complaints, therapeutic relationships, and treatment techniques.Revised version of a paper presented at the American Family Therapy Assoc, Washington, DC, June, 1986.     

Cultural psychology and theology: Partners in dialogue

Cultural psychology stresses the importance of the historical and socio-cultural in the formation of the self, and, in its more sophisticated versions, acknowledges the importance of embodiment, emotions and intra-psychic factors too, making it a promising dialogue partner for theology. Following a brief summary of bridging issues between psychology and theology, Benson's recent cultural psychology framework is outlined. Its relevance for theology is considered under three headings: incarnational categories, self-knowing and God-knowing, and theological method. The essay concludes with a short reflection on the self in Eucharistic space, and the limits of cultural psychological accounts.     

The psychology of confessions: A comparison of expert and lay opinions

Despite a body of confessions research that is generally accepted in the scientific community, courts often exclude experts on the ground that such testimony would not assist the jury, which can use its common sense. To examine whether laypeople know the contents of expert testimony on confessions, we asked 151 lay participants to indicate their beliefs about 30 confession‐related statements used in a recent survey of 87 confession experts (Kassin et al., American Psychologist, 2018, 73, 63–80). Participants agreed with experts on only 10 of the 30 propositions, suggesting that much of the psychology of confessions is not common knowledge and that expert testimony can assist the trier of fact.     

Starting from scratch: Developing clinical psychology training and services in Bangladesh

Abstract

This paper outlines the author's personal experience of contributing to the development of the first ever training in clinical psychology in Bangladesh. This was part of a link project between University College London and Dhaka University. It examines the challenges posed by such an enterprise through the author's experience of teaching and assessing patients in the local psychiatric wards. It questions the validity of exporting Western models of psychotherapy – psychoanalysis in particular – to a non-Western culture.     

Age-of-acquisition effects in visual word recognition: evidence from expert vocabularies

Three experiments assessed the contributions of age-of-acquisition (AoA) and frequency to visual word recognition. Three databases were created from electronic journals in chemistry, psychology and geology in order to identify technical words that are extremely frequent in each discipline but acquired late in life. In Experiment 1, psychologists and chemists showed an advantage in lexical decision for late-acquired/high-frequency words (e.g. a psychologist responding to cognition) over late-acquired/low-frequency words (e.g. a chemist responding to cognition), revealing a frequency effect when words are perfectly matched. However, contrary to theories that exclude AoA as a factor, performance was similar for the late-acquired/high-frequency and early-acquired/low-frequency words (e.g. dragon) even though their cumulative frequencies differed by more than an order of magnitude. This last finding was replicated with geologists using geology words matched with early-acquired words in terms of concreteness (Experiment 2). Most interestingly, Experiment 3 yielded the same pattern of results in naming while controlling for imageability, a finding that is particularly problematic for parallel distributed processing models of reading.     

Physical activity and psychological benefits: A position statement from the international society of sport psychology

This study explores nonverbal behaviors in the form of gestures and touch during elite handball matches. Based on a coding scheme, 616 postshot periods following a goal, stemming from 18 matches, were analyzed. Results revealed that, on average, 2.77 nonverbal behaviors were displayed after scoring. Play-off matches resulted in a higher average of nonverbal behaviors than league matches. The more a team was leading by, the higher the overall number of nonverbal behaviors; meanwhile, the overall amount of nonverbal behaviors declined over the course of a match. The results pinpoint to the situation specificity of nonverbal behaviors during ongoing matches.     

Pervasiveness of effects in sample-based experimental psychology: A Re-examination of replication data from nine famous psychology experiments

Data previously reported from successful replications of 9 famous experiments (Zwaan et al., 2018) were re-analysed. Rather than the null hypothesis significance tests performed in the original study, this study performed a pervasiveness analysis, which examined the number of people in the original samples that demonstrated the effect each experiment is renowned for. Seven of the 9 experiments were shown to exceed the pervasiveness threshold adopted in this study. That is, in each of these 7 experiments, over 80% of participants demonstrated the target effect, indicating support for Zwaan et al.’s claim that these effects are robust. The remaining 2 experiments (Repetition Priming and Shape Simulation) did not meet this pervasiveness criterion, casting doubt on the reproducibility of these effects. The pervasiveness analysis was demonstrated to be a useful adjunct to traditional forms of analysis because it provides information directly relevant to claims about the reproducibility of psychological effects.     

New application of psychology to law: Improving forensic evidence and expert witness contributions

Psychology has made a tremendous contribution to law by showing the malleability of eyewitness perception and memory, and developing best practices for obtaining eyewitness identifications. We suggest that even expert scientific witnesses, which the court heavily relies on as objective and impartial, are also susceptible to bias from various psychological influences. For example, forensic examiners’ interactions with detectives and exposure to information about the case can bias their judgments. We discuss the ten commentaries on these issues across a range of forensic science domains, and affirm what reforms are needed.     

Cultural psychology of surprise: holistic theories and recognition of contradiction

The authors tested the hypothesis that East Asians, because of their holistic reasoning, take contradiction and inconsistency for granted and consequently are less likely than Americans to experience surprise. Studies 1 and 2 showed that Korean participants displayed less surprise and greater hindsight bias than American participants did when a target's behavior contradicted their expectations. Studies 3 and 4 further demonstrated that even when contradiction was created in highly explicit ways, Korean participants experienced little surprise, whereas American participants reported substantial surprise. We discuss the implications of these findings for various issues, including the psychology of conviction, cognitive dissonance, and the development of science.     

Cultural diversity: Mapping the experiences of students on an international counsellor training programme

This research study explores one part of a diverse counselling training landscape in the shape of an international postgraduate education and training programme for counsellors. The research sample includes participants from Tanzania, the Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Indonesia, China, Taiwan, Iceland, Japan, Greece, Portugal, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. Cultural diversity is examined in relation to the learning and development of international counselling students. Qualitative analysis of interview data is used to identify issues related to student expectations, the process of becoming a counsellor and student learning outcomes. Some issues in counsellor training appear to be shared across all international students, while other issues arise from specific cultural backgrounds of students. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Health psychology in international perspective: A summary and some thoughts for the future

This article reviews the progress made by the field in its short history and attempts to look at developments which seem likely to occur as the field matures.

Recommendations are made for training of health psychologists in the future and a plea is made for international standardisation of health psychology training programmes at the Ph.D. level which incorporate research and clinical training. Health psychologists are further encouraged to take a more active public and political role in order to provide needed visibility for their work.     

Survey of current clinical and research trends in clinical psychology

A survey of the directors of APA accredited clinical psychology programs was conducted to explore current trends in the training of clinical psychologists. Specifically, information was obtained regarding the research areas represented at each school, the types of clinical training sites available to graduate students, and the prevalence of different clinical orientations (e.g., cognitive-behavioral, systems, or psychoanalytic). Results of the survey provide a summary of the activities of faculty and students at the more than 100 fully accredited clinical psychology programs.     

The intergenerational effects of trauma from terror: A real possibility

The goals of this article are to discuss the potential risk of children whose parents were traumatized by terror, to present literature on parenting in the context of terror, and to consider factors that may mediate the transmission of trauma‐effects from parents to children. Mediators considered are parents' traumatic distress, disturbed parent–child interactions, trauma‐related disturbances in parents' thinking, and effects of stress on children's neural functioning. Also discussed are genetic and environmental factors that may moderate the transmission of intergenerational effects and promote children's risk and resilience. Points raised during the discussion are illustrated with segments from interviews of women who were pregnant or gave birth some time after direct exposure to a terror attack. The authors conclude that empirical studies are needed to learn more about the intergenerational transmission of trauma‐effects and processes that underlie it. The authors join others in the call to improve evaluation, treatment, and support of trauma victims and their children to stymie the transmission of problems from one generation to the next.