Subjective age-of-acquisition norms for 600 Turkish words from four age groups

The main purpose of this study was to report age-based subjective age-of-acquisition (AoA) norms for 600 Turkish words. A total of 115 children, 100 young adults, 115 middle-aged adults, and 127 older adults provided AoA estimates for 600 words on a 7-point scale. The intraclass correlations suggested high reliability, and the AoA estimates were highly correlated across the four age groups. Children gave earlier AoA estimates than the three adult groups; this was true for high-frequency as well as low-frequency words. In addition to the means and standard deviations of the AoA estimates, we report word frequency, concreteness, and imageability ratings, as well as word length measures (numbers of syllables and letters), for the 600 words as supplemental materials. The present ratings represent a potentially useful database for researchers working on lexical processing as well as other aspects of cognitive processing, such as autobiographical memory.     

The role of learning history in current sick-role behavior and assertion

It has previously been suggested that sick-role or illness behavior has learned components which may contribute to the maintenance of an individual's negative physical condition. The present study was designed as an elaboration on the role of learning history in the production of current sick-role behavior. A total of 180 college students responded to an inventory which consisted of 15 questions. The inventory looked at parents as role models for assertion and illness behavior, as well as the individual's own history of assertiveness, illness and positive reinforcement for illness behavior. Multiple stepwise regressions were performed on the data. The results indicated the best predictors of current work or school avoidance were their own history of stopping work and absence from school as a child, their fathers' work history of work avoidance, and low assertion. The best predictors for an individual's self report of positive reinforcement for illness behavior were a history of similar reinforcement as a child and their mothers history of attention for illness behavior. The fathers' work avoidance when ill was the third predictor for positive reinforcement for illness behaviour in the females. Finally, the best predictors for the male Ss' current assertion were assertion as a child, the mothers' assertion and a low frequency of school absence and work avoidance as a child. For females, the best predictors of current assertion were assertion as a child and a high frequency of current work and school avoidance. Discussion focuses on the implications of these results for future research.     

Searching for the enriching sense of otherness: The psychoanalytic psychotherapist as a meaning-bearing other

Abstract

This paper is a theoretical and clinical examination of the patient's search for the otherness of the therapist as a prerequisite for change and development in relational psychoanalytic psychotherapy. A basic assumption is that being in a relationship as well as being a personal self, is to be understood, as being with a “meaning-bearing other”; that is, someone who allows for the possibility of meaningful thoughts and feelings, either through an actual communicative presence or as a consciously, prereflective, or unconsciously imagined communication partner. The term “meaning-bearing other” is used to differentiate distinct, although often synchronic, modes of relatedness. The need for intersubjective “depth”—that is, to discover the otherness of the other, and for oneself to be recognized as an experiencing subject—is regarded as a main motivational force. Winnicott's, as well as Sullivan's developmental approaches, Mitchell and Aron's views on psychoanalytic interaction, and Heidegger and Gadamer's phenomenology and hermeneutics are used as theoretical points of reference for the present discourse. The theoretical points of view are examined and discussed through excerpts from twice-a-week psychotherapy with a six-year old girl.     

Education for Civil Society: Evolutionary Guidance and the Democratic Ideal

This article honors Bela H. Banathy's work in social systems design and acknowledges his intellectual, professional, and humanitarian gifts to the system sciences community. The author examines Banathy's epistemology of conscious self-guided evolution and how it has influenced the author's thinking and research in design of educational systems, and in particular the study of education's role as an evolutionary guidance system for civil society. Specifically, the author examines Banathy's notions of evolutionary guidance systems (EGSs) and the design inquiry process. Design conversation is elaborated as a communication method for systems design and as a medium for communicative democracy. The concepts of civil society and democracy are examined in depth, providing an etymological analysis of each as a foundation for civil society as an ideal image. Consideration is given to Banathy's ideas of democracy and the New Agoras as ethical systems for the pursuit of conscious evolution. The author presents his considerations for education as an EGS for conscious evolution of civil society.     

A longitudinal examination of stress generation in depressive and anxiety disorders

The current study compared two competing theories of the stress generation model of depression (stress causation vs. stress continuation) using interview-based measures of episodic life stress, as well as interpersonal and noninterpersonal chronic life stress. We also expanded on past research by examining anxiety disorders as well as depressive disorders. In addition, we examined the role of neuroticism and extraversion in these relationships. Participants were 627 adolescents enrolled in a two-site, longitudinal study of risk factors for depressive and anxiety disorders. Baseline and follow-up assessments were approximately one year apart. Results supported the stress causation theory for episodic stress generation for anxiety disorders, with neuroticism partially accounting for this relationship. The stress causation theory was also supported for depression, but only for more moderate to severe stressors; neuroticism partially accounted for this relationship as well. Finally, we found evidence for interpersonal and noninterpersonal chronic life stress continuation in both depressive and anxiety disorders. The present findings have implications regarding the specificity of the stress generation model to depressive disorders, as well as variables involved in the stress generation process.     

Combining Prototypes: A Selective Modification Model

We propose a model that accounts for how people construct prototypes for composite concepts out of prototypes for simple concepts. The first component of the model is a prototype representation for simple, noun concepts, such as fruit, which specifies: (1) the relevant attributes of the concepts, (2) the possible values of each attribute, (3) the salience of each value, and (4) the diagnosticity of each attribute. The second component of the model specifies procedures for modifying simple prototypes so that they represent new, composite concepts. The procedure for adjectival modification, as when red modifies fruit, consists of selecting the relevant attribute(s) in the noun concept (color), boosting the diagnosticity of that attribute, and increasing the salience of the value named by the adjective (red). The procedure for adverbial modification, as in very red fruit, consists of multiplication-by-o-scalar of the salience of the relevant value (red). The outcome of these procedures is a new prototype representation. The third component of the model is tversky's (1977) contrast rule for determining the similarity between a representation for a prototype and one for an instance. The model is shown to be consistent with previous findings about prototypes in general, as well as with specific findings about typicality judgments for adjective-noun conjunctions. Four new experiments provide further detailed support for the model.     

Psychometric evaluation and normative data for a Swedish version of the Patient Health Questionnaire 15‐Item Somatic Symptom Severity Scale

The lack of an available Swedish version of the Patient Health Questionnaire 15‐Item Somatic Symptom Severity Scale (PHQ‐15) motivated the present psychometric evaluation of such a version as well as providing normative data for the PHQ‐15. Data from 3,406 individuals who took part in the Västerbotten Environmental Health Study in Sweden were used. The respondents constitute a random sample, aged 18 to 79 years, stratified for age and sex. They responded to a Swedish translation of the PHQ‐15 as well as the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Shirom Melamed Burnout Questionnaire for assessment of convergent validity. The distribution of PHQ‐15 scores was positively skewed and mesokurtic in shape, and the internal consistency of the PHQ‐15 was satisfactory. Correlation coefficients between PHQ‐15 score and the measures of anxiety, depression, stress and mental/physical exhaustion indicate satisfactory validity. Normative data for PHQ‐15 scores as well as for categories of somatic symptom severity are provided. The favorable psychometric properties of the Swedish version of the PHQ‐15 suggest use of this instrument for quantification of somatization in Swedish and similar populations, and has the advantage of available normative data.     

Sense of agency in narrative processes of repeatedly convicted drunk drivers

The study examines sense of agency as this appears in the narratives of two repeatedly convicted drunk drivers during the five-hour counselling sessions. The cases were chosen from a total of 30 cases, as representing the opposite polar types of action stories. Analysis of narrative processes showed the narrators' drunk driving (DD) as opposite solutions relating to conflicts concerning their sense of agency; for the NON-AGENTIVE CLIENT (NAC) DD as a compulsive action solution represented an abandonment of her agentive position, while for the STRONGLY-AGENTIVE CLIENT (SAC) consciously chosen DD represented an attempt to assert his personal autonomy. DD provided only a momentary sense of relief from the position of agency for the NAC, and only a momentary sense of autonomy for the SAC. The clients processed differently these agentive positions. The narration of the NAC was a stable process of alternativeness throughout the counselling sessions and repeated sense of absent agency. The narration of the SAC began as controlled process that strove to avoid the issue of DD, but during the sessions it changed, as the narrator switched from regarding himself as the counsellor's opponent, to regarding himself as a participant and responsible agent.     

Online professionalism: social media, social contracts, trust, and medicine

The AMA Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (CEJA) has initiated an important discussion on medical professionalism and the use of social media by issuing thoughtful and practical guidance for physicians and medical students. The implications of online activities for trust in the profession, as well as for trust between patient and doctor, however, will need further exploration as digital life expands and evolves.     

Are Successful Applicants to the Roman Catholic Deaconate Psychologically Healthy?

The current investigation evaluated psychological and personality profiles of successful applicants to the deaconate in several Roman Catholic dioceses in California. The MMPI-2 and 16PF were administered to 25 applicants between 2004 and 2006 who subsequently entered the permanent deaconate program. Results indicate that these applicants to the deaconate were generally well-adjusted as well as being socially responsible. Findings also suggest some tendency for defensiveness, repression, naivete, and a strong need for affection, as well as for being emotionally stable, genuine, and cooperative.     

Das chinesische Selbst

The author has been teaching psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy in mainland China for 20 years. The paper focuses on the problem of transferring an individual-centered therapeutic theory and technique to a culture with a collectivistic and Confucian tradition. The different structures of the Western and Asian selves with their specific styles to communicate are described as well as the tendency of the Chinese to be more prone to shamefulness. Basic psychoanalytic concepts such as abstinence, therapeutic ego-splitting, the capacity for introspection and transference, as well as the traditional Confucian longing for harmony, can meet culturally immanent therapeutic problems. A specific defense constellation, the Ah-Q mentality as a result of Daoist thinking is presented. Finally, the question is raised whether technical modifications make sense in less individualized cultures.     

Toward an Aesthetic Medicine: Developing a Core Medical Humanities Undergraduate Curriculum

The medical humanities are often implemented in the undergraduate medicine curriculum through injection of discrete option courses as compensation for an overdose of science. The medical humanities may be reformulated as process and perspective, rather than content, where the curriculum is viewed as an aesthetic text and learning as aesthetic and ethical identity formation. This article suggests that a "humanities" perspective may be inherent to the life sciences required for study of medicine. The medical humanities emerge as a revelation of value inherent to an aesthetic medicine taught and learned imaginatively.     

Virtual reality as an immersive projective and autodriving advancement technique

The COVID-19 lockdown posed challenges for traditional qualitative researchers, as well as opportunities for innovative qualitative research. While online interviews and focus groups via video conferencing platforms were the most widely used methods, Zoom Fatigue also occurred, hampering some participants' experiences and eventually impacting data quality. Incorporating virtual reality (VR) was one possible solution. This study explores the experiences and involvement of family participants in a qualitative research study using VR during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The research aims to assess the impact of VR on data quantity and quality, as well as the depth of insights compared to traditional methods without VR. The study employs VR roleplay and autodriving methods to elicit family participant engagement. The findings suggest that the application of VR in autodriving improves data quality and quantity while also making the research process more enjoyable for participating parents and children. The results indicate that VR holds significant potential for advancing qualitative research methodology, especially for previously underrepresented groups such as children.     

The eccentricity effect: Target eccentricity affects performance on conjunction searches

The serial pattern found for conjunction visual-search tasks has been attributed to covert attentional shifts, even though the possible contributions of target location have not been considered. To investigate the effect of target location on orientation × color conjunction searches, the target’s duration and its position in the display were manipulated. The display was present either until observers responded (Experiment 1), for 104 msec (Experiment 2), or for 62 msec (Experiment 3). Target eccentricity critically affected performance: A pronounced eccentricity effect was very similar for all three experiments; as eccentricity increased, reaction times and errors increased gradually. Furthermore, the set-size effect became more pronounced as target eccentricity increased, and the extent of the eccentricity effect increased for larger set sizes. In addition, according to stepwise regressions, target eccentricity as well as its interaction with set size were good predictors of performance. We suggest that these findings could be explained by spatial-resolution and lateral-inhibition factors. The serial self-terminating hypothesis for orientation × color conjunction searches was evaluated and rejected. We compared the eccentricity effect as well as the extent of the orientation asymmetry in these three conjunction experiments with those found in feature experiments (Carrasco & Katz, 1992). The roles of eye movements, spatial resolution, and covert attention in the eccentricity effect, as well as their implications, are discussed.     

Theologies of pastoral leadership

The disestablishment of mainline Protestantism as the default religiosity and public theological voice, lamented by many of its members, presents new opportunities for conceiving of pastoral leadership in faithful ways. The pastor as public leader is better imagined as a visionary possibilizer and convener of public conversations, exerting influence in indirectly persuasive ways, rather than as spokesperson for an institution.     

Analysis of the association between marital relationships and health problems: an interactional perspective.

This article reviews the evidence for a relationship between 3 types of marital variables (marital status, marital adjustment, and marital interaction) and health problems (etiology, course/outcome/treatment) as well as the effect that health problems have on marriage. The mechanisms responsible for these associations also are evaluated. The evidence suggest that marital variables affect health status but that the effect is indirect and nonspecific. The major explanatory model, the stress/social support hypothesis, has provided a broad conceptual framework rather than testable hypotheses. The results of the review suggest, however, that sufficient evidence exists for researchers to focus on exploring specific explanations. A hypothetical model is presented that includes interpersonal, intrapersonal, psychological, and physiological variables. This model is intended as a blueprint for exploration as well as a summary of available evidence.     

Adult Israeli Community Norms for the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI)

The study aim is to establish Israeli norms for the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). A nationwide representative sample of 510 community respondents (age range 35–65, 51.4% women) completed the Hebrew version of the BSI. The data showed high internal reliabilities for the 9 BSI scales, as well as for their total score, indicated by the General Severity Index (GSI). Higher levels of GSI were found for widowed, divorced, and single respondents than for married respondents. Higher GSI was also found for unemployed and retired men than the self-employed and employees, validating the GSI as a measure of distress. Most importantly, the scores of the Israeli GSI, as well as each of the 9 scales, were higher than those reported in either the U.S. or the British norms. These findings may indicate that Israeli society is experiencing relatively high distress, highlighting the need for establishing BSI norms for each culture.     

Love and expansion of the self: The state of the model

The self-expansion model of love developed out of a confluence of research on attraction and arousal, Eastern psychology, motivation theory, and the social psychology of personal relationships. The model treats love (the desire for a relationship with a particular other) as arising from a desire to expand the self by including that other in the self, as well as by associating expansion with that particular other. First, the model is described, including its function as a source of heuristically important metaphors for common human experiences of love and its unique focus in relation to other approaches to love. The remainder of the article examines its application, including supporting research, to predictors of falling in love, motivations for unrequited love, consequences of falling in love, love as including each other in each other's self, and how love changes (and how it can be maintained) in long-term relationships. The conclusion examines current trends in which the model serves as both a very general integration of useful perspectives and as a set of precise mini-theories.     

Implicit associational responses produced by words in pairs of unrelated words

The purpose of this study was to determine if implicit associational responses (IARs) occur to individual words presented as pairs for associative learning. The occurrence of IARs was determined by a YES-NO recognition test, and IARs for words presented singly for study provided a base line. For all conditions, false recognitions to assumed IARs occurred; the magnitude was equivalent for words presented for study as pairs as for the same words presented singly. No evidence was found that IARs occurred during the testing phase.