The treatment of sexual dysfunction: Some theoretical considerations

Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy -     

Ideology and community social psychology: theoretical considerations and practical implications

This paper addresses the importance of the concept of ideology in community work. The implications of a Marxist approach to ideology in community practice are analyzed in terms of the concepts of problematization (P. Freire, 1979) and consciousness-raising (J. Barreiro, 1976), illustrating the point with some examples. The traditional Marxist perspective is also examined in relation to the perspectives of social constructionism (I. Ibáñez, 1996), cultural studies (A. McRobbie, 1992), post-Marxism (E. Laclau & C. Mouffe, 1985), and feminism (D. Haraway, 1991). It is argued that the concepts of hegemony and habitus (P. Bourdieu, 1985) can be useful to community social psychology theory and practice. A situated perspective—in which it is possible to dialogue from different subject positions, and articulate transformation and political action—is argued. The implications of this shifting in the concept of ideology by means of theoretical developments outside social community psychology can help to define the external (outside) agent's position in community practice.     

Time courses in visual-information processing: Some theoretical considerations

Summary In the literature two different views with regard to the time course of activation of recognition units —hypothetical entities that represent identity information —are proposed. Both views are derived from a restricted set of phenomena in visual perception. The first view gets its intuitions from phenomena such as those summarized by Bloch's law; these phenomena show integration or summation of activation over time. This grow-and-grow view assumes that recognition units accumulate activation gradually over times The second view finds its inspiration in phenomena such as Mach-bands and simultaneous contrast; these phenomena show inhibition or steady-state suppression over time. This grow-and-shrink view assumes that the activation levels increase fast initially and then start to decrease.The perception literature strongly suggests that it may be light intensity that determines whether mainly integration (and phenomena such as Bloch's law) or inhibition (and phenomena such as Mach-bands) is obtained. So it is also likely that both information-processing views apply only to a limited range of intensity conditions; the grow-and-grow view to conditions of low-flight intensities, and the grow-and-shrink view to conditions of intermediate-and high-light intensities.It is argued that, to arrive at a complete view, a visual phenomenon that applies to the complete range of light intensities should be taken as a background for generating hypotheses about time courses in visual-information processing. The Broca-Sulzer effect is such a phenomenon. Starting from this phenomenon a simple, synthesizing, information-processing model is derived that is compatible with both the grow-and-grow view and the grow-andshrink view. It is shown that, besides the relevant temporal properties, this model also produces the appropriate spatial properties.     

The low robustness of the gain effect of interpersonal attraction: Some empirical and theoretical considerations

Subjects were exposed either to positive–positive evaluations or to negative-positive evaluations. In addition, evaluator's credibility was manipulated (high, low, neutral). Liking for the evaluator, perceived correctness, and perceived contingency of the evaluations were assessed as dependent variables. The gain effect suggested by Aronson and Linder (1965) was not found in any of the three dependent measures. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

A new method for analyzing aesthetic preferences: Some theoretical considerations

The aesthetic preferences of a group of persons are obtained from their orders of sets of pictures and patterns according to “liking.” The same pictures are ordered independently by a team of experts, according to certain artistic criteria such as naturalism, composition, color, rhythm, etc. The orders of preference and orders according to the criteria are compared by correlation and matrices of correlation formed from (1) correlations between the persons' orders of preference; (2) correlations between the orders of preference and orders according to artistic criteria; and (3) correlations between the criterion orders. These matrices are symbolised byR _p ,R ₀, andR _c , respectively, and combined to form a single matrix

$$\left[ \begin{gathered} R_p R_o \hfill \\ R'_o R_c \hfill \\ \end{gathered} \right]$$     

The transferential chimera II: some theoretical considerations

The author develops here a theoretical model to account for the different levels of organization and functioning of the transference chimera of which he gave a clinical presentation in an earlier article. From his reading of Jung's 'Psychology of the transference' he derives a dynamic model of the chimera and links it to quantum mechanics and chaos theory not so much to describe the reality of the phenomenon, but to offer a model of representation as a conceptual and meditative tool for analysts to use in their practice. The main hypothesis of this work is that the chimera arises from the intimate interplay of the respective de-integrates of the analyst and of the patient, thus constituting a genuine self in the transference. The author concludes with some implications for the analyst's own internal position.     

PSYCHOMOTOR EXPRESSION AND PERSONALITY STUDY: I. Some theoretical and methodological considerations

In this introductory article in a series of experimental reports an attempt is made to classify the psychomotor and expressive techniques on the basis of the amount and the quality of mediating processes involved in performance. Furthermore, psychomotor variables occurring in different types of technique are presented, and suggestions are made for an experimental study of psychomotor and expressive techniques.     

Some theoretical considerations in relation to innate appetite for salt

A central question in the study of instinctive behavior is the nature of the processes determining motivation or drive. The ethological concept of action-specific energy is discussed. The salt appetite of sodiumdeficient sheep has been examined as an instance of instinctive behaviour evoked by a chemical change in the body. Experimental analysis has included increasing the sodium concentration of the blood passing through the brain during the consummatory act of repairing sodium deficiency by rapid drinking of sodium bicarbonate solution. Also the effect on appetite of intraruminal and rapid intravenous infusion of sodium solutions, and of renal hypertension and nephrectomy are reported. A major problem presented by the remarkable capacity of the animals to satiate a large deficit with a rapid drinking act over 2–10 minutes, is how, following this, there is a precipitate decline of motivation before the sodium bicarbonate ingested could be absorbed and correct any extracellular or intracellular ionic deficit. The analysis has included experiments on animals with esophageal fistulae. A speculation on a possible nature of the intraneuronal chemical changes responsible for excitation of salt appetite is advanced, which is related to previous hypotheses on protein molecular basis of memory. It is proposed that within a specific population of cells in the neuraxis, which are not necessarily strictly localized, the development of sodium deficiency causing decrease of intracellular sodium concentration initiates a genetic propensity to induce a process of protein synthesis which sets in train the behavioral mechanisms of appetite. That is, structural nuclear DNA is released from inhibitor influence of regulator gene and initiates by messenger RNA the synthesis by ribosomes of a specific protein, and this induced enzyme may either alter the ionic or membrane characteristics of the neurocyton and hence its excitability or may increase the capacity of its transmitter generation at synapses; by either means excitation and transmission in naturally selected neuronal interconnections subserving salt appetite would be facilitated. The influence of these processes in the induction of central excitation and appetitive behavior may include a modulating effect on the midbrain reticular formation such as to bias attention to afferent sensory in-flow relevant to the releasing mechanisms of the consummatory act of the instinct. It is postulated that the process of satiation with the consummatory act is dependent on rapid or explosive degradation of the protein enzyme activating the instinctive pattern. The speculation is discussed in relation to other aspects of motivation, and it is suggested that the proposals, even if incorrect, may be useful in suggesting some avenues of investigation of salt appetite.     

Career proactivity: Conceptual and theoretical reflections

This article adds several conceptual and theoretical reflections to the article “Career proactivity: A bibliometric literature review and a future research agenda” by Jiang et al. The authors conducted a timely and relevant study by analyzing and integrating literature on career proactivity from the domains of organizational and vocational behavior. Prior research has clearly demonstrated that these areas are still largely operating as separate “islands,” both conceptually and methodologically. As such, systematically analyzing the literature and synthesizing the many existing proactivity-related constructs are important steps forward in taking research on career proactivity to the next level. Though their bibliometric analysis confirms the gap between vocational psychology and OB research, there is also a hopeful message in the article, as several clusters showed considerable connections. Thus, it seems that scholars are starting to build bridges between the islands. Building on their analysis and future research suggestions, in this article, we further explore three specific considerations related to (1) conceptual issues, (2) theoretical issues, and (3) additions to their future research agenda.     

The primacy of affect: Some theoretical implications

The major parts of Zajonc's analysis of the relations between thinking and feeling are stated and elaborated. Some of the implications for abnormal psychology are drawn out and new questions posed. If affective judgements are precognitive, instantaneous, automatic, irrevocable, primary, mainly non-verbal, inescapable, holistic and poorly related to cognition, what follows? The list of implications includes references to the three-component analysis of fear, the irrational element in abnormal behaviour, perplexity in the face of one's irrational behaviour, delusional moods. Bandura's therapeutic paradox, the slow development of cognitive therapies, prepared fears, attribution and helplessness, and direct approaches to mood modification.     

The nature of equity-restoration: Some approval-seeking considerations

Subjects performed a proofreading task and evaluated its difficulty both beforehand and afterwards. They were overpaid or equitably paid by an experimenter who was or was not directly responsible for the level of pay they received, and who they believed would or would not see their post-test ratings. All subjects knew the experimenter would grade their task performance. Consistent with equity theory, overpaid subjects rated the task as having been more difficult than they had expected and did higher quality work than did equitably paid subjects. However, subjects who thought the experimenter would see their ratings (Aware condition) rated it as more difficult and performed more poorly on it than those who thought she would not see them (Unaware condition). Reported task difficulty increased among overpaid subjects under aware conditions, remained stable among overpaid subjects under unaware conditions, and decreased for equitably paid subjects. These findings suggested that what appears to be “equity-restoration” may be a self-presentation strategy designed to win the experimenter's approval, and that task ratings rather than performance will be used for this purpose when they can be communicated to the experimenter. The experimenter's responsibility for the subject's pay had no effect in the present study.