Depicting a Liminal Position in Ethnomethodology, Conversation Analysis and Membership Categorization Analysis: The Work of Rod Watson

This paper provides a provisional examination of Rod Watson's work and contributions to EM/CA/MCA, in part through a critique of misrepresentations of his arguments in secondary accounts of his work. The form of these misrepresentations includes adumbration and traducement of his arguments. Focusing on the reflexivity of category and sequence and turn-generated categories, we suggest that his analytic position within ethnomethodological fields is unique and remarkable, yet largely unacknowledged. We argue that a re-examination of the body of Watson's work makes relevant explicit and appropriate acknowledgement of his contributions through his unconventional approach and his extension of prior works in novel and stimulating directions.     

Altruism and the Resolution of the Transference Resistance: Partners in Clinical Psychoanalysis

ABSTRACT

The article is devoted to the central place of altruism in clinical psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. Using an experiential-subjective perspective, I demonstrate how I overcame an inhibition in utilizing altruism in my theoretical and clinical work, which then reduced barriers against working with the experience of vitality, closeness, and creativity for my patients and myself. I then could follow the importance of resolving the transference resistance against consolidating the experience and functioning of the self or person. At this time, altruism has also become a subject of interest in several fields that deal with human and animal behavior such as evolutionary science, social biology, and anthropology. Psychoanalysis, with its special subjective and experimental perspectives, can make valuable contributions in these realms of knowledge and research.     

I. R. Owen. Psychotherapy and Phenomenology. New York: iUniverse,Inc.

Abstract

This study¹ explores the experience of the body for contemporary female mystics. It is an exploration in how women mystics of today—those who have devoted most of their lifetime to prayer, meditation, and spiritual service—make sense of the body. What is the relationship between spirit and body, God and flesh, for such women? Is it a relationship of tension or even opposition, and how does it evolve over time? These are some of the questions that guided my investigation. The impulse to understand how the body is experienced and understood by such women was felt by me as both a longing to challenge, deepen, and refine my awareness and understanding of spirit and the body, specifically for women mystics. I also felt this as a burning in the heart, an urgent desire to connect and bridge the larger world of matter and that of spirit, to inquire into that dimension where flesh and spirit are not two, but one. I believe that this impulse to understand the relationship between body and spirit is both personal and quite possibly collective. My hope is that this research will serve as one step to further our collective understanding of human embodiment.     

Response to MacIntosh’s Review and Discussion of the Psychoanalytic Couple Therapy Journal Literature: A Self Psychological,Intersubjective Perspective

ABSTRACT

After expressing my appreciation to Heather MacIntosh and highlighting her article’s significant contributions to the field, I comment briefly on some of the implications of her methodology and findings. I then elaborate on her summary of the history of the application of self psychology (Kohut, 1971) and intersubjective systems theory (Stolorow, Brandshaft, and Atwood, 1987) to couple therapy, highlighting the key contributions of both theories and describing the current state of the field.     

Fleeting encounter

Abstract

This short paper describes a recent visit to an exhibition of modern art. It examines my impressions in the light of contemporary psychodynamic theory. The exhibition was called ‘Some Went Mad, Some Ran Away…’ It included the work of fifteen modern artists, mainly created between 1992 and 1994, and selected by the British artist Damien Hirst. The exhibition leaflet said that the artists had used ‘real objects, body-casts, natural and man-made forms, sculpture, painting and photography, to set up a number of provocative juxtapositions’.     

Lying on Job Applications: The Effects of Job Relevance,Commission, and Human Resource Management Experience

This research examined three factors related to misrepresentations on job applications: the job relevance of the information, the effects of overt misrepresentation compared to omission, and the impact of human resource (HR) management experience. Dependent measures included the extent to which misrepresentations were perceived as lies and influenced hiring intentions. In general, higher job relevance and overt misrepresentations increased the perception of misrepresentations as lies and decreased the hiring intentions. Further, persons with HR management experience were less likely to see misrepresentations as lies and more likely to hire applicants. Implications for future research and managerial practice are discussed.

Atomic mean-square displacements in f.c.c. metals

Abstract

In two recent letters, one by Zoli in 1991, and the other by Schober in 1992, the evaluation of the quasiharmonic and anharmonic contributions to the atomic mean-square displacement (MSD) for f.c.c. metals has been discussed. In Zoli's work, the difference in the two contributions is found to be 91%. Schober, on the other hand, has not evaluated the explicit anharmonic contribution to MSD. The huge difference in Zoli's work is shown here to be due to an inaccurate evaluation of the explicit anharmonic contribution to MSD. A proper self-contained method as presented here, which employs the same model in the quasiharmonic and anharmonic calculations of MSD or Debye-Waller factor, indeed shows that the two contributions differ from each other by 10–15% depending on the temperature. Larger differences exist at higher temperatures. Some numerical results are given for a model of the f.c.c. lattice, namely a nearest-neighbour central force model employing a Lennard-Jones potential (applicable to rare-gas solids) and the Morse potential as a model for Cu.     

Relevant Robinson's arithmetic

In this paper two different formulations of Robinson's arithmetic based on relevant logic are examined. The formulation based on the natural numbers (including zero) is shown to collapse into classical Robinson's arithmetic, whereas the one based on the positive integers (excluding zero) is shown not to similarly collapse. Relations of these two formulations to R. K. Meyer's system R# of relevant Peano arithmetic are examined, and some remarks are made about the role of constant functions (e.g., multiplication by zero) in relevant arithmetic.This paper has been greatly influenced by the (largely unpublished) work of E. K. Meyer (cf. [7]) on relevant arithmetic, and I wish to thank him, and also N. D. Belnap, Jr. and D. Cohen for helpful advice. In fairness to Meyer it must be said that he finds my axioms 13 and 13(1) too strong (they are not theorems of his system R# - cf. §4 below). Meyer tells me be finds vindication for his view in my chief theorem of §2. For myself, I find the insights behind Meyer's work on R# to be both stable and fruitful, and if I now had to make a choice, I would follow Meyer in his rejection of my axioms. However, the systems I explore in this paper themselves have a surprising amount of internal consistency of motivation (cf. §5). Let a hundred formal systems bloom.     

A Psychotherapist Retires

Abstract

This article reflects on a year of my personal experience as I prepared to retire from my psychotherapy practice of 40 years. While aware that this might be a poignant experience for bothmyself and my clients, my own surprising emotions and dreams demanded that I pay attention to myself. By acknowledging my feelings I was able to direct sensitive attention to the clients' feelings of loss and sadness. Finding the balance between the sadness that filled the therapy room and my own enthusiasm for what awaited me outside that room, was not a simple task     

Reply to Psarros: Popper and Chemistry

In this article I reply to criticism of my published work by N. Psarros (Journal for the General Philosophy of Science 28: 297–305,1997). I show that I had already answered the first criticism in my published work and not overlooked his supposed refutation. However I offer a plausible argument which he could have used to strengthen his claim. Psarros cites my work on Hopkins in his opening paragraph, but then makes no further reference to it in the text. I indicated to Psarros verbally at Ilkley 1994 (and reiterate the message here) that Hopkins' work on Vitamins is the exemplar of a Popperian historical episode and must require addressing by the opponents of critical rationalism. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Theory of mind: The state of the art*

Abstract

In this article, I reflect on theory of mind as a field (ToM), how it has developed over the years, and focally on the state of current research and theory. Having begun with preschoolers’ understanding of beliefs and desires, the field now includes research from infancy through late life, contributions and contributors from around the world, research on behavior, conversation, neural correlates, gene-environment contributions, evolution, and the social-behavioral antecedents and consequences of the unfolding trajectories of ToM understanding. Several topics in particular portray the current state of the art and my sense of where theory-of-mind research is likely to head in the near future: progressions of theory of mind achievement; cultural experiences plus experiential influences that shape developmental trajectories; developmental cognitive neuroscience; infant ToM insights; research on ToM developments beyond preschool, including children’s increasing interest in and wrestling with extraordinary minds, such as those of God and super-heroes.     

On Memory and the Collaborative Construction and Deconstruction of Custody Case Arguments

In a simulation of lay judges’ deliberations, it is shown how the participants selectively misconstrued courtroom evidence, depending on their overall story frameworks. All participants had received a common set of background information (drawn from an authentic custody case). In addition, one person in each group had, unknowingly, received some unique pieces of information. The “lay judges” produced several spontaneous misrepresentations of the background material. Moreover, they would often accept and retell false “facts” (introduced by a participant with different background information), unless these “facts” were integrated into opposing account frameworks. Hence it is shown how misrepresentations are often coconstituted.     

Use of narratives and collage in the exploration of the self and the meaning of a career

ABSTRACT

A methodological challenge during my doctoral research led me to use collage to reflect upon my own life and career. The insights it allowed me into the relationship between who we are and what we do led me to conclude that such methods can also illuminate these connections for clients of career counselling. In this paper I argue that such constructivist approaches allow the examination of that psycho-social space within which career is shaped and understood, allowing access to both the conscious and unconscious meaning made of a career and life story. I further argue that in times of increasing complexity such methods will be an important tool for career counsellors to meet the holistic needs of clients.     

From a terror management perspective: The efficacy of self-affirmation on organ donation-related thoughts and intentions in China

ABSTRACT

In 2015, the Chinese government officially abolished the practice of harvesting organs from executed prisoners. However, the voluntary donor registration rate among the Chinese population is approximately 2% as of January 2020. Guided by self-affirmation theory and terror management theory, the present investigation examined a number of variables that may be related to donor registration intentions and a method to mitigate death thoughts and misconceptions. An online experiment was conducted in which 352 Chinese participants were randomly assigned to either a self-affirmation (i.e., affirming values that are important to the participants) or a no-affirmation condition. Results revealed that self-affirmation lowered death thoughts among the participants, which in turn were positively related to organ donation misperceptions. Inconsistent with terror management theory, the level of death thoughts was not directly related to participants’ intentions to register as organ donors. Instead, the relationship between the two was mediated by misperceptions toward organ donation.     

The Protean Therapist

SUMMARY

The subject of the following article is the protean journey therapists make as they adapt to changing situations and challenges in their own lives and the ultimate impact it has on their clinical work with patients. I have used the example of my own life, in which certain critical events have transformed me from a person with a rather ordinary perspective to someone who has come to appreciate the fragile nature of life with its rich tapestry of complicated ties and patterns. I have tried to demonstrate that significant events in my life and my personal development over the past thirty years have furthered my appreciation and treatment of my patients. I have also come to recognize that my patients' particular journeys, on which I have accompanied them, have similarly contributed to and enriched my life in myriad ways.     

Comment on Hans-Peter Krüger’s paper

Abstract

In my Mind and World I appeal to second nature, which, according to Hans-Peter Kru¨ger, plays a central role in Plessner's philosophical anthropology. But I think this convergence is less significant than Kru¨ger suggests.This note differentaties my purpose–to disarm the temptation to think perceptual experience, natural as it is, could not figure in what Sellars called “the space of reasons”–from Plessner's, which is to disarm the temptation to hope for an ahistorical insight into what is properly authoritative over the shape of our lives,     

Relative contributions to overall impact of stuttering in adults using the overall assessment of the Speaker’s Experience of Stuttering (OASES)

PurposeComprehensive assessment of stuttering requires consideration of a wide range of behaviors that impact outcomes, and the Overall Assessment of the Speaker’s Experience of Stuttering (OASES) is an assessment tool that accomplishes such. The purpose of this study was to determine how the individual components of the test contribute to the OASES’ impact score.MethodData collected at a university speech-language and hearing clinic from 29 adults were used for a relative weight analysis (RWA). RWA was utilized to determine the relative contributions of the OASES’ subtests to the OASES’ impact score. Confidence intervals for the individual relative weights were calculated for each OASES subtest and significance tests based on bootstrapping with 10,000 replications.ResultsDifferences were present in contributions of the OASES’ subtests to the OASES’ overall impact score, where the following explained a significant amount of variance in the OASES’ impact score: Speaker’s Reactions; Daily Communication; and Quality of Life. However, contribution of the subtest, “General Information”, was not significant.ConclusionThrough examination of relative contributions to the impact of stuttering using the OASES, this project has identified differences in contributors to the overall impact of the disorder of stuttering. This information is beneficial to researchers and clinicians alike in that it gives specific guidance into what determines increased impact in adults who stutter (AWS). Future works should pursue clarification of these differences with an end goal of identifying and overcoming barriers to positive outcomes while also identifying and nurturing facilitators to optimal management.     

Dibs: In search of self

Abstract

Some ten years ago, while I was training towards ordination as a minister in the Church of England, close friends in the village where I lived took me to a talk given by Michael Jacobs to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the founding of CCC, the Cambridgeshire Consultancy in Counselling, on whose training course my friends, Jenny and David, were then studying.     

Conservatism. A defence

Conservatism has an essence, or so I argue. Typical of the conservative attitude is to take what is an established fact or order to be worthy of preservation, precisely because it is well established. The question what fact is established must be answered in a context, and people of different political bent answer it differently. This is why we have left‐wing as well as right‐wing conservatism, sharing a common rationale. In my Conservatism for Our Time I discuss various different aspects of this rationale, and my answer to certain strictures raised by Robert Grant concerns several of them. The most important concerns a conservative or traditionalist criticism of rationalism. This criticism has been developed by ‐ among others ‐Michael Oakeshott. In my book, and in my answer to Grant, I defend and elaborate on this criticism.