Familiarity breeds dissent: Reliability analyses for British-English idioms on measures of familiarity,meaning, literality,and decomposability

To date, there have been several attempts made to build a database of normative data for English idiomatic expressions (e.g., Libben & Titone, 2008; Titone & Connine, 1994), however, there has been some discussion in the literature as to the validity and reliability of the data obtained, particularly for decomposability ratings. Our work aimed to address these issues by looking at ratings from native and non-native speakers and to extend the deeper investigation and analysis of decomposability to other aspects of idiomatic expressions, namely familiarly, meaning and literality. Poor reliability was observed on all types of ratings, suggesting that rather than decomposability being a special case, individual variability plays a large role in how participants rate idiomatic phrases in general. Ratings from native and non-native speakers were positively correlated and an analysis of covariance found that once familiarity with an idiom was accounted for, most of the differences between native and non-native ratings were not significant. Overall, the results suggest that individual experience with idioms plays an important role in how they are perceived and this should be taken into account when selecting stimuli for experimental studies. Furthermore, the results are suggestive of the inability of speakers to inhibit the figurative meanings for idioms that they are highly familiar with.     

Maximum vs. minimum values: Preferences of speakers and listeners for upper and lower limit estimates

Estimates about uncertain quantities can be expressed in terms of lower limits (more than X, minimum X), or upper limits (less than Y, maximum Y). It has been shown that lower limit statements generally occur much more often than upper limit statements (Halberg & Teigen, 2009). However, in a conversational context, preferences for upper and lower limit statements will be moderated by the concerns of the interlocutors. We report three studies asking speakers and listeners about their preferences for lower and upper limit statements, in the domains of distances, durations, and prices. It appears that travellers prefer information about maximum distances and maximum durations, and buyers (but not sellers) prefer to be told about maximum prices and maximum delivery times. Mistaken maxima are at the same time regarded as more “wrong” than mistaken minima. However, this preference for “worst case” information is not necessarily shared by providers of information (advisors), who are also concerned about being blamed if wrong.     

Women, money, and psychodynamic group psychotherapy.

Developmental concerns and sociocultural expectations may keep female patients and therapists from addressing financial issues openly in group psychotherapy. Interpersonal theory provides a different view of nurturing that may help women leaders deal better with financial discussions in group. This paper includes a review of the literature on group psychotherapy and fees; feminist literature relevant to leadership; money management in group therapy; countertransference; and case examples.     

The psychological unconscious. Found, lost, and regained.

In response to Greenwald's article on contemporary research on unconscious mental processes, the authors address three issues: (a) the independence of much recent research and theory from psychodynamic formulations; (b) the broad sweep of the psychological unconscious, including implicit perception, memory, thought, learning, and emotion; and (c) the possibility that the analytic power of unconscious processing may depend both on the manner in which mental contents are rendered unconscious and the manner in which they are to be processed.     

Religious delusions and filicide: a psychodynamic model

In this article, we present a psychodynamic explanation for the complex crime of filicide motivated by religious delusions. To begin, we provide an overview of filicide, including its typology and epidemiology. Second, we examine the psychoanalytic theories of Heinz Kohut and Otto Kernberg so as to better understand how family-of-origin experiences add to the ways in which psychotic disorders later take shape in filicide cases. Third, we offer an explication of the psychology of religion, including the role that religious defences and religious delusions play in cases involving filicide. Ultimately, we hypothesise that mothers with religious delusions commit acts of filicide due to the dynamic and reciprocal interaction between mental illness, psychological functioning, and the psychological role played by religion. We conclude our article with a case illustration to demonstrate our theoretical model.     

Attention, temporal predictability, and the time course of context effects in naming performance

Models of attention and context effects in naming performance should be able to account for the time course of color-word Stroop interference revealed by manipulations of the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) between color and word. Prominent models of Stroop task performance ( [Cohen et al., 1990], [Cohen and Huston, 1994] and [Phaf et al., 1990]) fail to account for the fact that response time (RT) and Stroop interference peak at zero SOA and diminish with word preexposure. The models may be saved by assuming that the time course of interference is determined by a strategic orienting of attention to color onsets when SOA is predictable. To test this temporal predictability hypothesis, SOA was blocked or randomly mixed in Experiment 1. In addition, the time interval between color onsets was randomly variable in Experiment 2. Although RTs were affected, none of the randomization manipulations influenced the typical shape of the time course of Stroop effects. These findings provide evidence against the temporal predictability hypothesis and thereby against prominent models of the Stroop task.     

Men,shame and antisocial behavior: A psychodynamic perspective

This paper discusses the psychosocial factors that contribute to male antisocial behavior. The role of shame and related affects is emphasized. Compensatory defenses associated with these affects are also described. Developmental concepts are reviewed in the light of recent research. Finally, some of the issues involved in doing psychotherapy with this population are discussed, with an emphasis on the value of group therapy.Parts of this paper were presented at the second annual conference onCulture, Race and Ethnicity in Group and Family Therapy which was sponsored by the Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society and New York University and was held in New York City, March 20–22, 1987.     

Affect, personality, and social activity.

These studies examined relations between social activity and state and trait measures of Positive and Negative Affect. In Study 1 Ss completed scales relevant to 3-factor models of personality and a weekly mood and social activity questionnaire for 13 weeks. In Study 2 Ss completed measures of the 5-factor model of personality and a daily mood and social activity survey for 6-7 weeks. In within- and between-Ss analyses, socializing correlated significantly with state measures of Positive Affect and with trait measures of Extraversion/Positive Emotionality. These relations were relatively general across various types of positive affect and social events; however, specific types of social events also were differentially related to affect. In contrast, social activity had no consistent association with measures of Negative Affect or the other personality dimensions. The results support a temperamental view of Extraversion.     

The piloting of a brief relational psychodynamic protocol (psychodynamic addiction model) for problem gambling and other compulsive addictions: A retrospective analysis

The paper describes a treatment pilot for gambling and compulsive addiction within an NHS problem gambling clinic. The pilot study used a brief relational psychodynamic treatment protocol specifically designed to meet the needs of a group of patients who had not responded to CBT and who had other addictions or co‐morbidities. Seventy‐two (n = 72) patients were offered 12 sessions of therapy by four psychodynamic counsellors. Results were assessed using scores from a pre‐ and post‐treatment patient health questionnaire, the generalised anxiety disorder—7 (GAD‐7) and the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI). Weekly feedback and supervision from counsellors and patients were used to assess the treatment model. The results highlighted that the psychodynamic addiction model was associated with reduced depression (Mean = 14.9; SD: 6.7), anxiety (Mean = 11.5; SD: 5.9), and gambling severity (p < .001), suggesting that a relational psychodynamic treatment is needed for complex patients with compulsive addiction, where CBT had not been successful. These results also highlight the importance of the therapeutic relationship as a critical factor in the treatment of patients with compulsive addiction problems.     

Affect,meaning in life,and life satisfaction among immigrants and non-immigrants: A moderated mediation model

Current Psychology - Immigration has become a global phenomenon as part of modern life. However, immigrants often demonstrate negative emotional states following the immigration process, which may...     

A personal perspective: armed conflict—interests, values and dialogic encounter

This is essentially a personal perspective in which it is suggested that the roots of many armed conflicts can be traced to the pursuit of dominant interests which are dressed up in the language of values. Dialogue is presented as the human alternative to armed conflict. A non-national forum in which interests and values can be uncovered, and which will provide a context for potential dialogic encounter, is tentatively suggested. Some insights from the realm of counselling and psychotherapy that can contribute to an understanding of the nature of dialogue are explored. The role of counselling as a proactive influence in society is emphasised.     

G. C. Lichtenberg: dreams, jokes, and the unconscious in eighteenth-century Germany.

The German physicist and writer Lichtenberg (1742-1799) was well known during the nineteenth century as a humorist, thinker, and psychologist. He was also a favorite author of Freud, who read him beginning in his teens, quoted him frequently, and called him a "remarkable psychologist." Despite this, he has been ignored by psychoanalysts and historians of psychiatry alike, and most of his writing is still unavailable in English. An introduction to Lichtenberg as a psychologist is provided, stressing material dealing with dream analysis, association theory, and drives. Relevant excerpts are translated into English. Lichtenberg is shown to have insisted upon the need for a systematic and rationalistic study of dreams, to have analyzed individual dreams (describing them as dramatized representations of thoughts, associations, and even conflicts from his own waking life), and to have emphasized the functional link between dreams and daydreams. His remarks on drives and commentary on eighteenth-century association theory represent a significant practical application, and thus refinement, of Enlightenment rationalistic psychology. These achievements are assessed in light of Freud's early fascination with him; it is argued that Lichtenberg is an example of the relevance of the historical and cultural background of psychoanalysis to clinical practice.     

Motivational interviewing and addiction - A psychodynamic appreciation

This paper offers a psychodynamic understanding of the influential approach of motivational interviewing in the treatment of addiction. It suggests the need for critical understanding, and considers some overlaps as well as differences between motivational interviewing and a contemporary psychodynamic approach.     

Class in psychodynamic theory,research and practice

Class is a generally neglected topic within the psychotherapeutic and counselling worlds, and has not benefitted from the psychoanalytic and psychodynamic thought arising from contemporary critiques concerning gender, sexuality, and race. The article presents an overview of my researches over many years in an attempt to formulate the different ways in which considerations of class may impinge on practices and theories in the therapeutic professions. I use a clinical vignette to identify class related issues that may arise within the consulting room, and relate these to wider aspects of the intersections of class with therapy and counselling.     

Robust,unconscious self-deception: Strategic and flexible

In recent years deflationary accounts of self-deception, under the banner of motivationalism, have proven popular. On these views the deception at work is simply a motivated bias. In contrast, we argue for an account of self-deception that involves more robustly deceptive unconscious processes. These processes are strategic, flexible, and demand some retention of the truth. We offer substantial empirical support for unconscious deceptive processes that run counter to certain philosophical and psychological claims that the unconscious is rigid, ballistic, and of limited cognitive sophistication.