Forgetting and recovering the unforgettable

Two experiments demonstrated striking, reversible forgetting effects that occurred even for a list of expletives. The experiments used a procedure based on the classic memory mechanisms of interference and retrieval cuing. Interference reduced recall dramatically, although appropriate cues triggered complete recovery. Distinctive, emotionally charged materials were quite susceptible to the forgetting and recovery effects. Thus, powerful forgetting effects can be obtained when participants have no intentions to forget and the materials involved are distinctive, emotional materials with sexual and violent content. This forgetting is reversible with appropriate cues. The false-memory debate can and must be informed by experimental investigations not only of false memories, but also of blocked and recovered memories.     

An unforgettable apple: Memory and attention for forbidden objects

Are we humans drawn to the forbidden? From jumbo-sized soft drinks to illicit substances, the influence of prohibited ownership on subsequent demand has made this question a pressing one. We know that objects that we ourselves own have a heightened psychological saliency, relative to comparable objects that are owned by others, but do these kinds of effects extend from self-owned to “forbidden” objects? To address this question, we developed a modified version of the Turk shopping paradigm in which “purchased” items were assigned to various recipients. Participants sorted everyday objects labeled as “self-owned”, “other-owned,” and either “forbidden to oneself” (Experiment 1) or “forbidden to everyone” (Experiment 2). Subsequent surprise recognition memory tests revealed that forbidden objects with high (Experiment 1) but not with low (Experiment 2) self-relevance were recognized as well as were self-owned objects, and better than other-owned objects. In a third and final experiment, we used event-related potentials (ERPs) to determine whether self-owned and self-forbidden objects, which showed a common memory advantage, are in fact treated the same at a neurocognitive–affective level. We found that both object types were associated with enhanced cognitive analysis, relative to other-owned objects, as measured by the P300 ERP component. However, we also found that self-forbidden objects uniquely triggered an enhanced response preceding the P300, in an ERP component (the N2) that is sensitive to more rapid, affect-related processing. Our findings thus suggest that, whereas self-forbidden objects share a common cognitive signature with self-owned objects, they are unique in being identified more quickly at a neurocognitive level.     

Character, character type, and character organization

This paper explores the relevance of the concept of character organization for psychoanalysis and argues for its usefulness in preserving what is specific to character. Character organization is viewed as a bridge concept between the observable and the structural, the role of fantasy and object relations in development, and as a convenient way of describing certain global phenomena not easily encompassed by the structural theory or compromise formation.     

Defining character integrity

Previous work on the integrity of character is reviewed and a contemporary definition offered using concepts of subordinate and supraordinate schematizations of self and relationships with others. The definition is clarified by a developmental perspective on possible growth in character integrity over the life cycle. Three types are defined by patterns in sense of identity, object relations, and defensive control of emotion. Such type formulations are useful because technique can be varied according to the inferred level of character integrity.     

Software character generation

Programming considerations are described for computer-controlled visual displays. Software character generation is emphasized.     

Relational-oriented character analysis

Referring to the diversity of psychoanalysis of today, a position called relational-oriented character analysis is discussed. It is stated that relation and character as concepts refer to different and partly contradictory points of view in psychoanalysis, the first one emphasising mobile, dynamic aspects of personality, the second underlining stable, structural aspects. The principle aim of the article is to argue how the two perspectives can be theoretically combined in an overriding object-relational (two-person) conception and to discuss some implications for analytic technique. Finally, convergences and differences with other positions or schools in contemporary psychoanalysis are suggested.     

The autistic character.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the autistic character as a diagnostic entity and then delineate the formative early object relations, the symptoms and how they develop out of the early object relations, and the related defensive behavior. The paper will end with recommendations for treatment.