Reactions to DMT as related to psychotic and borderline personality organization

Thirty-one inpatients in a psychiatric clinic were assessed with DMT and the Structural Interview. In order to assemble every relevant reaction that an individual might have to a percept-genesis, 130 DMT variables were formed. The results were first subjected to a quality control of the DMT-scores and then subjected to partial least squares in latent variables (PLS) discriminant analysis. The analysis showed that it is possible to separate patients with psychotic PO (PPO) from those with borderline PO (BPO) by means of the 130 variables. The BPO group is characterized by aggressive manifestations, sensitivity to threat, identity lability and various transformations of the Hero gestalt. The PPO group, on the other hand, is characterized by high threshold values for perception, lack of identity, denial and repression of the peripheral person at a late-phase level. There are other perceptual reactions that are important predictors of PO than the defence categories of the manual. These perceptual reactions do not correspond to the traditional psychodynamic defence mechanisms. Our conclusion is that principal component analysis (PCA) and PLS are useful methods of finding discriminating patterns of perceptual reactions to the DMT for patients with different PO.     

In defence of the criticism of the Defence Mechanism Test (DMT): A reply to Kragh (1998)

Kragh ( Scandinavian Journal of Psychology , 1998, 39, 123–124) criticises a recent empirical study of the Defence Mechanism Test (DMT) conducted by the present authors (Zuber & Ekehammar, 1997) concerning methodological and other shortcomings. The present paper reviews and responds to Kragh's critical points. As to the most serious criticism, the methodological, the main conclusion is that Kragh's own published empirical studies of the DMT, and also those of other researchers, can be criticised along similar lines. Furthermore, and surprisingly, in contrast to our study, Kragh's main DMT studies do not employ the DMT picture(s) at all.     

In defence of the Defence Mechanism Test (DMT)—a reply.

A paper by I. Zuber and B. Ekehammar in this Journal (38, 1997) is reviewed. The paper advocates that the non-veridical contents in the series of reports in the DMT should preferably be referred, not to psychoanalytic defence mechanisms, but to factors of stimulus order. The methods and the arguments of this investigation are critically examined.     

An empirical look at the Defence Mechanism Test (DMT) Stimulus effects

Based on a sample of non-clinical subjects (N=74) the study examines the Defence Mechanism Test (DMT) by focusing on when perceptual distortions, called ‘signs of defence’ in DMT terminology, occur (distribution in exposure duration), which part of the picture is involved (distribution in localisation), and which ‘signs’ go together (using correlation and factor analyses). The results disclosed that the occurrence of perceptual distortions (‘signs of defence’) was related to exposure duration (some ‘defences’ are more frequent at brief exposures, some others at longer exposure durations), and to localisation on the picture. The location of misperceptions to the central person (hero) or the peripheral person (pp) of the picture was the major explanatory principle for the distribution of ‘signs’ on factors. Rather than capturing psychodynamic defence mechanisms, which is the theoretical basis of the test, the analyses imply that the DMT seems to measure misperceptions which are a function of the localisation of persons on the stimulus picture and of exposure durations.     

Gender differences and the Defense Mechanism Test: A comparative study of adolescents in psychiatric care and healthy controls

The aim of this paper was to study gender differences in the percept-genetic method Defense Mechanism Test (DMT) among a group of 60 adolescent subjects. Three subgroups were used: patients with psychotic disorders (Axis 1); borderline personality disorder (Axis 2) according to the DSM-IV classification system, and a non-patient group. The test protocols were scored with respect to 124 DMT variables and analyzed by means of the multivariate projection method Partial Least Squares (PLS) in latent structures. The overall results showed considerable gender differences in the whole group as well as in the subgroups. The most striking finding was that girls compared to boys were characterized by the perceptual defense identification with the opposite sex, which means that they perceived male gestalts instead of females in the stimulus picture. When both gender and diagnostic group membership were considered simultaneously, the influence of diagnostic group membership seemed to be stronger than gender even if there was an interaction between diagnoses and gender. It was concluded that gender must be considered when the DMT is used on adolescent populations.     

Multivariate modelling and personality organization: A comparative study of the Defense Mechanism Test and linguistic expressions

The main aim of the study is to establish an empirical connection between perceptual defences as measured by the Defense Mechanism Test (DMT)–a projective percept-genetic method–and manifest linguistic expressions based on word pattern analyses. The subjects were 25 psychiatric patients with the diagnoses neurotic personality organization (NPO), borderline personality organization (BPO) and psychotic personality organization (PPO) in accordance with Kernberg's theory. A set of 130 DMT variables and 40 linguistic variables were analyzed by means of partial least squares (PLS) discriminant analysis separately and then pooled together. The overall hypothesis was that it would be possible to define the personality organization of the patients in terms of an amalgam of perceptual defences and word patterns, and that these two kinds of data would confirm each other. The result of the combined PLS analysis revealed a very good separation between the diagnostic groups as measured by the pooled variable sets. Among other things, it was shown that NPO patients are principally characterized by linguistic variables, whereas BPO and PPO patients are better defined by perceptual defences as measured by the DMT method.     

Defense Mechanism Test (DMT) and Kernberg's theory of personality organization related to adolescents in psychiatric care

75 adolescent psychiatric patients were diagnosed with the perceptual projective test the Defense Mechanism Test (DMT) and also according to Kernberg's theory of personality organization (PO). The test protocols were scored in respect of 130DMT variables and analyzed by means of partial least squares (PLS) discriminant analysis. The objective was to try to separate the three types of PO, psychotic (PPO), borderline (BPO) and neurotic (NPO) by means of the DMT and also to compare the results with a similar study on adult psychiatric patients. The results showed that it is possible to separate significantly the three groups of PO. The BPO group seemed to be heterogeneous. The results were fairly similar to those obtained with adult psychiatric patients. The overall results supported the concurrent validity of Kernberg's theory of PO and for the DMT as well. The DMT seems to be a useful diagnostic method in respect of adolescent psychiatric patients.     

Escaping to the Angels: A Note on the Passing of the Manic Defence

This essay examines how some psychologically adroit individuals use creativity as a manic defence against the affects that they cannot bear to experience directly. Conceived within the perspectives of Jungian psychoanalysis, manic creativity is shown to effect a defence against the subjective distress of personal complexes by means of an identification with the archetypal cores of the complexes. This defensive use of creativity, however, may ultimately play a decisive role in healing. Indeed, when considered from a prospective or teleological point of view, manic creativity, for all its insensitivity to the suffering that has inspired it, can also be understood as gradually creating a container in which affects formerly defended against may be received and suffered, felt and grieved. It is in this way that manic creativity, though clearly a defence (and at times a very costly one), participates in the reparative initiative of the self.     

Tachistoscopic and questionnaire methods for the measurement of psychological defences

Only few attempts have been made to compare different methods aiming at quantifying defensive strategies. In this study the tachistoscopic Defence Mechanism Test (Kragh, 1960b and 1985) is compared to paper-and-pencil tests of defence. There were virtually no correlations between the DMT and the other measures of defence. This may indicate that the concept of defence is a highly complex one. It is suggested that the Defence Mechanism Test may be measuring primary defence while defence questionnaires may be assessing more secondary forms of defence. The two questionnaires used for assessing defence correlated significantly, while a scale for social desirability showed no correlation with DMT or the two defence questionnaires.     

A comparison of a brief and long version of the Situational Confidence Questionnaire

Assessing confidence to resist drinking in high risk situations is an important part of behavioral treatments for alcohol problems. The present study assessed the reliability and validity of the original 100-item Situational Confidence Questionnaire (SCQ) and of an 8-item brief version (BSCQ). Using a visual analog scale, the BSCQ asked respondents to report their confidence to resist urges to drink heavily using the original eight SCQ subscales (e.g., pleasant times with others, social pressure). Data were collected from 120 adult problem drinkers who voluntarily entered an outpatient alcohol treatment program. The comparability of the BSCQ and the SCQ-100 was evaluated through intraclass correlations between the eight subscales and comparison of both instruments' underlying factor structures. Correlation coefficients for the subscales ranged from 0.56 to 0.80. Both instruments showed similar, but not identical factor structures. The present results indicate that the BSCQ provides comparable information to the SCQ-100. Limitations, as well as the clinical advantages, of using the BSCQ over longer versions are discussed.     

Derived Trail Making Test indices: demographics and cognitive background variables across the adult life span

We examined the contribution of demographics and cognitive background variables (processing speed, visuospatial skill, working memory, and interference control) on derived Trail Making Test (TMT) scores in a large sample of Greek healthy participants. We included 775 participants and administered the TMT (TMT-A and TMT-B) and the Wechsler Intelligence Adult Scale (WAIS). Direct (TMT-A & TMT-B time-to-completion) and derived [difference TMT-(B ? A) & ratio TMT-(B/A)] scores were calculated. Demographics (age, age², education, and gender) and WAIS Full Intelligence Quotient significantly predicted the direct TMT-A (R² = 0.426) and TMT-B (R² = 0.593) scores and to a lesser extent, the derived TMT-(B ? A) (R² = 0.343) and TMT-(B/A) (R² = 0.088) scores. In a subsample of 537 healthy participants who also completed the Stroop Neuropsychological Screening Test (SNST), demographics (age and education), WAIS Digit Symbol, Block Design, Arithmetic, and SNST accounted for 44.8% and 59.7% of the variance on TMT-A and TMT-B, and 32.5% and 9.6% of the variance on TMT-(B ? A) and TMT-(B/A), respectively. We found minimal influence of Block Design and Arithmetic on TMT-(B ? A) and an absence of significant influence of any cognitive variable on TMT-(B/A) score. Concluding, derived TMT scores are suggested as indices to detect impairment in cognitive flexibility across the adult life span, since they minimize the effect of demographics and other cognitive background variables.     

Construction and validation of an ecological version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test applied to an elderly population

ABSTRACT

The goal of this project was to construct and validate an ecological version of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) aimed at the elderly. This was accomplished by replacing the geometric stimuli of the traditional version with stimuli belonging to the semantic category of transport vehicles, and by elimination of the color yellow. The results showed the ecological WCST version was preferred over the traditional version and older people felt less tired during test performance. In the two independent normal elderly groups, all pairs of scores that can be derived from the WCST correlated significantly with each other. Six of 11 outcome measures of the traditional WCST-128 (long) version were significantly influenced by age. By contrast, in the WCST-64 (short) version and in the ecological WCST-54 version only one measure was affected by the age variable. No significant effect of education level or gender emerged from the results in any WCST version. Again, the subjects with cognitive deterioration had lower performance in the ecological WCST-54 version than in the two traditional WCST versions. It seems reasonable to assume that the ecological version of WCST is more discriminating and has more advantages than the traditional versions. Further research on individual differences in the performance on this task will increase understanding of the components of the test, and of the variety of factors and possible deficits that could lead to an impaired performance of the test.     

Technical Controversy and Ballistic Missile Defence: Disputing Epistemic Authority in the Development of Hit-to-Kill Technology

Public debate about Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) has long centred on the question of feasibility, particularly as regards the realism of testing. Thus BMD opponents have argued that flight-tests are insufficiently similar to operational use to provide a reliable guide to real-world performance. However, an in-depth account of the development of US hit-to-kill technology—an approach to BMD that relies on the direct impact of an interceptor on the enemy missile warhead—reveals a far less-recognised issue: some BMD supporters have specific technical doubts which centre on the design of the current system rather than on its testing. These concerns hinge on contrasting claims to epistemic authority between two camps of BMD supporters. On the one hand, advocates of space-based BMD oppose the current system on in-principle conceptual grounds. On the other hand, some BMD supporters close to the development of ground-based hit-to-kill technology claim that the empirical evidence from testing shows that the current design is suboptimal because it is the outcome of a bureaucratic politics compromise between the two camps. Although the battle for epistemic authority has swung in favour of the latter hit-to-kill supporters recently, the lack of operational experience with a defence against nuclear-armed ballistic missiles means that further disputes are likely. So long as empirical knowledge claims rest solely on testing, they are unlikely to prove sufficiently politically compelling to silence advocates of space-based defence.     

A group version of the Stroop Color and Word Test

Summary: The uses of the Stroop Color and Word Test have been limited because of the lack of a standardized form, particularly one which could be used for both individual and group administrations as demanded by the requirements of a research project. The present version of the test counted the number of items completed by the subject in a 45-second time period. In the individual version the subject said the words out loud while in the group version he said the words to himself. Results indicated that the two versions were equivalent to each other as well as to forms requiring the subject to read a whole page of items. It was felt that a group form would greatly enhance the research capabilities of the Stroop Test.     

A new method of administering the Grooved Pegboard Test: performance as a function of handedness and sex

The purpose of the present study was twofold: first to examine the influences of sex and handedness on manual performance on the Grooved Pegboard Test; and secondly to provide normative data for two versions (Place and Remove tasks) of the Grooved Pegboard Test, as previous work (Bryden & Roy, 1999) had suggested that the Remove task of the Grooved pegboard may provide a purer measure of motor speed of the two hands than the standard administration of the Grooved Pegboard Test. One hundred and fifty-three (47 males and 106 females) participants completed the Grooved Pegboard Test. Individuals performed the standard version of the Grooved Pegboard Test (Place task) and a novel version of the test (Remove task). In the standard version, participants were timed on their speed for placing the pegs, while in the novel version they were timed on their speed for removing the pegs. Results confirmed previously noted hand and sex differences in the Place task of the Grooved Pegboard Test, as well as the lack of effect of handedness on performance (Bornstein, 1995; Ruff & Parker, 1993). Significant performance differences between the hands were also noted for the Remove task. Findings also indicated that the Remove task was sensitive to sex and handedness effects.     

Social support after the loss of an infant child: A long-term perspective

The article presents findings from a survey among 251 parents whose infant child had died. For most of the parents, the loss occurred several years ago. The survey assessed the amounts of instrumental, emotional and informational support received by these parents from various sources in connection with the death. The findings revealed that different sources provided different kinds of support. There was only one significant difference between bereaved males and females with regard to amount of support: females received more emotional support from their friends than males did. Furthermore, large amounts of support received by one spouse was associated with a similar level of support received by the other spouse. Social support in connection with the death was to some extent related to long-term psychological adaptation. Particularly support from neighbours and professionals was consistently associated with psychological adaptation. In general, however, the findings with regard to long-term effects of social support were ambiguous.     

An empirical look at the Defense Mechanism Test (DMT): reliability and construct validity

Although the Defense Mechanism Test (DMT) has been in use for almost half a century, there are still quite contradictory views about whether it is a reliable instrument, and if so, what it really measures. Thus, based on data from 39 female students, we first examined DMT inter-coder reliability by analyzing the agreement among trained judges in their coding of the same DMT protocols. Second, we constructed a "parallel" photographic picture that retained all structural characteristic of the original and analyzed DMT parallel-test reliability. Third, we examined the construct validity of the DMT by (a) employing three self-report defense-mechanism inventories and analyzing the intercorrelations between DMT defense scores and corresponding defenses in these instruments, (b) studying the relationships between DMT responses and scores on trait and state anxiety, and (c) relating DMT-defense scores to measures of self-esteem. The main results showed that the DMT can be coded with high reliability by trained coders, that the parallel-test reliability is unsatisfactory compared to traditional psychometric standards, that there is a certain generalizability in the number of perceptual distortions that people display from one picture to another, and that the construct validation provided meager empirical evidence for the conclusion that the DMT measures what it purports to measure, that is, psychological defense mechanisms.     

IAT效应的心理机制研究述评

介绍了IAT效应的心理机制的主要理论,包括概念联结提取模型、刺激-反应匹配理论、随机游动模型、任务集切换代价理论和图形-背景不对称性理论,并提出除概念联结提取模型外,其他理论关注另外可能的因素对IAT效应的作用,从而间接否定IAT效应和概念联结的对应联系,消解了IAT作为内隐测量方法的有效性。最后分析了这些理论的不足,认为IAT研究需要深入探讨个体在IAT反应中的心理活动过程。