Random Generation and the Executive Control of Working Memory

A series of experiments explores the capacity for generating sequences of random responses, relating it to the central executive component of working memory. Experiment 1 shows a broadly similar pattern of redundancy increasing with speed of generation for both the verbal generation of digits and the manual pressing of keys. In both cases deviations from randomness are shown to reflect the increasing use of a limited number of stereotyped response sets. The remaining experiments use keyboard generation. Experiment 2 demonstrates that concurrent immediate serial recall decreases randomness, and that longer recall sequences produce less random output. Experiments 3 and 4 show that whereas simple counting has no effect on randomness, serial recall, semantic category generation, and concurrent digit generation have substantial effects, and a concurrent fluid intelligence test has the greatest influence on the randomness of key pressing. It is suggested that the task of random generation resembles that of category fluency because it requires the subject to switch retrieval plans and inhibit repetition. On this basis it is predicted that a task involving repeated switching of categories will interfere with generation, despite being predictable and having a low memory load. Experiments 5 and 6 confirm this prediction. Strengths and limitations of the switching hypothesis are discussed, as are the implications of our results for the analysis of executive processes.     

Runword: An IBM-PC software package for the collection and acoustic analysis of speeded naming responses

Researchers generally collect two dependent measures from most types of speeded responses: reaction time and error proportion. Recently, experimenters have tested lexical theories using alternative empirical measures, such as response force in decision tasks and response duration in naming tasks. We offer a set of software tools that expands the battery of dependent measures normally available to naming experimenters to include various duration and intensity measures of digitized voice recordings. This article explains the functionality, programming logic, and theoretical motivation behind each measure, as well as the software to support digitized naming experiments. The software runs in DOS on IBM-PC-compatible hardware with SoundBlaster 16-bit sound cards, and it takes advantage of the decreasing costs of hard-drive space and digital sound cards.     

Writers Blocked: On the Wrongs of Research Co-authorship and Some Possible Strategies for Improvement

The various problems associated with co-authorship of research articles have attracted much attention in recent years. We believe that this (hopefully) growing awareness is a very welcome development. However, we will argue that the particular and increasing importance of authorship and the harmful implications of current practices of research authorship for junior researchers have not been emphasised enough. We will use the case of our own research area (bioethics) to illustrate some of the pitfalls of current publishing practices—in particular, the impact on the evaluation of one’s work in the area of employment or funding. Even where there are explicit guidelines, they are often disregarded. This disregard, which is often exemplified through the inflation of co-authorship in some research areas, may seem benign to some of us; but it is not. Attribution of co-authorship for reasons other than merit in relation to the publication misrepresents the work towards that publication, and generates unfair competition. We make a case for increasing awareness, for transparency and for more explicit guidelines and regulation of research co-authorship within and across research areas. We examine some of the most sensitive areas of concern and their implications for researchers, particularly junior ones, and we suggest several strategies for future action.     

Could Presentism in the Histories of Psychology Actually be Futuristic?

Disputes about the origins of psychology in the history of the discipline are functional not for our understanding of the past, but as normative signs that regulate the construction of ideas in the future. We introduce the notion of open-ended normativity that regulates the development of a given discipline towards its future. Hence the question of the cultural origins of psychology becomes contested in the 21st century as an important topic. It proves that the history of psychology is an active participant in the making of psychology, as it is creating its future.     

Implicit Theories of Common Health Conditions Held by Indian Social Workers and Students

Social work is viewed as a change-related profession. However, little is known about social workers’ own beliefs about change. To understand this, we used the implicit theory paradigm to compare theories about various health conditions held by social workers, social work students, and undergraduate students from Bombay, India (N = 352). The participants had to assess the possibility of change in four health conditions: cancer, tuberculosis, depression, and mental retardation. We predicted that social workers whose professional education involves concepts such as Person-in-Environment would display more incremental views of these conditions than students – namely that they are modifiable. Our predictions were supported for the following conditions: cancer, tuberculosis, and depression. These incremental views were neither related to age nor years of professional experience. Though we expected that the extent to which participants believed these health issues to be amenable to change would influence their support for a small personal tax, our findings did not bear this out. We explore the possible reasons for our findings and discuss their implications for health communication in India as well as for social work education.     

GREAT IDEAS AND DUMB LUCK IN PSYCHOANALYTIC PSYCHOTHERAPY

Both Dr. Kuriloff’s initial contribution to the Roundtable, and her later response to her fellow discussants focus on the social construction of psychoanalytic theories of therapeutic action. She notes the promise of the enlightenment/ modern era as impetus for an initially positivist “science” of psychoanalysis, and then implicates the scourge of the Shoah as that which galvanized the largely Jewish seminal community to cling to universal, versus contextual theories and technique. That the deconstruction of truth and authority, beginning with the post-war “baby boom” and student movements in the United States and Europe, put an end to one metapsychology is yet another example of the power of context upon ideas and praxis. This seemingly haphazard pairing of context and content determines the degree to which theories are embraced or ignored within any particular body politic, or within our tiny community at one time or another, prompting Kuriloff to warn against over valuing and/or excluding any theory, theorist, or technique from what we need to know and do to be helpful to people. This tension—between immersion in, and observation of the field—is what psychoanalytic theory and praxis ought to allow.     

WHAT IS EFFECTIVE IN PSYCHOANALYTIC PSYCHOTHERAPY? SOME THINGS CHANGE,SOME STAY THE SAME

As a reflection on two roundtable discussions published in the American Journal of Psychoanalysis in 1957 and 1965, the author seeks to provide historical context for what has taken place within the culture, within the profession, and within himself over this period of time. The struggle to define “effectiveness” is addressed and an argument made for the inclusion of empirical research into our work, but with simultaneous appreciation for the difficulty in objectively defining and measuring what takes place within the therapeutic relationship. This difficulty is hypothesized, in part, to be a function of the non-verbal and preverbal experiences of both patient and therapist.     

Cognitive,Behavioral and Goal Adjustment Coping and Depressive Symptoms in Young People with Diabetes: A Search for Intervention Targets for Coping Skills Training

The aim of the present study was to find relevant coping factors for the development of psychological intervention programs for young people with Type 1 (T1) diabetes. A wide range of coping techniques was studied, including cognitive coping, behavioral coping and goal adjustment coping. A total of 78 young people with T1 diabetes participated. They were contacted through a social networking website, several Internet sites, and flyers. A wide range of coping techniques appeared to be related to depressive symptoms. Especially the cognitive coping strategies self-blame, rumination, refocus positive, and other-blame, together with goal adjustment coping, were of importance. A large proportion of the variance of depressive symptoms could be explained (65 %). These findings suggest that these specific coping strategies should be part of coping skills trainings for young people with T1 diabetes.