Functional dissociations in temporal preparation: Evidence from dual-task performance

Implicit preparation over time is a complex cognitive capacity important to optimize behavioral responses to a target occurring after a temporal interval, the so-called foreperiod (FP). If the FP occurs randomly and with the same a priori probability, shorter response times are usually observed with longer FPs than with shorter ones (FP effect). Moreover, responses are slower when the preceding FP was longer than the current one (sequential effects). It is still a matter of debate how different processes influence these temporal preparation phenomena. The present study used a dual-task procedure to understand how different processes, along the automatic-controlled continuum, may contribute to these temporal preparation phenomena. Dual-task demands were manipulated in two experiments using a subtraction task during the FP. This secondary task was administered in blocks (Experiment 1) or was embedded together with a baseline single-task in the same experimental session (Experiment 2). The results consistently showed that the size of the FP effect, but not that of sequential effects, is sensitive to dual-task manipulations. This functional dissociation unveils the multi-faceted nature of implicit temporal preparation: while the FP effect is due to a controlled, resource-consuming preparatory mechanism, a more automatic mechanism underlies sequential effects.     

The Case of Online Trust

This paper contributes to the debate on online trust addressing the problem of whether an online environment satisfies the necessary conditions for the emergence of trust. The paper defends the thesis that online environments can foster trust, and it does so in three steps. Firstly, the arguments proposed by the detractors of online trust are presented and analysed. Secondly, it is argued that trust can emerge in uncertain and risky environments and that it is possible to trust online identities when they are diachronic and sufficient data are available to assess their reputation. Finally, a definition of trust as a second-order property of first-order relation is endorsed in order to present a new definition of online trust. According to such a definition, online trust is an occurrence of trust that specifically qualifies the relation of communication ongoing among individuals in digital environments. On the basis of this analysis, the paper concludes by arguing that online trust promotes the emergence of social behaviours rewarding honest and transparent communications.     

The Secret of Faces: Commentary on Paper by Rachael Peltz

Dr. Rachael Peltz stresses the aesthetic dimension of analysis. In fact the aesthetic experience can serve as a model for all that is deepest and truest in our lives and in the analytic encounter. We all have an “inner painter” which transforms primitive sensoriality into images or pictograms and then tie them up into oneiric thoughts, dreaming and thinking in order to give a personal meaning to experience. This model gives us the possibility in the clinical work to be more attentive to the musical, rhythmic, or semiotic aspects of the interaction between patient and analyst. Dr. Peltz shows in a beautiful vignette how, equating analysis to the aesthetic experience, it is possible to help the patient to reach a fuller sense of consonance and contact between mind and body.     

Cannabis use and the risk behavior syndrome in Italian university students: are they related to suicide risk?

The aim of this study was to examine the association of cannabis use with risky behaviors and suicide risk in university students. A convenience sample of 246 students was recruited from four universities in Rome during the 2004 academic year. Participants completed the Zung scales for anxiety and depression, the Suicide Score Scale, and an ad hoc questionnaire assessing risky behaviors. The findings indicated a widespread use of cannabis among students and its association with risky behaviors, anxiety and depression, and suicide risk. A regression tree analysis resulted in 3 splits indicating that the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale is a good predictor of suicide risk, discriminating individuals at lower risk from those at higher risk. Individuals at higher risk for suicide could also be discriminated by self-reported lifetime drug use. Limitations of the study are related to the small sample size and use of a convenience sample.     

The psychoanalyst as individual: self-analysis and gradients of functioning

The authors discuss the position of the analyst as an individual and the idea that his mental functioning can be seen as a meaningful element of the analytic field. The first part of the article shows the importance of the analyst's self-analysis, with particular attention to periods when the analyst is facing a difficult time, self-analysis in supervision, and the exploration of transgenerational influences. The authors go on to discuss the many gradients of the analyst's mental functioning, and these are mirrored in the patient's text, an indication of attunement.     

A multicriteria assignment problem

Our objective in this paper is to propose a procedure for solving a multicriteria assignment problem. Given qualitative and quantitative data, the proposed procedure makes assignments taking into consideration the multicriteria aspect of the problem. As an illustrative example, we consider the assignment of referees to the football matches in an Italian championship. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Self-Regulatory Dysfunctions in Personality Disorders: The Role of Poor Self-Monitoring and Mindreading

To understand how persons self-regulate, we need, as Cervone, Shadel, Smith, and Fiori (2006 ) assert, to refer to personality science, with which it is possible to identify the multifarious psychological elements and processes helping or hindering action programming, overcoming difficulties, and error correction. Personality disorder research and personality science itself demonstrate that dysfunctions in two skills—self-monitoring and mindreading—worsen self-regulation and lead individuals to fail chronically to achieve goals in the social domain. Here we describe how poor self-reflection and biased mindreading impair self-regulation in personality disorders and other clinical conditions and make some suggestions about how to tackle them in psychotherapy.     

A global workspace model for phenomenal and access consciousness

Both the global workspace theory and Block’s distinction between phenomenal and access consciousness, are central in the current debates about consciousness and the neural correlates of consciousness. In this article, a unifying global workspace model for phenomenal and access consciousness is proposed. In the model, recurrent neural interactions take place in distinct yet interacting access and phenomenal brain loops. The effectiveness of feedback signaling onto sensory cortical maps is emphasized for the neural correlates of phenomenal consciousness. Two forms of top-down attention, attention for perception and attention for access, play differential roles for phenomenal and access consciousness. The model is implemented in a neural network form, with the simulation of single and multiple visual object processing, and of the attentional blink.