Single session treatment of a borderline personality disorder

Debbie, a patient in ongoing therapy, volunteered to assist in a workshop by participating in an interview. The goals of the session were to identify some small, discrete problem that could be worked on in the limited time available, and to demonstrate how a short-term treatment can be used.The issues considered revolved around Debbie's schema. Her early abuse set several schemas that have directed Debbie's life. The goals of the therapy would be to help modify those rules. The single session was a microcosm of a longer-term therapy. Overall, from the reports of the patient and her therapist, on follow-up, she was able to do the homework with the the therapist's assistance and found that it was helpful in countering the negative thoughts. This led to a lifting of the concomitant depression and a diminution in the self-injurious behavior.Many sessions would be needed to reinforce and strengthen the exercise strated in this session. Overall, I would see this session as both a successful treatment session and a demonstration of how identifying discrete, proximal goals can benefit patients with long-standing Axis II problems. The hypotheses and questions led to data gathering and hypothesis testing. Throughout the session, it was essential to be aware of the likely schemas so that some could be used in the session, while others were clearly avoided. By developing a conceptualization or model of the problem(s), a set of interventions could be mobilized within the session and as homework between sessions. By working toward a coping model of treatment rather than attempting to cure long-standing problems, brief cognitive behavioral interventions can be successful.     

Spatial cuing in a stereoscopic display: Evidence for a “depth-aware” attentional focus

Two experiments were conducted to explore whether attentional selection occurs in depth, or whether attentional focus is “depth blind,” as suggested by Ghiradelli and Folk (1996). In Experiment 1, observers viewed stereoscopic displays in which one of four spatial locations was cued. Two of the locations were at a near-depth location and two were at a far-depth location, and a single target was presented along with three distractors. The results indicated a larger cost in reaction time for switching attention inx,y and depth than inx,y alone, supporting a “depth-aware” attentional spotlight. In Experiment 2, no distractors were present, similar to the displays used by Ghiradelli and Folk. In this experiment, no effect for switching attention in depth was found, indicating that the selectivity of attention in depth depends on the perceptual load imposed on observers by the tasks and displays.     

Collaborative dialogue patterns in naturalistic one-to-one tutoring

Naturalistic one-to-one tutoring is more effective than traditional classroom teaching methods, but there have been few attempts to examine the features of normal tutoring that might explain its advantage. This project explored dialogue patterns in two samples of naturalistic tutoring with normal unskilled tutors (as opposed to expert tutors): graduate students tutoring undergraduates in research methods and high school students tutoring 7th graders in algebra. We analysed the extent to which those tutoring protocols manifested components that have been emphasized in contemporary pedagogical theories and intelligent tutoring systems: active student learning, sophisticated pedagogical strategies, specific examples and cases, collaborative problem solving and question answering, deep explanatory reasoning, convergance toward shared meanings, feedback, error diagnosis and remediation, and affect. The most prominent components consisted of collaborative problem solving, question answering, and explanation in the context of specific examples. We identify frequent dialogue patterns that characterize these collaborative processes.     

Performance, workload, and fatigue changes associated with automation

The experiments discussed in this article addressed the influence of part-task automation on operator performance, workload, and fatigue in a multitask environment. The overall task environment included tracking, resource management, and multiple monitoring subtasks. Slower, more accurate monitoring and better resource management were observed when the tracking subtask was automated. Although lower workload was reported when tracking was automated, fatigue increased equally during periods of manual and automatic tracking. When participants could control workload by shifting between manual and automatic tracking, participants with 7 hr of training switched between automatic and manual tracking. Their performance during optional automation periods was superior to their performance in conditions in which only manual control or only automated control was available. The findings argue for the utility of discretionary control of automated systems.     

Arm-tracking performance with and without visual feedback in children and adults: developmental changes

Tracking performance was investigated in children (aged 6-7 and 10-11) and in adult subjects. Target signals, moving unpredictably along a straight line, were tracked with the preferred arm, alternately with and without visual feedback. Qualitative observations indicate that tracking is based on continuous adjustments of the ongoing response to the continuously changing target position. No step-and-hold strategy could be detected in any of the three age groups. Tracking performance was described with four simple parameters, derived from linear systems analysis: (a) the delay between target signal and tracking movement (DL); (b) performance at the low-frequency range (LF), (c) performance at the high-frequency range (HF); and (d) a measure of tracking quality or overall similarity in the shape of target signal and tracking movement (Q). There was a considerable improvement in tracking performance with age, even after the age of 10-11, which was mainly demonstrated by a decrease in DL and increases in HF and Q. Tracking performance decreased only to a small extent when visual feedback was withdrawn. Age-related differences in the contribution of visual feedback to tracking performance could not be demonstrated.     

Common processes underlie enhanced recency effects for auditory and changing-state stimuli

For some stimuli, dynamic changes are crucial for identifying just what the stimuli are. For example, spoken words (or any auditory stimuli) require change over time to be recognized. Kallman and Cameron (1989) have proposed that this sort of dynamic change underlies the enhanced recency effect found for auditory stimuli, relative to visual stimuli. The results of three experiments replicate and extend Kallman and Cameron's finding that dynamic visual stimuli (that is visual stimuli in which movement is necessary to identify the stimuli), relative to static visual stimuli, engender enhanced recency effects. In addition, an analysis based on individual differences is used to demonstrate that the processes underlying enhanced recency effects for auditory and dynamic visual stimuli are substantially similar. These results are discussed in the context of perceptual grouping processes.     

A Self-report Family Data Form for family therapy

Family therapies which aim to begin treatment in the first session leave the practitioner at a disadvantage regarding the collection of demographic, historical, and genealogical data that may be useful as treatment proceeds. Not wanting to disrupt interactional reciprocity and flow, the therapist cannot perform methodical anamnesis. The Self-report Family Data Form is presented for collecting useful biographical data from families in treatment without interfering with the clinical interaction.