Transpersonal Psychology: Defining the Past,Divining the Future

Retrospective analysis of definitions published over some 35 years suggests the major subject areas of the field can be summed up in three themes: beyond-ego psychology, integrative/holistic psychology, and psychology of transformation. Theme frequency analysis reveals that early emphasis on alternative states of consciousness has moderated into a broader approach to human transcendence, wholeness, and transformation. This expanded definition of transpersonal psychology suggests the field has much in common with integral psychology. As a comprehensive, historically based content summary, this tripartite definition contributes a small but vital piece to the foundation of a transpersonal vision that is spreading across the globe. While transpersonal psychology still needs to embody the inclusiveness and diversity that it represents, its vision is one of great relevance to the contemporary human condition.     

A Review of “Trauma and Human Existence: Autobiographical,Psychoanalytic and Philosophical Reflections”

Abstract

The author sets out to locate Bion's model of the mind within the developmental history of psychoanalysis, from Freud to Klein to Bion, using biographical material and clinical case examples, to illustrate Bion's concepts of container/contained, his understanding and use of projective identification, his extension of the use of the countertransference, and his differentiation between the psychotic and non-psychotic aspects of the mind. Links, and attacks against linking are discussed, as well as Bion's thoughts about learning versus knowing, being versus becoming and his emphasis on the essential importance of the development of the capacity to think.     

Structure and organization of research efforts following the bombing of the murrah building

Abstract

In the days and weeks following the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19,1995, Oklahoma state authorities, university faculty and staff, and leading experts from across the nation formed a coalition to address issues of clinical service delivery, educational intervention, and research. This article focuses on the centralized approach applied to the administration of research endeavors. This centralization was designed to minimize revictimization of both survivors and affected families, enhance the quality of data collected, and facilitate cooperation between participating investigators. The resultant set of projects includes a variety of research methodologies and study populations and will serve to significantly enhance understanding of the mental health sequelae of such disasters.     

Verifying properties of concepts spontaneously requires sharing resources with same-modality percept

In the present experiments, participants had to verify properties of concepts but, depending on the trial condition, concept-property pairs were presented via headphones or on the screen. The results showed that participants took longer and were less accurate at verifying conceptual properties when the channel used to present the CONCEPT-property pair and the type of property matched in sensory modality (e.g., LEMON-yellow on screen; BLENDER-loud in headphones) compared to when properties and channel did not match (e.g., LEMON-yellow in headphones; BLENDER-loud on screen). Such interference is consistent with theories of embodied cognition holding that knowledge is grounded in modality-specific systems (Barsalou in Behav Brain Sci 22:577–660, 1999). When the resources of one modality are burdened during the task, processing costs are incurred in a conceptual task (Vermeulen et al. in Cognition 109:287–294, 2008).     

Development of a Research Instrument for Evaluating the Visitor Outcomes of Face-to-Face Interpretation

ABSTRACT

This article details the development, testing, and refinement of a set of indicators and a data collection instrument designed to be used to evaluate the outcomes of face-to-face interpretation across a range of heritage-based visitor settings and experiences. One of a suite of data collection instruments, the self-completing visitor questionnaire incorporates a set of indicators that (a) reflects the types of visitor outcomes that managers actually want from their interpretive programs; (b) is theoretically valid based on what is known about the potential cognitive, affective, and behavioural outcomes of interpretation, and (c) requires minimal effort, expense, and little or no social research expertise to collect and analyse the data, yet produces results with acceptable validity and reliability. While management and industry-driven, the research is underpinned by some thirty years of evaluation theory and practice, and is thus grounded in theories of psychology and human behaviour and methods from the social sciences and from applied program evaluation. This makes the final set of indicators an important contribution to the literature, and the questionnaire itself a useful and practical tool for those whose expertise and responsibilities lie primarily with managing and delivering rather than researching and evaluating the outcomes of interpretation.     

Factors Facilitating and Inhibiting the Use of Research to Inform Interpretation Practice: A Case Study of Australian Protected Area Management Agencies

ABSTRACT

Interpretation research can be and is used to inform and improve interpretation policymaking and planning undertaken by practitioners such as those who work for Australian protected area management (PAM) agencies. This study explores perceptions of the extent to which interpretation research is undertaken and used by these agencies, and the facilitators and constraints to doing so. In-depth telephone interviews were conducted with senior interpretation planners and managers in all Australian PAM agencies. The findings indicate that interpretation research is usually prompted by a crisis or a short-term need such as a specific project and that most research is site-specific and content-focused, while respondents see a need for more longitudinal and evaluation-focused research. Two-thirds of the respondents reported that their agency made poor or no use of research findings for improving interpretation practice. Stated barriers to undertaking and using research included lack of funding, lack of time and that research was not considered an agency priority. Underpinning these were perceptions consistent with diffusion of innovation theory (e.g., that doing or using research is perceived as being too complex, not compatible with agency goals or not offering relative advantage). Strategies for removing these perceptual barriers to undertaking and using interpretation research and research findings are presented.     

Prologue: Introduction and Overview to Special Volume

Abstract

The editors provide an overview of the obstacles that prevent us from ending child abuse in the United States and briefly summarize the various articles in this volume that address these obstacles from multiple points of view.     

‘The Ostrich Problem’: Motivated Avoidance or Rejection of Information About Goal Progress

Monitoring one's current standing with respect to goals can promote effective self‐regulation. However, the present review suggests that there is an ostrich problem such that, in many instances, people have a tendency to “bury their head in the sand” and intentionally avoid or reject information that would help them to monitor their goal progress. For example, people with diabetes avoid monitoring their blood glucose, and few people monitor their household energy consumption, check their bank balances, keep track of what they are eating and so on. While situational constraints can explain some problems with progress monitoring, we use a self‐motives framework to posit that the decision to avoid monitoring often represents the product of an interaction between different motives. For example, the desire to accurately assess progress may conflict with the desire to protect or enhance the self. The present review collates evidence pertaining to the ostrich problem, identifies different motives that underlie the decision to monitor versus not monitor goal progress, illustrates how the ostrich problem might be integrated into models of self‐regulation, and provides suggestions for future research. In so doing, the review advances our understanding of the nature and determinants of intentionally deficient monitoring.     

Why Tyrants Go Too Far: Malignant Narcissism and Absolute Power

This article explores the puzzling behavior of tyrants who undermine themselves once in power. The realpolitik perspective and a variety of psychological frameworks are used to try to resolve this puzzle in the cases of several ancient and three contemporary tyrants. Although all the frameworks used have explanatory power, the one that most closely fits the tyrants studied here is that of the narcissist with severe superego deficiencies. An individual with such psychological characteristics may have some advantages in rising to power, and his behavior may be an effective response to some real-life factors, but once he has consolidated his position his reality-testing capacities diminish. Fantasies held in check when his power is limited are apt to become his guides to action. As a consequence, his behavior becomes more erratic, he runs into difficulties in meeting his goals, and his paranoid defenses become more exaggerated. The finale of a tyrant's career depends on the particulars of his political and social situation.