We: Commentary on Papers by Trevarthen,Ammaniti & Trentini,and Gallese

In my discussion of papers by Trevarthen, Ammaniti & Trentini, and Gallese, I situate their work within an emerging paradigm of intersubjectivity. This new model finds philosophic grounding in the work of the phenomenologists (Husserl, Merleau-Ponty, Nancy) as it draws from the multiple sources that come together to comprise the new field of cognitive and affective neurosciences. These papers hold the potential to make relational psychoanalysis more relational by providing new foundations for rethinking the biological, developmental and clinical. What emerges is an intersubjective theory based in motor action and perception that serves as the embodied basis for human culture and community, a shared “we” space of basic human affinity. I extend this conception into the analytic setting with a brief introduction to enactive participation in clinical process.     

The role of self‐determination in the relationship between social support and physical activity intentions

Using the hierarchical model of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (HMIEM) and self‐determination theory as theoretical frameworks, the purpose of the present study was to assess the role of motivation‐related variables in the relationship between perceptions of social support and intentions to be physically active. Undergraduate students completed surveys assessing perceptions of social support, psychological needs satisfaction, self‐determination, and future exercise intentions. Model fit with the data was examined and was considered acceptable, indicating that social support was positively related to the satisfaction of psychological needs, which, in turn, was related positively to self‐determination and then to physical activity intentions.     

Order of Attainment of the Mental Structures for Five of Piaget's Logical,Infralogical, and Formal Tasks

This study explored the relationship between illegitimate birth and cognitive development among 513 boys on probation. Prior research has shown that being part of a single-parent household leads to diminished verbal capacities and often puts a child in greater danger of abuse and neglect. Frequent abuse is thought to lead to the enhancement of visual and spatial skills relative to verbal skills through a process of “frozen watchfulness”. I hypothesized that illegitimate boys from one-parent homes would have greater verbal-performance discrepancy scores than would boys from other combinations of birth status and family structure. These boys had the lowest verbal IQ and highest performance IQ scores and, hence, the largest discrepancy. These boys also suffered the highest degree of abuse and neglect of all four birth status/family structure combinations studied.     

A Boston Yankee: Paul M. Lerner and the Heart of Assessment

In this article, I review the contributions of Paul M. Lerner to the theory and practice of personality assessment. I contrast Lerner's clinical approach with a narrow empirical approach along several dimensions. I explicate Lerner's experiential-psychoanalytic method. I draw attention to the patient's subjective experience as the nexus for interpretation and to the centrality of the patient–examiner relationship in the conduct of assessment.     

A Note Regarding the Validity of Lee's Typology of Love

In the present study, we investigated how well Lee's (1973/1976) typology of love characterized response data that adult subjects provided on selected items written by Hendrick and Hendrick. Results suggest that the model represents response data reasonably well and that Hendrick and Hendrick's (1986) measure ought to be valid.     

Child and family therapy: A collaborative approach

Abstract

When a child is the identified patient, people often expect individual sessions to be a part of treatment. Yet, family therapists routinely violate this expectation by working with children solely in the context of the family. This article discusses how the therapeutic process can be facilitated by conducting at least a small number of individual sessions with children. Such behavior by the therapist communicates to children, parents, and involved referral sources a respect for their opinions and lays the groundwork for cooperation. The advantages and disadvantages of such an approach are discussed.     

Threats to Democratic Rationality

This article examines trends that are impacting democratic rationality. It is found that the trends are almost uniformly negative. Viewed from within the legislative branch, trends are negatively impacting legislators’ time, complexifying problems, constraining options, and limiting the evaluation of options. Trends external to the legislative branch are reducing citizen participation and knowledge about public affairs, skewing the balance of power among the branches and states, and decreasing accountability of public officials. In combination, democratic rationality, the process of making good, efficient, and timely decisions to promote higher quality of life and the public good, is seriously threatened. Recommendations include public financing of campaigns, more structured legislative decision-making processes, simplification tests for all new legislation and regulations, and a major new initiative to foster public involvement in public decision making.     

Rethinking Middle School Reading Instruction: A Basic Literacy Activity

Reading fluency has been identified as a key component in effective literacy instruction (National Reading Panel, 2000). Instruction in reading fluency has been shown to lead to improvements in reading achievement. Reading fluency instruction is most commonly associated with guided repeated oral reading instruction. In the present retrospective study we examine the effects of a computer-based silent reading fluency instructional system called Reading Plus (Taylor Associates, Winooski, Vermount, USA) on the reading comprehension and overall reading achievement of a large corpus of students in an urban school setting. Findings indicate that the program resulted in positive, substantial, and significant improvements in reading comprehension and overall reading achievement on a criterion referenced reading test for Grades 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 and on a norm-referenced test of reading achievement for Grades 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10. Moreover, mean gains made by students in the Reading Plus intervention were greater than mean gains for all students at the state and district level. The findings were generally positive for all subpopulations studied, including special education and regular education students. Qualitative reports from teachers who participated in the study were also supportive of the program. Implications for the study are explored for particular subgroups of students and for the role of fluency instruction with struggling adolescent readers.