Deduction without awareness

We investigated whether two basic forms of deductive inference, Modus Ponens and Disjunctive Syllogism, occur automatically and without awareness. In Experiment 1, we used a priming paradigm with a set of conditional and disjunctive problems. For each trial, two premises were shown. The second premise was presented at a rate designed to be undetectable. After each problem, participants had to evaluate whether a newly-presented target number was odd or even. The target number matched or did not match a conclusion endorsed by the two previous premises. We found that when the target matched the conclusion of a Modus Ponens inference, the evaluation of the target number was reliably faster than baseline even when participants reported that they were not aware of the second premise. This priming effect did not occur for any other valid or invalid inference that we tested, including the Disjunctive Syllogism. In Experiment 2, we used a forced-choice paradigm in which we found that some participants were able to access some information on the second premise when their attention was explicitly directed to it. In Experiment 3, we showed that the priming effect for Modus Ponens was present also in subjects who could not access any information about P(2). In Experiment 4 we explored whether spatial relations (e.g., "a before b") or sentences with quantifiers (e.g., "all a with b") could generate a priming effect similar to the one observed for Modus Ponens. A priming effect could be found for Modus Ponens only, but not for the other relations tested. These findings show that the Modus Ponens inference, in contrast to other deductive inferences, can be carried out automatically and unconsciously. Furthermore, our findings suggest that critical deductive inference schemata can be included in the range of high-level cognitive activities that are carried out unconsciously.     

Female sexual offenders: Five Italian case studies

Women who sexually abuse children are rare and case histories are scarce; even less is known about sexually abusive mothers. Due to the number of cases in which women sexually abuse minors, more in-depth studies on this subject are needed. This article examines the clinical files of five women who are currently serving time in Italian prisons for the sexual abuse of children. Records of the abuse cases and other records were utilized. The cases involved varying degrees of participation in the abuse by the mothers, and ranged from active sexual engagement to allowing others to abuse their children. Female perpetrators are likely to be experiencing problems in many areas of their life, including relationship dysfunction and psychological impairment. In three cases women revealed an antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), while in two cases a borderline personality disorder (BPD) was diagnosed according with DSM-IV criteria. Possible motivations for women who molest their children are explored and discussed. The current review shows that most female sex offenders fall into several suggested typology models. Therefore, the existing typologies used to classify female child sex offenders may be insufficient, and more comprehensive exploration of this offender population is needed.     

Mutual Analysis: Ferenczi,Severn and the Origins of Trauma Theory,by Peter L. Rudnytsky,Routledge, Abingdon and New York, 2022, 349 pp.

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -     

The linkage between infant negative temperament and parenting self‐efficacy: The role of resilience against negative performance feedback

Caring for infants with negative reactive temperament may tax parents' confidence in their caregiving ability, or parenting self‐efficacy (PSE). This may happen in particular in parents who interpret these signals as negative feedback on their performance. To test this hypothesis, 179 first‐time pregnant women were presented a caregiving simulation that provided positive and negative feedback on their attempts to comfort a crying baby. According to their PSE resilience to negative feedback during the task, they were grouped in a high resilient and low resilient group. PSE was followed up at 32 weeks of pregnancy and 3 and 12 months after birth, while perceived temperament of the child was assessed at 3 and 12 months after birth. Results showed that among women with low resilience against negative feedback, perceived negative temperament was negatively associated with PSE at 3 months, whereas no such association was observed among women with high resilience against negative feedback. Implications of the concept of resilience for the study of PSE are discussed.