States of grace: Eureka moments and the recognition of the unthought known

In this paper we consider states of grace in analysis. These encompass a range of phenomena which share an experience of something being received or revealed rather than produced by the ego. It feels that they are events that happen rather than events that are made to occur. They are marked by a profound sense of transformation of feeling tone. The quality of relatedness in the analytic dyad is also heightened. Some of these phenomena have been referred to as experiences of the self, synchronicities, moments of meeting, the unthought known and Eureka moments. The latter are experiences of sudden realization where a meaningful thought or image emerges which results in a dramatic shift in direction of the analysis and a transcendence of impasse. Although many authors describe these phenomena, we find that a Jungian approach provides a loom on which these threads can be woven together. Jung's concept of the transcendent function and his understanding of the gift of grace are particularly illuminating here. We also consider the conditions which allow grace to be experienced and how these inform our analytic practice.     

The own‐age face recognition bias is task dependent

The own‐age bias (OAB) in face recognition (more accurate recognition of own‐age than other‐age faces) is robust among young adults but not older adults. We investigated the OAB under two different task conditions. In Experiment 1 young and older adults (who reported more recent experience with own than other‐age faces) completed a match‐to‐sample task with young and older adult faces; only young adults showed an OAB. In Experiment 2 young and older adults completed an identity detection task in which we manipulated the identity strength of target and distracter identities by morphing each face with an average face in 20% steps. Accuracy increased with identity strength and facial age influenced older adults' (but not younger adults') strategy, but there was no evidence of an OAB. Collectively, these results suggest that the OAB depends on task demands and may be absent when searching for one identity.     

Strategies in probabilistic categorization: results from a new way of analyzing performance

The "Weather Prediction" task is a widely used task for investigating probabilistic category learning, in which various cues are probabilistically (but not perfectly) predictive of class membership. This means that a given combination of cues sometimes belongs to one class and sometimes to another. Prior studies showed that subjects can improve their performance with training, and that there is considerable individual variation in the strategies subjects use to approach this task. Here, we discuss a recently introduced analysis of probabilistic categorization, which attempts to identify the strategy followed by a participant. Monte Carlo simulations show that the analysis can, indeed, reliably identify such a strategy if it is used, and can identify switches from one strategy to another. Analysis of data from normal young adults shows that the fitted strategy can predict subsequent responses. Moreover, learning is shown to be highly nonlinear in probabilistic categorization. Analysis of performance of patients with dense memory impairments due to hippocampal damage shows that although these patients can change strategies, they are as likely to fall back to an inferior strategy as to move to more optimal ones.     

Sickle cell disease as a neurodevelopmental disorder

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a blood disorder; however, the central nervous system (CNS) is one of the organs frequently affected by the disease. Brain disease can begin early in life and often leads to neurocognitive dysfunction. Approximately one-fourth to one-third of children with SCD have some form of CNS effects from the disease, which typically manifest as deficits in specific cognitive domains and academic difficulties. We discuss SCD as a neurodevelopmental disorder by reviewing the mechanisms of neurological morbidity in SCD, the timing of these mechanisms, the types of cognitive and behavioral morbidity that is typical, and the interaction of social-environmental context with disease processes. The impact of the disease on families shares many features similar to other neurodevelopmental disorders; however, social-environmental factors related to low socioeconomic status, worry and concerns about social stigma, and recurrent, unpredictable medical complications can be sources of relatively higher stress in SCD. Greater public awareness of the neurocognitive effects of SCD and their impact on child outcomes is a critical step toward improved treatment, adaptation to illness, and quality of life.     

Inter- and intra-group variability in perceptions of behavior among Asian Americans and European Americans

Between-group and within-group differences in perceptions of behavior were examined among 74 Asian Americans and 111 European Americans. Participants rated videotaped interactions of Asian American mothers and daughters. Asian Americans, and a more homogeneous sample of Chinese Americans, perceived less maternal control and more reciprocity than did European Americans. Intra-cultural variations in perceptions were also evident, as within-group analyses revealed differences in perceptions based on the generational status of Asian Americans and the degree of multicultural experience of European Americans. Overall, findings suggest that perceptions of behavior are shaped as much by within-group differences in familiarity and experience with the target culture as by between-group differences in ethnicity. Implications for theories of child socialization, multicultural counseling, and observational research are discussed.     

Spatial encoding by bumblebees (Bombus impatiens) of a reward within an artificial flower array

We presented bumblebees a spatial memory task similar to that used with other species (e.g., cats, dogs, and pigeons). In some conditions we allowed for presence of scent marks in addition to placing local and global spatial cues in conflict. Bumblebees (Bombus impatiens) were presented an array of artificial flowers within a flight cage, one flower offering reward (S+), while the others were empty (S−). Bees were tested with empty flowers. In Experiment 1, flowers were either moved at the time of testing or not. Bees returned to the flower in the same absolute position of the S+ (the flower-array-independent (FAI) position), even if it was in the wrong position relative to the S− and even when new flower covers prevented the use of possible scent marks. New flower covers (i.e., without possible scent marks) had the effect of lowering the frequency of probing behavior. In Experiment 2, the colony was moved between training and testing. Again, bees chose the flower in the FAI position of the S+, and not the flower that would be chosen using strictly memory for a flight vector. Together, these experiments show that to locate the S+ bees did not rely on scent marks nor the positions of the S−, though the S− were prominent objects close to the goal. Also, bees selected environmental features to remember the position of the S+ instead of relying upon a purely egocentric point of view. Similarities with honeybees and vertebrates are discussed, as well as possible encoding mechanisms.     

Social perspective-taking skills in maltreated children and adolescents

The primary goal of this study was to assess the ability of maltreated school-age children and adolescents to understand the thoughts, feelings, and points of view of others. Level of egocentrism and social perspective-taking coordination were assessed in a group of 49 maltreated and 49 demographically matched nonmaltreated children. Twenty-six elementary and 23 high school students in each group were individually interviewed and their responses to hypothetical interpersonal situations coded for egocentricity and level of perspective-taking ability. The findings revealed that maltreated children and adolescents were more egocentric and delayed in their social perspective-taking development than their nonmaltreated peers and that they reported lower levels of global self-worth. However, differences within the group of maltreated children and adolescents emerged with regard to negotiating novel relationships, as those with fewer internalizing or externalizing symptoms exhibited better skills in this area than their peers who displayed more symptoms.     

Violent self-harm in schizophrenia

Patients with schizophrenia have a substantial lifetime suicide risk, especially by violent means. Little published work exists on self-harm (SH) in this population. The goal of this study was to examine whether patients with schizophrenia were also more likely to self-harm in a violent manner. A retrospective analysis performed on method, motive, and suicidal intent in patients with schizophrenia (n = 50) and adjustment reaction (n = 138) who presented with SH over a 3-year period found that there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of violence of method or suicidal intent. Presence of positive symptoms of schizophrenia was not significantly associated with use of a violent method. This study suggests that the expected pattern of violent SH in schizophrenia is inaccurate and for the majority the acts are of a similar nature to those seen in adjustment reactions.     

Becoming a face expert

Expertise in recognizing facial identity, and, in particular, sensitivity to subtle differences in the spacing among facial features, improves into adolescence. To assess the influence of experience, we tested adults and 8-year-olds with faces differing only in the spacing of facial features. Stimuli were human adult, human 8-year-old, and monkey faces. We show that adults' expertise is shaped by experience: They were 9% more accurate in seeing differences in the spacing of features in upright human faces than in upright monkey faces. Eight-year-olds were 14% less accurate than adults for both human and monkey faces (Experiment 1), and their accuracy for human faces was not higher for children's faces than for adults' faces (Experiment 2). The results indicate that improvements in face recognition after age 8 are not related to experience with human faces and may be related to general improvements in memory or in perception (e.g., hyperacuity and spatial integration).