The self-image in borderline personality disorder: an in-depth qualitative research study

Patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD) suffer from affective instability, impulsivity, and identity disturbance which particularly manifest in an unstable or insecure self-image. One main problem for studies of core psychopathology in BPD is the complex subject of identity disturbance and self-image. The purpose of this study was to investigate the self-image of BPD patients with a qualitative research approach. Twelve patients with BPD were compared to 12 patients with remitted major depressive disorder (MDD) without personality disorder, using the Structured Interview of Personality Organization (STIPO). The transcribed interviews were analyzed using a combination of content analysis and grounded theory. BPD patients described themselves predominantly as helpful and sensitive; reported typical emotions were sadness, anger, and anxiety. MDD patients on the other hand reported numerous and various characteristics and emotions, including happiness, as well as sadness and anxiety. Other persons were characterized by the BPD group as egoistic and satisfied, while the MDD group described others as being balanced and secretive. BPD patients displayed an altruistic, superficial, and suffering self-image. Aggressive tendencies were only seen in other persons. Our findings support the concept of a self and relationship disturbance in BPD which is highly relevant for psychotherapy treatment.     

How native-like is non-native language processing?

Following several decades of research on native language (L1) processing, psycholinguists have more recently begun to investigate how non-native language (L2) speakers comprehend and process language in real time. Regarding the traditional assumption that L2 learners have 'difficulty with grammar', this new research has revealed some unexpected similarities and differences between L1 and L2 processing. Specifically, it appears that L2 processing can become native-like in some linguistic subdomains (including certain aspects of grammar) but that L1 and L2 processing differences persist in the domain of complex syntax, even in highly proficient L2 speakers. Thus, more subtle linguistic distinctions seem to be required to understand the nature of non-native language processing.     

An evaluation of toy quality for increasing self‐control in typically developing preschool children

Children often make impulsive choices, and previous research has shown that access to activities during the delay may enhance self‐control (e.g., Newquist, Dozier, & Neidert, 2012). The purpose of the current study was to extend the results of Newquist et al. (2012) by comparing the effects of access to low‐preference, moderate‐preference, and high‐preference toys during delays. Results showed that (a) all toys increased self‐control for 2 participants when toys were available for all choice options and (b) high‐preference toys (and sometimes moderate‐preference toys) increased self‐control for 3 participants when the toys were available only for large delayed choices.     

Multimodal signaling in the visuo-acoustic mismatch paradigm: similarities between dogs and children in the communicative approach

Animal Cognition - In this review, we have analyzed the studies on the “mismatch paradigm” or “contrasting paradigm”, in which the word indicates an intent that is opposite...     

Analysis of response allocation in individuals with multiple forms of stereotyped behavior

Three experiments were conducted to evaluate response allocation of stereotypy during free-operant and restricted-operant conditions. Five children with autism or related developmental disabilities participated in at least one and up to three of the experiments. In Experiment 1, the stereotypic response that emerged as most probable during a free-operant phase was restricted, and response allocation was again evaluated. The results for 3 participants showed that restricting the high-probability response was correlated with covarying reductions in a nontargeted stereotypy. In Experiment 2, the effect of environmental enrichment on response allocation was evaluated. One participant reallocated behavior to appropriate object manipulation, 1 participant showed no change in behavior, and a 3rd participant reallocated behavior to object manipulation only when the putative stimulus products of the object manipulation matched those of stereotypy. In Experiment 3, additional interventions were implemented to promote response reallocation. Results showed that both response restriction and reinforcement for object manipulation decreased stereotypy and increased object manipulation. Collectively, the results of these experiments point to a need for complex evaluations of interventions for stereotypy.     

Children's metamemorial judgments in an event recall task

Two studies were conducted in which two different indicators of metacognitive monitoring were investigated in a complex everyday memory task. In the first phase of each experiment, 8- and 10-year-olds as well as adults were shown a short event (video) and gave judgments of learning, that is, rated their certainty that they would later be able to recall specific details correctly. In the second phase of the experiments, participants underwent a memory interview about the event and in Study 2 also gave confidence judgments, that is, rated their certainty that the provided answers to the memory questions were correct. Results revealed significant influences of memory characteristics on monitoring in that delaying judgments and monitoring judgments concerning irretrievable information affected judgments of learning. From 8 years of age onward, there were relatively appropriate metamemorial monitoring abilities in both indicators. Moderate intraindividual consistency was found across the two measures of metacognitive monitoring, with a tendency toward higher consistency in older age groups. The results are discussed in terms of the adequacy of the underlying theoretical construct.     

Antecedent Priming at Trace Positions in Children’s Sentence Processing

The present study examines whether children reactivate a moved constituent at its gap position and how children’s more limited working memory span affects the way they process filler-gap dependencies. 46 5–7 year-old children and 54 adult controls participated in a cross-modal picture priming experiment and underwent a standardized working memory test. The results revealed a statistically significant interaction between the participants’ working memory span and antecedent reactivation: High-span children (n = 19) and high-span adults (n = 22) showed evidence of antecedent priming at the gap site, while for low-span children and adults, there was no such effect. The antecedent priming effect in the high-span participants indicates that in both children and adults, dislocated arguments access their antecedents at gap positions. The absence of an antecedent reactivation effect in the low-span participants could mean that these participants required more time to integrate the dislocated constituent and reactivated the filler later during the sentence.     

Age effects on the employability-career success relationship

This study investigated the similarity of the factor structure for self-reported versus supervisor-rated employability for two age groups of workers, and then validated a career success enhancing model of employability across the two age groups. The results confirmed a two-factor model including self-reported and supervisor-rated employability as underlying factors. Moreover, Multi-Group Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) indicated that for the youngsters both self- and supervisor ratings of employability related significantly to objective career success outcomes. However, for the over-forties self-rated employability related positively to promotions throughout the career, while the supervisor ratings related negatively to overall promotions. The findings have important implications for performance appraisal practices aimed at increasing life-long employability and career success.     

Does adaptive training work?

People intuitively alter the allocation of study time between items of varying difficulty, and such adaptive learning methods are widely used in education and in commercially available memory training programs. We investigated the effectiveness of a computer‐based adaptive learning system that utilises spacing and repetition effects by presenting difficult items with short gaps to establish fast learning, and easy items with long intervals to optimise long‐term retention. The immediate and delayed effects of adaptive training on cued recall were investigated relative to a control condition of non‐adaptive, random spacing. Adaptive training produced significantly higher immediate and delayed recall rates than random spacing. These results encourage the use of adaptive training in education and rehabilitation. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Focusing attention on overlapping and non-overlapping figures with subjective contours

In a series of five experiments we investigated whether observers could focus attention on a restricted visual area that was demarcated by Kanizsa-like subjective contours, and whether this effect also occurred in the case of overlapping figures. The task was a simple reaction time to a luminance increment and the basic finding was that reaction time was faster when the imperative stimulus fell inside the focus of attention than when it fell outside. The first two experiments showed that the extent of the attentional focus could be adapted to a region that was demarcated by subjective contours, thus extending the results of previous studies that used regions demarcated by real contours. The last three experiments showed that, regardless of the type of margins, focusing was more efficient for the figure that was perceived as lying in front in a pair of overlapping figures. Received: 21 December 1999  / Accepted: 23 August 2000