Self psychology and group therapy

This paper illustrates how the theories of Heinz Kohut elucidate the curative aspects of group treatment. Group therapy is an ideal milieu in which mirroring, idealizing and alterego transferences can be experienced and worked through. Transmuting internalizations, or psychic structure building, occur when optimal frustration of these needs can be provided by available selfobjects. In group therapy a patient can use the group-as-a-whole, the individual members as well as the leader as potential selfobjects. With the help of individual sessions to reflect on group encounters, a patient can gain a more fully integrated therapeutic experience.The author wishes to acknowledge Susan Sands, Ph.D., Jane Jordan, M.S.W., and Ruth White, Ph.D., for their help.     

The three bears are all boys: Mothers' gender labeling of neutral picture book characters

Two studies examined mother's labeling of gender-neutral characters in young children's picture books. In the first study, mothers and their 18- to 38-month-old children looked at three popular children's books together. The mothers' use of masculine or feminine names or pronouns to refer to gender-neutral characters was recorded. The data revealed an extreme masculine bias: 95% of all characters of indeterminate gender were referred to by the mothers as males. In a second study, specially prepared picture books were used to examine the effect of gender-relevant variables on the mothers' labeling. The results replicated Study 1 in showing a strong bias toward referring to neutral pictures with masculine labels: The incidence of masculine labels was again high and, in addition, was relatively impervious to most of the gender-relevant manipulations included in the books. The one variable that had a strong, consistent effect on the mothers' labeling was the presence of an adult in the pictures: Child Characters were nearly always referred to as males when they appeared alone; they were more likely to be given feminine or neutral lables when they were pictured in the presence of an adult. This result is related to Carpenter's [Activity Structure and Play: Implications for Socialization, in M. Liss (Ed.), Social and Cognitive Skills: Sex Roles and Childrens Play, New York: Academic Press, 1983] model of the development of sex-typed behavior. The data are also discussed with respect to the well-documented sexist bias in picture books for preschool children.This research was support in part by Grants HD-05951 from NICHHD and R01 MH33082-01 from NIMH to the first and third authors, respectively. We wish to thank Linda Roots and Elizabeth Lewis for their assitance with data analyses.     

Computerphobia

Five studies of over 450 university students presented a comprehensive picture of computer-phobia. Three research and clinically based self-report instruments were developed to measure three nearly independent dimensions of computerphobia-computer anxiety, computer attitudes, and computer cognitions and feelings. Results indicated that older students were more computer anxious, but did not have more negative attitudes, cognitions, or feelings, than did younger students. Women had more negative attitudes than did men. Feminine-identity students showed more anxiety and negative attitudes than did masculine-identity students, regardless of gender. White students had more anxiety and more positive attitudes than did nonwhite students. Computerphobia was related to other anxiety measures (mathematics, state, and trait), but was a separate construct. Experience with computer interaction did not reduce anxiety or improve attitudes. Finally, regardless of academic major, computer-anxious students showed less computer aptitude, literacy, and interest. Implications for treating computerphobia are discussed.     

The Computerphobia Reduction Program: Year 1. Program development and preliminary results

The program development and first-year results of a 3-year U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) grant are described. The identification of computerphobics and the types of discomfort they experience are defined. A clinically based 5-week model computerphobia reduction and skills-acquisition program is presented. Screening and assessment measures are outlined and three treatment modules—two individual treatments (systematic desensitization and thought stopping) and an information/support group—are described. The first-year results demonstrate significant pretreatment-to-posttreatment change in anxiety, attitudes, cognitions, and feelings. Plans are discussed for further evaluation and program expansion.     

The role of vibration in the tactual perception of roughness

Katz (1925) has argued that the sense of vibration underlies the tactual perception of roughness. However, Taylor and Lederman (1975) have suggested that vibration serves only to prevent the cessation of mechanoreceptor activity. In an experimental evaluation of these positions, it is shown that, although prior (selective) adaptation of the fingertip strongly affects the perceived magnitude of supraliminal vibrotactile signals, it fails to alter the perceived roughness of metal gratings. The results thus favor the Taylor and Lederman position. The paper also speculates on roughness coding by the mechanoreceptor populations present in glabrous skin of the human hand.     

Real and ideal self-images in second- and fifth-grade children: Reliability,validity and factorial structure

The reliability, construct validity, and factorial structure of three self-image instruments were assesses in a total of 80 second- and fifth-grade children. Both real self-images (children's current views of themselves) and ideal self-images (the self views to which children aspire) were assessed. the split-half and test—retest reliabilities of the instruments were adequate even for children's as young as second graders. Stronger evidence of construct validity was found for the older children, although the intercorrelation patterns for both age groups were characterized by larger correlations between assessments of real and ideal self-images using the same instrument than between assessments of the same component of the self-image across the three instruments. Contrary to predictions gener ated by developmental theory, the factor analyses provided non evidence of increasing differentiation of the self-image with age. They did, however, reveal that second and fifth graders distinguish distinctly different functional domains within their self-images.     

The nature and acquisition of a preference for chili pepper by humans

This paper deals with the general problem of the acquisition of positive affective responses, by study of the reversal of an innate aversion to the irritant properties of chili pepper. Interviews, observations, and measurements were carried out in both Mexico and the United States. Exposure to gradually increasing levels of chili in food seems to be a sufficient condition for preference development. Chili likers are not insensitive to the irritation that it produces. They come to like the same burning sensation that deters animals and humans that dislike chili; there is a clear hedonic shift. This could be produced by association with positive events, including enhancement of the taste of bland foods, postingestional effects, or social rewards. It is also possible that the initial negative response to chili pepper is essential for the eventual liking. Chili stimulates an innate sensory “warning” system but is not harmful. The enjoyment of the irritation may result from the user's appreciation that the sensation and the body's defensive reaction to it are harmless. Eating of chili, riding on roller coasters, taking very hot baths, and many other human activities can be considered instances of thrill seeking or enjoyment of “constrained risks.” Evidence for and against various explanations of chili ingestion is presented.     

The dissociation of position and extent in Müller-Lyer figures

Three experiments were designed to determine whether Müller-Lyer figures cause a misperception of the positions of their fins and, if they do, whether it is commensurate with the distortion of extent. Observers marked the visible intersection of shaft and fins either with their unseen hands or with their visible hands after the figure had been removed from view. In the former case, no systematic distortions of position were evident. In the latter case, there were small, systematic distortions of position, which were significantly smaller when the observers fixated the target vertex than when they fixated the center of the figure. These differences are discussed in terms of the probable similarities between the control of eye movements and the control of pointing responses. Of particular importance is the finding that even the largest distortions of vertex position were much smaller than the distortions of shaft extent. The results appear to provide evidence of the independence of perceived position from perceived extent in Müller-Lyer figures and to contradict all existing theories of the illusion.     

Firearm Storage Practices and Risk Perceptions Among a Nationally Representative Sample of U.S. Veterans With and Without Self‐Harm Risk Factors

Despite the disproportionate use of firearms in Veteran suicides and the well‐established link between firearm access and suicide, little is known about how Veterans store their firearms or what they think about the relationship between firearm access and suicide risk. Using data from 2015 nationally representative online survey (response rate 60.9%), we compare characteristics of Veteran firearm owners with and without self‐harm risk factors with respect to how they store their firearms and their beliefs about suicide risk related to firearms. Overall, one in three U.S. Veteran firearm owners store household firearms loaded and unlocked, one in twenty believe that a firearm increases household suicide risk, and one in four consider their loaded and unlocked firearm to be inaccessible to suicidal household members. Storage practices and risk perceptions are similar among those with and without self‐reported suicide risk factors. Affecting risk perceptions may be a critical aspect of interventions addressing lethal means safety among U.S. Veterans.