Emotional availability (EA): Theoretical background,empirical research using the EA Scales,and clinical applications

Emotional availability (EA), as a construct, refers to the capacity of a dyad to share an emotionally healthy relationship. The Emotional Availability (EA) Scales assess this construct using a multi-dimensional framework, with scales measuring the affect and behavior of both the child and adult partner (caregiver). The four caregiver components are sensitivity, structuring, non-intrusiveness, and non-hostility. The two child components are the child’s responsiveness to the caregiver and the child’s involvement of the caregiver. We first describe this relationship construct, look at psychometric properties in basic and prevention/intervention efforts, then review the extant empirical literature in order to examine the scope of studies assessing EA by using the EA Scales. We also explore its use in clinical practice. Throughout, we critically evaluate the knowledge base in this area as well as identify areas for further growth.     

Evidence for a workspace model of working memory from semantic implicit processing in neglect

Three experiments tested the hypothesis that activation of semantic memory from perceptual input does not require initial retention of the perceptual material in working memory as assumed by a widely held view of information processing. In Expt 1, two brain-damaged patients with left-sided unilateral spatial neglect were tested. They were asked to listen to and read a series of familiar (British) and unfamiliar (foreign) proverbs and to choose which proverb was the best match to a depicted figure shown with the target object(s) on the left (neglected side) of the patients' visual field. Expt 2 simulated the testing conditions for the neglect patients with healthy participants using subliminal presentation of one half of each picture. Using different materials, Expt 3 replicated the outcomes of Expts 1 and 2 with a third neglect patient and a new group of controls. In all three experiments, participants appeared to be unaware of target features; however they selected familiar, but not unfamiliar, target proverbs above chance. The results showing implicit processing of semantic material can be explained by a model in which working memory is a separate system that deals with activated contents of semantic memory, and in which there is direct activation of semantic memory from perception without intermediate stages of processing in working memory.     

Imaging the future: Does a qualitative analysis add to the picture?

Various studies report that patients with dense amnesia experience difficulties in simulating future events. It is argued that this resembles an inability to remember past episodes in that both indicate a deficit in mental scene construction. Such findings, however, rely upon quantitative content-based analyses of participants' verbal reports. Here, samples of verbal reports produced by participants with hippocampal lesions are subjected to a qualitative, discourse analysis of how participants and researchers negotiated the status of these reports. This shows that failure in mental scene construction can be viewed as an interactional achievement rather than the mere reporting of mental events. A multidisciplinary perspective which combines qualitative analysis with other forms of analytic technique may explain subtle differences between participants with hippocampal lesions and control participants.