fMRI responses to Jung's Word Association Test: implications for theory,treatment and research

Jung's Word Association Test was performed under fMRI conditions by 12 normal subjects. Pooled complexed responses were contrasted against pooled neutral ones. The fMRI activation pattern of this generic ‘complexed response’ was very strong (corrected Z scores ranging from 4.90 to 5.69). The activation pattern in each hemisphere includes mirror neurone areas that track ‘otherness’ (perspectival empathy), anterior insula (both self‐awareness and emotional empathy), and cingulated gyrus (self‐awareness and conflict‐monitoring). These are the sites described by Siegel and colleagues as the ‘resonance circuitry’ in the brain which is central to mindfulness (awareness of self) and empathy (sense of the other), negotiations between self awareness and the ‘internal other’. But there is also an interhemispheric dialogue. Within 3 seconds, the left hemisphere over‐rides the right (at least in our normal subjects). Mindfulness and empathy are central to good psychotherapy, and complexes can be windows of opportunity if left‐brain hegemony is resisted. This study sets foundations for further research: (i) QEEG studies (with their finer temporal resolution) of complexed responses in normal subjects (ii) QEEG and fMRI studies of complexed responses in other conditions, like schizophrenia, PTSD, disorders of self organization.     

Co-constructed narratives around being “sick”: A minimalist model

The amount of physical damage may have no fixed relation to how much and in what ways a patient's life is disrupted. The authors discuss a model which addresses the bio-psycho-social complexity of a patient's illness and the narrative constructions which the patient, family members, and health care professionals influence to co-create the patient's identification with being sick. This minimalist model invites the reader to consider a variety of interrelated variable lenses through which to view the narratives around a patient's illness. Clinical case examples are used to illustrate the dominant story themes.     

Scientific Integrity Principles and Best Practices: Recommendations from a Scientific Integrity Consortium

Science and Engineering Ethics - A Scientific Integrity Consortium developed a set of recommended principles and best practices that can be used broadly across scientific disciplines as a mechanism...     

Witnessing stories: Definitional Ceremonies in Narrative Therapy with adults who stutter

BackgroundNarrative therapy (White & Epston, 1990) was developed as an approach to counselling, as a response to the power relations that influence people's lives. Its use with people who stutter has been documented. A basic tenet of narrative therapy is that the dominant problem-saturated narrative is challenged by externalizing the problem, in due course facilitating development of an alternative narrative. Within this process, the definitional ceremony involving outsider witnesses is a key procedure used to influence change.AimsThis paper describes definitional ceremonies, and their application within a narrative approach to therapy for stuttering. The analysis of a specific definitional ceremony is presented, leading to an exploration of identity as a public and social achievement.MethodsA definitional ceremony involving a woman who stutters and family members was recorded and analysed using two methods: interpretative phenomenological analysis and Heideggerian hermeneutic phenomenological analysis. Details of the clinical application of definitional ceremonies with this client are described.Results and conclusionsResults from both methods of analysis were found to be similar. Notable results include the fact that the stuttering per se was not presented as the problem; rather, the impact of stuttering, especially the experience of bullying, was a dominant theme. This paper shows how definitional ceremonies can open opportunities for clients to present themselves in a preferred way, forming the basis for a new story and revised identity. Emerging themes can be identified for reflection and discussion with the client for therapeutic benefit.Educational objectives: (1) to describe and explain to readers the process of narrative therapy, with special attention to the use of definitional ceremonies; (2) to provide detail regarding the clinical processes involved with a specific definitional ceremony with one client; (3) to have the reader appreciate the specific importance of involving outsider witnesses in the therapy process; (4) to discuss the outcomes of the use of this particular definitional ceremony.     

Rats place greater value on rewards produced by high effort: An animal analogue of the “effort justification” effect

The effort justification phenomenon, in which greater value is given to rewards that require more effort to obtain, is frequently explained in terms of cognitive dissonance (Festinger & Carlsmith, 1959). Here, we employed a novel combination of operant and lick analysis techniques to show that rats place more value on a sucrose reward when it follows high effort than when the same reward follows low effort. This is the first demonstration of a direct analogue of the effort justification phenomenon in nonhuman animals. As the behavior of rats is normally considered in terms of relatively simple mechanisms, the current results question the need for complex cognitive accounts for the effort justification phenomenon (in rats or humans). As an alternative, we examine the possibility that high effort produces an aversive state that enhances reward value by a process of contrast.     

A Fundamental Failure of Frankfurt’s Agentic Counterfactual Intervention: No Agency

Philosophia - Frankfurt’s “Alternate Possibilities and Moral Responsibility” (1969) made an important intervention into the literature on moral responsibility via a classical...