Emotional Connections and Dyadic Consciousness in Infant-Mother and Patient-Therapist Interactions: Commentary on Paper by Frank M. Lachmann

The emotional connection between patients and therapists and between developmental infants and researchers is argued to be a uniting basis for discussion of differences between therapists and researchers. Infant-mother research is seen as providing an understanding of the specificity of relationships and of the dyadic expansion of consciousness (DEC). DEC is hypothesized to be a mechanism of developmental change as well as a change process of therapy.     

Validation of the revised sport motivation scale (SMS-II)

ObjectivesAlthough the Sport Motivation Scale (SMS), published in 1995, has demonstrated validity and reliability in multiple studies, the scale has received some criticisms leading to revisions herein described. The objective of the present studies was to examine the construct validity and reliability of a revised scale sport motivation scale (SMS-II).DesignTwo studies were conducted using distinct samples of athletes. Study 1 examined adult athletes participating in a variety of sports and Study 2 examined youth basketball players and swimmers.MethodIn Study 1 the SMS-II was introduced and featured various item content changes, a reduced number of items per subscale, the addition of an integrated regulation subscale, and the introduction of a single intrinsic motivation subscale to replace the three intrinsic motivation subscales in the SMS. Relations of SMS-II subscales with each other and with expected outcomes supported the new scale's validity. In Study 2, the structure of the SMS-II and its relations with outcomes were further examined.ResultsResults of factor analyses, tests for internal consistency, and correlations among the different subscales and between the subscales and several outcomes of interest, supported the validity of the SMS-II.ConclusionsDiscussion focuses on the need for measurement improvement, and potential future directions for SMS-II research.     

The Symbolic Process of Recidivist and Non-Recidivist Children as Assessed by the Kahn Test of Symbol Arrangement

A detailed evaluation of deprived children on symbolic performance and specific levels of adjustment using the Kahn Test of Symbol Arrangement (KTSA) was undertaken. Thirty long-term (Recidivist) and 30 short-term (Non-Recidivist) hospitalized children between 13 and 16 years of age were randomly chosen from a hospital population and compared using the weighted sum of scores of the KTSA. Generally, the findings indicate that children of the Non-Recidivist group possessed significantly greater total weighted symbolization scores than those of the Recidivist group. Of the nine subhypotheses pertaining to specific levels of adjustment, using the symbolization subcategories of the KTSA, Recidivists differed significantly from Non-Recidivists in seven. These results suggest that length of immobilization of children in a hospital setting has a distinct negative effect on symbolization performance, particular perceptual and conceptual processes, and response style.     

Clinical,Studies in Psychiatry by H. S. Sullivan

A structured group therapy approach for psychiatric inpatients is presented. After reviewing the literature indicating that insight-oriented approaches are not effective with severely disturbed patients, the data supporting an interpersonal, cognitive, problem-solving approach with such patients is reviewed. A rationale for combining this cognitive problem-solving approach and Yalom's interpersonal approach with psychiatric inpatients is then presented. This structured group therapy approach, called the problem-solving support group (PSSG) is discussed, defining the nature and composition, screening procedures, methods, and techniques of the PSSG. Its use with psychiatric patients is illustrated by therapy protocols depicting the nature of the therapeutic interactions during the group, while also demonstrating what the group appears to be accomplishing for its members.     

Occupational stereotypes: activation of male bias in a gender‐neutral world

The goal of the present study was to determine whether gender‐neutral language, used to replace male‐biased language, carries an implicit male bias. Participants read passages in which a target occupation was introduced using either male‐biased or gender‐neutral nouns. A target sentence followed defining the gender of the occupational character. In Experiment 1, participants read target sentences defining the character as a woman more slowly following passages that contained male‐biased nouns and gender‐neutral nouns. In Experiment 2, an additional sentence was added that defined the occupational character as a woman. This information eliminated the reading disruption in Experiment 1 demonstrating that gender‐neutral language can moderate against activation of gender stereotypes when combined with an explicit mention that the occupational character is female.     

When your face doesn't fit: employment discrimination against people with facial disfigurements

This study aimed to investigate the recruitment prospects of people with facial disfigurement and a contrasting group of wheelchair users, representing a functional impairment with little aesthetic impact. Three applications were made to each of 144 vacancies using three CVs and cover letters rotated around conditions in which one applicant was described as a wheelchair user, another had a noncontagious facial disfigurement, and the third (control condition) had neither. There was evidence of discrimination against people with facial disfigurement in jobs requiring high (but not low) levels of customer contact, and against wheelchair users for jobs entailing high or low‐customer contact. Aesthetic considerations, social norms, and the possibility of stigma by association are discussed as potential underlying factors.     

Father Postdivorce Well-Being: An Exploratory Model

The purpose of this study was to test a theoretical model of the psychological well-being of fathers following divorce. The theory postulated that father postdivorce well-being was related to father role clarity, role satisfaction, age, income, education level, custody arrangement, encouragement from others, time since divorce, and involvement in an intimate relationship following divorce. Participants were 94 fathers from a midwestern city who completed self-administered questionnaires. Data were assessed using path analytic techniques. Involvement in an intimate relationship was found to have the greatest influence on father postdivorce well-being. Role satisfaction had direct effects on father postdivorce well-being and was important as a mediating variable for 4 constructs within the model. The findings suggest that father well-being following divorce is a complex phenomenon, influenced by all of the model variables except income, education level, and time since divorce. Implications for preventive intervention strategies, based on risk factors identified in this study, and suggestions for further research are discussed.     

The problem of good and evil in the development of the child

Abstract

Carl Jung's decision to undertake a thorough study of Western alchemy was inspired by his reading of The Secret of the Golden Flower, a ninth-century Chinese Taoist text describing the process of meditation in alchemical terms. When he first read this book in 1928 and wrote a commentary for it, he completely ignored its alchemical aspects. He simply tried to make the text comprehensible to Western readers by explaining its basic psychological concepts and assumptions.

In the foreword to the second German edition of The Secret of the Golden Flower. June acknowledged this oversieht¹     

Speech sound articulation abilities of preschool-age children who stutter

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to assess the association between speech sound articulation and childhood stuttering in a relatively large sample of preschool-age children who do and do not stutter, using the Goldman–Fristoe Test of Articulation-2 (GFTA-2; Goldman & Fristoe, 2000).

Method

Participants included 277 preschool-age children who do (CWS; n = 128, 101 males) and do not stutter (CWNS; n = 149, 76 males). Generalized estimating equations (GEE) were performed to assess between-group (CWS versus CWNS) differences on the GFTA-2. Additionally, within-group correlations were performed to explore the relation between CWS’ speech sound articulation abilities and their stuttering frequency and severity, as well as their sound prolongation index (SPI; Schwartz & Conture, 1988).

Results

No significant differences were found between the articulation scores of preschool-age CWS and CWNS. However, there was a small gender effect for the 5-year-old age group, with girls generally exhibiting better articulation scores than boys. Additional findings indicated no relation between CWS’ speech sound articulation abilities and their stuttering frequency, severity, or SPI.

Conclusions

Findings suggest no apparent association between speech sound articulation—as measured by one standardized assessment (GFTA-2)—and childhood stuttering for this sample of preschool-age children (N = 277).Educational objectives: After reading this article, the reader will be able to: (1) discuss salient issues in the articulation literature relative to children who stutter; (2) compare/contrast the present study's methodologies and main findings to those of previous studies that investigated the association between childhood stuttering and speech sound articulation; (3) identify future research needs relative to the association between childhood stuttering and speech sound development; (4) replicate the present study's methodology to expand this body of knowledge.