A comparison of administration procedures for the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure: flowcharts versus pen switching

The Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF) is commonly used to assess visuospatial skills, visuoconstruction, visual memory, and executive functioning. Two different methods are traditionally used to record the order in which the figure is drawn: the flowchart method and the pen-switching method. Although it has been suggested that pen switching may interfere with performance, to date no research has been conducted to assess whether ROCF performance significantly differs due to administration method. As part of routine neuropsychological evaluation, 100 inpatients and outpatients were randomly assigned to either method. Using the Boston Qualitative Scoring System and the traditional 36-point scoring method, the authors unexpectedly found that the pen-switching group generally performed better than the flowchart group, and productions drawn with pen switching were also significantly faster to score.     

The social life of the Samson Saga in Israeli religious Zionist rabbinic discourse

This article will explore how different contemporary groups of Israeli religious Zionists read and relate to the Biblical tales of Samson. Using current religious Zionist discourse (Bible lessons, newspaper articles and written opinion pieces) authored or delivered by leading rabbinic figures, this article will demonstrate how contemporary interpretations of the ‘Samson Saga’ (Judges 13–16) are used as a medium through which contemporary religious Zionists in Israel and the West Bank contest the meanings of political sovereignty, violence and personal ethics. More broadly, this article will argue that a focus on how sacred texts are interpreted, debated and contested in social contexts (or the ‘social life’ of a text) can offer scholars a thicker and more nuanced window into the varied ways in which religious nationalists grapple with competing political visions and desires.     

Moving along to things left undone

This paper expands on three areas of clinical theory that are introduced and discussed in the lead paper and the others in this symposium. The first issue addressed is the concept of the real relationship as used in the moment of meeting model of psychotherapeutic change. Particular focus has been placed on the past, the present, and the hierarchy of goals in the treatment relationship. Second, the paper explores the concept of implicit relational knowledge with attention to the concepts of transference, countertransference, interpretation, and insight in the change process. Finally, the paper attends to the nature of the “now moment” in the moment of meeting model. Specifically explicated are ways this concept relates to changes in brain organization and also ways the moment of meeting model relates to other psychotherapy models, such as the relational schools and self-psychology. © 1998 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health     

Dyadically expanded states of consciousness and the process of therapeutic change

This paper addresses an intersubjective issue that arises out of our model of therapeutic change: Why do humans so strongly seek states of emotional connectedness and intersubjectivity and why does the failure to achieve connectedness have such a damaging effect on the mental health of the infant? A hypothesis is offered—the Dyadic Expansion of Consciousness Hypothesis—as an attempt to explain these phenomena. This hypothesis is based on the Mutual Regulation Model (MRM) of infant–adult interaction. The MRM describes the microregulatory social-emotional process of communication that generates (or fails to generate) dyadic intersubjective states of shared consciousness. In particular, the Dyadic Consciousness hypothesis argues that each individual, in one case the infant and mother or in another the patient and the therapist, is a self-organizing system that creates his or her own states of consciousness (states of brain organization), which can be expanded into more coherent and complex states in collaboration with another self-organizing system. Critically understanding how the mutual regulation of affect functions to create dyadic states of consciousness also can help us understand what produces change in the therapeutic process. © 1998 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health     

Implicit relational knowing: Its role in development and psychoanalytic treatment

It is increasingly apparent that “something more” than interpretation is needed to bring about change in psychoanalytic treatment. Drawing on clinical and developmental observations, we propose that interactional processes from birth onward give rise to a form of procedural knowledge regarding how to do things with intimate others, knowledge we call implicit relational knowing. This knowing is distinct from conscious verbalizable knowledge and from the dynamic unconscious. The implicit relational knowing of patient and therapist intersect to create an intersubjective field that includes reasonably accurate sensings of each person's ways of being with others, sensings we call the “real relationship.” This intersubjective field becomes more complex and articulated with repeated patient–therapist encounters, giving rise to emergent new possibilities for more coherent and adaptive forms of interaction. During a transactional event that we term a “moment of meeting,” a new dyadic possibility crystallizes when the two persons achieve the dual goals of complementary fitted actions and joint intersubjective recognition in a new form. We argue that such moments of meeting shift the relational anticipations of each partner and allow for new forms of agency and shared experience to be expressed and elaborated. © 1998 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health     

Depressed fathers' stereotyping of infants labeled “depressed”

This study investigated whether depressed and nondepressed fathers stereotyped infants labeled “depressed” and how they viewed their own infants. Twenty-five fathers (12 nondepressed, 13 depressed) of 4-month old infants rated their infants' psychological, social and physical attributes on the Infant Stereotyping Scale (ISS). They then rated videotaped infants, labeled “normal” or “depressed”, on the ISS. Fathers rated depressed versus normal infants lower on sociability, social behavior, and cognitive competence. Depressed versus nondepressed fathers, rated depressed infants lower on social behavior, potency, and sociability. Depressed fathers rated their own infants lower on social behavior, potency, and cognitive competence as well as being more vulnerable. Implications of parental depression on stereotyping effects and possible risks for infants are discussed. © 1997 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health     

A Quiet Revolution: The Birth of the Genetic Counselor at Sarah Lawrence College, 1969

In 1969 Melissa Richter founded the first master’s degree genetic counseling program in the country at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York. This article examines the myriad factors that contributed to the birth of the genetic counselor and situates this historical watershed in its social, cultural, academic, and medical context. This article highlights Richter’s prescience and path-breaking vision, evaluates the Sarah Lawrence program during the years of her directorship (1969–1972), and explores how this early foundation subsequently shaped the field of genetic counseling. Close attention is paid to the ethical issues that concerned Richter and their ongoing relevance to genetic health professionals today. This article is based on historical research in archives, consultation of primary sources, and oral history interviews with genetic counselors, geneticists, and allied professionals.     

Evaluation of changes in mother-infant brief psychotherapy: A single case study

Representation-oriented brief psychotherapy with mother-infant dyads is used to examine correspondences between maternal behaviors and maternal representations of her infant. A single case study is presented to illustrate how one can objectify interactional variables that may correspond behaviorally to underlying maternal mental representations. This paper presents the results of a collaboration that focuses on the process of enacting fantasy via the domain of behavior. Attention is drawn to interacted themes that are enacted versions of representational themes. Enacted themes are pathogenic in behavioral terms for the infant. Five themes are identified in the case material. Changes in the mother's representations affect both the mother-infant relationship and the infant's functioning.