The deep poetic soul: An alternative vision of psychotherapy

Abstract

This is the presidential address of David N. Elkins, who served as president of Division 32 in 1998–1999. Current mechanistic models of psychotherapy are criticized as failing to honor the complexities of human growth and the therapeutic process. The article presents an alternative vision of psychotherapy, grounded in an artistic perspective, that focuses on the deeper, more complex processes of clients’ growth and becoming. Four major pillars of this alternative vision are discussed: (a) the “more,” (b) the phenomenological experience of the emergence of the new, (c) the duende, and (d) destiny.     

A Systems Approach to Understanding and Improving Research Integrity

Science and Engineering Ethics - Concern about the integrity of empirical research has arisen in recent years in the light of studies showing the vast majority of publications in academic journals...     

Multiple imitation mechanisms in children

Four studies using a computerized paradigm investigated whether children's imitation performance is content-specific and to what extent dependent on other cognitive processes such as trial-and-error learning, recall, and observational learning. Experiment 1 showed that 3-year-olds could successfully imitate what we call novel cognitive rules (e.g., first → second → third), which involved responding to 3 different pictures whose spatial configuration varied randomly from trial to trial. However, these same children failed to imitate what we call novel motor-spatial rules (e.g., up → down → right), which involved responding to 3 identical pictures that remained in a fixed spatial configuration from trial to trial. Experiment 2 showed that this dissociation was not due to a general difficulty in encoding motor-spatial content, as children successfully recalled, following a 30-s delay, a new motor-spatial sequence that had been learned by trial and error. Experiment 3 replicated these results and further demonstrated that 3-year-olds can infer a novel motor-spatial sequence following observation of a partially correct and partially incorrect response-a dissociation between imitation and observational learning (or emulation learning). Finally, Experiment 4 presented 3-year-olds with "familiar" motor-spatial sequences that involved making a linear response (e.g., left → middle → right) as well as "novel" motor-spatial sequences (e.g., right → up → down) used in Experiments 1-3 that were nonlinear and always involved a change in direction. Children had no difficulty imitating familiar motor-spatial sequences but again failed to imitate novel motor-spatial sequences. These results suggest that there may be multiple, dissociable imitation learning mechanisms that are content-specific. More importantly, the development of these imitation systems appears to be independent of the operations of other cognitive systems, including trial and error learning, recall, and observational learning.     

Promotion Decisions in an Affirmative Action Environment: Can Social Accounts Change Fairness Perceptions?

An experiment was conducted to assess the effects of observer gender, applicants' qualifications, and managerial accounts on justice perceptions in an affirmative action environment. As expected, MANOVA results indicated that, prior to providing an account, the promotion of a female yielded the highest fairness ratings when the female was more qualified than the male applicant and when the observer was female. In a second wave of data, MANCOVA results indicated that an ideological-gender explanation resulted in the lowest subsequent fairness ratings. Additionally, accounts interacted with applicants' qualifications. When the promoted female was the most qualified candidate, the ideological-gender account resulted in the lowest fairness ratings.     

Personality Traits Predict the Developmental Course of Externalizing: A Four‐Wave Longitudinal Study Spanning Age 17 to Age 29

The objective of the present study was to determine whether and how personality predicts the developmental course of externalizing problems, including antisocial behavior and substance dependence. In a large, population‐based longitudinal study (N = 1,252), the 11 personality traits assessed by the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire were measured at age 17, and DSM diagnoses of adult antisocial behavior, alcohol dependence, and drug dependence were obtained at ages 17, 20, 24, and 29. We fit a quadratic multiple indicator latent growth model where the three diagnoses loaded onto an externalizing factor. This model fit the data well, and externalizing increased until it started to decline at age 24. High aggression and low control were the most significant predictors of the development of externalizing, with aggression playing a significant role in the development of externalizing across the 12‐year time span, and control predicting the development from age 17 to 24. The findings highlight the importance of considering the developmental course of externalizing in the context of personality and suggest that the specific personality traits of aggression and control might be targeted in externalizing prevention and intervention programs.     

Passion, Drama and Identity: Aidan Nichols on von Balthasar's Theodrama

Book reviewed in this article:
Aidan Nichols, No Bloodless Myth: A Guide Through Balthasar's Dramatics