Action as ejection

The systematic analysis of acting-out episodes can be used in assessing analytic progress. Variables to be considered are the nature of the wish, the type of defense, and the degree of concreteness (versus symbolization) of the mental processes used in attempting actualization (as distinct from the resort to action). Two acting-out episodes of a borderline patient who acted out as a character trait, both occurring outside the analytic setting, are presented as illustrations. In the first one, occurring relatively early in the analysis, when split-off negative and positive self-images had to be rigidly maintained, ejection of the negative self-image was actualized via the regressive use of a symbolic equation and the mechanism of displacement, obliterating the distinction between an internal feeling and an external thing that here was literally thrown out. The later episode, occurring after the split was healed and within the context of a frustrating heterosexual involvement, contained an acted-out allusion to identification and competition with the mother. As in a dream, via associations, an unconscious wish for oedipal victory was revealed. Whereas in the first episode the goal of ejection was central, with splitting and denial the underlying defenses, it was absent from the second, in which an attempt was made to actualize a repressed infantile wish and made greater use of symbolization. It is concluded that acting-out episodes at different periods of the analysis, when systematically analyzed, can serve in assessing a patient's progress.     

Visual experience influences the interactions between fingers and numbers

Though a clear interaction between finger and number representations has been demonstrated, what drives the development of this intertwining remains unclear. Here we tested early blind, late blind and sighted control participants in two counting tasks, each performed under three different conditions: a resting condition, a condition requiring hands movements and a condition requiring feet movements. In the resting condition, every sighted and late blind spontaneously used their fingers, while the majority of early blind did not. Sighted controls and late blind were moreover selectively disrupted by the interfering hand condition, while the early blind who did not use the finger-counting strategy remained unaffected by the interference conditions. These results therefore demonstrate that visual experience plays an important role in implementing the sensori-motor habits that drive the development of finger–number interactions.     

Test development and use in five Iberian Latin American countries

The abundance of scholarship on test development and use generally is higher in English‐speaking than in Iberian Latin American countries. The purpose of this article is to help overcome this imbalance by describing and identifying similarities and differences in test development and use in two Iberian (Portugal and Spain) and three of the largest Latin American (Argentina, Brazil, and Venezuela) countries. The stages of test development in each country, roles of professional associations, presence of standards for test use, professionals' educational training, commonly used tests, together with prominent challenges to continued progress are discussed. Test development and use in these five countries are transitioning from a dependence on the use of translated tests to greater reliance on adapted and finally nationally constructed tests. Continued growth requires adherence to international standards guiding test development and use. Stronger alliance among professional associations in the Iberian Latin American countries could serve as a catalyst to promote test development in these regions.     

Making the Best of What Has Been Done to You and of What You Yourself Have Done: Commentary on Papers by Joan Sarnat and Emanuel Berman

In this commentary on the supervisory experiences presented by Joan Sarnat and Emanuel Berman, the author mainly focuses on the following issues: the fear of facing the negative feelings and the consequences of this fear in the patient, in the candidate, and in the supervisor; on the intrapsychic/interpsychic dynamics of role-reversal in transference–countertransference; on the tendency to use either intellectual and “jargon” interpretations or metaphors without before asking ourselves whether if the patient can comprehend them or whether, on the contrary, these kinds of communications leave the patient even more disorientated and confused. Further considerations are suggested on the fruitfulness of applying “a long wave perspective” in reading the analytical material and on which an ideal “good enough” work of supervision could be intended.     

Aggression Norms in the Classroom Social Network: Contexts of Aggressive Behavior and Social Preference in Middle Childhood

In a cross‐sectional sample of African‐American 2nd–4th grade students (N = 681), we examine the moderating effects of classroom overt and relational aggression norms on peers’ social acceptance of classmates who exhibit overt and relational aggression in urban schools. Extending theory and research on classroom norms, we integrate social network data to adjust aggression norms based on children’s direct and indirect connections in the classroom. Results of multilevel models indicate that network‐based classroom aggression norms moderated relations between children’s aggressive behavior and their social preference. Specifically, children benefited socially when their form of aggressive behavior fit with what was normative in the classroom social context. The moderating effect of classroom aggression norms was stronger for the association between overt aggression and social preference than relational aggression and social preference. Relationally aggressive youth were socially preferred by peers regardless of the classroom norm, although this positive association was magnified in classrooms with higher levels of relational aggression. Future research focused on aggression norms within classroom social networks are discussed and implications for school prevention efforts are considered.     

Sexual Health Risk Behaviors Among Older Men Who Have Sex With Men: Implications for Interventions

Sexual health risk behaviors, HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) transmission, substance use, stigma, and loneliness among older men who have sex with men are discussed. Implications for interventions are provided, including (a) assessment of health‐related risk behaviors, (b) brief interventions, (c) HIV and STI screening, and (d) relevant developmental and contextual factors.