Nursing and psychoanalysis — Uneasy alliances?

This paper examines the emergence of psychoanalytic ideas in nursing, tracing the history of these ideas, in particular the history of psychiatric nursing at the Maudsley Hospital since the 1950s. The development of psychoanalytically-informed nursing in the UK is compared with the developments in this field in the US. The future of psychoanalytically-informed psychiatric nursing is considered.     

Affective reactions to facial identity in a prosopagnosic patient

This study probes whether a prosopagnosic patient can make accurate explicit affective judgements towards faces. Patient MJH was shown photographs of faces of well-liked family members and public figures rated as “evil” by opinion polls. MJH was asked to rate each face on two 7-point scales (Likeability and Pleasantness). Since he is unable to explicitly recognise faces, his ratings were based on his evaluative reaction to the faces presented. In a second phase of the experiment, MJH was told the name of the faces previously presented and asked to rate them using the same scales. MJH's Likeability ratings during the picture-viewing phase of the experiment and the explicit phase were highly correlated. Based on these findings, we propose that thought consists of an explicit declarative and an implicit emotional aspect, which may become dissociated in prosopagnosia.     

The functional independence of trait self-knowledge: Commentary on Sakaki (2007)

In a recent paper, Sakaki (2007) proposed that Klein and Loftus's conclusion that semantic and episodic trait self-knowledge are functionally independent (e.g., Klein, Babey, & Sherman, 1997; Klein & Loftus, 1993a; Klein, Loftus, Trafton, & Fuhrman, 1992b) was based on questionable assumptions and not supported by the available evidence. In this paper we show that Sakaki (2007) has misinterpreted our position on the independence of self-knowledge, omitted mention of large portions of the relevant research at odds with her contention, and conducted her studies with procedures we explicitly warned against due to interpretive ambiguities associated with their use.     

“Faith Alone”—Primus Inter Pares: Welcome to the Banquet

Faith alone represents the primus inter pares of the sixteenth‐century Reformation's four solas. Gary Simpson introduces five authors who critically explore and creatively extend the doctrine of justification by faith alone as Dialog with its Fall issues (2013–2017) leans into the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation (2017).     

Children's Understanding and Experience of Mixed Emotions: The Roles of Age,Gender, and Empathy

ABSTRACT. The present study examined the development of children's ability report understanding and experiencing allocentric mixed emotions, and explored the relation of gender and empathic ability to these skills. Participants (128 elementary school-aged children [63 boys, 65 girls]) were shown a movie clip with bittersweet themes to elicit mixed emotions. Findings from this study are consistent with prior research (Larsen, To, & Fireman, 2007), supporting a developmental progression in children's ability to both understand and report experiencing mixed emotions, with the two as distinct skills and children reporting understanding earlier than experiencing of emotions. Consistent with previous research, girls performed significantly better on the emotion experience task. Finally, results provided evidence that empathy partially mediates the relationship between age and reports of mixed emotion experience, but no evidence that empathy plays a role in mixed emotional understanding.     

Aging and Memory in Skilled Language Performance

The issue of irreversible decrements versus developmental plasticity with aging was explored for skilled language users. Fifteen English teachers (22 to 31 years of age) and 15 retired English teachers (50 to 83 years of age) were tested for language memory, using a 2 × 2 × 2 (Recall vs. Recognition × Meaningful vs. Nonmeaningful × Incidental vs. Intentional) design, and for overall grammar-skill memory, using speed and error measures. On the language-memory test, experimental variables (but not the age variable) were related to performance. On the grammar-skill test, the older subjects showed longer completion times but no decrements in accuracy. The results provided support for developmental plasticity in language memory and suggested an optimistic view of memory for skilled content areas.     

Inpatient Group Psychotherapy: Practical Considerations and Special Problems

A comparison is made between group-analytic and group focal conflict theory in terms of the conceptualization of the group as a whole; the emergence of group-level phenomena from the interaction of individuals; the associative flow as the material for therapy; facilitative and nonfacilitative group conditions; the therapist's aims on behalf of the persons in the group and perceived routes toward therapeutic gain; general factors contributing to therapeutic gain; specific factors contributing to therapeutic gain; and the therapist's role. Differences in terminology are examined to determine whether and how they reflect differences in substance. Many similarities and some differences in emphasis can be shown to exist. Both approaches generate respect for the power and potential of the group to support significant reexperiencing, with attendant opportunities for personal benefit and change.     

Mark Twain,Criticism, and the Limits of Creativity

Beginning with the New Criticism and continuing in postmodern criticism, academic critics of literature have tended to treat literary texts as if they were sacred and authors as infallible, while ignoring evidence to the contrary. There are at least three possible reasons for such practices: first, the rise of the profession of English out of the seminary, biblical exegesis, and classical philology; second, the "Matthew effect;" and, last, the persistent tendency of academics to see creativity as volitional, rather than situational. This article demonstrates four typical errors that authors make: a tendency to repeat themselves, a tendency to ignore their own best work, a tendency to fail at attempts to shift genres, and, finally, the tendency for authors' creative powers, like all else in life, to fail with age. Mark Twain is used as an example of the latter three of these failings. This may seem an exercise in second-guessing, but, until the fallibility of authors is accepted, academic critics will not be able to develop an understanding of literary creativity.     

Managing a Sales Territory: A Comparison of Industrial Goods and Consumer Goods Sales Representatives

Abstract

What do the rapid changes in the environment faced by consumer goods marketers portend for their salesforces? They must change as well in order to meet the shifting requirements for successful marketing in the early 1980's. Effective sales territory management can be an important instrument for sales representatives in meeting these challenges. Sales territory management is one area, it would appear, where consumer goods marketers can learn a good deal from their counterparts in industrial goods salesforces.