Einstellungen zu Psychotherapie

In a representative survey 2,129 subjects were questioned about their attitudes towards outpatient psychotherapy. This study was carried out on behalf of the Apotheken Umschau (Pharmacy Review) by the “GfK Nürnberg” (Society for Consumer Research Nuremberg) from January 2012 to February 2012. In the survey also people who had once received or were currently undergoing outpatient psychotherapy took part and these respondents were surveyed about their reasons for seeking treatment and their experiences with outpatient psychotherapy. When available results were compared with the findings from a survey carried out in 2003. The majority of respondents appraised psychotherapy as being essential and helpful in treating mental disorders and as being useful in personal crises. Women were more open-minded about psychotherapy than men; nevertheless 34 % considered that it would be embarrassing if neighbours or friends were aware that they were undergoing psychotherapy. Of the respondents 28 % categorically excluded psychotherapy for themselves, 216 declared that they had undergone psychotherapy and of the latter 83 % judged the psychotherapy to be successful.     

Social norms and the likelihood of raping: Perceived rape myth acceptance of others affects men's rape proclivity

Research showing that rape myth acceptance (RMA) causally affects rape proclivity (RP) was extended by examining the impact of RMA-related norms on RP. Male students (total N = 264) received feedback about the alleged responses of other students to RMA items either before (Experiment 1) or after (Experiment 2) they reported their own RMA, and then their RP was assessed using acquaintance-rape scenarios. The level of RMA feedback was varied. Results showed that higher norms led to higher RP. In Experiment 1, this effect was mediated via self-reported RMA. Experiment 2 yielded main effects of both RMA feedback and self-reported RMA and an interaction effect showing that RMA feedback was particularly influential at higher levels of own RMA. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Models of ecological rationality: the recognition heuristic

One view of heuristics is that they are imperfect versions of optimal statistical procedures considered too complicated for ordinary minds to carry out. In contrast, the authors consider heuristics to be adaptive strategies that evolved in tandem with fundamental psychological mechanisms. The recognition heuristic, arguably the most frugal of all heuristics, makes inferences from patterns of missing knowledge. This heuristic exploits a fundamental adaptation of many organisms: the vast, sensitive, and reliable capacity for recognition. The authors specify the conditions under which the recognition heuristic is successful and when it leads to the counterintuitive less-is-more effect in which less knowledge is better than more for making accurate inferences.     

Teaching Bayesian reasoning in less than two hours

The authors present and test a new method of teaching Bayesian reasoning, something about which previous teaching studies reported little success. Based on G. Gigerenzer and U. Hoffrage's (1995) ecological framework, the authors wrote a computerized tutorial program to train people to construct frequency representations (representation training) rather than to insert probabilities into Bayes's rule (rule training). Bayesian computations are simpler to perform with natural frequencies than with probabilities, and there are evolutionary reasons for assuming that cognitive algorithms have been developed to deal with natural frequencies. In 2 studies, the authors compared representation training with rule training; the criteria were an immediate learning effect, transfer to new problems, and long-term temporal stability. Rule training was as good in transfer as representation training, but representation training had a higher immediate learning effect and greater temporal stability.     

Versuche zur multidimensionalen Skalierung von subjektiven Reizähnlichkeiten auf Grund von Schätzurteilen,Entscheidungszeiten und Verwechslungshäufigkeiten beim Wiedererkennen

Zusammenfassung Es wird über drei Experimente berichtet, in denen auf verschiedene Art und Weise subjektive Ähnlichkeitsbeziehungen zwischen Reizen ermittelt worden sind. Während im Versuch I Distanzen zwischen den Objekten auf Grund direkter Ähnlichkeitsschätzungen gewonnen wurden, sind im Experiment II die Ähnlichkeitsbeziehungen aus Entscheidungszeiten definiert worden, die von der Darbietung der Reizpaare bis zur Urteilsabgabe benötigt worden sind. Im Versuch III ist schließlich die Anzahl der Verwechslungen beim Wiedererkennen als quantitativer Ausdruck für die Ähnlichkeit verwandt worden.Mit Methoden der multidimensionalen Skalierung sind die aus den Ähnlichkeitsmatrizen analysierbaren Ordnungsgesichtspunkte ermittelt worden. Ihre psychologische Deutung ist durch Benennung der Skalen und durch Versuche zur Rekonstruktion der Urteils- bzw. Wiedererkennungsprozesse versucht worden. In den ersten beiden Versuchen konnten je drei interpretierbare Dimensionen ermittelt werden. Experiment III erbrachte einen weiteren vierten Faktor. Beim Vergleich der drei Ähnlichkeitsstrukturen konnten für jeweils zwei Skalen inhaltliche Übereinstimmungen erkannt werden. Dabei zeigten die auf Entscheidungszeiten zurückgehenden Dimensionen den jeweils geringsten Differenzierungsgrad mit nur wenigen Unterscheidungsklassen. Die verbleibenden Faktoren konnten weitgehend auf spezielle Bedingungen des jeweiligen Versuches zurückgeführt werden.

---

Experiments in multidimensional scaling of subjective stimulus similarities based on ratings, descion times, and confusions in recognition

Summary This is a paper showing in different ways subjective relations of similarity between stimuli. While in experiment No. I distances between objects have been won due to direct ratings of similarity, the relations of similarity in experiment No. II have been defined from the time of presentation of the pairs of stimuli until the stating of judgement. In experiment No. III, finally, the number of mistakes in recognition were used as a quantitative expression of similarity.The analyzable aspects of classification, which were used by the Ss, have been won by means of procedures of multidimensional scaling. A psychological interpretation has been tried by denominating the scales and by tyring to reconstruct the processes of judgement respectively recognition. In each of the first two experiments three interpretable dimensions were found. Experiment No.III showed a further fourth factor. When comparing the three structures of similarity, agreement in content could be found out for the first two scales as well as for the second ones. The dimensions going back to the decision times showed the least rate of differentiation with only few classes of discrimination. The remaining factors could be attributed mostly to the special conditions of each of the experiments.

     

EFFECTS OF RELAXATION TRAINING ON PULMONARY MECHANICS IN CHILDREN WITH ASTHMA1

An experiment, designed to overcome shortcomings in previous work, was conducted to investigate the potential symptomatic benefits of relaxation training in the treatment of asthma in children. Fourteen chronic, severely asthmatic children received three sessions in which they rested quietly, followed by five sessions of relaxation training, and finally three sessions of relaxing as trained previously. Pulmonary function was assessed, in a manner far more definitive than in previous studies, before and after each session, and three additional times at 30-minute intervals thereafter. Tension in the frontales muscles, heart and respiration rates, and skin temperature and conductance were also monitored. Heart rate and to some extent muscle tension results tended to confirm the attainment of relaxed states. However, the lung function results failed to substantiate the previous, preliminary findings of a clinically meaningful change in pulmonary function following relaxation. The status of relaxation in the treatment of asthma was discussed.     

Indikation zur strukturbezogenen Psychotherapie

The distinction of conflict processing and structure promoting psychotherapeutic approaches in the psychodynamic field is now common knowledge and has now been incorporated into the guideline comments. The differentiation of treatment presupposes theoretical knowledge of the dynamics of conflict and structure and corresponding thorough initial diagnostics. Based on these foundations an appropriate focus of therapy can be agreed with the patient and the therapy target can be set. This focussed working towards a joint target is especially important for psychodynamic psychotherapeutic treatment, which is of limited duration. The actively accompanying therapeutic process differs from older assumptions that positive developments on the foundation of a therapeutic relationship occur quasi automatically but possibly need a long time. Aspects of the treatment technique and the therapeutic attitude, estimation of the therapeutic development and typical age-related modifications in adolescents and older persons are discussed.     

Innerdeutsche Migration und psychisches Befinden

In a representative study German migrants within Germany were assigned to two different groups depending on their answers to the following two questions (?Where did you mainly grow up – Eastern Germany or Western Germany?“ and ?Where do you live now?“). The migrants (54 West-East and 68 East-West migrants) were compared with non-migrants (1,136 Western and 294 Eastern Germans) concerning different variables of their psychic condition. Migrants suffered from higher stress, less bodily well-being and more somatic symptoms than non-migrants. Probands migrating from Western to Eastern Germany reported the lowest levels of quality of life.