Group member contacts without the group therapist

After presenting some of the arguments against patients having contact with one another outside the regularly scheduled group psychotherapy sessions with the therapist, we present our counterarguments. Rather than forbidding extragroup socializing, thereby assuming the role of moralistic, punitive parental authorities to be deceived or challenged, we accept that such socializing is likely to happen and then establish beforehand the rule that information about extragroup contacts is to be shared with the entire group during regular therapy sessions with the therapist. In this way, the extragroup behaviors are dealt with just as any other material in group, i.e., searching for the underlying dynamics. Some positive aspects of extragroup socializing, as well as some negative aspects, are discussed, with examples taken from clinic groups and private practice groups.     

Die Entwicklung wissenschaftlich begründeter Leitlinien

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

The impact of group psychotherapy on the self-image and self-feelings

Group psychotherapy is presented as an effective way of changing the self-image and self-feelings; the image of the self and feelings about the self being brought into awareness by the group process. After a brief review of relevant literature, group-specific experiences that affect the self-image and self-feelings are described. These include: the mirror phenomenon and triadic relationships; resonance; direct confrontations and challenges from other members; comparing oneself with, and differentiating oneself from, other members; and experimentation with new, different ways of relating to other group members. Some of the experiences of group members and, finally, the significant role of the therapist in this process are described.     

Schematic influences of rape myth acceptance on visual information processing: An eye-tracking approach

Schematic influences of rape myth acceptance (RMA) on visual information processing were studied. After reading a short text on a rape case, students viewed a “police photograph” of the plaintiff's living room, where the rape allegedly happened, while their eye-movements were recorded. The photograph contained two myth-consistent cues, one being expected in the situation (wine bottle and glasses), the other unexpected (poster of a nude male). Results of Study 1 (N = 60) showed that participants higher in RMA fixated the expected cue both earlier and less long, which may indicate hypervigilance and greater ease of processing, respectively. Higher RMA also predicted longer initial fixation of the unexpected cue. These processing differences mediated participants' verdicts and blame judgments. In Study 2 (N = 30), participants' level of RMA was manipulated experimentally via social norm feedback. This manipulation significantly affected eye-movement patterns for the expected myth-consistent cue. Results support the notion that RMA actively guides visual information processing of relevant stimuli.     

The cognitive capabilities of farm animals: categorisation learning in dwarf goats (Capra hircus)

The ability to establish categories enables organisms to classify stimuli, objects and events by assessing perceptual, associative or rational similarities and provides the basis for higher cognitive processing. The cognitive capabilities of farm animals are receiving increasing attention in applied ethology, a development driven primarily by scientifically based efforts to improve animal welfare. The present study investigated the learning of perceptual categories in Nigerian dwarf goats (Capra hircus) by using an automated learning device installed in the animals' pen. Thirteen group-housed goats were trained in a closed-economy approach to discriminate artificial two-dimensional symbols presented in a four-choice design. The symbols belonged to two categories: category I, black symbols with an open centre (rewarded) and category II, the same symbols but filled black (unrewarded). One symbol from category I and three different symbols from category II were used to define a discrimination problem. After the training of eight problems, the animals were presented with a transfer series containing the training problems interspersed with completely new problems made from new symbols belonging to the same categories. The results clearly demonstrate that dwarf goats are able to form categories based on similarities in the visual appearance of artificial symbols and to generalise across new symbols. However, the goats had difficulties in discriminating specific symbols. It is probable that perceptual problems caused these difficulties. Nevertheless, the present study suggests that goats housed under farming conditions have well-developed cognitive abilities, including learning of open-ended categories. This result could prove beneficial by facilitating animals' adaptation to housing environments that favour their cognitive capabilities.