The Family Reconstruction Process and Its Evolution to Date: Virginia Satir's Transformational Process

This article presents the evolution of one of Satir's processes, namely family reconstruction, a psychodramatic reenactment of significant events in three generations of family life. Both the sameness and the differentness of the classical version as developed by Satir and the current shorter version are explored. The Satir model is a growth oriented approach based on the belief that people have the inner resources to resolve problem situations. Within this model, which focuses on what people can become, the therapist and the individual or family members join forces to move from a symptomatic base to wellness.     

Dimensionality and the dynamics of human unstable equilibrium

Maintaining an unstable equilibrium requires that multiple joints be coordinated so that the center of mass is kept above the base of support. The authors' aim in the present study was to discover the underlying dynamics of local (foot, hip, or head) and global (center of mass) components involved in balance control and how those dynamics are affected by changes in the available information. Participants (N = 6) had to maintain their balance on an unstable platform. Using dimensional analyses (largest Lyapunov exponent and correlation dimension), the authors examined the active degrees of freedom involved in balance control. Results indicated a similarity in dimension between local (joints) and global (center of mass) components, between a fixed point and a limit cycle. The behavior of the center of mass was found to be more predictable than the behavior of its local constituents. In addition, the available visual information affected the predictability of the postural behavior, which suggests that vision is used in the stabilization of the low-dimensional dynamics underlying balance control.     

Les Publications essentielles sur le Rorschach en SI Exner

The objective of this article is to provide psychologists interested in using the Rorschach Comprehensive System with the French-language references on this topic as well as those written in other languages by French-speaking specialists. A brief commentary of the works of J. Exner is provided, followed by a presentation of investigations concerning the Comprehensive System addressing particular forms of psychopathology.     

The learning of goal-directed locomotion: A perception-action perspective

This study was designed to better understand the process underlying the learning of goal-directed locomotion. Subjects walked on a treadmill in a virtual reality setting and were asked to cross pairs of oscillating doors. The subjects' behaviour was examined at the beginning of the learning process (pretest), after 350 trials (intermediate test), and after 700 trials (posttest). The data were analysed at three different levels, each representing a specific aspect of the global response: performance outcome, displacement kinematics, and current arrival condition. While some aspects of performance outcome suggested the presence of a ceiling effect in the intermediate test, both displacement kinematics and current arrival condition clearly highlighted continuous transformations of the control mechanism involved. The learning process is best described as (1) the establishing of a relationship between specific information and a movement parameter and (2) the optimization of this relationship. The optimization process is characterized by the further exploration of the available behavioural repertoire and by the refinement of the dialogue between information and movement.     

Neural correlates of lexical and sublexical processes in reading

The purpose of the present study was to compare the brain regions and systems that subserve lexical and sublexical processes in reading. In order to do so, three types of tasks were used: (i). silent reading of very high frequency regular words (lexical task); (ii). silent reading of nonwords (sublexical task); and, (iii). silent reading of very low frequency regular words (sublexical task). All three conditions were contrasted with a visual/phonological baseline condition. The lexical condition engaged primarily an area at the border of the left angular and supramarginal gyri. Activation found in this region suggests that this area may be involved in mapping orthographic-to-phonological whole word representations. Both sublexical conditions elicited significantly greater activation in the left inferior prefrontal gyrus. This region is thought to be associated with sublexical processes in reading such as grapheme-to-phoneme conversion, phoneme assembly and underlying verbal working memory processes. Activation in the left IFG was also associated with left superior and middle temporal activation. These areas are thought to be functionally correlated with the left IFG and to contribute to a phonologically based form of reading. The results as a whole demonstrate that lexical and sublexical processes in reading activate different regions within a complex network of brain structures.     

Prospective memory: Are preparatory attentional processes necessary for a single focal cue?

The preparatory attentional and memory processes theory of prospective memory (PM) assumes that PM retrieval requires resource-demanding preparatory attentional processes, whereas the multiprocess theory assumes that retrieval can also occur spontaneously. On the basis of showing slowing on an ongoing task (i.e., task interference) —even when the PM cue was highly salient (i.e., the participant’s own name) —Smith, Hunt, McVay, and McConnell (2007) concluded that preparatory attentional processes are always necessary for PM retrieval. We argue that the presence of preparatory attentional processes cannot be used to rule out the existence of spontaneous retrieval processes, and the goal of the present research was to examine whether PM retrieval can occur in the absence of preparatory attentional processes. We varied whether we emphasized the importance of the PM task or the ongoing task, and we assessed task interference across quarters of the ongoing task. Our results showed no evidence of task interference and, hence, no evidence of preparatory attentional processes in the periods proximal to the target event, and yet participants showed high PM performance. Thus, the results suggest the existence of spontaneous retrieval processes and support the multiprocess theory.     

Penser autrement les difficultés scolaires : les apports du Rorschach en système intégré

This study examines school under-achievement from the perspective of clinical psychology. We compare 2 groups of children in the 3^rd grade (mean age 9) based on their results on a national test of French language and Mathematics. We present the Rorschach results of 7 high performers compared to 7 low performers, all of whom have IQ scores (K. ABC) that are in the average range (90 - 109). The Rorschach data (Comprehensive System) demonstrate no differences between these groups of children concerning affective functioning and stress tolerance. However, the quantitative and qualitative results are notably different concerning attitudes relative to complex situations, in the area of critical self-perception and conflict-resolution strategies.     

Effects of simultaneous interference upon free recall learning and retention

Learning and retention were examined under varying amounts of intratask interference during learning. All subjects were required to learn the same list of auditorily presented words while concurrently processing a visually presented interfering list. Differential amounts of interference were produced by varying the relatedness of the interfering list to the learning list. The common learning list consisted of four general categories that also contained members of more restricted subcategories. Some subjects were instructed about the existence and names of the subcategories. The results showed that interference lengthened learning but, in some cases, facilitated retention relative to control groups. Restricted category knowledge facilitated learning but had no effect on retention. There were no significant retention differences after I week, but after 5 weeks retention performance was significantly better for groups that learned under related interference conditions. The results were interpreted in terms of more elaborate encoding of the items in the high intratask interference conditions.     

Multiple processes in prospective memory retrieval: factors determining monitoring versus spontaneous retrieval

Theoretically, prospective memory retrieval can be accomplished either by controlled monitoring of the environment for a target event or by a more reflexive process that spontaneously responds to the presence of a target event. These views were evaluated in Experiments 1-4 by examining whether performing a prospective memory task produced costs on the speed of performing the ongoing task. In Experiment 5, the authors directly tested for the existence of spontaneous retrieval. The results supported the multiprocess theory (M. A. McDaniel & G. O. Einstein, 2000) predictions that (a) spontaneous retrieval can occur and can support good prospective memory and (b) depending on task demands and individual differences, people rely to different degrees on monitoring versus spontaneous retrieval for prospective remembering.