Contributions of longitudinal research to a cognitive theory of adjustment to aging

In agreement with Costa and McCrae (1992), the principle of ‘multiple uses’ of longitudinal studies is stressed based on a comparative review of the history of the Berkeley longitudinal studies and their different uses, and of those of the Bonn Longitudinal Study on Aging (BOLSA). Of the many uses of BOLSA, its contribution to the testing of a cognitive theory of aging is discussed. A selection of the findings of BOLSA and other studies of the Bonn Department of Psychology and the Institute of Gerontology, University of Heidelberg, is reported. These findings support three postulates of this theory: ( 1 ) the perceived rather than the objective situation directs behaviour; (2) perceptions of situations are related to dominant concerns of the person; and (3) adjustment to aging is achieved when a balance between the cognitive and motivational systems of the person has been attained.     

Perceived stress,life events,dysfunctional attitudes,and depression in adolescent psychiatric inpatients

Hewitt, Flett, and Mosher (1992) examined the factor structure of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and its relation to depression in adult psychiatric patients. This study sought to replicate and extend their findings, using a sample of 203 adolescent psychiatric inpatients. All patients admitted to the adolescent unit in a psychiatric hospital over a 3-year period were administered the PSS, as well as measures of depression, life events, dysfunctional attitudes, and intellectual abilities. Consistent with Hewittet al., two factors were found in the PSS, reflecting perceived distress and perceived coping ability. Regression analyses indicated that, for males, both factors account for independent variance in depression, whereas for females, only the distress factor is related to depression. In addition, for both male and female, dysfunctional attitudes account for significant variance in depression in addition to PSS, but negative life events do not. None of the variables were related to intellectual abilities. Implications for clinical assessment and intervention are discussed.     

Fairy-tales in psychotherapy

Fairy-tales, like mythologies, can be found all over the world containing the same motif and chains of motifs. In this paper I have presented some theories on the occurrence of this archetypal phenomenon ranging from the old migration theory to Sheldrake's theory of morphogenetic fields. I have then tried to show how fairy-tale-motifs can appear in various ways in analytical therapy, often in hidden forms. We find them in patients' dreams as well as in their fantasies and associations. If the therapist is open to them they will also appear in his or her amplifications. He or she might then take note of the fairy-tale or point it out to the patient; in the latter case it might provide better access to the patient's problems and complexes as fairy-tales have an emotional completeness because of their pictorial character. Finally I have described the favourite fairy-tale of one of my patients and related it to his symptoms, his central complex and his personal ways of experiencing and behaving. This survey of how fairy-tales can be used in therapy with children and with adults far from exhaustive.     

A Comparison of Verbal and Numerical Judgments in the Analytic Hierarchy Process

In the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), decision makers make pairwise comparisons of alternatives and criteria. The AHP allows to make these pairwise comparisons verbally or numerically. Although verbal statements are intuitively attractive for preference elicitation, there is overwhelming evidence that people have very different numerical interpretations of the same verbal expressions. This study explores the consequences of these differences for the quality of the AHP analysis. The results of the laboratory study with 180 participants confirm that the 1-to-9 conversion table, as is often used in the AHP, tends to overestimate differences in preference. Concerning the outcome of the AHP analysis the numerical mode shows slightly better results (not significant). Given the preference of many people for the verbal mode we conclude that if accuracy is not of the highest importance, the ease and comfort of verbal expressions may be worth the small loss in decision quality.     

Zur gegenwärtigen Situation der körperbezogenen Psychotherapie

Zusammenfassung K?rperorientierte Psychotherapie wird heute station?r und ambulant, einzeln oder in Gruppen, alleine oder in Kombination mit anderen Methoden angewandt. Besondere Bedeutung haben diese Methoden bei den Patienten, deren K?rpergefühl vermindert, die in ihrer Emotionalit?t eingeschr?nkt oder, aufgrund von Charakterwiderst?nden, in einer verbalen Psychotherapie schwer zu erreichen sind. Die heute am h?ufigsten angewandten Methoden werden mit kurzen Beispielen angeführt, auf andere Verfahren wird hingewiesen. Als wirkende Faktoren werden u.a. die Verbindung der Affekte zum vegetativen und willkürlichen Nervensystem genannt sowie die besonders am Beginn des Lebens bestehende enge Verbindung psychischer und k?rperlicher Vorg?nge, die sich mit der jeweilig erlebten Form der Interaktion verbindet und psychobiologische Auswirkungen hat. In der weiteren Entwicklung erhalten der K?rper und bestimmte K?rperregionen auch eine symbolische und für die Therapie wichtige Bedeutung. Die Beziehung der k?rperorientierten Verfahren zur verbalen Psychotherapie, besonders zur Psychoanalyse, wird diskutiert. Auf Ans?tze zur empirischen Forschung wird hingewiesen.      

The relations among cry characteristics, demographic variables, and developmental test scores in infants prenatally exposed to methadone

This study examined the relations among developmental test scores, infants' demographic characteristics, and cry features. Cry features were strongly related to developmental test scores at all ages, suggesting that use of the infants' cry characteristics can help to identify those infants at greatest risk for later developmental problems.