Anticipatory spatial representation of natural scenes: Momentum without movement?

Does mental representation of the immediate past contain anticipatory projections of the future? In cases of representational momentum (RM), the last remembered location of a moving object is displaced farther along its path of motion. In boundary extension (BE), the remembered view of a scene expands to include a region just outside the boundaries of the original view. Both are "errors", yet they make remarkably good predictions about the real world. The factors affecting these phenomena, the boundary conditions for their occurrence, and their generality to non-visual senses (audition or haptics) are reviewed to determine if RM and BE are fundamentally related. In contrast to Hubbard's (1995b) suggestion that they may share a common underlying mechanism, it is proposed instead that RM and BE are related in a more general sense and may be different instantiations of the dynamic nature of mental representation.     

Superiority and Social Interest by Alfred Adler

This paper examines the advantages of a particular way of supervising psychotherapy, namely, in a group setting with a special focus on the supervisee's countertransference experience. Group supervision is conceptualized as much more than presenting a case and getting feedback. Rather, the group is used in all its interactive complexity as it resonates in a myriad of ways to aspects of the case being presented. Furthermore, because of the complexity of conscious and unconscious interactions and reverberations during this process, it is often helpful to have a focus in the supervision. One helpful possibility is to center on the supervisee's countertransference experience and use the group to reflect, amplify, and process that experience. This can be a highly valuable way of helping the therapists increase their understanding of the case and enhance the quality of therapeutic interventions.     

Anticipatory spatial representation of 3D regions explored by sighted observers and a deaf-and-blind-observer

Viewers who study photographs of scenes tend to remember having seen beyond the boundaries of the view [boundary extension; J. Exp. Psychol. Learn. Mem. Cogn. 15 (1989) 179]. Is this a fundamental aspect of scene representation? Forty undergraduates explored bounded regions of six common (3D) scenes, visually or haptically (while blindfolded) and then the delimiting borders were removed. Minutes later they reconstructed boundary placement. Boundary extension occurred: mean areas were increased by 53% (vision) and by 17% (haptics). A deaf-and-blind woman (KC) haptically explored the same regions. Although a "haptic expert", she too remembered having explored beyond the boundaries, with performance similar to that of the blindfolded-sighted. Boundary extension appears to be a fundamental aspect of spatial cognition. Possibly constrained by the "scope" of the input modality (vision>haptics), this anticipatory spatial representation may facilitate integration of successively perceived regions of the world irrespective of modality and the perceiver's sensory history.     

Screening of intellectual maturity: exploring South African preschoolers' scores on the Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test and teachers' assessment

The present study explored the relationship between South African preschool children's intelligence scores achieved on the Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test (GHD), and the accuracy of teachers' ratings of the human-figure drawings and teachers' general perceptions of children's intellectual maturity. The GHD was administered individually to 30 boys and 30 girls between the ages of 4 and 6 years (M = 4.5. SD = 0.7) from a multicultural (Black, Colored, and White) preschool near the Cape, South Africa. The three class teachers of these preschoolers provided the ratings and perceptions of each child's intellectual maturity. Results indicated that the teachers' assessments of children's intellectual maturity were fairly similar to the formal measures of children's intellectual maturity using human figure drawings and their own perceptions. It appears that teacher ratings of drawings could be relied upon as a means of assessment. General perceptions of children's intellectual maturity should not be solely relied upon, but instead these perceptions should be used as an aid for enhancing the teachers' assessment of children's intellectual maturity in addition to the rating of human figure drawings.     

Correlations of scores on the developmental test of visual-motor integration and copying test in a South African multi-ethnic preschool sample

This study assessed the intercorrelations of scores on the Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration, the locally standardized Copying Test, and teachers' ratings of scholastic skills in a South African multi-ethnic preschool sample. The study also investigated whether cultural and socioeconomic factors might influence test data. Participants were 71 Black, 101 Coloured, and 66 White children attending preschools in a semirural district. Participants' ages ranged from 4 yr., 9 mo. to 7yr., 0 mo. (M=5.8 yr., SD= 0.3 yr.). Analysis yielded a correlation of .75 between the test scores and supports the suitability of the widely used Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration in a multi-ethnic sample. Scores on the Copying Test correlated higher with teachers' ratings. However, significant differences in test performance among groups by race and socioeconomic status suggest the rate of perceptual-motor development may be related to cultural factors. Normative data are reported for groups by race and socioeconomic status.     

Assessing the impact of group treatment for aggressive inpatients

The purpose of this research was to determine if psychodynamic group psychotherapy decreases the occurrence of physical assault by male group members. The design of the study was a randomized clinical trial. Patients assigned to the control group received the customary clinical care. Patients assigned to the Group Therapy attended a psychodynamic psychotherapy group to help them cope with their aggressive impulses. Both quantitative and qualitative measures were used. Group members showed decreased expression of anger at followup, increased effort to control anger at followup, and decline in aggressive behavior. Control subjects demonstrated no change in level of angry feelings, increased expression of anger at follow-up, decrease in effort to control anger at follow-up, and no change in aggressive behavior. A model for conducting a psychodynamic psychotherapy group for assaultive men was developed which describes process and content aspects as well as leader interventions by group phase.     

Therapeutic group approaches in an inpatient facility for children and adolescents: A 15-year perspective

Inner city, psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents are accessible to group therapy intervention. We developed a unique approach combining Slavson's theories with principles of family treatment and psychoanalytic theory. The group was conceptualized as a corrective family experience with the therapists functioning as model parents. Our model relies on a four-phase process, which is discussed.