The Superego and the Two-System Model

The authors note that Freud's clinical struggle with the sadomasochism of his patients led directly to his theory of the superego, which in turn affected his ideas on sadomasochism. The authors use their dual-track model of two systems of self-regulation—the “closed,” sadomasochistic, omnipotent system and the “open,” competent, loving, reality-attuned system—to trace the origins, development, and functions of the “closed” and “open” superego. They suggest that the application of this model will help restore the importance of the superego in psychoanalytic theory and technique, and they provide clinical illustrations from the analysis of an older adult.     

Contemporary Neuroscience Humanizes: A Look at Cortical Bilateral Asymmetry and How It Got That Way

Exciting research that has surfaced from a host of neuroscience laboratories is presented, and the assumption that they have little to offer human science considered. This includes the sensory substitution work of Bach-y-Rita (1967 Bach-y-Rita , P. ( 1967 ). Sensory plasticity: Applications to a vision substitution system . Acta Neurologica Scandinavia , 43 , 417 – 426 .[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), as well as the phantom pain hypothesis of Ramachandran (2011 Ramachandran ( 2011 ). The tell-tale brain . New York , NY : Norton . [Google Scholar]). These studies are considered atop the theoretical and meta-analytical work in the field of neuropsychiatry by McGilchrist (2009 McGilchrist , I. ( 2009 ). The master and his emissary . New Haven , CT : Yale University Press . [Google Scholar]). McGilchrist's inquiry into split-brain patients has resuscitated the once-dubious debate regarding hemispheric differences in the brain. By considering the latter in light of the evidence of neuroplasticity, global differences in right- or left-brain preference may be understood as analogous and reciprocally influential to patterns of thinking. This dynamic relationship between experience and the brain requires a reconsideration of the status of neuroscience as an exclusively reductive enterprise. Indeed, the laboratories seem to be producing results that have become increasingly difficult to reconcile with their biologically reductive commitments. While the neuroscientists are busy sorting out their results, those who do not share said commitments are free to enjoy the implications these results suggest.     

Associations between cortical thickness and general intelligence in children,adolescents and young adults

Neuroimaging research indicates that human intellectual ability is related to brain structure including the thickness of the cerebral cortex. Most studies indicate that general intelligence is positively associated with cortical thickness in areas of association cortex distributed throughout both brain hemispheres. In this study, we performed a cortical thickness mapping analysis on data from 182 healthy typically developing males and females ages 9 to 24 years to identify correlates of general intelligence (g) scores. To determine if these correlates also mediate associations of specific cognitive abilities with cortical thickness, we regressed specific cognitive test scores on g scores and analyzed the residuals with respect to cortical thickness. The effect of age on the association between cortical thickness and intelligence was examined. We found a widely distributed pattern of positive associations between cortical thickness and g scores, as derived from the first unrotated principal factor of a factor analysis of Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI) subtest scores. After WASI specific cognitive subtest scores were regressed on g factor scores, the residual score variances did not correlate significantly with cortical thickness in the full sample with age covaried. When participants were grouped at the age median, significant positive associations of cortical thickness were obtained in the older group for g-residualized scores on Block Design (a measure of visual-motor integrative processing) while significant negative associations of cortical thickness were observed in the younger group for g-residualized Vocabulary scores. These results regarding correlates of general intelligence are concordant with the existing literature, while the findings from younger versus older subgroups have implications for future research on brain structural correlates of specific cognitive abilities, as well as the cognitive domain specificity of behavioral performance correlates of normative gray matter thinning during adolescence.     

Conceptions of criminal and delinquent acts

We estimate a series of multivariate logistic regression models specifying the effects of gender and other variables on the initiation and escalation of alcohol and other substance use/abuse in a sample of young adults from a general population. After controlling for race, ethnicity, father's education, and a tendency to over‐ or underendorse statements, effects of gender on circumstances surrounding initiation/escalation of binge drinking, marijuana use, and use of other illicit drugs were observed to be congruent with the literature on gender‐related sociodevelopmental processes and empirical studies of the circumstances surrounding substance use. Among substance users/abusers, gender was implicated in self‐reports of the relevance of peer influence, needs to enhance self‐importance and a sense of power, conflictive consequences, sensation‐seeking, and reduction of distress in the processes surrounding initiation and escalation of use.     

The effect of chronic caffeine consumption on urinary incontinence in psychogeriatric inpatients

Abstract

Urinary incontinence is a common problem in psychiatric settings, particularly among psychogeriatric patients. In view of the known diuretic action of caffeine, the present study assessed the effect of tea and coffee consumption on level of incontinence in selected psychogeriatric inpatients. A total of 14 patients participated in the study which employed a combined “withdrawal” and “multiple-baseline across subjects” design to examine the effect of alternating phases of caffeine exposure and abstinence on frequency of daytime and nighttime incontinence. Incontinence levels were significantly reduced during periods of caffeine abstinence relative to periods of chronic caffeine exposure. The hypothesis that observed reductions in incontinence may have been due to accompanying reductions in fluid intake was examined but not supported.     

Interrelationships between Reading Disability and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Evidence from a number of investigations suggests a considerable overlap between reading disability (RD) and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We investigate the relationship between RD and ADHD in a cohort of 186 children 7.5–9.5 years of age, recruited explicitly to address classification and definitional issues in these disorders. Using multivariate methods, we examine the hypothesis that RD and ADHD represent separate diagnostic entities that frequently co-occur in the same individual. The results suggest that RD is characterized by deficits within the language system, in particular a subcomponent within that system, phonological processing; in contrast, such linguistic deficits are not characteristic of ADHD unless ADHD is associated with RD. When children with both RD and ADHD are examined, both the linguistic deficits associated with RD and the behavioral characteristics associated with ADHD are apparent, but these deficits are not synergistic. We conclude that RD and ADHD represent separate disorders that frequently co-occur.     

Validating Measures of Psychological Well-being by Contrasting Samples Employed in Hazardous and Less Hazardous Work

The study investigated whether differences between contrasting groups reflect significant differences in psychological well-being scores. Membership of hazardous vs. less hazardous occupations in the same profession served as proxy measures of well-being. Antonovsky's Sense of Coherence (SOC), Block & Kremen's Ego-resiliency, and Goldberg's Emotional Stability scales were validated. Study 1 compared mine rescue team members and ordinary miners (n = 34, 41) and Study 2 police special task force members and regular officers (n = 43, 41). In Study 1, SOC and job satisfaction predicted group membership. In Study 2, satisfaction with life and extraversion scales predicted group membership, as did SOC in a secondary analysis. The SOC scale could predict psychological well-being in hazardous work settings.     

Omimigrid-Pc: A new development in computerized repertory grids

A new approach to computer programs used to administer and/or analyze repertory grids is described. The system outlined here, OMNIGRID-PC, is a variation of OMNIGRID, which was designed to have broad practical and theoretical applications. The general features of OMNIGRID are discussed; then the unique features of the OMNIGRID-PC system, Versions 1.0 and 1.5, are explained in detail along with their underlying theoretical rationale. The Appendix more fully explicates the interpretive significance of the most substantive new feature of Version 3.5–Cromwell Format data collection.