PHILIP HEFNER AND THE MODERNIST/POSTMODERNIST DIVIDE

Abstract Philip Hefner is part of neither the dominant Western paradigm nor the usual postmodernist reaction against it. He belongs within an Anglo‐American viewpoint that also is within neither the dominant Western nor the postmodernist paradigm. Herein I sketch the differences between these paradigms. I elaborate Hefner's theology of the created co‐creator to show where Hefner constrasts with them and then contrast his ideas with those of two contemporary theologians who fit into the second paradigm, George Lindbeck and Mark C. Taylor.     

Extinction and spontaneous recovery of a conditioned flavor preference based on calories

After rats were conditioned to prefer a flavor (CS+) paired with sucrose over another flavor (CS−) paired with saccharin, this conditioned flavor preference was extinguished by presenting the CS+ flavor without sucrose. These results were replicated in a second experiment in which spontaneous recovery of the extinguished flavor preference was demonstrated 7, 14, and 21 days after the extinction test. This is the first clear demonstration of the extinction and spontaneous recovery of a conditioned flavor preference based on calories. The implications of these results for our understanding of the mechanism underlying the conditioning of flavor preferences are explored.     

Ethical Dilemmas in Multicultural Counseling

In a random survey of counselors working with socioracial minority clients (N = 256), multicultural ethical dilemmas were rated according to frequency encountered and significance. Comparisons of counselors' ratings of multicultural ethical dilemmas determined specific dilemmas relevant to counselors in various professional settings. En una encuesta hecha al azar de consejeros/as que trabajan con clientes de minorías socioraciales (N = 256), se clasificaron dilemas éticos multiculturales de acuderdo con su frecuencia y significancia. Las comparaciones de las clasificaciones de los dilemas éticos multiculturales subrayaron aquellos dilemas específicamente importantes para consejeros/as en varios escenarios profesionales.     

Should Psychoanalysis Become a Science?

I wish to formulate in broad outline an approach to the conceptualization of psychoanalysis that is divested from theory. This view sees the core of psychoanalysis as a humanistic practice, first and foremost guided by the individuality of the dyadic encounter, rather than as a science. I will not argue for any particular view of psychoanalysis. Instead I marshal a series of considerations from the humanities, to frame a conceptualization of psychoanalysis as a clinically based interpretive discipline having a unique mission. Finally, I will present a futuristic hypothetical scenario whose aim is to show why psychoanalysis will remain a viable enterprise basically as conceived by Freud.     

Pick up the baby (or dire consequences will ensue)!

Abstract

Decades of psychoanalytic developmental studies on children one year of age and under point to the need for maternal soothing when the infant is crying. Contrary to behavioral theorists who recommend letting the infant “cry it out,” data from analytically informed researchers of very different orientations converge on the conclusion that rocking, feeding, and/or verbal soothing by the mothering figure are requisite to set the stage for good mental health during the rest of the child’s development.     

Individual differences in the response to forgone payoffs: an examination of high functioning drug abusers

This study evaluates the effect of forgone payoffs in decision‐making tasks used for studying individual differences. We investigate whether the disclosure of forgone payoffs (defined as payoffs associated with un‐chosen alternatives) has selective effects for drug abusers. Evidence suggests that drug abusers are hypersensitive to signals of positive reward. Accordingly, because the forgone payoffs of risky high‐variability options include rewarding outcomes, this may create a distraction and lead drug abusers to make more risky choices. In a controlled experiment, we examined the behavior of high‐functioning drug abusers and healthy controls using the Iowa gambling task. The results showed that in a forgone payoff condition, drug abusers made more risky choices. The results demonstrate that adding information about forgone payoffs can be useful for studying individual differences, and that studying individual differences can be valuable in evaluating the effects of forgone payoffs. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Unwitting self-disclosures in psychodynamic psychotherapy: deciphering their meaning and accessing the pain within

Unwitting self-disclosures (USDs), unconscious yet observable parts of personality, are often behavioral relics of past suffering and, as such, constitute valuable though frequently underutilized clinical information. While ego-syntonic aspects of personality can be commented on with impunity, dealing therapeutically with patients' USDs--manifestations of their blind spots--requires sensitivity, empathy, and timing. Providing many clinical examples of patient and therapist USDs from individual and group psychotherapy, this report discusses the origins, possible meanings, and the countertransference and empathic challenges encountered in the handling of these blind spots. The importance of establishing a narcissistic alliance and of employing the methods of the existential school of psychotherapy in processing USDs is described. Self-aware therapists can minimize the clinical impasse that may result when therapist-patient blind spots overlap.     

Temporal discounting of rewards in patients with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia

Patients with bipolar disorder (BD) and schizophrenia (SZ) often show decision-making deficits in everyday circumstances. A failure to appropriately weigh immediate versus future consequences of choices may contribute to these deficits. We used the delay discounting task in individuals with BD or SZ to investigate their temporal decision making. Twenty-two individuals with BD, 21 individuals with SZ, and 30 healthy individuals completed the delay discounting task along with neuropsychological measures of working memory and cognitive function. Both BD and SZ groups discounted delayed rewards more steeply than did the healthy group even after controlling for current substance use, age, gender, and employment. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that discounting rate was associated with both diagnostic group and working memory or intelligence scores. In each group, working memory or intelligence scores negatively correlated with discounting rate. The results suggest that (a) both BD and SZ groups value smaller, immediate rewards more than larger, delayed rewards compared with the healthy group and (b) working memory or intelligence is related to temporal decision making in individuals with BD or SZ as well as in healthy individuals.     

A quantum probability account of order effects in inference

Order of information plays a crucial role in the process of updating beliefs across time. In fact, the presence of order effects makes a classical or Bayesian approach to inference difficult. As a result, the existing models of inference, such as the belief-adjustment model, merely provide an ad hoc explanation for these effects. We postulate a quantum inference model for order effects based on the axiomatic principles of quantum probability theory. The quantum inference model explains order effects by transforming a state vector with different sequences of operators for different orderings of information. We demonstrate this process by fitting the quantum model to data collected in a medical diagnostic task and a jury decision-making task. To further test the quantum inference model, a new jury decision-making experiment is developed. Using the results of this experiment, we compare the quantum inference model with two versions of the belief-adjustment model, the adding model and the averaging model. We show that both the quantum model and the adding model provide good fits to the data. To distinguish the quantum model from the adding model, we develop a new experiment involving extreme evidence. The results from this new experiment suggest that the adding model faces limitations when accounting for tasks involving extreme evidence, whereas the quantum inference model does not. Ultimately, we argue that the quantum model provides a more coherent account for order effects that was not possible before.