Transcendence and psychological health: studies with long-term participants of the transcendental meditation and TM-Sidhi program

We investigated the nature of the relationship between experiences of transcendental consciousness and psychological health. In Study 1, three groups with different levels of experience in transcendental meditation (TM) and in the TM-Sidhi program (techniques that have been shown to produce experiences of transcendental consciousness) were studied, using the self-investigation method of Hermans (1976). We employed blind interviewers and raters with various attitudes toward TM to minimize the possible impact of a variety of artifacts. Cross-sectionally, experience with TM and the TM-Sidhi program was positively related to a general measure of psychological health (p = .002); longitudinally, the meditating groups improved more than the control group on the psychological health measure (p less than .03). In Study 2, two contrast groups of long-term participants were similar on several confounding variables but differed on physiological indicators of experiences of transcendental consciousness. The groups with the positive physiological indicators showed a trend toward higher scores on the psychological health factor (p = .092), indicating that psychological health may be developed through the systematic cultivation of transcendental meditation and the TM-Sidhi program.     

Family background and individual measures as predictors of Turkish primary school children's academic achievement

The primary purpose of this study was to predict academic grade point averages (GPAs) of Turki primary school children, using family background and individual measures (sociometric standing, self-reported loneliness, and social efficacy) as predictors. We hypothesized that these two measures would explain the wide variation in GPA for samples differing with respect to sex and paternal education. Regression analyses with male and female subsamples revealed that the background measures explained twice as much variance in GPA, popularity, and loneliness for girls as for boys. Another finding was that the background measures explained a greater proportion of the variance in GPA for children with less- versus more-educated fathers, whereas individual measures explained a greater proportion of the variance for children with more as opposed to less educated fathers.     

Sex and cultural differences in lefthandedness

Sex differences are presented for the students of architecture and music, and the distribution of sex in the tested sample, and the population is discussed. The results are related to other studies in Scandinavia, which give comparable results. A genetic/cultural model is used to discuss the differences between results from Scandinavia, USA, and other parts of the world.     

Subliminal stimulation and cognitive and motor performance

The present experiment investigated whether subliminally exposed messages affect cognitive and motor performance and whether personality factors can explain interindividual differences in this respect. According to Silverman (1983), people have a symbiotic fantasy, that is, a need for symbiotic oneness with the mother figure. This need can temporarily be satisfied by a tachistoscopic exposure of the message "Mommy and I are one." By relieving the unconscious conflict, psychological tension is reduced. Using these notions, it was hypothesized that different measures of performance should be improved. The results indicate that both cognitive performance, in terms of the ability to interpret incomplete and fragmented pictures, and motor performance, in terms of the ability to follow a printed line with a stylus, is improved by this procedure compared to that of a control group exposed to the neutral message "People are walking." However, it was not possible to relate these changes to individual differences in terms of the individual's structure of his psychological defense system as measured by the Defense Mechanism Test (DMT). Other possible explanations are discussed.     

Alcohol, subliminal stimulation, and disinhibitory processes

An experiment was performed to test the hypothesis that an unconscious conflict between a wish to attain symbiotic oneness with another person on the one hand and personal independence on the other, should be weakened by alcohol if the main effect of intoxication is to reduce the strength of psychological inhibitions. In turn, a reduction in such conflicts should improve motor performance. Data indicated no such effects, and it was concluded that the disinhibition hypothesis as an explanation of alcohol-related behavior was not supported.     

Effects of alcohol on cognitive performance measured with Stroop's Color Word Test

An experiment was performed to test whether alcohol intoxication leads to cognitive disinhibition as measured by the Color Word Test. In psychoanalytic terms, it was hypothesized that alcohol would decrease secondary process functioning leading to disinhibition and so make it easier to perform a primary process function. 24 men and 24 women participated and were randomly assigned to an Alcohol group, a Placebo group or a Control group. The alcohol dose was 1.0 ml of 100% alcohol/kg body weight. No statistically significant differences were found on any of the three dependent measures, number of errors, number of hesitations and total time needed, except that men in the Alcohol group needed significantly longer time to complete the test. These results indicate that cognitive disinhibition is not valid as an explanation for alcohol-related changes in cognitive functioning.     

Brief group psychotherapy in relapse prevention for alcohol dependent patients

The effects of brief group psychotherapy in relapse prevention were tested. The groups focused on the clients' capacity to formulate their own treatment goals, including controlled drinking, programmed relapse, and total abstinence. Twelve months after completion of the eight-week outpatient group treatment, thirty-five clients were followed up. There appeared to be no harmful effects as a result of the treatment. Nobody in the follow-up group had a deteriorated drinking pattern as compared to pretreatment data. The follow-up results were significantly better than before treatment and also than in a comparison group of alcohol dependent patients. It seemed as if those patients who could benefit from the treatment had a shorter duration of abuse and had a later onset of uncontrolled drinking compared to those who continued with a negative drinking pattern and the dropouts. The clients assigned the positive treatment effects to course leaders' encouragement of personal decision making, increased awareness of risk situations, and improved coping skills. The group situation in itself seemed to be of special importance for this result. The degree of structure implemented by course leaders allowed a free and respectful openness to develop between group members.     

The narcissism of Thomas Mann and pathologic interpretation of his homosexuality. On a "new concept" in research on Thomas Mann

On the basis of Morgenthaler's sexual theory, the author reviews Wysling's discussion of Thomas Mann's "narcissistic symptomatology" and attempts to refocus it within the external perspective of pubertal conflict. Societally organized forms of sexuality are invariably aimed at the maintenance of narcissistic equilibrium which has been jeopardized by the dissolution of the mother-infant unit. It follows that the neurotic constitution of many homosexuals results not from any hypothetical developmental disturbance in early infancy, but chiefly from the actual conflict with society.     

Occupational problems of patients with manic-depressive disease

The paper deals with the professional rehabilitation of cyclothymic patients with the aid of a semi-standardized interview of patient and superior direct at the place of employment. Half the patients had considerable professional problems consisting in requirements too low or too high and in lack of understanding on the past of the fellow workers. There is a connection between professional dissatisfaction and the numbers of recidives. Nearly all chiefs and associates wished more information about social manners towards the patient and about questions of his working capability and maximum stress. The results underline the necessity to include in the process of rehabilitation. Individual communication of the physician coworkers and with the patient is recommended as the most efficient form.     

Effect of intermittent acoustic stimuli on mental processes

In a Sternberg experiment, the influence of rhythmic acoustic stimuli on the scanning rate of short-term memory was studied. During the experiment, 60 subjects heard rhythmic or arrhythmic impulse noises with different rates of repetition. Results showed that the scanning rate of short-term memory is lowest if the impulses are arrhythmic. With rhythmic impulses at high rate of repetition, an accelerated scanning rate was obtained. The results can be interpreted as consequences of interference processes and as adaptational effects of internal processing rhythms.