Fetal brain tissue transplants reduce visual deficits in adult rats with bilateral lesions of the occipital cortex

Fetal brain tissue from the occipital or the frontal cortex was implanted into the damaged occipital cortex of adult rats. The animals receiving grafts of embryonic frontal cortex showed partial restoration of brightness discrimination while recipients given homologous implants of occipital cortex were as impaired as those animals with lesions alone. Neither frontal nor occipital grafts aided in the performance of a pattern discrimination problem; both groups of brain-damaged animals were unable to learn the task. Nonetheless, both groups of animals had viable and enlarged grafts with similar neuronal and glial profiles.     

What is to be done? future research on the assessment and behavioral treatment of sex offenders

Much progress has been made in the assessment and treatment of sexually aggressive men. There remains, however, a great deal of work to be done. Future research should move on three fronts simultaneously: the extension and refinement of assessment methods which will serve to discriminate sex offenders from other persons and different sorts of sex offenders from each other, the further development of, and comparison among, treatment techniques designed to change sex offenders on relevant dimensions, and long-term followups of sex offenders who have been treated with different methods. Basic research concerning not only sex offenders but also the development of human sexuality is also required for the formulation of a theory which will guide future research.     

The making of the group therapist: The role of experiential learning

The purpose of this paper is to review the necessary components of a comprehensive group therapy program. The balancing between the didactic and the experiential portions, and an analysis of the selection criteria, along with the rationale for a particular sequencing of elements in the curriculum, are discussed. A line between supervision and personal therapy is drawn. The author describes the milieu necessary for a successful training program to evolve and makes suggestions for improvements. The various experiential aspects of training are presented and critically evaluated. The training situation is examined from the point of view of the faculty, the trainee and the patients involved. The author marshalls evidence indicating that personal group psychotherapy in a patient group is the preferred form for most trainees for the experiential part of the program. The paper concludes that the sharing and cohesiveness of training philosophies and methods by the faculty is a prerequisite to the success of any training program.     

THE PHYSICS OF DAVID BOHM AND ITS RELEVANCE TO PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY

Abstract. The purpose of this paper is to analyze David Bohm's work in terms of physics, philosophy, and theology. First, I discuss the development of Bohm's thought since 1951. Then, using the methodology of Imre Lakatos, I evaluate the scientific status of his research program. Next, I explore the philosophical dimensions of Bohm's views in which realist and idealist, monist and dualist, contingent and determinist outlooks occur in creative tension. Finally, I suggest ways in which Bohm's ideas are relevant to theology through concepts of God and cosmos, beauty and purpose, grace and free will, church, self and evil.

The entire universe is basically a single, indivisible…but flexible and ever changing, unit (Bohm 1951, 140).

     

Metaphorical analysis and hermeneutical interpretation in analytical group psychotherapy

The principle of hermeneutical interpretation (i.e., the art and discipline of analyzing the symbols of sacred texts) is explained and applied to the analytical group situation. It is maintained that the approach employed by this methodology provides a viable manner for understanding patients' unconscious communications. In particular, the relationship between metaphorical communication and the hereand now therapeutic experience is discussed. It is argued that the unconscious manifests itself as a set of metaphorical expressions. The paper presents two clinical vignettes illustrating how this hermeneutical methodology can aid the therapist to read the unconscious meanings of such metaphors.     

The curative fantasy in group psychotherapy

The concept of a curative fantasy includes patient's conscious and unconscious hopes and expectations of what is necessary for their relief of suffering. On entering group psychotherapy these elements emerge in the treatment matrix. This paper describes how patients with significant deficits in their intrapsychic organization express their curative fantasies through the development of selfobject transferences. The concept illuminates aspects of patients entering and forming a group as well as some elements in unanticipated terminations.     

Suicide: Dynamics and Implications for Counseling

‘The authors discuss the dynamics of suicide, how to work with a potentially suicidal client in the counseling relationship, and legal and ethical implications for the counselor.     

Sexual responding of “nonrapists” to aggressive sexual themes: Normative data

The present study presents data relevant to the sexual responding to aggressive cues of a large sample of nonrapist males recruited from the community. Two hundred three subjects received physiological assessment of sexual arousal to heterosexual and rape stimuli. Results indicated that under instructions not to interfere with sexual responding, approximately 80% of the nonrapists would be correctly classified, which was significantly different from chance. However, under instructions to suppress arousal, classification was no better than chance. The rape index was not related to age, socioeconomic status, sexual experience, or amount of arousal shown in the laboratory. However, there was a small but significant relationship to IQ. Overall, the data suggest that for instructions not to interfere with responding, the error rate seen in this larger-scale sample was equivalent to that in previous studies using smaller normative samples and that classification in general is not biased by the subject characteristics measured in this study.Portions of this project were supported by USPHS Grant MH-34030-02 from the Center for the Studies of Crime and Delinquency and by Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation Research Contract ID-0783 to the Department of Psychiatry.     

The measurement of imagery ability

When variations in imagery ability are used to predict task performance, distinct and consistent relationships do not tend to emerge. A selective review of studies is undertaken to outline some basic reasons why individual difference measures of imagery are often so unsuccessful. Relevant studies concerning the learning and performance of motor skills are examined in some detail. It is concluded that the major problem in these studies is the types of imagery tests that have been employed; these tests have not adequately measured imagery ability. A recently developed instrument, the Movement Imagery Questionnaire, which has been designed to assess individual differences in visual and kinesthetic imagery of movement is discussed.