Infants attend to second-order relational properties of faces

Two experiments investigated whether 7-month-old infants attend to the spatial distance measurements relating internal features of the human face. A visual preference paradigm was used, in which two versions of the same female face (one either lengthened or shortened, and one nonmodified) were presented simultaneously. In Experiment 1, infants looked longer at the nonmodified faces, which were determined to match the average distance relationships found in a sample of faces drawn from the same population. Longer looking times for modified faces were found in Experiment 2, in which the nonmodified faces were unusually long and the modified faces conformed to average distance measurements. It is proposed that infants’ attention to the spatial relations of internal face features is an optimal tool for lifelong face recognition.     

Reviews

The Spirit of Solzhenitsyn by Olivier Clément, Search Press, 1976, 234 pp., £5.95.

Protestants in Russia by J. A. Hebly, Christian Journals Ltd., 1976, 192 pp., £1.50.

USSR ‐ Democratic Alternatives

(A collection of Essays & Documents) edited by Vadim Belotserkovsky, Achberger Verlaganstalt, 1976, 335 pp. No price.     

Reviews

Land of Crosses: The Struggle for Religious Freedom in Lithuania, 1939–1978 by Michael Bourdeaux, Augustine Publishing Company, Chulmleigh, Devon, 1977, xx+ 339 pp., £3.00. (Keston Book No. 12).

The Catholic Church, Dissent and Nationality in Soviet Lithuania by V. Stanley Vardys, East European Quarterly, Boulder, distributed by Columbia University Press, New York, 1978 xiii + 336 pp., $22.50.

Muslim National Communism in the Soviet Union: a Revolutionary Strategy for the Colonial World by Alexandre A. Bennigsen and S. Enders Wimbush, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Publication No. 11, University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1979, xxii + 267 pp., $7.95.

The Unknown Homeland translated by Marite Sapiets, Mowbrays, London and Oxford, 1978, vii+ 247 pp., £4.95 (Keston Book No. 13)

Detente and Papal‐Communist Relations, 1962–1978 by Dennis J. Dunn, Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado, 1979, 216 pp., £12.15.     

BOOK REVIEWS

Crisis resolution and home treatment teams (CRHT) are integral to acute psychiatric services. This survey quantifies staff burnout using the MBI-HSS (Maslach Burnout Inventory) and notes sources of stress and satisfaction before (2012) and after (2013) service transformation of a CRHT in Leeds into a single point of access, with home treatment devolved to community teams. Moderate to high Burnout scores were observed over the study period, with a rise in the mean depersonalisation score from 5.8 to 7.2 over the study period. Contact with colleagues; work with patients and variety of work emerged as rewarding while themes of suicide and violence were most linked with stress, with clinicians reporting self-doubt in the face of difficult clinical decisions. Clinicians positively rated a weekly psychoanalytic reflective practice group. A pictorial representation of qualitative results uses psychoanalytic theory inconceptualising ‘skins’ around various aspects of the clinical setting, which then become semipermeable in response to a patient in crisis when clinicians feel poorly supported by the changing organisation.     

Mirror mirror on the ward: who is the unfairest of them all? Reflections on reflective practice groups in acute psychiatric settings

Consultant psychiatrists in medical psychotherapy, adult psychotherapists, child and adolescent psychotherapists and clinical psychologists increasingly complement their direct therapeutic activity with applications of their psychotherapeutic thinking in acute mental health work through facilitating reflective practice groups for staff working in mental health teams. The authors offer their reflections on facilitating National Health Service reflective practice groups using the metaphor of a mirrored dialogue between patient and professional, and professional and institution as a basis for informing the development of reflective practice for colleagues. Their reflections are based on working on three acute in-patient wards, in a crisis resolution team and in community mental health teams. They describe the practicalities of setting up and facilitating reflective practice groups, and offer insights into some of the issues that arise in reflective practice groups. They conclude that these groups are mutually beneficial in forging links between psychotherapy professionals and professionals working in other disciplines and areas of mental health. Facilitating these groups often requires a challenging adaptation of technique, which will not suit all psychotherapists, as well as a wider understanding of organisational dynamics and the interplay between clinicians and management.     

Something Old, Something New: Evidence of Self-Accommodation to Gendered Social Change

Two studies examined how individuals adapt the self to social trends—in particular, when the social roles of the gender ingroup change, do people readily leave behind traditional roles in favor of nontraditional roles? We hypothesized that self-relevant cognitions and behaviors would accommodate to societal change, and we found that this accommodation took the shape of greater acceptance of nontraditional roles alongside continued acceptance of traditional roles. Experiment 1 included 112 undergraduates from the Midwestern U.S. who learned about social change or social stability by reading articles ostensibly published in a newspaper. Individuals who learned about social change for their gender ingroup, relative to those learning about social stability, projected greater personal success in careers, particularly for gender-nontraditional careers. Experiment 2 examined behavioral responses to social change in a sample of 198 female undergraduates from the Midwestern U.S. Participants learned about social change or social stability and then chose to view either a website focused on physical appearance (i.e., traditional choice) or leadership (i.e., nontraditional choice). Behavioral responses to social change reflected accommodation to the anticipated social structure: Individuals who learned about social change chose to view information about nontraditional rather than traditional roles. These studies provide initial experimental evidence investigating how individuals adapt the self to the social structure.     

Lessons In The Psychology Of Loss: Accounts Of Middle-Aged Romanian Women

Abstract

In studying loss, it is important to develop a cross-cultural, interdisciplinary approach that is concerned with the historical, cultural, and social contexts in which loss occurs. However, the Western field of psychology is less well informed about the experiences and perspectives of loss across various cultures. Many countries in the contemporary world are seeking greater participation in the international community and control over their destinies. The related cultural, political, and social developments are commanding a need for heightened awareness and understanding of ethnic variations in dealing with the social change phenomenon and the psychology of loss.     

Judgment and the identity theory of truth

The identity theory of truth takes on different forms depending on whether it is combined with a dual relation or a multiple relation theory of judgment. This paper argues that there are two significant problems for the dual relation identity theorist regarding thought’s answerability to reality, neither of which takes a grip on the multiple relation identity theory.     

Matching as an index of face familiarity

An experiment is reported which explores a method of assessing familiarity that does not rely on the overt recognition or identification of faces. Earlier findings (Clutterbuck & Johnston, 2002; Young, Hay, McWeeny, Flude, & Ellis, 1985) have shown that familiar faces can be matched faster on their internal features than unfamiliar faces. This study examines whether familiarization in the form of repeated exposure to novel faces over a 2 day period can facilitate internal feature match performance. Participants viewed each of a set of unfamiliar faces for 1 min in total. At test on the second day previously familiar (famous) faces were matched faster than unfamiliar and familiarized faces. However the familiarized faces were matched faster than the unfamiliar faces. We discuss the use of this task as a means of accessing a measure of familiarity formation and as a means of tracking how faces become familiar.