The Vasarhelyi method of child art psychotherapy: an adjunctive treatment in childhood depression

We describe the use of child art psychotherapy (CAP) following the Vasarhelyi method in an 11-year-old female with a history of anxiety and depression which limited her capacity to attend school and in a 15-year-old male who had a history of depressive symptoms with suicidal thinking. In each case, the use of other therapies such as cognitive behaviour therapy was not possible or unsuccessful. Through the creation of images, each young person revealed concerns which had not been previously verbalised, and recovery was linked in time to the revelation of these worries. We propose the use of the Vasarhelyi method of CAP as an adjunctive treatment of depression in young people.     

Micro-analysis of infant looking in a naturalistic social setting: insights from biologically based models of attention

A current theory of attention posits that several micro-indices of attentional vigilance are dependent on activation of the locus coeruleus, a brainstem nucleus that regulates cortical norepinephrine activity (Aston-Jones et al., 1999). This theory may account for many findings in the infant literature, while highlighting important new areas for research and theory on infant attention. We examined the visual behaviors of n = 16 infants (6-7 months) while they attended to multiple spatially distributed targets in a naturalistic environment. We coded four measures of attentional vigilance, adapted from studies of norepinergic modulation of animal attention: rate of fixations, duration of fixations, latency to reorientation, and target 'hits'. These measures showed a high degree of coherence in individual infants, in parallel with findings from animal studies. Results also suggest that less vigilant infants showed greater habituation to the trial structure and more attentiveness to less salient stimuli during periods of high attentional competition. This pattern of results is predicted by the Aston-Jones model of attention, but could not be explained by the standard information processing model.     

Gaze following: why (not) learn it?

We propose a computational model of the emergence of gaze following skills in infant-caregiver interactions. The model is based on the idea that infants learn that monitoring their caregiver's direction of gaze allows them to predict the locations of interesting objects or events in their environment (Moore & Corkum, 1994). Elaborating on this theory, we demonstrate that a specific Basic Set of structures and mechanisms is sufficient for gaze following to emerge. This Basic Set includes the infant's perceptual skills and preferences, habituation and reward-driven learning, and a structured social environment featuring a caregiver who tends to look at things the infant will find interesting. We review evidence that all elements of the Basic Set are established well before the relevant gaze following skills emerge. We evaluate the model in a series of simulations and show that it can account for typical development. We also demonstrate that plausible alterations of model parameters, motivated by findings on two different developmental disorders - autism and Williams syndrome - produce delays or deficits in the emergence of gaze following. The model makes a number of testable predictions. In addition, it opens a new perspective for theorizing about cross-species differences in gaze following.     

Is perseveration caused by inhibition failure? Evidence from preschool children's inferences about word meanings

Four studies examined the relation between children's cognitive inhibition and flexibility in a lexical inference task. Children's linguistic flexibility was assessed by the Flexible Induction of Meaning (FIM) test (Deák, 2000a), which requires that children shift inferences about the meanings of several words for novel objects. In Study 1, 54 3-year-olds either were trained between blocks of problems, for a delay of 3 min, or received no training or delay. Training delays did not influence perseveration. In Study 2 (N=72 3- and 4-year-olds') novel word problems were grouped either to increase the frequency of cue switches (i.e., reduce response "set") or minimize the interval between problems about the same objects. Again, no effect was found. In Study 3, 48 3- and 4-year-olds completed 6 preliminary trials; in a high interference group these trials generated a response set to be inhibited upon the first switch to a new cue context. This group did not perseverate more than a control group. There was no association between FIM perseveration and a Stroop-like test of verbal inhibition though both were marginally related to receptive vocabulary. In study 4 (48 3- and 4-year-olds), FIM was again unrelated to Stroop performance, but was related to the ability to tell whether a situation or problem is indeterminate. Thus, flexibility across semantic inferences is not influenced by timing, order, and number of pre-switch problems and is not predicted by individual differences in a test of verbal inhibition. However previously reported age and individual differences in flexible induction of word meanings are robust and related to vocabulary and logical ability.     

Book reviews

Wertewandel und Religiose Umbruche [Religionen im Gesprach, 4]. Reinhard Kirste, Paul Schwarzenau, Udo Tworuschka (Eds), 1996. Balve, Zimmermann Druck und Verlag 671 pp., ISBN 3 89053 061 3

Jesus and the Other Names: Christian mission and global responsibility. Paul F. Knitter, 1996. Oxford, Oneworld. 193 pp., pb. £14.99, ISBN 1 85168 125 6

Marcion, Muhammad and the Mahatma. Heikki RAis Anen, 1997. London, SCM Press. xi + 293 pp., pb. £14.95, ISBN 0 334 02693

Medieval Christian Perceptions of Islam. John Victor Tolan (Ed.), 1996. New York and London, Garland Publishing. xxi + 414pp., hb., ISBN 0 8153 1426 4

Islamic Legal Interpretation: Muftis and their fatwas. Muhammad K. Masud, Brinkley Messick & David S. Powers (Eds), 1996. Cambridge, M, and London, Harvard University Press. 431 pp., hb. £29.95, ISBN 0 674 46870 8

The Fatimids and their Traditions of Learning. Heinz Halm, 1997. London, I.B. Tauris. xv + 112 pp., hb. £25.00, ISBN 1 85043 920 6.

Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood. Fatima Mernissi, 1994. Reading, MA, Addison‐Wesley. 242 pp., pb. ISBN 0 201 62649 7

Intellectual Origins of Islamic Resurgence in the Modern Arab World. Ibrahim M. Abu‐Rabi, 1996. Albany, NY, State University of New York Press. 370 pp., pb. $19.95, ISBN 0 7914 2664 5

The Islamic Middle East: an historical anthropology. Charles Lindholm, 1996. Oxford, Blackwell. 324 pp. pb. £14.99, ISBN 1 55786 421 7

Hizb'Allah in Lebanon: the politics of the Western hostage crisis. Magnus Ranstorp, 1997. London, Macmillan. xvi + 257pp., pb. £15.99, ISBN 0 333 68401 X

Hezbollah: born with a vengeance. Hala Jaber, 1997. London, Fourth Estate. xvi + 240pp., hb. £16.99, ISBN 1 85702 381 1.

Lebanon on Hold: implications for Middle East peace. Rosemary Hoixis & Nadim Shehadi (Eds), 1996. London, The Royal Institute of International Affairs. 94 pp. pb, ISBN 1 86203 020 0

African Muslims in Antebellum America: transatlantic stories and spiritual struggles.. Aixan D. Austin, 1997. New York/London, Routledge. 194 pp., pb. £13.99, ISBN 0 415 91270 9

The Crown and the Turban: Muslims and West African pluralism. Lamin Sanneh, 1997. Boulder, CO, Westview Press. 290 pp., pb. np, ISBN 0 8133 3059 9

Legacy of a Divided Nation: India's Muslims since Independence. Mushirul Hasan, 1997. London, C. Hurst. xv+ 383 pp., hb, £35, ISBN 1 85065 234 1; pb. £14.95, ISBN 1 85065 304 6

A Dictionary of Indonesian Islam. Howard M. Federspiel, 1995. Athens, OH, Ohio University. 297 pp. pb. $25.00, ISBN 0 89680 182 9     

Being human,more or less

Robert G. Woodhouse Memorial Philosophy Lecture, Rockland Community College of the State University of New York, Tuesday, 1 December 1992.     

Matching and naming objects by shape or function: age and context effects in preschool children

Three experiments tested preschoolers' use of abstract principles to classify and label objects by shape or function. Three- and 4-year-olds were instructed to match objects by shape or function. Four-year-olds readily adopted either rule, but 3-year-olds followed only the shape rule. Without a rule, 4-year-olds tended to match by shape unless object function was shown during matching (Experiment 2). Three-year-olds' ability to use a function rule was tested in several conditions (re-presenting functions; reminders to "use the rule"; repeating rule on every trial). None induced consistent function matching (Experiment 3). Supplemental memory and verbal tasks showed that 3-year-olds have trouble using function as an abstract basis of comparison. Naming data, however, show that preschoolers are learning that object labels are based on function. The results show preschoolers' growing flexibility in adopting abstract generalization rules and growing knowledge of conventions for extending words.     

Moments of empowerment: A qualitative analysis of positively experienced episodes in brief person‐centred counselling

38 positively experienced episodes in brief person‐centred counselling with six clients were analysed. The Interpersonal Process Recall (IPR) method was used as the prime research tool. Clients were asked to identify positively experienced moments in the counselling session during a post‐session review interview. Clients and counsellors were invited to report on the feelings, perceptions and intentions they recalled experiencing during these moments. Three analyses were used to categorise the meaning and feeling quality of these moments, and a taxonomy of types of positively experienced episodes was also created. The most frequently reported positive client experiences were associated with empowerment, safety and insight. Other significant themes emerging from the analysis included: freedom in the relationship, shortcomings of the relationship, assurance of the relationship, unfolding of the client's personal meaning, and the importance of the counsellor's presence. Taxonomy of episodes revealed nine categories: four of them focused on the strengthening of the therapeutic relationship, and five focused on the empowerment of the client's self. These findings are discussed, and implications for theory and practice explored.