SCENIC MEMORY OF THE SHOAH—“THE ADVENTURESOME LIFE OF ALFRED SILBERMANN”

This paper addresses the late psychosocial sequelae of extreme trauma and its impact on the Second Generation in Germany. The example of the short-term analysis of a Shoah survivor and his relationship to his son conducted in his home environment shows how psychic consequences of extreme traumatization and more particularly their unconscious transgenerational transmission to the Second Generation mainly take place as part of unconscious “scenes”. The concept of “scenic memory of the Shoah” goes beyond the classical type of transference.     

On the significance of Hannah Arendt's the human condition for sociology

Arendt's book is an analysis of the vita activa, which comprises the three human activities of labor, work, and action. Her presentation involves a critique of modern and current conceptions of them and of many other social phenomena, and an emphasis on distinctions customarily neglected. The interpretation of her book, disregarding the many factual statements it contains, proceeds in a theoretical vein, analyzing her major conceptions, and then turns practical, asking what we as social scientists who listen to her must do (focusing on “behavior” and “action”, “values”, the means‐end scheme, and man's historicity and dualism). The paper concludes with a brief explication of areas of research seen to emerge out of Arendt's work.     

A Theory-Based Treatment of Psychotic Symptoms in Schizophrenia: Treatment Successes and Obstacles to Implementation

This study investigated the use of the immediacy theory to explain the existence of auditory hallucinations and delusions in individuals with schizophrenia and to develop treatment strategies. In a 2-phase approach, a therapist trained 6 individuals with schizophrenia to stop responding to the immediate stimuli ostensibly evoking their symptoms and instead to respond to more remote stimuli unrelated to the problem behavior. Two other participants received nonspecific supportive psychotherapy to control for rater bias and to provide some comparison to the experimental treatment. Following 6 weeks of therapy, participants in the experimental group improved on 66% of the symptom measures. By contrast, participants in the control group improved on only 11% of the measures. The individuals in the experimental group retained some of these benefits during the follow-up period. The findings are discussed in light of several contributory factors.     

Memory and Executive Functions in Pediatric Chronic Kidney Disease

This study examined the memory and executive functioning of children and adolescents with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The sample included 20 children and adolescents with CKD ranging in age from 7.50 to 19.04 years (M = 13.41, SD = 3.20). Intellectual function for the group was within the low average to average range (M = 89.32, SD = 14.80). Of the participants with CKD, 12 were receiving maintenance dialysis therapy at the time of testing and 8 were managed with conservative therapy. Healthy controls were used as a comparison group (n = 18). This group ranged in age from 7.47 to 18.37 years (M = 12.93, SD = 2.90). Intellectual function was within the average range (M = 112.18, SD = 13.14). All subjects received a comprehensive battery of memory and executive function tasks as part of a larger neuropsychological evaluation. Preliminary examinations of the data revealed a significant difference between the groups in IQ, with the typical group being significantly higher than the CKD group. A multivariate analysis controlling for chronological age revealed significant group differences, with specific differences being noted in all of the memory functions, and the Initiation and Sustaining executive function domains. In all instances the CKD group performed lower than the typical group. The CKD group was particularly deficient in their initiation behaviors within the executive function domain. The groups did not differ on Set-Shifting or Inhibition. These findings remained present even when IQ and chronological age were controlled in the analyses, suggesting the possibility of specific encroachment of renal disease on memory and executive functions beyond the generalized effects of lower IQ. This study represents one of the most extensive examinations of memory and executive functions that has been conducted to date on children and adolescents with CKD. While pervasive dysfunction was not apparent in the children with CKD, they clearly appeared to be at risk for lower IQ as well as inefficiencies in key neurocognitive domains.     

Resistance can be good or bad: how theories of resistance and dissonance affect attitude certainty

This research investigated how lay theories about resisting persuasion can affect attitude certainty. Specifically, people who believed that resistance was negative (i.e., implies close-mindedness) showed different levels of attitude certainty after resisting persuasive messages than people who believed resistance was positive (i.e., implies intelligence). When people held positive lay theories of resistance and overcame ostensibly strong arguments, they showed increased attitude certainty (compared to those who overcame ostensibly weak arguments). However, individuals who believed that resistance was negative did not show increases in attitude certainty when overcoming strong arguments. Experiment 2 suggests that the effect of lay theories and perceived argument strength on attitude certainty was due to dissonance created by believing that resistance is undesirable but nonetheless resisting persuasion.     

Social reinforcement of somatic versus psychological description of depressive events

The cultural construction of illness model explains the clinical observation that psychological correlates of depression such as sadness and worthlessness are frequently reported in Western cultures, whereas somatic or vegetative complaints are often associated with depression in non-Western cultures. This study employed Portnoy and Salzinger's (J. Gen. Psychol. 70 (1964) 311) verbal conditioning paradigm to determine whether social contingencies, in the form of verbal and non-verbal reinforcement contingent upon verbal responses, affect the reporting of experiences related to depressive events. Using an ABA design, this experimental study (N=36) demonstrated that one's reporting of experiences of hypothetical depressive events, via psychological, somatic, or neutral verbal response classes, can be conditioned by verbal and non-verbal positive social reinforcement, and therefore socially constructed through environmental contingencies. This suggests one pathway by which culture can shape symptom presentation. Implications for clinical interviewing and behavioral assessment, especially in the cross-cultural context, are discussed.     

Investigating linear and interactive effects of shared mental models on safety and efficiency in a field setting

Linkages between 2 types of shared mental models (SMMs)--that is, positional-goal interdependencies and cue-strategy associations--and effectiveness in an air traffic control environment were investigated. Two types of SMMs were expected to contribute uniquely, as well as interact, to predict tower safety and efficiency. Using SMM data from 306 air traffic controllers, and corresponding archival efficiency and safety measures for 47 airports, the authors found no significant linear relationships between SMMs and either outcome measure. However, the 2 SMMs interacted with one another to predict both outcomes. Results are discussed in terms of the importance of measuring multiple types of SMMs, the examination of complex relationships, and the importance of indexing decisions.     

The Corporeal Order of Things: The <Emphasis Type="Italic">Spiel</Emphasis> of Usability

Things make sense to us. The identity of a thing is a meaningful style that expresses the usability of the thing. The usability is a dynamic order of the praxis in which the thing is embedded and in which we are ourselves de-centered. According to Merleau-Ponty, this sociocultural and psychosocial order is a formation of practical understanding and interpretation that rests upon and resumes the elementary, perceptual-expressive structuring of being. The Spiel is one of the three dimensions of corporeal intentionality, in which this entire organization of meaning and experience unfolds. So, the Spiel of usability is a corporeal and practical intentionality that reaches from an aesthetic-ontological structuring of meaning to the order of the things in modern everyday praxes.