Sex-related effects on clinicians' attributions of parental responsibility for child psychopathology

An attempt was made to reproduce and extend previously reported data suggesting the operation of sex-related bias in clinicians' attributions of parental involvement in children's psychopathologies. More and less sex-role traditional male and female family-oriented practitioners were shown contrived profiles in which a boy or girl was described as masculine or feminine role-deficient, and apportioned maternal versus paternal blame, treatment focus, adjunctive therapy need, and likelihood of sabotage. As in the previous study, mothers were implicated slightly more than fathers and also were viewed as requiring relatively greater therapeutic attention by female than by male clinicians. However, several earlier findings were not replicated. Overall, the results offer only marginal support for the notion of sex-related practitioner bias.     

Spontaneous emotion regulation during evaluated speaking tasks: associations with negative affect, anxiety expression, memory, and physiological responding

In these studies, the correlates of spontaneously using expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal during stressful speeches were examined. Spontaneous emotion regulation means that there were no instructions of how to regulate emotions during the speech. Instead, participants indicated after the speech to what extent they used self-motivated expressive suppression or reappraisal during the task. The results show that suppression is associated with less anxiety expression, greater physiological responding, and less memory for the speech while having no impact on negative affect. In contrast, reappraisal has no impact on physiology and memory while leading to less expression and affect. Taken together, spontaneous emotion regulation in active coping tasks has similar consequences as experimentally induced emotion regulation in passive tasks.     

The future is now: prospective temporal self-appraisals among defensive pessimists and optimists

Three studies found that prospective temporal self-appraisals can be part of defensive pessimists' strategy; they felt closer to equally distant negative than positive futures. In Study 1, defensive pessimists felt closer to future failures and reported more negative affect than those considering success. In Study 2, when manipulated negative futures were close, defensive pessimists felt bad and performed well; results suggested that viewing negative futures as close may be part of their natural strategy. Study 3 found that prospective self-appraisals influenced performances through felt preparation. Optimists did not use prospective self-appraisals (Study 1) and their performances were unaffected by manipulated temporal distance (Studies 2 and 3). Discussion centers on prospective self-appraisals and multiple strategies of defensive pessimists.     

Racism: What It Is and What It Isn't

The words `racist' and `racism' have become so overused that they nowconstitute obstacles to understanding and interracial dialogue aboutracial matters. Instead of the current practice of referring tovirtually anything that goes wrong or amiss with respect to race as`racism,' we should recognize a much broader moral vocabulary forcharacterizing racial ills – racial insensitivity, racial ignorance,racial injustice, racial discomfort, racial exclusion. At the sametime, we should fix on a definition of `racism' that is continuouswith its historical usage, and avoids conceptual inflation. Isuggest two basic, and distinct, forms of racism that meet thiscondition – antipathy racism and inferiorizing racism. We should alsorecognize that not all racially objectionable actions are done froma racist motive, and that not all racial stereotypes are racist.     

Marital History and Current Marital Satisfaction in Chronic Depression

Marital functioning is an important consideration in the treatment of depression. Although there are several studies of the marriages of depressed individuals, there is little data on the marital lives of those with chronic depression. In this article, we compare the marital history and marital satisfaction in a sample of carefully diagnosed outpatients with chronic depression compared to those with nonchronic depression. The groups were similar in terms of a history of divorce and for the percentage who had ever been married. However, the chronic group had significantly lower levels of marital satisfaction. Increased attention to marital functioning in this group may be beneficial during treatment.     

Visual speech information for face recognition

Two experiments test whether isolated visible speech movements can be used for face matching. Visible speech information was isolated with a point-light methodology. Participants were asked to match articulating point-light faces to a fully illuminated articulating face in an XAB task. The first experiment tested single-frame static face stimuli as a control. The results revealed that the participants were significantly better at matching the dynamic face stimuli than the static ones. Experiment 2 tested whether the observed dynamic advantage was based on the movement itself or on the fact that the dynamic stimuli consisted of many more static and ordered frames. For this purpose, frame rate was reduced, and the frames were shown in a random order, a correct order with incorrect relative timing, or a correct order with correct relative timing. The results revealed better matching performance with the correctly ordered and timed frame stimuli, suggesting that matches were based on the actual movement itself. These findings suggest that speaker-specific visible articulatory style can provide information for face matching.     

Speech treatment and support group experiences of people who participate in the National Stuttering Association

Support groups are rapidly becoming an important part of the recovery process for many people who stutter, and a growing number of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are encouraging their clients to participate in support groups. At present, however, little is known about the individuals who join stuttering support groups and the benefits they derive from their participation. This study surveyed members of the National Stuttering Association (NSA) to learn about their experiences in support groups, as well as their experiences in speech therapy. Respondents were 71 people who attended the 1999 NSA conference in Tacoma, WA. The majority of respondents had participated in treatment several times during their lives, using a variety of techniques. Respondents who had participated in fluency-shaping treatments were more likely to report that they had experienced a relapse than those who had participated in stuttering modification or combined treatments. Also, there was a strong positive correlation between respondents' satisfaction with treatment and their judgments of clinicians' competence, suggesting that improved training for SLPs should lead to improved treatment for people who stutter. Results will be used to provide a foundation for further evaluations of the benefits of support group participation for people who stutter. EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES: The reader will learn (a) that many people who participate in the NSA have had numerous and varied experiences with speech treatment throughout their lives, (b) which aspects of treatment and support group participation are seen as most beneficial for people who participate in the NSA.     

Regularities of source recognition: ROC analysis

Source memory has become the focus of a growing number of investigations in a variety of fields. An appropriate model for source memory is, therefore, of increasing importance. A simple 2-dimensional signal-detection model of source recognition is presented. The receiver operating characteristics (ROCs) obtained from 3 experiments are then used to test the model. The data demonstrate 3 regularities: convex ROCs, z-ROCs with linear slopes of 1.00, and slightly concave z-ROCs. Two of these regularities support the model. The 3rd requires a revision of the model. This revised model is fitted to the data. The implications of these regularities for other theories are also discussed.     

Bion’s discovery of alpha function: Thinking under fire on the battlefield and in the consulting room

This paper has traced Bion’s discovery of alpha function and its subsequent elaboration. His traumatic experiences as a young tank commander in World War I (overlaid on, and intertwined with, childhood conflicts) gave him firsthand exposure to very painful emotions that tested his capacity to manage. Later, in the 1950s, after his analysis with Melanie Klein and marriage to Francesca Bion, he undertook the analysis of psychotic patients and learned how they disassembled their ability to know reality as a defense against unbearable emotional truths in their lives. This led Bion to identify an aspect of dreaming that was necessary in order for reality experience to be given personal meaning so that one may learn from experience. Simultaneous with working out this new theory of dreaming, Bion also revisited his World War I experiences that had remained undigested and all these elements coalesced into a selected fact – his discovery of alpha function. In subsequent writings, Bion explored the constituent factors of alpha function, including the container/contained relationship, the PS?D balance, reverie, tolerated doubt and other factors which I have termed the ‘Constellation for Thinking’.