Short-term memory processes in counting

Four experiments examined the memory processes used to maintain location in a counting sequence. In Experiment 1, subjects who rapidly counted forward omitted many repeated-digit numbers (e.g., 77), as found previously with backward counting. Subjects in Experiment 2 counted backward with normal auditory feedback or with headphones through which white noise was channeled. In both cases, repeated-digit errors predominated, suggesting that the contents of short-term memory, rather than auditory sensory memory, are checked during counting. In Experiment 3, subjects silently wrote counting responses, and the omission errors resembled those in vocal counting. Repetition errors were also found and attributed to phonological recoding failures. Articulatory suppression in Experiment 4 greatly increased the number of repetition errors in the written counting task. A model of the counting process was proposed according to which subjects keep track of their location in the counting sequence by monitoring phonologically coded short-term memory representations of the numbers.     

Psychoanalysis of the older patient

A small informal poll of local colleagues revealed that despite their interest in the subject, many had doubts about the possibility of analyzing persons aged sixty or over successfully. Their specific questions are collated and are offered as a sample of the questions in the minds of many analysts everywhere. Selected material from the ongoing analysis of a sixty-four-year-old patient is presented that bears on some of the questions raised. In addition, changes in the patient are noted. These are discussed in terms of changes in function, which are equated with structural change. The major thrust of the paper is that development continues throughout the life course, and that the criteria for analyzability remain constant. The chronological age of the adult by itself is not an indicator of eligibility or of suitability for psychoanalysis.     

Our Personal and Professional Lives: Learning Positive Connotation and Circular Questioning

The work of the Center for the Study of the Family in Milan has had wide influence. We describe its influence on us--the positive connotation of many car journeys, our self-training, and changes in how we view, and function in, our personal and professional lives.