Facial identity and facial expression matching in 5–12‐year‐old children and adults

Facial identity and facial expression matching tasks were completed by 5–12‐year‐old children and adults using stimuli extracted from the same set of normalized faces. Configural and feature processing were examined using speed and accuracy of responding and facial feature selection, respectively. Facial identity matching was slower than face expression matching for all age groups. Large age effects were found on both speed and accuracy of responding and feature use in both identity and expression matching tasks. Eye region preference was found on the facial identity task and mouth region preference on the facial expression task. Use of mouth region information for facial expression matching increased with age, whereas use of eye region information for facial identity matching peaked early. The feature use information suggests that the specific use of primary facial features to arrive at identity and emotion matching judgments matures across middle childhood. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Eavesdropping on social life: The accuracy of stranger ratings of daily behavior from thin slices of natural conversations

In two studies the authors examined the accuracy of stranger ratings of daily behavior based on thin slices of natural conversations. Methodologically, the studies extend past research by using a behavioral accuracy criterion, benchmarking zero-acquaintance accuracy against target and informant accuracy, and employing a representative design that sampled contexts from targets’ daily situations. Theoretically, the studies investigate how stereotypes influence the accuracy of first impressions depending on their sample-based validity. Across both studies, after listening to five conversational snippets (2.5 min total), the ratings of strangers were as accurate as the targets’ and informants’ ratings. Further, ratings for gender-stereotypic behaviors with a kernel of truth resulted in greater initial accuracy than ratings for gender-stereotypic behaviors with no kernel of truth.     

Are Some Psychotherapies Much More Effective Than Others?

In a previous paper we had reported on the examination of comparisons of 18 metaanalyses of active treatments with each other (Luborsky, Rosenthal, Diguer, et al., 2001). These metaanalyses gave a small and nonsignificant mean level of difference between types of treatments. The smallness of this correlation confirms Rosenzweig's (1936) expectation that because of the large overlap in effective ingredients of different psychotherapies, comparative studies of psychotherapies would show little difference. Such a comparison that includes psychoanalyses seems a long way off, but if outcomes of psychoanalyses are defined similarly to those in the other psychotherapies, the expected differences in outcomes may also be small.     

Exemplary Counseling Strategies for Developmental Transitions of Young Women With Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

This article is intended to provide rehabilitation, career, and mental health counselors with an understanding of how attentional impairments are manifested in young women and how professional counselors may help them most effectively. Treatment guidelines and recommendations are presented for working with these young women through the developmental transition years of adolescence and young adulthood.     

Autism and 15q11-q13 disorders: behavioral, genetic, and pathophysiological issues

New insights into biological factors that underlie autism may be gained by comparing autism to other neurodevelopmental disorders that have autistic features and relatively well-delineated genetic etiologies or neurobiological findings. This review moves beyond global diagnoses of autism and instead uses an endophenotypic approach to compare specific clusters of autistic symptomatology to features of chromosome 15q11-q13 disorders. Paternally or maternally derived deficiencies of 15q11-q13 result in Prader-Willi or Angelman syndromes, and we first use a global approach to review potential autism susceptibility genes in the 15q11-q13 region. We then use a more trait-based approach to suggest possible ties between specific phenotypic characteristics of autism and Prader-Willi syndrome, namely savant-like skills. We conclude with insights from pathophysiological studies that implicate altered development of specific neuron types and circuits in the cerebral cortex as part of the pathophysiological processes associated with autism and mental retardation.     

The Misunderstood Gender: A Model of Modern Femme Identity

Femme identity remains a highly controversial topic. It has been maligned in both heterosexual and queer contexts, and is rarely represented in empirical literature. In this study we examined how femme women experience their own gender identity. Interviews were conducted with femme-identified lesbians; the focus was upon 4 content areas: identity development, experiences in the lesbian community, heterosexual society, and romantic relationships. The interviews were analyzed using Grounded Theory (B. J. Glaser & A. Strauss, 1967), an empirical method of generating models of subjective phenomena. The core category in this model Maintaining integrity: Upholding beliefs about sexual desire and gender representation reflects the need to uphold their sense of integrity across a variety of contexts by confronting stereotypes about both women and lesbians.     

The Role for Occupational Therapists in Community Mobility Training for People With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Symptoms and behaviors of Autism Spectrum Disorders can challenge community mobility, thus hindering independence and participation in occupation. Community mobility, also called travel training, helps people make journeys safely using public transportation, enabling engagement in activities/services otherwise unavailable. Yet, few articles have been written about this topic for people with Autism Spectrum Disorders. The purpose of the authors in this article is to: (1) explain the need for travel training with people diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders; (2) describe specific travel training assessments; (3) review literature on travel training programs; and (4) define a role for occupational therapy in travel training with individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders.     

Commentary on Paper by Ellen F. Fries

In Perchance to Sleep: Minding the Unworded Body in Psychoanalysis, Ellen F. Fries masterfully articulates the complexities of right-brain to right-brain, body-to-body interactions between herself and her patient. Her work highlights the dominance of the nonverbal implicit self over the verbal, explicit self and provides an excellent example of clinical work in which she thoughtfully attends to the unspoken, bodily based communication that takes place within the therapeutic dyad. In this discussion, I offer perspectives from Sensorimotor Psychotherapy on the impact of early attachment on the procedural organization of action sequences that reflect and sustain the implicit self, and embody unconscious relational expectations. The following topics are addressed: (a) Physical actions that provide avenues of exploration into the implicit self, especially actions such as reaching out, making eye contact, or maintaining an upright posture that are abandoned or distorted when they are ineffective in eliciting the desired response from attachment figures; (b) Body-oriented interventions that target the involuntary physical spasms that Fries' patient experiences, which are associated with unresolved physiological arousal originally stimulated in the face of trauma; and (c) The nonverbal manifestation and negotiation of enactments that emerge from the body-to-body dialogue between the implicit selves of patient and therapist.     

Narcissism in the modern world

Narcissism has been around since the time of Ovid more than 2000?years ago and the concept has long been a source of study, intrigue, fascination and literature both within and beyond the psychoanalytic community. While Narcissistic Personality Disorder remains a severe and fairly rare clinically diagnosed condition, sub-clinical narcissism or narcissistic traits have reached epidemic proportions with serious consequences. Ever increasing levels of greed, self-obsession, superficial relationships, arrogance and vanity are everywhere apparent and not making us any happier, with common mental health problems on the increase, especially among the young. Seemingly irreversible alterations to family life, technological development – including social media, attitudes to death and dying and celebrity worship, all feature in the rise of our narcissistic society and are interconnected trends. Group greed and grandiosity, as in the world of banking, have led to wide-scale corruption and cover-ups leaving us vulnerable and unable to place our trust in many organisations. Perhaps most sinister of all is our attitude to the planet that supports us, as we play a part in the destruction of much of the environment and many of the species that share the earth with us. Looking at the literature of narcissism, the aim of this paper is to consider ways in which cultural changes have brought about this huge rise in both individual and group egotism. We are seeing many more clients high on the narcissistic spectrum but consideration will be given to the narcissism of the therapist and the impact of the therapist’s narcissism on the client. We live in difficult times and cannot step outside our culture but there are ways of countering our narcissism and helping our clients to do the same. Having compassion for one’s self and recognising how ordinary we really are make for a good start.