The edge of chaos: A nonlinear view of psychoanalytic technique

The field of nonlinear dynamics (or chaos theory) provides ways to expand concepts of psychoanalytic process that have implications for the technique of psychoanalysis. This paper describes how concepts of “the edge of chaos,” emergence, attractors, and coupled oscillators can help shape analytic technique resulting in an approach to doing analysis which is at the same time freer and more firmly based in an enlarged understanding of the ways in which psychoanalysis works than some current recommendation about technique. Illustrations from a lengthy analysis of an analysand with obsessive‐compulsive disorder show this approach in action.     

The cellular mechanisms of memory are modified by experience

The N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) is thought to be essential for synaptic plasticity and learning. However, recent work indicates that the role of this receptor depends on the prior history of the research subject. For example, animals trained on a hippocampus-dependent learning task are subsequently able to acquire new information in the absence of NMDAR activation. The current experiments were designed to identify the types of experiences that lead to NMDAR-independent learning. Using contextual fear conditioning in mice, we find that NMDAR-independent learning is only observed when (1) animals are trained on the same behavioral task and (2) initial learning is successfully encoded into long-term memory.     

Anticipating explanations in relative clause processing

We show that comprehenders’ expectations about upcoming discourse coherence relations influence the resolution of local structural ambiguity. We employ cases in which two clauses share both a syntactic relationship and a discourse relationship, and hence in which syntactic and discourse processing might be expected to interact. An off-line sentence-completion study and an on-line self-paced reading study examined readers’ expectations for high/low relative-clause attachments following implicit-causality and non-implicit causality verbs (John detests/babysits the children of the musician who…). In the off-line study, the widely reported low-attachment preference for English is observed in the non-implicit causality condition, but this preference gives way to more high attachments in the implicit-causality condition in cases in which (i) the verb’s causally implicated referent occupies the high-attachment position and (ii) the relative clause provides an explanation for the event described by the matrix clause (e.g., …who are arrogant and rude). In the on-line study, a similar preference for high attachment emerges in the implicit-causality context—crucially, before the occurrence of any linguistic evidence that the RC does in fact provide an explanation—whereas the low-attachment preference is consistent elsewhere. These findings constitute the first demonstration that expectations about ensuing discourse coherence relationships can elicit full reversals in syntactic attachment preferences, and that these discourse-level expectations can affect on-line disambiguation as rapidly as lexical and morphosyntactic cues.     

Co-regulation of movement speed and accuracy by children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure

The study investigated how children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure regulate movement speed and accuracy during goal-directed movements. 16 children ages 7 to 17 years with confirmed histories of heavy in utero alcohol exposure, and 21 nonalcohol-exposed control children completed a series of reciprocal tapping movements between two spatial targets. 5 different targets sets were presented, representing a range of task difficulty between 2 and 6 bits of information. Estimates of percent error rate, movement time, slope, and linear fit of the resulting curve confirmed that for goal-directed, reciprocal tapping responses, performance of the group with prenatal alcohol exposure was described by a linear function, as predicted by Fitts' law, by sacrificing movement accuracy. The index of performance was the same for the two groups: it initially increased, then leveled off for more difficult movements.     

A progress report on the inhibitory account of retrieval-induced forgetting

Remembering and forgetting reflect fundamentally interdependent processes in human memory (Bjork, 2011). This interdependency is particularly apparent in research on retrieval-induced forgetting, which has shown that retrieving a subset of information can cause the forgetting of other information (Anderson et al. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition 20:1063-1087, 1994). According to one prominent theoretical account, retrieval-induced forgetting is caused by an inhibitory process that acts to resolve competition during retrieval. Specifically, when cues activate competing, contextually inappropriate responses, those responses are claimed to be inhibited in order to facilitate the retrieval of target responses (Anderson Journal of Memory and Language 49: 415-445, 2003; Levy & Anderson Trends in Cognitive Sciences 6: 299-305, 2002; Storm, 2011b). Interest in retrieval-induced forgetting has grown steadily over the past two decades. In fact, a search of the abstracts at the 5th International Conference on Memory (ICOM, York University, 2011) revealed 40 presentations specifically mentioning "retrieval-induced forgetting," and nearly twice that number referring to the concept of inhibition. Clearly, researchers are interested in the empirical phenomenon of retrieval-induced forgetting, and inhibition is gaining increasing attention as a mechanism involved in memory. The goal of the present progress report is to critically review the inhibitory account of retrieval-induced forgetting and to provide direction so that future research can have a more meaningful impact on our understanding of human memory.     

Caller characteristics, call contents, and types of assistance provided by caller sex and age group in a Canadian Inuit crisis line in Nunavut, 1991-2001

Analysis of calls made to a northern Canadian Inuit crisis line in the territory of Nunavut between 1991 and 2001 revealed that the majority of users were adult females who called to discuss problems primarily related to relationships and loneliness/boredom. Younger callers tended to make prank calls. The volunteer staff used mostly empathetic listening and suggestions. Referral recommendations made were primarily to social services. Although some callers experienced a language barrier, others found the service to be helpful. Results suggest that the crisis line was underused by young Inuit males who represent a group that are most in need of crisis intervention.     

Social Dominance Orientation Relates to Believing Men Should Dominate Sexually, Sexual Self-Efficacy, and Taking Free Female Condoms Among Undergraduate Women and Men

Gendered-based power affects heterosexual relationships, with beliefs in the U.S. prescribing that men dominate women sexually. We draw on social dominance theory to examine whether women??s and men??s level of support for group-based hierarchy (i.e., social dominance orientation; SDO) helps explain gender-based power beliefs and dynamics in heterosexual relationships. We conducted a laboratory study at a Northeastern U.S. university among 357 women and 126 men undergraduates who reported being heterosexual and sexually active, testing three sets of hypotheses. First, as hypothesized, women endorsed SDO and the belief that men should dominate sexually less than men did. Second, as hypothesized, among women and men, SDO was positively correlated with the belief that men should dominate sexually, and negatively correlated with sexual self-efficacy (confidence in sexual situations) and number of female condoms (a woman-controlled source of protection) taken. Third, structural equation modeling, controlling for age, family income, number of sexual partners in the past month, and perceived HIV/AIDS risk, supported the hypothesis that among women and men, the belief that men should dominate sexually mediates SDO??s association with sexual self-efficacy. The hypothesis that the belief that men should dominate sexually mediates SDO??s association with number of female condoms taken was supported for women only. The hypothesis that sexual self-efficacy mediates SDO??s association with number of female condoms taken was not supported. Results suggest SDO influences power beliefs and dynamics in heterosexual relationships. Although female condoms are an important woman-controlled source of protection, power-related beliefs may pose a challenge to their use.     

What is la force in Simone Weil’s Iliad?

Weil’s essay on Homer’s Iliad contains a philosophical analysis of la force that divides it into two phenomena with one metaphysical ground. Her analysis is a corrective to misunderstandings of force as something that can be possessed. The first half of my elaboration of Weil’s analysis is devoted to the phenomena she identifies in relation to la force, which I call might. In the second half, I elaborate the varieties of misunderstanding of la force. First, might is an illusion sustained by the shared belief of those in submission to might. Second, forces, i.e. the material forces on which weaponry depends, cannot be possessed. Third, what lies behind material forces is necessity, a third meaning of la force, which functions as a superordinate or ultimate force to which everyone and everything is subject. Understanding the last of these is the corrective that Weil means to present.