Indikation zu Psychoanalyse und analytischer Psychotherapie

Based on the diagnostic process in the initial interview, which is an intersubjective encounter, the various developmental steps for establishment of the indications for psychoanalysis are presented. Freud and his followers, who were initially oriented to the psychiatric diagnosis, were later oriented to the criteria of approachability, analysability and in particular on the aptitude for psychoanalysis. The criterion of aptitude was not only elaborated from the perspective of Ego psychology but was also relevant for all high frequency non-terminated psychoanalyses which followed the basic psychoanalytical principles of “afocality”. This has so far characterized the standard procedure of all psychoanalytic schools. Due to the experiences of psychoanalysts with early disturbed, structurally Ego-disturbed neuroses and personality disorders, the extent of lability of the mental structure and by turning to countertransference analysis, the person of the psychoanalyst become more important for the assessment of the indications. In Germany the integration of psychotherapy, which is financially supported by healthcare insurance, ultimately leads to differential indication assessments between high frequency psychoanalysis or analytical psychotherapy, modified psychoanalytical psychotherapy and less frequent psychodynamic procedures.     

Dividing Attention Between Tasks: Testing Whether Explicit Payoff Functions Elicit Optimal Dual‐Task Performance

We test people's ability to optimize performance across two concurrent tasks. Participants performed a number entry task while controlling a randomly moving cursor with a joystick. Participants received explicit feedback on their performance on these tasks in the form of a single combined score. This payoff function was varied between conditions to change the value of one task relative to the other. We found that participants adapted their strategy for interleaving the two tasks, by varying how long they spent on one task before switching to the other, in order to achieve the near maximum payoff available in each condition. In a second experiment, we show that this behavior is learned quickly (within 2–3 min over several discrete trials) and remained stable for as long as the payoff function did not change. The results of this work show that people are adaptive and flexible in how they prioritize and allocate attention in a dual‐task setting. However, it also demonstrates some of the limits regarding people's ability to optimize payoff functions.     

A word-order constraint on phonological activation

Word-order rules impose major constraints on linguistic behavior. For example, adjectives appear before nouns in English, and after nouns in French. This means that constraints on word order must be language-specific properties upheld on-line by the language system. Despite the importance of these rules, little is known about how they operate. We report an influence of word order on the activation of phonological representations. Participants were presented with colored objects and asked to name either the colors or the objects; the phonological similarity between the object and color names was manipulated. French speakers showed a phonological congruency effect in color naming, but not in object naming. English participants yielded the opposite pattern: a phonological effect in object naming, but not in color naming. Differences in the typical order of nouns and adjectives in French and English provide a plausible account for this cross-linguistic contrast. More generally, these results provide direct evidence for the operation of word-order constraints during language production.     

Low ranks make the difference: How achievement goals and ranking information affect cooperation intentions

This investigation tested the joint effect of achievement goals and ranking information on information exchange intentions with a commensurate exchange partner. Results showed that individuals with performance goals were less inclined to cooperate with an exchange partner when they had low or high ranks, relative to when they had intermediate ranks. In contrast, mastery goal individuals showed weaker cooperation intentions when their ranks were higher. Moreover, participants’ reciprocity orientation was found to mediate this interaction effect of achievement goals and ranking information. These findings suggest that mastery goals are more beneficial for exchange relationships than performance goals in terms of stronger reciprocity orientation and cooperation intentions, but only among low-ranked individuals.     

Working memory and individual differences in mathematics achievement: A longitudinal study from first grade to second grade

This longitudinal study examined the relationship between working memory and individual differences in mathematics. Working memory measures, comprising the phonological loop, the visuospatial sketchpad, and the central executive, were administered at the start of first grade. Mathematics achievement was assessed 4 months later (at the middle of first grade) and 1 year later (at the start of second grade). Working memory was significantly related to mathematics achievement in both grades, showing that working memory clearly predicts later mathematics achievement. The central executive was a unique predictor of both first- and second-grade mathematics achievement. There were age-related differences with regard to the contribution of the slave systems to mathematics performance; the visuospatial sketchpad was a unique predictor of first-grade, but not second-grade, mathematics achievement, whereas the phonological loop emerged as a unique predictor of second-grade, but not first-grade, mathematics achievement.     

Achievement goals and interpersonal behavior: how mastery and performance goals shape information exchange

The present research examines the impact of achievement goals on task-related information exchange. Studies 1 and 2 reveal that relative to those with mastery goals or no goal, individuals pursuing performance goals were less open in their information giving to exchange partners. Study 2 further clarifies this effect of achievement goals by showing that performance goals generate an exploitation orientation toward information exchange. Furthermore, relative to individuals with mastery goals or no goal, people pursuing performance goals enhanced their task performance by utilizing more high-quality information obtained from their exchange partner (Study 1) and protected their task performance by more rigorously disregarding received low-quality information (Study 2).