Structure, Self-Regulating Sequences, and Institutional Third Parties in Therapy: The Veterans Administration as a Model

This article examines the structural organization and sequences of interaction among therapists, institutions, and patients and their families that contribute to the problem of institutional dependence. Our contention is that when patients have become dependent on an institution for the livelihood and/or for the stability it represents, they are only one part of a systemic relationship characterized structurally by enmeshed boundaries, and sequentially by self-regulating feedback loops. We use this premise to outline the nature of the enmeshed transactions in patient-therapist, patient-institution, and therapist-institution relationships. Family interfaces with this triad are also addressed. Sequentially, we outline the interactions among patient, family, therapist, and institution that lead to hierarchical incongruities. These sequences tend to produce self-regulating feedback loops that perpetuate and maintain the structure of the system and its patterns of interaction. The final part of this article demonstrates how we strategically use a therapy team to manipulate the hierarchical incongruities and, hence, the recursive complementarity, that characterize the interactions between and among the members of this suprasystem. Besides manipulating the role of the therapist through team intervention, we also present several paradoxical and structural interventions that have been helpful when institutions have become third parties to therapy.     

Detecting random responders with infrequency scales using an error-balancing threshold

Infrequency scales are becoming a popular mode of data screening, due to their availability and ease of implementation. Recent research has indicated that the interpretation and functioning of infrequency items may not be as straightforward as had previously been thought (Curran & Hauser, 2015), yet there are no empirically based guidelines for implementing cutoffs using these items. In the present study, we compared two methods of detecting random responding with infrequency items: a zero-tolerance threshold versus a threshold that balances classification error rates. The results showed that a traditional zero-tolerance approach, on average, screens data that are less indicative of careless responding than those screened by the error-balancing approach. Thus, the de facto standard of applying a “zero-tolerance” approach when screening participants with infrequency scales may be too stringent, so that meaningful responses may also be removed from analyses. Recommendations and future directions are discussed.     

Essays on <Emphasis Type="Italic">More Than Life Itself</Emphasis>

I comment on the preceding essays in this current thematic issue of Axiomathes, essays that discuss my 2009 book More Than Life Itself: A Synthetic Continuation in Relation Biology.     

Multidimensional processing of dynamic sounds: more than meets the ear

Strong cross-modal interactions exist between visual and auditory processing. The relative contributions of perceptual versus decision-related processes to such interactions are only beginning to be understood. We used methodological and statistical approaches to control for potential decision-related contributions such as response interference, decisional criterion shift, and strategy selection. Participants were presented with rising-, falling-, and constant-amplitude sounds and were asked to detect change (increase or decrease) in sound amplitude while ignoring an irrelevant visual cue of a disk that grew, shrank, or stayed constant in size. Across two experiments, testing context was manipulated by varying the grouping of visual cues during testing, and cross-modal congruency showed independent perceptual and decision-related effects. Whereas a change in testing context greatly affected criterion shifts, cross-modal effects on perceptual sensitivity remained relatively consistent. In general, participants were more sensitive to increases in sound amplitude and less sensitive to sounds paired with dynamic visual cues. As compared with incongruent visual cues, congruent cues enhanced detection of amplitude decreases, but not increases. These findings suggest that the relative contributions of perceptual and decisional processing and the impacts of these processes on cross-modal interactions can vary significantly depending on asymmetries in within-modal processing, as well as consistencies in cross-modal dynamics.     

Are Successful Applicants to the Priesthood Psychologically Healthy?

The current investigation evaluated psychological and personality profiles of successful applicants to a major Roman Catholic religious order. The MMPI-2 and 16PF were administered to 68 applicants between 1990 and 2004 who subsequently entered seminary. Results indicate that these applicants to the priesthood were generally well-adjusted as well as being socially responsible, interpersonally sensitive and sociable. Findings also suggest some tendency for defensiveness and repression. Furthermore, dealing with perceived negative impulses such as anger and hostility may also be a concern for many of these men.