A mismatch of meaning and intentionality between analyst and analysand

In this paper, I will consider a type of misunderstanding in the analytical dialogue and the possible unconscious motivations underlying this. I will also make reference to the patient's use of the analyst's words for the purpose of narcissistic enactment and will explore the extent of the analyst's involvement in this. The subjects of misunderstanding and narcissistic enactment will be dealt with in relation to a patient's way of processing certain interpretations at the beginning of analysis and the concealment of her way of processing the analyst's words. By contributing dreams and other significant material in the sessions, the patient gradually revealed her phantasies which enabled the analyst to uncover the possible factors which determined her particular attribution of meaning to the analyst's words and her retention of information about how she had initially construed his interpretations.     

Perpetuating Gender Inequality via the Internet? An Analysis of Women’s Presence in Spanish Online Newspapers

This study examines women’s representation in Spanish national online newspapers. For this purpose, we developed an automatic content analysis method to analyze an extensive sample of 34,235 news articles gathered from March to May 2006. Our general objective was to investigate possible gender bias in Spanish online news. To do so we focused on three journalistic routines, one at the individual level of the reporter (gender) and two at the media routine level (sections, publication day, and article length). The results of the estimated multivariate models revealed that women are still linked to traditionally “female” sections, such as people, society, and culture. Analysis of article length and publication day showed that women appear more frequently in shorter news items and in the Sunday news, which we interpreted as indicators of male association with newsworthiness. We also found differences in gender reporting since female journalists tend to include more women in the news they report than their male peers. These results provide evidence that online newspapers continue to perpetuate underrepresentation, stereotyping, and discrimination of women in web news thereby reinforcing gender inequality.     

Concretizing an Ethics of Emptiness: The Succeeding Volumes of Watsuji Tetsurô’s Ethics

Watsuji Tetsurô’s Ethics is one of the most important works in Japanese ethical thought. But scholarly research in English has largely focused on the first of three volumes of Ethics, leaving the latter two oft-neglected. In order to balance out the views of Watsuji’s ethics, this paper focuses on the contributions of the second and third volumes of Ethics. These volumes are essential for any concrete understanding of Watsuji’s ‘ethics of emptiness’. The second volume develops the ideas of the first, particularly how the dual-structure (individuality and communality) is concretely realized through the various stages of ethical organization (family, local community, economy, nation, and state). The third volume develops the notions of space and time from the first volume into a theory of climate (fûdo) and history. By analyzing these, we can understand Watsuji’s system as a whole and clarify Watsuji’s unique contribution to ethical theory.     

Neural effects of short-term training on working memory

Working memory training has been the focus of intense research interest. Despite accumulating behavioral work, knowledge about the neural mechanisms underlying training effects is scarce. Here, we show that 7 days of training on an n-back task led to substantial performance improvements in the trained task; furthermore, the experimental group showed cross-modal transfer, as compared with an active control group. In addition, there were two neural effects that emerged as a function of training: first, increased perfusion during task performance in selected regions, reflecting a neural response to cope with high task demand; second, increased blood flow at rest in regions where training effects were apparent. We also found that perfusion at rest was correlated with task proficiency, probably reflecting an improved neural readiness to perform. Our findings are discussed within the context of the available neuroimaging literature on n-back training.     

Clinical Validity of Prototype Personality Disorder Ratings in Adolescents

A growing body of research shows that personality pathology in adolescents is clinically distinctive and frequently stable into adulthood. A reliable and useful method for rating personality pathology in adolescent patients has the potential to enhance conceptualization, dissemination, and treatment effectiveness. The aim of this study is to examine the clinical validity of a prototype matching approach (derived from the Shedler Westen Assessment Procedure–Adolescent Version) for quantifying personality pathology in an adolescent inpatient sample. Sixty-six adolescent inpatients and their parents or legal guardians completed forms of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) assessing emotional and behavioral problems. Clinical criterion variables including suicide history, substance use, and fights with peers were also assessed. Patients’ individual and group therapists on the inpatient unit completed personality prototype ratings. Prototype diagnoses demonstrated substantial reliability (median intraclass correlation coefficient =.75) across independent ratings from individual and group therapists. Personality prototype ratings correlated with the CBCL scales and clinical criterion variables in anticipated and meaningful ways. As seen in prior research with adult samples, prototype personality ratings show clinical validity across independent clinician raters previously unfamiliar with the approach, and they are meaningfully related to clinical symptoms, behavioral problems, and adaptive functioning.     

The differential outcomes procedure can overcome self-bias in perceptual matching

There are biases in perceptual matching between shapes and labels referring to familiar others, compared with when the labels refer to unfamiliar people. We assessed whether these biases could be affected by differential feedback (using the differential outcomes procedure [DOP]) compared with when feedback is provided using a nondifferential outcomes procedure (NOP). Participants formed associations between simple geometric shapes and labels referring to people the participant did or did not know (self, best friend, other). Subsequently, the task was to match a label to one of two shapes shown on a trial. When feedback for correct responses was given following the NOP condition, matches were faster to known people (self and friend) compared with those to an unknown person (stranger). However, this advantage for known personal relations was eliminated when participants were given feedback for correct responses following the DOP condition. The data are consistent with prior work showing that the DOP can facilitate the learning of taxing associations (for the stranger stimuli relative to the familiar self and friend stimuli). In addition, the results suggest that the facilitated perceptual matching for stimuli associated to individuals known personally may reflect better individuation of the association between the shape stimulus and the label, a process enhanced by using a DOP for associations with unfamiliar people.