Truth as a way of developing and preserving the space for thinking in the minds of the patient and the analyst

Clinical material from the analysis of a young patient diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and heavily dependent on drugs was examined to identify changes in setting that may be necessary to enable the psychoanalytical treatment of this type of patient. The article describes a lack of truth in the patient's life and the absence of a good enough space for thinking in her mind. In order to enhance the development of the capacity for symbolization in the patient's mind, the analyst had to become an object the patient needed. In order to do this the analyst had to manage setting alteration. Theoretical frameworks proposed by Ferenczi, Winnicott and Bion were used to guide the psychoanalyst's approach to this patient. The survival of the capacity for thinking psychoanalytically inside the analyst's mind when the setting has been significantly distorted by the disruptive behavior of the patient is guaranteed by the trueness of their link. It is suggested that maybe this is decisive for a successful psychoanalytical treatment of this type of patient.     

Relationship satisfaction determines the association between Epstein–Barr virus latency and somatic symptoms after the loss of a spouse

The loss of a spouse is associated with a host of negative health outcomes. While bereaved individuals commonly report somatic symptoms, no investigations exist of the association between reactivation of latent Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) and somatic symptoms among this population. Further, how an individual perceives the quality of their lost relationship in retrospect may impact loss outcomes. Among 99 bereaved spouses, elevated EBV antibody titers were associated with somatic symptoms for those who retrospectively reported high or mean levels of relationship satisfaction (RS), but not among those less satisfied. Further, higher RS was associated with greater grief symptoms. This study identifies higher retrospective RS as a possible risk factor for negative physical and mental health outcomes during bereavement.     

Changes in lower limb co-contraction and stiffness by toddlers with Down syndrome and toddlers with typical development during the acquisition of independent gait

During gait acquisition, children learn to use their changing resources to meet the requirements of the task. Compared to typically developing toddlers (TD), toddlers with Down syndrome (DS) have functionally different musculoskeletal characteristics, such as hypotonia, and joint and ligament laxity, that could produce a reduced passive stiffness. The interplay between this inherently lower passive stiffness and the demands of walking may result in different strategies during gait acquisition. This study compared normalized global stiffness and lower limb's co-contraction indices (CCI) used by toddlers with TD (n=12) and with DS (n=12), during the early stages of gait acquisition. Stiffness and CCI were normalized by gravitational torque (mLg) in both phases of gait (stance, swing). Five longitudinal evaluations were conducted from the onset of locomotion until three months post-acquisition. All children were video taped and had electromyographic (EMG) recordings from muscle pairs of one leg, which were used to calculate CCI of hip, knee, ankle, and total leg CCI. Body and lower limb stiffness were calculated according to a hybrid pendulum resonance equation. Results from ANOVAs revealed no group differences on stiffness or on CCI's during stance but children with DS showed greater CCI during swing. Despite the structural musculoskeletal differences between toddlers with TD and with DS, the similarities observed in their processes of gait development suggest functional equivalences.     

Spelling development in the Spanish language

This study focused on spelling development in Spanish children from elementary grades. A sample of 1045 was selected from 2nd to 6th grade belonging to four schools in Tenerife Island with an age range between 7 and 12 years old (M = 113.8, SD = 17.6). We administered a standardized writing test that includes diverse subtests to assess spelling, ruled and not ruled, and various written composition tasks (i.e., writing a story based on vignettes, describing a character and writing a story). We calculated the average of correct spellings in each variable and school level, and we also analyzed the type of misspellings that children made across different writing tasks. We found that spelling is acquired by 4th-grade children when it is not ruled, whereas the spelling of ruled words is acquired by 5th-grade children. When we analyzed the misspellings in a dictation task, we found that the children confused spelling of the graphemes c/s/z/x. Across different writing tasks, we found that students committed more misspellings with the graphemes b/v, h y c/s/z/x before they finished the 4th elementary grade.     

The mapping of Spanish social psychology through its conferences: a bibliometric perspective

This study of papers gathered from the proceedings presented at Spanish social psychology conferences explores the use of bibliometrics for studying scientific disciplines. A reference database of all the papers included in the conference proceedings of events held from 1983 to 2000 was generated and classified by thematic area, paper type and author institutional affiliation. The references were laid out on contingency tables and mapped with correspondence analysis. The results show that there is a growing number of co-authored papers and a predominance of empirical over theoretical paper types. Some institutions have a higher concentration of theoretical papers while others work mostly in the areas of organizational and health psychology. In terms of empirical papers, there is a tendency towards generating more qualitative-based studies over the span of time captured by this work. There are also a number of papers written about such areas as cultural psychology that points to the emergence of an interest in critical social psychology. Concluding remarks underline the role of conferences and scientific meetings as an important indicator of the dynamic development of a scientific discipline.     

The Impact of Constructive Controversy on Moral Development

We examined the effects of a constructive controversy compared with individualistic learning on 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th‐grade students' (N = 56) moral development, ethical skills, academic achievement, and attitudes toward social interdependence. The results indicated that participating in constructive controversy (compared with individualistic learning) resulted in greater moral development (i.e., moral reasoning, moral motivation, moral character), greater ethical skills (i.e., perspective taking, perception of self as a moral person, rule orientation), higher academic achievement, and more positive attitudes toward competition. These results extend constructive controversy theory, as well as Piagetian and social interdependent theories. They also provide guidance as to how discussions of moral dilemmas and conflicts among students should be structured and conducted.     

Finding parts within figures: a developmental study

Preschool children, primary school children, and unschooled adults were tested on the part-probe task designed by Palmer. Relatively high scores were obtained with all groups on parts which had a 'good' relationship with the figure. However, the ability to find more deeply embedded segments was not present in the preschool children or in the unschooled adults. This indicates that the processes of postperceptual analysis necessary to find a part in a figure are neither built-in nor the consequence of mere cognitive growth, but depend on the instruction or experience usually provided in school. Such processes should not be confused with those that lead to form perception. Inspection of the part-figure pairs and of the corresponding detection scores suggests the importance of several stimulus properties.