The dreaming mind-brain: a Jungian perspective

In this paper I discuss the nature and role of dream and the dreaming process in Jungian clinical practice in the light of neuroscience. Insights from contemporary neuroscience support rather than contest Jung's view that emotional truth, not censorship or disguise, underpins the dreaming process. I use clinical material to illustrate how work with dreams within the total interactive experience of the analytic dyad enables the development of the emotional scaffolding necessary for the development of 'mind'. Large scale evidence-based research reveals that dreaming is caused by brain activity during sleep that is both biochemically and regionally different from that of waking states. Recent imaging studies confirm that dreams are the mind's vehicle for the processing of emotional states of being, particularly the fear, anxiety, anger or elation that often figure prominently. Dream sleep is understood as also being the guardian of memory, playing a part in forgetting, encoding and affective organization of memory. In the clinical section of the paper I let a series of dreams speak for themselves, revealing the emotionally salient concerns of the dreamer, weaving past and present, transference and reality together in a way that demonstrates the healthy attempt of the brain-mind to come to terms with difficult emotional experience from the past. The dreams become dreamable as part of the meaning-making process of analysis.     

An exploration of the influence of dispositional traits and appraisal on coping strategies in African American college students

This study explored the correlates of self-reported coping strategies from both an appraisal (e.g., severity, impact, desirability of the event, as well as perceived stress) and a dispositional (e.g., preferred/typical coping style, self-concept clarity, self-esteem, emotion regulation, problem-solving style, anxiety) perspective. Participants were 211 African American undergraduate and graduate students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. The results indicated that dispositional traits (especially problem-solving style) are associated uniquely with preferred/typical coping styles. The results also provided modest evidence that dispositional traits and subjects' appraisals (e.g., challenge, harm/threat, impact) are predictive of subjects' coping strategies in specific ongoing stressful situations. The general findings from this study appear to mirror research on Caucasian subjects.     

Self-esteem and organization of valenced information about others: the "Jekyll and Hyde"-ing of relationship partners

The authors theorize that individuals with high self-esteem functionally integrate positive and negative partner information in memory, whereas those low in self-esteem segregate such information. The authors obtained support for this view in 7 studies. In a first set, participants judged whether positive and negative traits presented in an alternating or nonalternating order applied to a partner. Low but not high self-esteem individuals were slowed by the alternating order when judging relationship partners (but not inanimate objects). In a 2nd set, participants answered questions tapping integrated thinking, self-esteem, and other attributes. Higher self-esteem was associated with more integrated thinking when other attributes were controlled. In a final study, anxiously attached individuals were more labile in rating their spouse over a 5-day period.     

The role of attention and familiarity in face identification

How is attention allocated during face identification? Previous work using famous and unfamiliar faces suggests that either no attention or a special attentional mechanism is required. We used a conventional attentional blink (AB) procedure to measure face identification with temporarily reduced attention. The participants viewed a rapid series of face images with one embedded nonface abstract pattern (T1). They judged the texture of T1 and then detected a prespecified face (T2) presented at varying lags after T1. T2 was either famous or unfamiliar, as were distractor faces. Regardless of distractor type, detection of an unfamiliar T2 face was significantly impaired at short versus long T1-T2 lags, indicating an attentional requirement for face identification. Detection of a famous T2 face was unaffected by lag, suggesting that familiarity protects against atemporal attentional bottleneck These findings do not support propositions that face identification is "special" in its need for attentional control     

A longitudinal study of the effects of dual-earner couples' utilization of family-friendly workplace supports on work and family outcomes

Little research exists on the effects of the utilization of workplace supports on work-family conflict and job satisfaction. With family systems theory as a framework, 2 waves of national survey data were collected from 234 couples (N = 468) caring for children and for aging parents. Data were analyzed with structural equation modeling techniques. Longitudinal results indicate that individuals' use of workplace supports was related to work-family conflict in the direction opposite to expectations and was related to job satisfaction in the direction consistent with expectations. Differential effects for wives versus husbands were found. In addition, couples' use of workplace supports was only minimally related to wives' outcomes. Results are discussed in terms of gender differences, family systems theory, and methodological and measurement issues related to the longitudinal study of utilization of workplace supports.     

Improved picture naming in chronic aphasia after TMS to part of right Broca's area: an open-protocol study

Functional imaging studies with nonfluent aphasia patients have observed "over-activation" in right (R) language homologues. This may represent a maladaptive strategy; suppression may result in language improvement. We applied slow, 1 Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to an anterior portion of R Broca's homologue daily, for 10 days in four aphasia patients who were 5-11 years poststroke. Significant improvement was observed in picture naming at 2 months post-rTMS, with lasting benefit at 8 months in three patients. This preliminary, open trial suggests that rTMS may provide a novel treatment approach for aphasia by possibly modulating the distributed, bi-hemispheric language network.     

Inference-based retrospective revaluation in human causal judgments requires knowledge of within-compound relationships

In an allergist causal-judgment task, food compounds were followed by an allergic reaction (e.g., AB+), and then 1 cue (A) was revalued. Experiment 1, in which participants who were instructed that whatever was true about one element of a causal compound was also true of the other, showed a reverse of the standard retrospective revaluation effect. That is, ratings of B were higher when A was causal (A+) than when A was safe (A-). This effect was taken to reflect inferential reasoning, not an associative mechanism. In Experiment 2, within-compound associations were found to be necessary to produce this inference-based revaluation. Therefore, evidence that within-compound associations are necessary for retrospective revaluation is consistent with the inferential account of causal judgments.     

Psychopathy and intelligence: a second look

Empirical studies using the PCL-R (Hare, 2003) have shown no intelligence differences between psychopaths and nonpsychopaths. However, Cleckley (1976) argued that psychopaths often show superior intelligence. The purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that the correlation between intelligence and severity of criminal development is the opposite in psychopaths than in nonpsychopathic criminals using a sample of 370 men sentenced for violent (nonsexual) crimes. That pattern would provide a way of explaining the discrepancy between Cleckley's view and later empirical work. The results showed that for nonpsychopaths, higher total IQ and particularly verbal intelligence meant a later start in violent crime. For those diagnosed as psychopaths, however, this association was reversed.     

False Consensus and Adolescent Peer Contagion: Examining Discrepancies between Perceptions and Actual Reported Levels of Friends’ Deviant and Health Risk Behaviors

Adolescents perceptions of their friends behavior strongly predict adolescents own behavior, however, these perceptions often are erroneous. This study examined correlates of discrepancies between adolescents perceptions and friends reports of behavior. A total of 120 11th-grade adolescents provided data regarding their engagement in deviant and health risk behaviors, as well as their perceptions of the behavior of their best friend, as identified through sociometric assessment. Data from friends own report were used to calculate discrepancy measures of adolescents overestimations and estimation errors (absolute value of discrepancies) of friends behavior. Adolescents also completed a measure of friendship quality, and a sociometric assessment yielding measures of peer acceptance/rejection and aggression. Findings revealed that adolescents peer rejection and aggression were associated with greater overestimations of friends behavior. This effect was partially mediated by adolescents own behavior, consistent with a false consensus effect. Low levels of positive friendship quality were significantly associated with estimation errors, but not overestimations specifically.     

The BOLD response during Stroop task-like inhibition paradigms: Effects of task difficulty and task-relevant modality

Previous studies of the Stroop task propose two key mediators: the prefrontal and cingulate cortices but hints exist of functional specialization within these regions. This study aimed to examine the effect of task modality upon the prefrontal and cingulate response by examining the response to colour, number, and shape Stroop tasks whilst BOLD fMRI images were acquired on a Siemens 3T MRI scanner. Behavioural analyses indicated facilitation and interference effects and a noticeable effect of task difficulty. Some modular effects of modality were observed in the prefrontal cortex that survived exclusion of task difficulty related activations. No effect of task-relevant information was observed in the anterior cingulate. Future comparisons of the mediation of selective attention need to consider the effects of task context and task difficulty.