Supervision Is a Relationship Too: A Contemporary Approach to Psychoanalytic Supervision

This paper discusses clinical cases presented by Comins and Eliot within a paradigm of psychoanalytic supervisory work based on relational theory. Here, in making the medium of supervision more symmetrical with the message of contemporary psychoanalytic ideas about structure of mind health, pathology, and treatment, the relationship between the supervisor and supervisee is considered to contain crucial supervisory data to be delineated and discussed by both members of the dyad. The supervisory relationship is described using three dimensions: power and authority, the data held to be relevant for supervisory conversations, and the mode of the supervisor's participation in the supervisory process.     

Anticipation and Source-Monitoring Errors: Children's Memory for Collaborative Activities

When asked to remember who contributed what to the completion of shared, goal-directed activities, children exhibit a bias to over-attribute contributions to themselves, recoding partners' actions as their own. The goals of the 3 experiments reported here were to explore task characteristics that might influence these recoding processes, and as a result, reveal more about them. The timing of the child's contributions in relation to the partner's actions was found to be crucial for recoding (Experiments 1 and 3). The availability of a model outcome affects recoding as well (Experiment 2), but appears not to be a prerequisite. In the absence of a physical outcome, recoding is still observed (Experiment 3). Anticipation of the partner's actions appears to account for all of these effects. Findings have implications for understanding children's source monitoring abilities as well as for understanding internalization processes thought to support collaborative learning.     

Social versus physiological motives in the drug careers of methadone clinic clients

Most studies examining bystanders' reactions to a violent attack have used an experimental or hypothetical situation involving a single victim. This study compares the intention to intervene on behalf of three hypothetical victims: a woman, a child, and a dog. Using a sample of over 700 college students, we found that there was not a significant difference in intention to intervene by type of victim. However, there was a significant interaction between the sex of the bystander and the type of victim, such that women are most likely to intervene on behalf of children, while men are most likely to intervene to aid a woman. We found that people who perceived themselves to be stronger, more aggressive, and more sympathetic than others are most likely to intend to intervene.     

Validity and Stability of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory in a Nonforensic Sample of Young Adults

Scores were obtained for 103 Subjects on the Sixteen Personality Factor test, Form C; the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule; the Otis Quick Scoring Test, Form G; Raven's Progressive Matrices, Sets A-E; and on 47 handwriting variables. First, personality and intelligence variables, then handwriting variables were factored and rotated, after which factor scores were obtained. Through a regression of handwriting from personality and intelligence factor scores, it was found that 6 of 16 handwriting factors could be predicted by 5 of 10 personality and intelligence factors. These results and their relation to graphology are discussed.     

A Case of Synaesthesia

Two experiments employed Potential Performance Theory (PPT) to correct for inconsistency in a speeded task. In Experiment 1, a search task was employed whereby participants searched for a target letter among distracters. In Experiment 2, the search task was more complex and naturalistic—participants searched for enemy weapons in aerial photographs. Not surprisingly, the results revealed that longer search times led to greater accuracy. However, this improvement was due only in part to improved search strategies. Much, if not most, of the improvement was due to increased consistency. The authors demonstrate and discuss some of the advantages to be gained by considering a speeded task within the context of a clear and mathematically precise theory (PPT).     

Imitation from 12 to 24 months in autism and typical development: a longitudinal Rasch analysis

The development of imitation during the second year of life plays an important role in domains of sociocognitive development such as language and social learning. Deficits in imitation ability in persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) from toddlerhood into adulthood have also been repeatedly documented, raising the possibility that early disruptions in imitation contribute to the onset of ASD and the deficits in language and social interaction that define the disorder. This study prospectively examined the development of imitation between 12 and 24 months of age in 154 infants at familial risk for ASD and 78 typically developing infants who were all later assessed at 36 months for ASD or other developmental delays. The study established a developmental measure of imitation ability and examined group differences over time, using an analytic Rasch measurement model. Results revealed a unidimensional latent construct of imitation and verified a reliable sequence of imitation skills that was invariant over time for all outcome groups. Results also showed that all groups displayed similar significant linear increases in imitation ability between 12 and 24 months and that these increases were related to individual growth in both expressive language and ratings of social engagement but not in fine motor development. The group of children who developed ASD by age 3 years exhibited delayed imitation development compared with the low-risk typical outcome group across all time-points, but were indistinguishable from other high-risk infants who showed other cognitive delays not related to ASD.     

The Bidimensional Impression Management Index (BIMI): Measuring Agentic and Communal Forms of Impression Management

Measures of impression management have yet to incorporate two-factor models of person perception. The 2 primary factors are often labeled agency and communion. In Study 1, we assembled a new measure of impression management—the Bidimensional Impression Management Index (BIMI): It comprises 2 subscales designed specifically to tap agentic and communal content. Both subscales showed adequate alpha reliabilities under both honest and faking conditions. In Study 2, the BIMI was cross-validated in a new sample: The subscales remained relatively independent, and their reliabilities remained solid. A coherent pattern of personality correlates also supported the validities of both subscales. In Study 3, the differential sensitivity of the 2 subscales was demonstrated by manipulating the job type in simulated job applications. Implications and applications of the BIMI are discussed.     

The category test perseveration, loss of set, and memory scales: three new scales and their relationship to executive functioning measures

The Category Test (CT) is a neuropsychological measure that taps into multiple domains of complex reasoning but yields a single error score, limiting the use of the test. In this study, three new CT scales were developed to assess specific aspects of executive dysfunction: Perseveration, Failure to Maintain Cognitive Set, and Inability to Recall and Re-Initiate Past Behavior. The relationship of these scales to well-established neuropsychological measures was examined in head-injured individuals and schizophrenia patients. The CT Perseveration score was correlated with the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) Perseverative Responses score, but also with measures from the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised and the California Verbal Learning Test. The CT Memory score correlated with other memory measures, but also with the WCST Perseveration measure. Although future studies designed to test discriminant and convergent validity are warranted, these scales may be useful in determining specific aspects of impaired CT performance.