Reflections on Cure,or “I/Thou/It”

Cure is a topic much on our minds but rarely in focus. This paper probes what systematizes this protean thing called cure, hoping to open it to new meaning. It reveals cure as a moving target; illustrates several ways of putting a working definition together; and, while reflecting on three treatments, considers cure as both state and process. Cure's vernacular definition is not unknown to analysts: recovery from illness, a state of well-being restored. But psychoanalysis also deems the mind's heart a rupture that does not heal: if we are our scars, then there is no return to a state of continuous well-being, because none never existed. In both daily clinical life and the long run, as some clinical examples illustrate, we cannot choose between these two meanings, but must rather operate in the difficult tension, the irony, between them.     

Three-dimensional features facilitate object recognition

Abstract

A priming paradigm was used to investigate the contribution of local features and global shape information in object recognition. Five types of incomplete forms were used as primes: (1) forms with both maxima (local curvature) and midsegments of edges present and aligned on the outline contour; (2) forms similar in global shape to the first version of stimuli, but with misaligned elements; (3) forms with only maxima; (4) forms with only midsegments of edges; and (5) forms containing 3D comer junctions (in Experiments 3 and 4). The target was an outline drawing of an object from which the incomplete prime was derived. Subjects were asked to name the target as rapidly as possible. Primes were presented at levels of contrast corresponding to identification thresholds, as well as above and below threshold levels (determined in Experiments 1 and 3). Facilitation effects relative to a neutral (no prime) condition occurred at threshold and above threshold for primes with aligned elements, forms with only maxima, and forms with only midsegments. Priming occurred only above threshold for forms with non-aligned elements. In Experiment 4 the presence of 3D local features increased the magnitude of priming relative to forms with midsegments and to forms with flat corners (in Experiment 2). This result suggests that 3D features facilitate object identification either because objects are stored in the form of volumetric entities or because 3D features are extracted early in visual processing.     

What makes the windows task difficult for young children: rule inference or rule use?

The windows task is difficult for young children. In this task, a child is shown two boxes with windows revealing that one is empty, whereas the other contains a treat. The child is asked to point to a box for an opponent to look in. The child then "wins" the contents of the other box (the treat). To pass the task, the child must use a rule such as "point to the empty box." But crucially, because the child is not told this rule by the experimenter, he or she must first infer it. Therefore, the windows task has two distinct requirements: (a) infer the rule "point to the empty box" and, once the rule is inferred, (b) use the rule by holding it in mind while inhibiting the prepotent response of pointing to the treat. In this study, the authors sought to determine which of these two requirements was responsible for poor performance on the windows task. They compared the performance of 3(1/2)-year-olds (N=40) on four tasks: the standard windows task, a version of the windows task that required rule use but not rule inference, and two versions of the day-night task that also required rule use but not rule inference. The relative performance on these four tasks and the pattern of correlations among them suggested that children had difficulty in inferring a rule that enables them to pass the task, whereas they had little difficulty in using the rule. Little evidence was obtained to suggest that the standard windows task requires inhibition.     

Social categorization and fear reactions to the September 11th terrorist attacks

Two experiments were run in The Netherlands and Belgium 1 week after the terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center in New York on September 11, 2001. The aim was to investigate whether social categorization affected emotional reactions, behavioral tendencies, and actual behaviors. Results showed that focusing participants' attention on an identity that included American victims into a common ingroup led them to report more fear and stronger fear-related behavioral tendencies and to engage more often in fear-related behaviors than when victims were categorized as outgroup members. Results are discussed with respect to appraisal theories of emotion and E. R. Smith's model of group-based emotions.     

Face recognition,pose and ecological validity

This paper describes five experiments with two main aims; first, to assess the effects of variations in photographic facial pose on recognizability. A second, more fundamental aim was to examine the reliability of laboratory findings relevant to face recognition, in more ecologically valid settings, and to develop a methodology to further this aim. In Experiment 1 best performance was achieved with provision of three facial poses, namely full-face, three-quarter and profile views. With a single pose a three-quarter view was the most helpful. Experiments 2 and 3 attempted to evaluate these findings in a real-life setting using the general public or paid volunteers who attempted to identify a live target in a town centre from a previously presented photograph. The general public produced a very poor response, and the volunteers produced a low detection and high false recognition rate. Experiment 4 increased constraints on the experimental environment and produced a reasonable hit rate, but no effects of pose. Experiment 5 was a laboratory study where the presentation of a live target preceded photographic recognition. Effects of pose reappeared in line with results of Experiment 1. These results underline the danger involved in making practical recommendations arising from purely laboratory based research.     

Effects of short-term counseling on Career Maturity of tenth-grade students

The effectiveness of short-term counseling on Career Maturity of tenth-grade students as measured by the Career Maturity Inventory was studied. The Career Maturity Attitude Scale and the Self Appraisal subscale of the Competence Test were administered to a random sample (87 subjects) of tenth-grade students. The subjects whose scores fell below the mean were assigned randomly to experimental and control groups. The experimental group (17 subjects) received special counseling during a short term of 6 wk. Using repeated measures of analysis of variance, a statistically significant interaction was found with both the Self Appraisal subscale scores and the Total scale scores. Results indicate that career maturity as a developmental process can be measured and facilitated through counseling.     

Event-related potentials in a two-interval forced-choice detection task

In an attempt to elucidate the nature of the subject’s strategy in a two-interval forcedchoice auditory detection task, event-related potentials were studied at two intensities which yielded mean accuracies of 82% and 98%. Subjects reported the observation interval in which they judged the signal to be present and the confidence of the judgment. Principal components varimax analyses yielded four components: a CZ maximal P300, a Slow Wave, a slow negative shift, and a late negative component. The P300 amplitude findings suggest that different strategies are utilized for high-confidence and low-confidence detections. At high confidence, P300 amplitude is large for the observation interval in which the signal is presented, indicating a strategy involving serial independent detection. However, the P300 latency findings at high confidence suggest that absence of the signal in the first observation interval is nonetheless noted: P300 latency in response to signal presence is shorter for the second observation interval than for the first observation interval. At low confidence, P300 is small or absent for both observation intervals, indicating a deferred decision, presumably arrived at through comparison of the two percepts.     

Jealousy Workshop: A Conceptual Base and Format

Jealousy is a problematic aspect of relationships that has received a minimal amount of attention in the research and professional intervention strategies. A discussion of a six-session workshop on the theme of jealousy includes theoretical issues, conceptual framework of the program, overview of procedures for each session, and a summary of participant feedback.     

A preliminary study of an online pain management programme for patients with ankylosing spondylitis

This study was a preliminary attempt to develop and examine an online pain management programme incorporating mindfulness‐informed exercises (i.e. breathing and body scanning exercises) and CBT elements for ankylosing spondylitis patients. Thirty patients diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis participated in a five‐week online pain management programme, which was delivered primarily through a website. The materials covered by the website included breathing and body scanning exercises, mindful walking exercise, positive thinking and management of dysfunctional thinking. Each participant received instructions and reminders from a counselling psychologist through electronic communications each week. They completed the Brief Pain Inventory, Ryff's Psychological Well‐being Scale, Pain Self‐Efficacy Questionnaire, Pain Catastrophizing Scale and Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale‐Revised before and after the treatment programme. In addition, four face‐to‐face focus groups were conducted to yield supplementary qualitative findings. The overall results indicate that this online pain management programme can improve sleep quality and reduce pain interference and catastrophic responses to pain in ankylosing spondylitis patients, albeit being not very effective for mitigating the intensity of pain. Moreover, male and female patients can benefit equally from the online programme. Findings from the focus groups revealed some challenges faced by local patients when practising mindfulness‐informed exercises. Some solutions to those challenges were put forward in accordance with patients’ feedback.