Learning and Living Systemic: Exploring the Personal Effects of Family Therapy Training

Despite growing recognition that systemic family therapists need to be adept at personal reflection and managing the therapeutic relationship, little research has explored the effects of training beyond the development of skills. This article provides a report on a qualitative study focussed on the personal effects of family therapy training, with particular reference to the aspects of training that foster personal reflection and growth. Twenty three trainees from three training institutions were interviewed, utilizing the practices of grounded theory. Trainees reported a deepening relational awareness, which applied to both personal and professional domains and included shifts in perspectives on relationships with loved ones. Five aspects of training were identified as responsible: (1) personally challenging experiences with clients; (2) supervisors who live the paradigm; (3) the demystification of theory; (4) a safe supervisory space; and (5) the development of trusting peer relationships. Interns also described, in turn, how their personal development affected their clinical work, particularly in the development of compassion and empathy. This study serves to highlight training practices that support reflective practice in systemic family therapy.     

Considering her circumstances: how ethnicity and cultural relativist arguments affect sexual harassment judgments by undergraduate and community mock jurors

Most research on sexual harassment has involved undergraduate students and European Americans, whose perspectives may not be representative of the broader population. This study investigated whether judgments of a sexual harassment trial vary by plaintiff ethnicity (European American or Latin American), type of sample (undergraduates or community members) and mock juror ethnicity (European American or Latin American). We also tested the effects of a cultural relativist argument about Latin American cultural values influencing the plaintiff. Results indicated that community and Latin American mock jurors rendered more pro-plaintiff verdicts, particularly when the case did not include a cultural relativist argument. Although the cultural relativist argument did not affect undergraduates' judgments, it caused a backlash among community members, leading to more pro-defendant verdicts. Judgments across type of sample and mock juror ethnicity were partially mediated by self-referencing and hostile sexism; affiliation with Latin American culture also predicted judgments of the Latina American plaintiff.     

安全基地启动及其脑机制

近几年,安全基地启动已成为拓展依恋理论的重要实验方法。安全启动能够改善情绪及情绪调节策略、增进人际关系、促进自我实现和利他等。安全启动下,研究者得以考察成人依恋与母婴依恋的神经基础及它们之间的区别与联系。该文分析了安全启动实验的不足,如生态效度和重复率不高,应用范围局限,缺乏启动效应持续性的研究等。未来的安全启动研究应突破现有实验室情境研究局限,拓展应用领域,加强对其心理机制与神经机制的探讨等。     

The Relationship Quality Interview: evidence of reliability, convergent and divergent validity, and incremental utility

Relationship satisfaction and adjustment have been the target outcome variables for almost all couple research and therapies. In contrast, far less attention has been paid to the assessment of relationship quality. The present study introduces the Relationship Quality Interview (RQI), a semistructured, behaviorally anchored individual interview. The RQI was designed to provide a more objective assessment of relationship quality as a dynamic, dyadic construct across 5 dimensions: (a) quality of emotional intimacy in the relationship, (b) quality of the couple's sexual relationship, (c) quality of support transactions in the relationship, (d) quality of the couple's ability to share power in the relationship, and (e) quality of conflict/problem-solving interactions in the relationship. Psychometric properties of RQI ratings were examined through scores obtained from self-report questionnaires and behavioral observation data collected cross-sectionally from a sample of 91 dating participants and longitudinally from a sample of 101 married couples. RQI ratings demonstrated strong reliability (internal consistency, interrater agreement, interpartner agreement, and correlations among scales), convergent validity (correlations between RQI scale ratings and questionnaire scores assessing similar domains of relationship quality), and divergent validity (correlations between RQI scale ratings and (a) behavioral observation codes assessing related constructs, (b) global relationship satisfaction scores, and (c) scores on individual difference measures of related constructs). Clinical implications of the RQI for improving couple assessment and interventions are discussed.     

The effects of binge MDMA on acquisition and reversal learning in a radial-arm maze task

The current study used the partially-baited radial-arm maze paradigm to study the effects of a single-treatment high-dose exposure ('binge') to MDMA (± 3,4-methylenedioxymethaphemtamine or 'Ecstasy') on memory task acquisition. Sprague-Dawley rats were administered a binge dose (4 × 10 mg/kg) of MDMA and their ability to subsequently acquire the radial-arm maze task was compared against saline controls. The MDMA-treated rats were significantly slower to learn the task and made more reference memory errors than the controls. Working memory function was found to be relatively unimpaired. Following a reversal of task rules the MDMA-treated rats were again significantly slower to acquire the appropriate rule despite having eventually achieved a similar level of overall performance as control rats. However evidence of drug tolerance was found when all rats were challenged with an acute low dose of MDMA (1 × 4.0 mg/kg) because the binge MDMA rats were relatively less impaired. Therefore, although binge treated MDMA rats were able to achieve very accurate performance equivalent to the controls they took significantly longer to do this and were less able to adapt their behavior to a change in task rules. In addition the binge treated MDMA rats displayed tolerance to acute MDMA exposure. These findings are consistent with the possibility that human Ecstasy users may show deficits in acquiring information and may experience deficits in cognitive flexibility as well as developing tolerance to the drug with repeated exposure.     

The empirical case for role-governed categories

Most theories of categorization posit feature-based representations. Markman and Stilwell (2001) argued that many natural categories name roles in relational systems and therefore they are role-governed categories. There is little extant empirical evidence to support the existence of role-governed categories. Three experiments examine predictions for ways that role-governed categories should differ from feature-based categories. Experiment 1 shows that our knowledge of role-governed categories, in contrast to feature-based categories, is largely about properties extrinsic to category members. Experiment 2 shows that role-governed categories have more prominent ideals than feature-based categories. Experiment 3 demonstrates that novel role-governed categories are licensed by the instantiation of novel relational structures. We then discuss broader implications for the study of categories and concepts.     

中国古代医患关系中的信任问题——以"就医方"为考察对象

尝试以古代"就医方"为考察对象,凭借中国古代众多医学事迹和医家言论史料,深入剖析古代社会"病人"在医患关系中所扮演的角色,侧重于病患及其亲属朋友两类群体对医患信任关系构建所产生的影响.通过透视古代医患关系信任环节构建的历史面貌,期冀为当代和谐医患关系的构建提供历史经验和智力支持.     

视觉选择过程中眼跳与注意关系的理论进展

视觉选择的过程包含两种途径:眼跳行动和注意转移,两者对于视觉选择目标物的加工都有促进作用。鉴于此,视觉研究领域产生大量关于二者关联如何的实验研究,大部分研究者认为眼跳和注意转移存在密切联系。该文将关于两者关系的重要理论进行了综合阐述和简要比较,主要介绍五种理论假说:眼动准备假说、动前假说、顺序注意模型、视觉注意模型和竞争整合模型。     

气候变化的心理影响及应对策略

气候变化是指人类活动直接或间接导致的气候方面的改变, 是本世纪人类面临的最大挑战之一。气候变化对个人的认知、情绪及行为均有影响, 这些心理影响对大多数人而言是渐进式的。目前已有的研究发现, 气候变化的应对策略包括问题聚焦、情绪聚焦和意义聚焦三种, 而意义聚焦可能是其中最有利于心理健康的应对策略。未来的研究需要进一步界定某些重要概念, 并使之能够操作化, 需要探讨气候变化应对策略与心理健康之间的关系, 研究中国人气候变化应对策略的特征等。