The role of the bereavement group in the face of 9/11: a self-psychology perspective

The sudden traumatic loss of a spouse equates to an assault on self and the loss of both an internal and external self-object. Mourning requires compensatory self-objects to help in the restoration of self and in the creation of new self-structure. The catastrophe of 9/11 not only assaulted thousands with unanticipated traumatic loss, but also devastated the usual networks of support. In this light, the bereavement group became a valuable venue for self-restoration and recovery. In her group work with 9/11 corporate and uniformed service widows, the author applies a self-psychology perspective that considers that empathic immersion not only affords safety and stabilization, but the opportunity to have self-object needs met in a process that restores and develops self-structure. She proposes the bereavement group as a cohesive self-object milieu serving mirroring, twinship, and idealizing needs. Drawing upon clinical examples, she illuminates the capacity of the group to establish safety, regulate affect, reduce isolation and shame, rekindle memory, and foster coping skills. As such, the group affords a restoration of the assaulted self, an integration of the loss, and an emerging redefinition of self.     

Convergence of biological and psychological perspectives on cognitive coordination in schizophrenia

The concept of locally specialized functions dominates research on higher brain function and its disorders. Locally specialized functions must be complemented by processes that coordinate those functions, however, and impairment of coordinating processes may be central to some psychotic conditions. Evidence for processes that coordinate activity is provided by neurobiological and psychological studies of contextual disambiguation and dynamic grouping. Mechanisms by which this important class of cognitive functions could be achieved include those long-range connections within and between cortical regions that activate synaptic channels via NMDA-receptors, and which control gain through their voltage-dependent mode of operation. An impairment of these mechanisms is central to PCP-psychosis, and the cognitive capabilities that they could provide are impaired in some forms of schizophrenia. We conclude that impaired cognitive coordination due to reduced ion flow through NMDA-channels is involved in schizophrenia, and we suggest that it may also be involved in other disorders. This perspective suggests several ways in which further research could enhance our understanding of cognitive coordination, its neural basis, and its relevance to psychopathology.     

The effects of categorically based expectations on minority influence: the importance of congruence

The role of congruence and incongruence in diverse decision-making groups is examined by manipulating opinion agreement within and between members of different social categories. Congruence occurs when ingroup members agree with one another and outgroup members disagree, whereas incongruence occurs when an ingroup member disagrees with a majority composed of ingroup and outgroup members. The results of two studies, one using a scenario methodology and the second using simulated work teams with two ingroup members and one outgroup member, show that regardless of the task-relevance of salient differences, individuals respond most favorably when categorical and opinion differences are congruent. Study 1 examined individuals' emotional reactions and group efficacy. Study 2 examined group performance, the minority influence process, and efforts to maintain congruence. The findings suggest that outgroup minority opinion holders may be more influential in diverse group decision-making settings than ingroup minority opinion holders.     

Perceptual representation of visible surfaces

Two experiments are reported in which we examined the ability of observers to identify landmarks on surfaces from different vantage points. In Experiment 1, observers were asked to mark the local maxima and minima of surface depth, whereas in Experiment 2, they were asked to mark the ridges and valleys on a surface. In both experiments, the marked locations were consistent across different observers and remained reliably stable over different viewing directions. These findings indicate that randomly generated smooth surface patches contain perceptually salient landmarks that have a high degree of viewpoint invariance. Implications of these findings are considered for the recognition of smooth surface patches and for the depiction of such surfaces in line drawings.     

Breaking the waves: age differences in electrical brain activity when reading text with distractors

The authors tested whether older adults have greater difficulty than younger adults in ignoring task-irrelevant information during reading as a result of age-related decline in inhibitory processes. Participants were shown target sentences containing distractor words. They were instructed to read aloud each sentence and ignore distractors. The N400 event-related potential (ERP) was used to measure the extent of semantic processing of target and distracting information. It showed that younger adults semantically processed both target and distracting material, whereas online processing of target sentences in older adults was disrupted by the distractors. In older adults, memory for target information related to their susceptibility to distraction and inhibition efficiency. Implications for age-differences in inhibitory control, working memory, and resource capacity are discussed.     

Possible olfaction-based mechanisms in human kin recognition and inbreeding avoidance

Three studies explored kin recognition through olfaction. In Study I, adults (N=22) were tested for ability to identify the odors of themselves; their mother; their father; a sister; a brother; a familiar, unrelated individual; and a stranger. Acquaintances were identified as accurately as biological kin, implicating an association mechanism. However, biological kin were often confused, implicating phenotypic matching. Same-sex kin were confused more than opposite-sex kin, but mainly when same-sex kin had odors of similar intensity. Study II implicated phenotypic matching. Mothers (N=18) could identify their biological children but not their stepchildren. The preadolescent children (N=37) identified their full siblings but not half-siblings or stepsiblings. Thus, olfactory cues may help mediate favoritism of blood relatives. In Study III, mutual olfactory aversion occurred only in the father-daughter and brother-sister nuclear family relationships. Recognition occurred between opposite-sex siblings but not same-sex siblings. Thus, olfaction may help mediate the development of incest avoidance during childhood (the Westermarck effect).     

Evaluating sex discrimination claims: the mediating role of attributions.

The role of attributions in judgments of sex discrimination was examined in 2 laboratory experiments. In Study 1, participants read 1 of 12 brief scenarios in which limited information about the strength of evidence against a fictitious corporation and occupational gender stereotype were manipulated. Results suggested that attributions mediated the relationships between participants' gender, strength of evidence, and discrimination judgments. In Study 2, participants were provided with 1 of 3 detailed, typewritten summaries of evidence presented in a sex discrimination trial. Results indicated that jurors' gender was again significantly related to attributions and to sex discrimination judgments even in the face of substantial objective information related to the case. The variance in observers' judgments associated with gender, however, appeared to be greatest when information about the organization's guilt or innocence was equivocal.     

George Steiner's Wager On Transcendence

The paper seeks to explore the roots of Steiner's thought and particularly the theme of transcendence understood in terms of the mystery of immanence he expresses in terms of real presence. Steiner sees a significant breaking of the classic covenant between word and world occurring in the later nineteenth century. This insight, I suggest, is reinforced by a consideration of the distinction between such thinkers as Ruskin and Nietzsche and a way out of the dilemma is plotted by the linguistic philosophy which takes its cue from the work of Frege. One of the significant influences on the work of Steiner seems to be Heidegger. His study of Heidegger leads him to a consideration of language and an attempt to offer an argument for transcendence from a linguistic context. This paper suggests that Steiner offers a late twentieth-century, linguistic version of Aquinas's Five Ways, a movement from the agnosticism of 'I do not know' to the affirmation 'there is an Unknown'. Steiner argues that we come to a sense of this transcendence in the mystery of human creativity. This is a discovery made in the midst of the ordinary business of human living. It is significant, however, that the sense of Being that we encounter as we mediate on the act of artistic creation seems not to be an attempt to argue for a restatement of the ontological argument. Nietzsche's lesson has to be learnt: God cannot be talked of as an object, his presence cannot be indicated by way of ostensive definition. Steiner offers a context which allows for an encounter with the mystery of God but this encounter remains purely gratuitous.