A Psychoanalytic Contribution to Psychic Vampirism: A Case Vignette

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -     

Oral and written discourse in adolescents with closed head injury

Analysis of oral and written discourse suggested differing cognitive demands for modes of expression. Verbal samples were provided by 8 adolescents with closed head injury (CHI) and 8 controls. A generation task using a picture stimulus was the basis for discourse. Eight measures [productivity, efficiency, semantic ties (lexical, incomplete, elliptical), maze use, coherence (global, local)] were utilized. A covariate model consisting of group membership (CHI vs control), executive functioning and working memory helps to explain variance in the discourse skills of adolescents with CHI.     

Form and movement in stereokinetic cycloids: motion lost and found

In exploring stereokinesis, we devised flat cycloidal display figures which, when rotated on a disc in the frontal plane, are perceived as illusory three-dimensional forms with movement in depth; the dominant percepts were of twisted loops with an internal writhing motion. These dominant forms could be convincingly represented by stereo pairs derived from the flat display; related forms, not seen in the illusion, could also be constructed, seeming to show a selectivity for preferred stereokinetic forms by the perceptual system. Models were made of the stereo forms; when rotated, they showed similar illusions and selectivity. We suggest that the illusions arise because some components of the real motion do not appear in the sensory field. The perceptual system accommodates for this by constructing percepts which are not necessarily veridical but do reconcile form and motion into a coherent unity. The results are discussed in relation to concepts of invariance and rigidity, and with regard to the creative response to sensory data by the perceptual system.     

Social exclusion impairs self-regulation

Six experiments showed that being excluded or rejected caused decrements in self-regulation. In Experiment 1, participants who were led to anticipate a lonely future life were less able to make themselves consume a healthy but bad-tasting beverage. In Experiment 2, some participants were told that no one else in their group wanted to work with them, and these participants later ate more cookies than other participants. In Experiment 3, excluded participants quit sooner on a frustrating task. In Experiments 4-6, exclusion led to impairment of attention regulation as measured with a dichotic listening task. Experiments 5 and 6 further showed that decrements in self-regulation can be eliminated by offering a cash incentive or increasing self-awareness. Thus, rejected people are capable of self-regulation but are normally disinclined to make the effort.