Some Aspects of Empathy in the Process of Psychotherapy: Learning from Indian Tradition

This article focuses on some practices in Indian tradition as interventions for enhancing empathy among aspiring psychotherapists. In this venture, author after briefly looking into the evolution of pro-social behavior, it defines basic nature of bond formation between therapist and client, and then summarizes findings of studies on Eastern meditational practices in the context of empathy. Since there is not much convincing evidence that meditational practices enhanced empathy in psychotherapists, the suggestion is to explore other processes in the Indian tradition. Intuition (pratibha) and holistic learning (vyutpatti) are among those processes, respectively, for journeys into the inner world and interventions at community level. They are pragmatic ways to sensitize the aspiring psychotherapists.     

Curved apparent motion induced by amodal completion

We investigated whether amodal completion can bias apparent motion (AM) to deviate from its default straight path toward a longer curved path, which would violate the well-established principle that AM follows the shortest possible path. Observers viewed motion sequences of two alternating rectangular tokens positioned at the ends of a semicircular occluder, with varying interstimulus intervals (ISIs; 100-500?ms). At short ISIs, observers tended to report simple straight-path motion-that is, outside the occluder. But at long ISIs, they became increasingly likely to report a curved-path motion behind the occluder. This tendency toward reporting curved-path motion was influenced by the shape of tokens, display orientation, the gap between tokens and the occluder, and binocular depth cues. Our results suggest that the visual system tends to minimize unexplained absence of a moving object, as well as its path length, such that AM deviates from the shortest path when amodal integration of motion trajectory behind the curved occluder can account for the objective invisibility of the object during the ISI.     

Health-related Internet habits and health anxiety in university students

Health-related Internet use has grown rapidly, yet little research has considered how health anxious individuals use the Internet for this purpose. Our aim was to examine the relationships between health anxiety and the extent of, reasons for, and consequences of health-related Internet usage in university students (n = 255). Responses on a purpose-made Internet use questionnaire were correlated with health anxiety scores; multiple regression analyses controlling for depression and anxiety were also conducted. Health anxiety positively correlated with (all ps < .01): frequency of health-related searching (r_s = .163), proportion of health-related information sought (r_s = .200), time spent online for health purposes (r_s = .166), and number of searches for both illness (r_s = .453) and wellness (r_s = .208) information. Health anxiety further positively correlated with advantages perceived in health-related Internet use (r_s = .183), heightened tension (r_s = .364) and relief (r_s = .174) post-search, and perceived doctor disadvantages (r_s = .306), yet a greater likelihood to visit a doctor post-search (r_s = .217). Health anxiety also correlated with six measures of possible addiction to using the Internet for health purposes (r_s range = .171 to .366, all ps < .01). Some (including several potentially dysfunctional) aspects of health-related Internet use correlate with health anxiety. Research evaluating the possible role of Internet use in the development and maintenance of health anxiety is warranted.     

Social support and work–family conflict: A test of an indirect effects model

Most work–family research on social support is based on matching domain relationships, that is, social support in the work domain is related to work interfering with family conflict (WIF) and social support in the family domain is related to family interfering with work conflict (FIW). In this research, based on the conservation of resources (COR) model, we examined the cross domain indirect relationship between social support in the work domain and FIW and the cross domain indirect relationship between social support in the family domain and WIF. We tested this model across three samples in two studies. In Study 1, we examined the cross domain influence of supervisory and spouse support on work–family conflict using two large random samples (N = 1130; N = 2769). In Study 2, we tested an expanded model of social support to include both generic and work–family specific support, and examined the cross domain indirect relationships between these two types of support on work–family conflict using a sample of 435 employees. Specifically, we proposed that social support systems in the work domain such as family friendly organizational policies, family supportive organizational climate, perceived organizational support, and perceived supervisory support will be indirectly and negatively related to FIW via WIF and that spouse/partner support will be indirectly and negatively related to WIF via FIW. Results for Study 1 provided support for the cross domain indirect effects model and results for Study 2 provided support for the cross domain indirect effects for work–family specific social support systems. We discuss implications of these results for the theory and practice of managing work–family conflict.     

‘Cost in Transliteration’: The neurocognitive processing of Romanized writing

Romanized transliteration is widely used in internet communication and global commerce, yet we know little about its behavioural and neural processing. Here, we show that Romanized text imposes a significant neurocognitive load. Readers faced greater difficulty in identifying concrete words written in Romanized transliteration (Romanagari) compared to L1 and L2. Functional neuroimaging revealed that the neural cost of processing transliterations arose from significantly greater recruitment of language (left precentral gyrus, left inferior parietal lobule) and attention networks (left mid-cingulum). Additionally, transliterated text uniquely activated attention and control areas compared to both L1 (cerebellar vermis) and L2 (pre-supplementary motor area/pre-SMA). We attribute the neural effort of reading Romanized transliteration to (i) effortful phonological retrieval from unfamiliar orthographic forms and (ii) conflicting attentional demands imposed by mapping orthographic forms of one language to phonological-semantic representations in another. Finally, significant brain-behaviour correlation suggests that the left mid-cingulum modulates cognitive-linguistic conflict.     

Dynamic properties of edge dislocations decorated by interstitial loops in α-iron and copper

Clusters of self-interstitial atoms (SIAs) in the form of parallel crowdions are created directly in high-energy displacement cascades produced in metals by neutron irradiation. They are equivalent to small perfect dislocation loops and, in isolation in pure metals, undergo fast thermally-activated glide in the direction of their Burgers vector. Their strain field and ability to glide allows long-range interaction with other extended defects. Indeed, dislocations decorated by dislocation loops are commonly observed after neutron irradiation. Dislocations gliding under applied stress also encounter these mobile defects. These effects influence mechanical properties and require further investigation. This paper presents results from an atomic-scale study of copper and α-iron at either 0?K or 300?K. Loop drag and breakaway effects are investigated for an edge dislocation under applied stress interacting with a row of SIA loops below its glide plane. The maximum speed at which a loop is dragged is lower in copper than iron, and the applied stress at which this occurs is also lower. These differences in the dynamics of cluster-dislocation interaction are determined by the atomic structure of the defects and cannot be investigated by continuum treatment.     

Dislocation nucleation and vacancy formation during high-speed deformation of fcc metals

Recently, a dislocation-free deformation mechanism was proposed by Kiritani et al. on the basis of a series of experiments where thin foils of fcc metals were deformed at very high strain rates. In the experimental study, they observed a large density of stacking fault tetrahedra but very low dislocation densities in the foils after deformation. This was interpreted as evidence for a new dislocation-free deformation mechanism, resulting in a very high vacancy production rate. In this paper we investigate this proposition using large-scale computer simulations of bulk and thin films of copper. To favour such a dislocation-free deformation mechanism, we have made dislocation nucleation very difficult by not introducing any potential dislocation sources in the initial configuration. Nevertheless, we observe the nucleation of dislocation loops, and the deformation is carried by dislocations. The dislocations are nucleated as single Shockley partials. The large stresses required before dislocations are nucleated result in a very high dislocation density, and therefore in many inelastic interactions between the dislocations. These interactions create vacancies and a very large vacancy concentration is quickly reached.     

Deformation structure after fracture-toughness test of Mg–Al–Zn alloys processed by equal-channel-angular extrusion

Fracture toughness and deformation structures have been investigated using an AZ31 magnesium alloy processed by equal-channel-angular extrusion (ECAE). The ECAE-processed alloy (as-ECAE) was annealed at 573?K for 24?h (annealed-ECAE). The average grain sizes of as-ECAE and annealed-ECAE alloys were 4.0 and 16.3?µm, respectively. The plane-strain fracture toughness K _IC, obtained by stretched-zone analysis in as-ECAE and annealed-ECAE, were estimated to be 27.3 and 23.5?MPa/m^1/2, respectively. From optical microstructural observations in samples after the fracture-toughness tests, deformation twins were observed in annealed-ECAE. No deformation twins were observed in as-ECAE. In addition, dislocations on basal planes, as well as on non-basal planes, were activated in as-ECAE. It is concluded that the enhancement of the fracture toughness in the fine-grain structure was related to a reduction of deformation twins and dislocation movement in non-basal planes.     

Object Perception,Attention, and Memory 2005 Conference Report

Currently one in five adults is still unable to read despite a rapidly developing world. Here we show that (il)literacy has important consequences for the cognitive ability of selecting relevant information from a visual display of nonlinguistic material. In two experiments we compared low to high literacy observers on both an easy and a more difficult visual search task involving different types of chicken. Low literates were consistently slower (as indicated by overall response times) in both experiments. More detailed analyses, including eye movement measures, suggest that the slowing is partly due to display wide (i.e., parallel) sensory processing but mainly due to postselection processes, as low literates needed more time between fixating the target and generating a manual response. Furthermore, high and low literacy groups differed in the way search performance was distributed across the visual field. High literates performed relatively better when the target was presented in central regions, especially on the right. At the same time, high literacy was also associated with a more general bias towards the top and the left, especially in the more difficult search. We conclude that learning to read results in an extension of the functional visual field from the fovea to parafoveal areas, combined with some asymmetry in scan pattern influenced by the reading direction, both of which also influence other (e.g., nonlinguistic) tasks such as visual search.