Metaphor as an Instrument for Orchestrating Change in Counselor Training and the Counseling Process

The authors explore the use of metaphors as a training tool for beginning counselors for enhancing client case conceptualization, counselor‐client relationships, and intervention strategies. The history of the use of metaphors in counseling, several definitions, and a case study are presented. The authors discuss intentional use of metaphors with students in training and with clients. How to introduce the use of metaphors into counselor training and practice is also included.     

Movement contributes to infants’ recognition of the human form

Three experiments demonstrate that biological movement facilitates young infants’ recognition of the whole human form. A body discrimination task was used in which 6-, 9-, and 12-month-old infants were habituated to typical human bodies and then shown scrambled human bodies at the test. Recovery of interest to the scrambled bodies was observed in 9- and 12-month-old infants in Experiment 1, but only when the body images were animated to move in a biologically possible way. In Experiment 2, nonbiological movement was incorporated into the typical and scrambled body images, but this did not facilitate body recognition in 9- and 12-month-olds. A preferential looking paradigm was used in Experiment 3 to determine if infants had a spontaneous preference for the scrambled versus typical body stimuli when these were both animated. The results showed that 12-month-olds preferred the scrambled body stimuli, 9-month-olds preferred the typical body stimuli and the 6-month-olds showed no preference for either type of body stimuli. These findings suggest that human body recognition involves integrating form and movement, possibly in the superior temporal sulcus, from as early as 9 months of life.     

Listening Comprehension, Oral Expression, Reading Comprehension, and Written Expression: Related Yet Unique Language Systems in Grades 1, 3, 5, and 7

Age-normed tests of Listening Comprehension, Oral Expression, Reading Comprehension, and Written Expression were administered in grades 1 (n=128), 3, and 5 or 3 (n=113), 5, and 7. Confirmatory factor analyses compared one- and four- factor models at each grade level and supported a four- factor model of Language by Ear, Mouth, Eye, and Hand. Multiple regressions identified which of the three other language skills explained unique variance in each of the four language skill outcomes and provided additional evidence that language is not a single skill. Individuals' ipsative scores (amount that the standard score for age on each language measure deviated from individual's mean for all four measures) showed that 25% to 30% of individuals showed relative strengths or weaknesses (+ or - 1 SD) in specific language skills, but only 7% were stable across grades 3 and 5. Findings are discussed in reference to (a) theoretical implications for idea comprehension and expression via language by ear, mouth, eye, and hand, and (b) educational applications of observed developmental and individual differences for general, special, and gifted education.     

APPLIED MYSTICISM: A DRUG‐ENABLED VISIONARY EXPERIENCE AGAINST MORAL BLINDNESS

Intellectuals such as William James and Aldous Huxley have thought it possible to develop a technique to apply to this world the mystical‐type insights gained during drug‐enabled experiences. Particularly, Huxley claimed that the visionary experience triggered by psychedelics could help us rethink our relationship with technology and promote a much‐needed cultural change. In this article, we explore this hypothesis. To do so, we build a philosophical framework based on Günther Anders's philosophy of technique, presenting human beings as morally blind when facing technological development. Mystical experiences are then proposed as a means to improve our moral faculties—and psychedelic drugs as tools to enable them. We finally explore the empirical feasibility of such a hypothesis by thoroughly reviewing the recent scientific literature on the nature of the psychedelic experience, concluding that the long‐term effects in the personality domain openness and in nature relatedness point to the emergence of a morally improved agent, thus providing substance to an application of mysticism.     

Does matching up features mess up job choice? Boundary conditions on attribute‐salience effects

Research in decision making has suggested that the degree to which features of an option are shared versus unique influences preferences in a way that violates normative rules. The generalizability of these findings to job choice was investigated. Senior‐level, undergraduate job seekers (N = 216) were presented with three jobs from which they were asked to choose one. Attributes for two of the jobs (A and B) remained invariant across conditions, and attributes for a third job (C) were manipulated such that it shared unfavorable features with one of the invariant jobs (A or B) and favorable attributes with the other job (B or A). Results suggested that jobs with unique positive features and shared negative features were preferred over those with unique negative features and shared positive features only when information was presented in a simple (versus complex) format and when participants did not rate the importance of attributes prior to the choice task. We suggest that inferences from feature‐matching research should be qualified by these boundary conditions. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The psychological benefit of future vividness in goal persistence: An illustrative case of the class of 2020 before & during COVID-19

Graduating during COVID-19, the Class of 2020 had difficulty pursuing their future goals. This research examined the likelihood of academic and career goal change early in the pandemic, disparities in persistence by socioeconomic status (SES), and how psychological resources mitigated goal change during the early stages of the pandemic. This 4-year study surveyed students in the Class of 2020 eight times from their first week in college (Fall 2016) to their last semester before graduation (Spring 2020; N = 115; 20% below middle SES, 80% middle SES or above). Even in the first weeks of COVID-19, a quarter of students changed goals. Lower SES students were less likely to persist in their post-graduation plans. Nevertheless, students who entered college with a vivid image of their future were more likely to have secured a graduate school or job prospect prior to COVID-19, and, in turn, were less likely to change goals.     

Thou Shalt Not Covet Another Man? Exploring Constructions of Same‐Sex and Different‐Sex Infidelity Using Story Completion

This study explores conceptualisations of same‐ versus different‐sex infidelity in the context of a heterosexual marriage using story completion. A convenience sample of 57 female and male participants completed one of four versions of a story stem featuring a husband who is either emotionally or sexually unfaithful with a woman or a man. A social constructionist thematic analysis found that same‐sex infidelity was conceptualised as the ‘worst case scenario’ and was underpinned by a heteronormative framing of repressed homosexuality. By contrast, heterosexual infidelity was understood in terms of relational deficits and the wife assuming responsibility for these. Overall, the analysis shows that in making sense of same‐sex and heterosexual infidelity, the participants drew on familiar discourses of sexuality and gender, suggesting that despite social psychological theorising related to sexual fluidity, essentialist ideas remain firmly in place. Methodologically, the study demonstrates the usefulness of a rarely used tool—the story completion task—for accessing socio‐cultural discourses and dominant meanings surrounding a particular topic. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Predictors of Positive Outcomes in Offspring of Depressed Parents and Non-depressed Parents Across 20 Years

Understanding differences in factors leading to positive outcomes in high-risk and low-risk offspring has important implications for preventive interventions. We identified variables predicting positive outcomes in a cohort of 235 offspring from 76 families in which one, both, or neither parent had major depressive disorder. Positive outcomes were termed resilient in offspring of depressed parents, and competent in offspring of non-depressed parents, and defined by two separate criteria: absence of psychiatric diagnosis and consistently high functioning at 2, 10, and 20 years follow-up. In offspring of depressed parents, easier temperament and higher self-esteem were associated with greater odds of resilient outcome defined by absence of diagnosis. Lower maternal overprotection, greater offspring self-esteem, and higher IQ were associated with greater odds of resilient outcome defined by consistently high functioning. Multivariate analysis indicated that resilient outcome defined by absence of diagnosis was best predicted by offspring self-esteem; resilient outcome defined by functioning was best predicted by maternal overprotection and self-esteem. Among offspring of non-depressed parents, greater family cohesion, easier temperament and higher self-esteem were associated with greater odds of offspring competent outcome defined by absence of diagnosis. Higher maternal affection and greater offspring self-esteem were associated with greater odds of competent outcome, defined by consistently high functioning. Multivariate analysis for each criterion indicated that competent outcome was best predicted by offspring self-esteem. As the most robust predictor of positive outcomes in offspring of depressed and non-depressed parents, self-esteem is an important target for youth preventive interventions.