Focused attention, open monitoring and automatic self-transcending: Categories to organize meditations from Vedic, Buddhist and Chinese traditions

This paper proposes a third meditation-category—automatic self-transcending— to extend the dichotomy of focused attention and open monitoring proposed by Lutz. Automatic self-transcending includes techniques designed to transcend their own activity. This contrasts with focused attention, which keeps attention focused on an object; and open monitoring, which keeps attention involved in the monitoring process. Each category was assigned EEG bands, based on reported brain patterns during mental tasks, and meditations were categorized based on their reported EEG. Focused attention, characterized by beta/gamma activity, included meditations from Tibetan Buddhist, Buddhist, and Chinese traditions. Open monitoring, characterized by theta activity, included meditations from Buddhist, Chinese, and Vedic traditions. Automatic self-transcending, characterized by alpha1 activity, included meditations from Vedic and Chinese traditions. Between categories, the included meditations differed in focus, subject/object relation, and procedures. These findings shed light on the common mistake of averaging meditations together to determine mechanisms or clinical effects.     

Psychometric properties of the Muscle Appearance Satisfaction Scale among Irish and British men

The psychometric soundness of the Muscle Appearance Satisfaction Scale (MASS; Mayville, Williamson, White, Netemeyer, & Drab, 2002), a measure of muscle dysmorphia symptoms, was investigated using two independent online samples of Irish and British men (ns = 307 and 306, respectively). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed that, compared to the original 5-component solution for the 19-item MASS, a 6-item unidimensional version offered better fit to the data. Findings further upheld the internal consistency reliability, construct validity (e.g., via its associations with internalization of the muscular ideal and physical appearance comparisons), and discriminant validity (e.g., via its nonsignificant relationship with social desirability) of the MASS's scores. The limitations associated with the current research are discussed and directions for future research are articulated.     

Electromyographic evidence for response conflict in the exclude recognition task

How do memory retrieval processes lead to overt responses in strategic recognition tasks (responding “old” to one class of familiar stimulus and “new” to another)? Many current theories of memory retrieval ignore the response requirements in such memory tasks, instead modeling them using memory processes (e.g., familiarity and recollection) alone (see Yonelinas, 2002). We argue that strategic recognition involves conflict in response processing similar to canonical conflict tasks (e.g., the Stroop task). The parallel task set (PTS) model (Seymour, 2001) accounts for performance in strategic recognition tasks (e.g., the exclude recognition task) by suggesting that motor response conflict occurs when one responds “new” to familiar stimuli. We tested this prediction using surface electromyography, a measure incontrovertibly related to motor execution. Overall, results are consistent with the PTS model’s assumption that recognition, motor, and control processes interact in strategic retrieval tasks. The implications of these data for models of memory retrieval and response conflict are discussed.     

Effects of working memory capacity on mental set due to domain knowledge

The present set of studies examines how working memory capacity (WMC) relates to performance on a Remote Associates Task (RAT), originally designed by Mednick as a quantifiable creative problem solving assessment. The source of fixation was manipulated across two sets of RAT items. One set was neutral with no specific fixation embedded in them, while the second set was baseball-misleading, designed so that prior knowledge of baseball would lead to an incorrect solution attempt. WMC scores were positively related to performance on RAT items in all conditions, except one. High baseball knowledge participants' WMC scores did not relate to performance on the baseball-misleading RAT. While in general WMC may lead to better RAT performance, these results suggest that when there is a candidate solution strongly activated by prior knowledge, WMC may actually lead to too much focus on the incorrect solution and exacerbate mental sets.     

The issue of sexuality in group psychotherapy

Sexuality is an underlying, but often unspoken and ignored issue in group psychotherapy. Within the context of how a group reacts to and uses sexuality, the authors focus on three relationship areas: client/client, client/therapist, and therapist/therapist. Some of the hazards of failing to deal with sexually laden conflicts and intimacy issues in these relationships are explored. Some of the advantages of an open and honest approach to uncovering sexrole related stereotypes and behaviors are proposed. The authors attempt to demonstrate that recognition of therapists' and group members' sexuality must be appreciated as an important element in the therapeutic process.