Overshadowing and latent inhibition in nausea-based context conditioning in humans: Theoretical and practical implications

Volunteer participants underwent nausea-inducing body rotation in a distinctive context, and the acquired ability of the contextual cues to evoke nausea was subsequently assessed by a symptom rating scale. One group received prior exposure to the context (a latent inhibition procedure); a second consumed a novel flavour prior to rotation (an overshadowing procedure); a third group experienced both procedures; and a control group received neither. When tested in the context in the absence of rotation, all groups reported an increase in nausea-related symptoms at the time when rotation had previously occurred, an outcome consistent with the occurrence of conditioned nausea. The magnitude of this increase did not differ across the groups, but the overall level of responsiveness (the degree to which nausea-related symptoms were reported) was enhanced in the latent inhibition and reduced in the overshadowing condition. Cortisol levels showed the same pattern. The implications of these findings for the proposal that overshadowing and latent inhibition procedures might be used to control the development of anticipatory nausea in patients undergoing chemotherapy is considered.     

Zur Psychodynamik der Langeweile

Zusammenfassung. Das Ph?nomen Langeweile wird als Ich-Zustand und als Beziehungsgeschehen in der analytischen Situation untersucht. Das in der psychoanalytischen Literatur vorherrschende Verst?ndnis der Langeweile als Abwehr libidin?ser und aggressiver Triebwünsche und als charakterologische Abwehr schwerer maligner Depression und psychosenaher Zust?nde wird um die Frage erweitert, unter welchen seelischen Bedingungen Langeweile toleriert werden kann und als übergangszustand kreative und regenerative M?glichkeiten in sich birgt. Diese Dialektik von Abwehr und kreativer Ich-Leistung bildet den Rahmen für das klinische Material. Drei exemplarische Fallsequenzen dienen der Darstellung sehr unterschiedlicher Qualit?ten und Schweregrade der Langeweile in der analytischen Beziehung. Die in der Langeweile abgewehrten Affekte und Beziehungsqualit?ten – Langeweile als übertragungswiderstand – werden untersucht: Langeweile als „geheimer Zuchtmeister der Triebe” dient der Abwehr inzestu?s-?dipaler Triebwünsche; sie schützt vor nicht tolerierbaren Leerzust?nden und depressiven Affekten, die mit traumatischen Erinnerungen verbunden sind; sie fungiert schlie?lich in Form von l?hmender, „t?dlicher” Langeweile als ein übertragungswiderstand, in dem der Patient die Beziehung zur Analytikerin vor destruktiver Bem?chtigung und sadistischen Triebwünschen zu schützen versucht. Die Arbeit wird durch einige philosophische und literarische Passagen (Oblomow) erg?nzt, die auf die Langeweile als kulturhistorisch interessantes Sujet verweisen.

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Psychodynamics of boredom

Summary. The phenomenon of boredom is examined as ego state and as reflection of the relationship within the analytic situation. In psychoanalytical literature boredom is predominantly viewed as defence against libidinal and aggressive wishes and as characterological defence against serious malignant depression and states close to psychosis; here the question is extended to the consideration under what psychological conditions boredom may be tolerated and may even constitute a transitional phase towards the development of creative and regenerative potential. The dialectics of repression and creative ego-achievement form the framework for the discussion of the clinical material. Three casework sequences illustrate vastly differing aspects of boredom both in its intrinsic qualities and its degree in the analytic relationship. The affects and relationship qualities which are repressed in boredom – i.e. boredom as transference resistance – are considered: boredom as ”secred tamer of the drives” serves the repression of incestuous/oedipal drives; it serves as a protection against intolerable emptiness and the depressive affects relating to posttraumatic memories; and, finally, as crippling ”deadly” boredom it may function as transference resistance whereby the patient attempts to protect the analytic relationship from destructive usurpation and sadistic wishes. The paper concludes with some philosophical and literary passages (Oblomov) which illustrate interesting cultural and historical facets of the subject.

     

Negative emotionality,attachment quality,and behavior problems in early childhood

Negative emotionality, as well as attachment security and disorganization, are seen as major contributors to social adjustment and maladjustment in childhood. However, relatively little is known about whether infant negative emotionality and attachment quality operate together to affect developing behavior problems. The present study thus aims to contribute to this question. Participants were 64 healthy firstborn children and their primary caregivers. Negative emotionality was assessed at the infant ages of 4, 8, and 12 months using laboratory routines. At 18 months, the Strange Situation procedure was conducted to assess infant attachment security and disorganization, and at 30 months, the child's behavior problems were assessed within a structured clinical interview. Attachment security and attachment disorganization were significantly associated with subsequent behavior problems. There was no significant relation between infant negative emotionality and behavior problems. However, there were indications of a stronger association between attachment disorganization and behavior problems in infants high in negative emotionality. The results underpin the importance of attachment quality as well as negative emotionality in social adjustment. Disorganized attachment precedes poor adjustment, especially in infants high in negative emotionality.     

Intergenerational potential: effects of social interaction between older adults and adolescents

The present study aimed to investigate the potentially facilitative effect of the interaction between older adults and adolescents. For older adults, the interaction was expected to compensate for age-related deficits (e.g., cognitive performance, cognitive-affective complexity). In case of the adolescents, an optimization of development was expected (e.g., prosocial behavior, communion goals). Ninety older women (70-74 years) and 90 adolescent girls (14-15 years) were randomly assigned to 3 experimental conditions. In each of the conditions, nonfamiliar dyads collaborated on 1 task. The conditions varied according to the age composition and the type of contextual demand (high vs. low support of generativity [older adults] and identity formation [adolescents]). Individual performance measures were assessed immediately after the interaction. As expected, intergenerational settings characterized by high support of generativity and identity formation resulted in more prosocial behavior in adolescents. Furthermore, the results lent partial support to the hypothesis that in older adults, this setting facilitated higher complexity of emotion regulation as well as higher levels of performance in measures of speed and word fluency.     

Toward a dialect theory: cultural differences in the expression and recognition of posed facial expressions

Two studies provided direct support for a recently proposed dialect theory of communicating emotion, positing that expressive displays show cultural variations similar to linguistic dialects, thereby decreasing accurate recognition by out-group members. In Study 1, 60 participants from Quebec and Gabon posed facial expressions. Dialects, in the form of activating different muscles for the same expressions, emerged most clearly for serenity, shame, and contempt and also for anger, sadness, surprise, and happiness, but not for fear, disgust, or embarrassment. In Study 2, Quebecois and Gabonese participants judged these stimuli and stimuli standardized to erase cultural dialects. As predicted, an in-group advantage emerged for nonstandardized expressions only and most strongly for expressions with greater regional dialects, according to Study 1.     

Differences in inter-rater reliability and accuracy for a treatment adherence scale

Inter-rater reliability and accuracy are measures of rater performance. Inter-rater reliability is frequently used as a substitute for accuracy despite conceptual differences and literature suggesting important differences between them. The aims of this study were to compare inter-rater reliability and accuracy among a group of raters, using a treatment adherence scale, and to assess for factors affecting the reliability of these ratings. Paired undergraduate raters assessed therapist behavior by viewing videotapes of 4 therapists' cognitive behavioral therapy sessions. Ratings were compared with expert-generated criterion ratings and between raters using intraclass correlation (2,1). Inter-rater reliability was marginally higher than accuracy (p = 0.09). The specific therapist significantly affected inter-rater reliability and accuracy. The frequency and intensity of the therapists' ratable behaviors of criterion ratings correlated only with rater accuracy. Consensus ratings were more accurate than individual ratings, but composite ratings were not more accurate than consensus ratings. In conclusion, accuracy cannot be assumed to exceed inter-rater reliability or vice versa, and both are influenced by multiple factors. In this study, the subject of the ratings (i.e. the therapist and the intensity and frequency of rated behaviors) was shown to influence inter-rater reliability and accuracy. The additional resources needed for a composite rating, a rating based on the average score of paired raters, may be justified by improved accuracy over individual ratings. The additional time required to arrive at a consensus rating, a rating generated following discussion between 2 raters, may not be warranted. Further research is needed to determine whether these findings hold true with other raters and treatment adherence scales.     

Place‐value understanding in number line estimation predicts future arithmetic performance

In multi‐digit numbers, the value of each digit is determined by its position within the digit string. Children's understanding of this place‐value structure constitutes a building block for later arithmetic skills. We investigated whether a number line estimation task can provide an assessment of place‐value understanding in first grade. We hypothesized that estimating the position of two‐digit numbers requires place‐value understanding. Therefore, we fitted a linear function to children's estimates of two‐digit numbers and considered the resulting slope as a measure of children's place‐value understanding. We observed a significant correlation between this slope and children's performance in a transcoding task known to require place‐value understanding. Additionally, the slope for two‐digit numbers assessed at the beginning of grade 1 predicted children's arithmetic performance at the end of grade 1. These results indicate that the number line estimation task may indeed constitute a valid measure for first‐graders' place‐value understanding. Moreover, these findings are hard to reconcile with the view that number line estimation directly assesses a spatial representation of numbers. Instead, our results suggest that numerical processes involved in performing the task (such as place‐value understanding) may drive the association between number line estimation and arithmetic performance.