THE STORIED ANALYST: DESIRE AND PERSUASION IN THE CLINICAL VIGNETTE

Beginning with the quintessentially psychoanalytic tales of Freud, the case history has held a privileged position in the history and practice of psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysts grow up with, grow into, and grow out of these narratives as clinical practitioners. Alongside the representational aspects of these case histories, there is a rhetorical or persuasive force that significantly influences us. The author contends that the theory of narrative and rhetoric can inform the how, the why, and the “so what?” of our relationship to these stories of psychoanalysis.     

Integrating reflective activities in eportfolios to support the development of abilities in self-managed experiential learning

This article presents the case for self-managing and self-regulating learners to link their various forms of reflection explicitly, and to do so within an ePortfolio, in order to support the development of higher-level abilities such as problem-solving, critiquing, decision-making, empathising and resolving conflicts. It explores the reflective options for self-managed experiential learning, and concentrates upon what three forms of reflection (reflection-for, -on- and in-action) entail, and could contribute to learning and development. It also addresses how linking previous reflections (composted reflections) can contribute to the development of higher-level abilities. An ePortfolio is taken as a natural and effective location for this integration. Guidance is offered, requiring modest tutorial activity to generate and maintain learner involvement in the development of linked reflections in a learner’s assorted records and reflections housed in an ePortfolio. Suggestions for gathering learner constructive feedback on such initiatives are included.     

The oedipal wound in two stories by Kafka: The Metamorphosis and A Country Doctor

Kafka read Freud and was interested in psychoanalysis but believed there was no ‘cure’ for what was essentially the problem of living. As always with creative artists, the writer is his own psychoanalyst, and the actual process of writing is his means of self-revelation. The aim of this paper is to consider, in relation to two stories (The Metamorphosis and A Country Doctor), Kafka’s use of this background oedipal conflict with his father or received values (the ‘law’) as a springboard for the type of wound that results in creative writing. The wound for him became a kind of personal myth, and was also associated with other painful stimuli, including his tuberculosis and his troubled love affairs, but above all with his identity as a writer. The writing process and the ‘faith-value’ it demands is an underlying metaphor behind these narratives of Kafka’s ‘dream-like inner life’. There are parallels here with Bion’s psychoanalytic philosophy of ‘suffering’ and ‘psyche-lodgement’.     

Are expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal associated with stress-related symptoms?

Emotion dysregulation is thought to be critical to the development of negative psychological outcomes. Gross (1998b) conceptualized the timing of regulation strategies as key to this relationship, with response-focused strategies, such as expressive suppression, as less effective and more detrimental compared to antecedent-focused ones, such as cognitive reappraisal. In the current study, we examined the relationship between reappraisal and expressive suppression and measures of psychopathology, particularly for stress-related reactions, in both undergraduate and trauma-exposed community samples of women. Generally, expressive suppression was associated with higher, and reappraisal with lower, self-reported stress-related symptoms. In particular, expressive suppression was associated with PTSD, anxiety, and depression symptoms in the trauma-exposed community sample, with rumination partially mediating this association. Finally, based on factor analysis, expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal appear to be independent constructs. Overall, expressive suppression, much more so than cognitive reappraisal, may play an important role in the experience of stress-related symptoms. Further, given their independence, there are potentially relevant clinical implications, as interventions that shift one of these emotion regulation strategies may not lead to changes in the other.     

Flexible spatial mapping of different notations of numbers in Chinese readers

The spatial component of numerical and ordinal information has been explored in previous research. However, how such mapping emerges and how it is affected by the learning experience are issues still under debate. In the current study, we examined the orientation of the mental number line for different numerical notations (e.g., “1”, “—-”, “”) in Chinese readers. Our data demonstrated that Arabic numbers are mentally aligned horizontally with a left-to-right directionality, while Chinese number words are aligned vertically with a top-to-bottom directionality. These findings indicate that different notations of the same concept have flexible mappings within space, which is plausibly shaped by the dominant context in which the numerical notations appear.     

写作心理学理论研究概况

当今写作心理研究的重点已从写作作品的研究转向写作过程的研究,主要有三种观点表达观点,社会观点和认知观点.Hayes和Flower建构的写作模型(1980,1996)是最有影响的写作模型,为写作心理的研究提供了理论框架.写作心理研究随着研究方法的提高,将会取得更大的进步.     

Concurrent relations between inhibitory control,vocabulary and internal state language in 18- and 24-month-old Italian-speaking infants

The aim of this study was to investigate the concurrent relations between 18- and 24-month-olds' performance on tasks measuring inhibitory control, word production, and internal state vocabulary. Two tasks were used to measure inhibitory control, the Reverse Categorization task (a conflict task), and the Gift task (a delay task). Expressive vocabulary was assessed with the Italian version of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory (Words and Sentences), and internal state vocabulary was assessed with a checklist of 78 mental state terms adapted from the English Internal State Language Questionnaire. Expressive vocabulary was associated to Internal State Language and to the Reverse Categorization task, but not to the Delay task. Our findings document internal state language abilities in a sample of 61 Italian-speaking children, and show that internal state vocabulary is significantly and specifically related only to performance on the conflict measure of inhibitory control, even when vocabulary size is controlled for. Results of our study extend to an Italian sample of children previous findings on an early association between self-control and theory of mind and suggest that a link between inhibitory control processes and internal state language may be present at a very young age.     

Finding happiness in negative emotions: An experimental test of a novel expressive writing paradigm

Positive emotions are evoked on seeing one's favorite person. To investigate the psychological and physiological responses accompanying these positive emotions, we simultaneously recorded various parameters such as the mood state, heart rate, skin conductance level (SCL), serum levels of catecholamines, and proportions of T cells and natural killer (NK) cells among the lymphocytes while participants viewed films featuring their favorite persons. The participants reported that they felt better and invigorated; in addition, SCL and proportion of NK cells in peripheral blood increased significantly, and these physiological changes were positively correlated. These results suggest that positive emotions elicited on seeing a favorite person may lead to psychological and physiological activation and, more importantly, may promote health.

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bone (Proverbs 17 : 22; New International Version)     

Recalling courage: An initial test of a brief writing intervention to activate a ‘courageous mindset’ and courageous behavior

ABSTRACT

Though theoretical models propose that courage can be ‘activated,’ little experimental work exists to support this idea. The current study examines a writing intervention that asks individuals to reflect on experiences in which they faced their fears (thus demonstrating courage) to determine if such reflection would promote more approach-oriented cognition (Study 1) and behavioral intentions (Study 2). As expected, when asked to decide if they could/would engage in various approach behaviors related to their fear, participants in the courage condition chose ‘yes’ more often and were comparatively faster to choose ‘yes’ and slower to choose ‘no.’ Furthermore, participants in the courage condition demonstrated greater intentions of approach behavior toward feared situations in the laboratory. These results, though small in effect, suggest that the writing intervention can activate a ‘courageous mindset’ and can promote more courageous behavioral intentions.