Negation: A theory of its meaning,representation, and use

This article presents a model-based theory of what negation means, how it is mentally represented, and how it is understood. The theory postulates that negation takes a single argument that refers to a set of possibilities and returns the complement of that set. Individuals therefore tend to assign a small scope to negation in order to minimize the number of models of possibilities that they have to consider. Individuals untrained in logic do not know the possibilities corresponding to the negation of compound assertions formed with if, or, and and, and have to infer the possibilities one by one. It follows that negations are easier to understand, and to formulate, when individuals already have in mind the possibilities to be negated. The paper shows that the evidence, including the results of recent studies, corroborates the theory.     

Anaesthesia or psychotherapy: Eradicating thoughts or working them through

The author presents two sessions from the analysis of a depressive narcissistic doctor, which are characterised by a mixture of co-operation and pseudo-co-operation. The dialogue is in parts intellectualised, complicated, lifeless and schizoid. Points at which the patient shows surprising insights are then partly denigrated by him, on the basis that change is not to be expected. Semi-lifeless contact assists the defensive claustrophobia that he experiences in meaningful contact. It becomes very clear that he is then afraid of entering into an openly aggressive conflict that entails the existential threat of object loss. However, this has so far been avoided. The secret pleasure in an anal-narcissistic, sadomasochistic addiction to doubt persists in the partial denigration. The patient's artificially maintained self-doubt and doubt of the object reinforce a genuine confusion that consists in never knowing exactly what lies behind the helpful and needed object.     

Selective imitation of the passive construction through modeling

Six 4- to 5-yr-old subjects were exposed to five sessions in which an adult model used passive sentences to describe a set of modeling stimuli. Probe stimuli, which the subjects were asked to describe without benefit of modeling and without selective reinforcement were interspersed among modeling stimuli. A matched group of control subjects received probletrials but no modeling trials. Both groups of subjects were subsequently tested on their ability to comprehend active and passive sentence forms. Every subject in the experimental group produced passive sentences on probe trials even though there was considerable variability in the number of passives produced. No control subject produced passives. The modeling procedure increased the comprehension scores of the experimental group above those of the control group though the scores of both groups were above chance. The results were contrasted with earlier studies in which modeling was ineffective in producing passive usage and in which comprehension of the passive was not demonstrated by even older children.     

The Irony of Social Trust: Individual‐level and Contextual‐level Links with Protest Intention and Radical Right Support in Switzerland

This research examines how social trust translates into dynamics of mobilisation for inclusion or exclusion in Swiss cantons by studying how social trust is linked to equality‐directed protest intention versus radical right support, comparing individual‐level and contextual‐level relationships. The study is based on data from the Swiss Household Panel collected between 2002 and 2008. The impact of individual‐level and contextual‐level social trust is analysed in three‐level regression models of repeated observations, nested in individuals who are nested in cantons. The results indicate complex patterns that depend on the level at which social trust is assessed and confirm the need for a contextualised view of social trust and social capital. For individuals, higher social trust is associated with higher protest intention and lower radical right support. However, in cantons characterised by higher rates of social trust, individuals are less likely to engage in protest actions and more likely to support the radical right. Further analyses show that canton‐level social trust is intertwined with other contextual factors, suggesting that in certain configurations, that is, combined with low levels of cultural and social diversity, climates of social trust may be linked to more restricted forms of solidarity and the persistence of inequality. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dynamic interpersonal therapy in an NHS tertiary level specialist psychotherapy service

We describe the introduction of dynamic interpersonal psychotherapy (DIT) into an National Health Service (NHS) tertiary psychoanalytic specialist psychotherapy service. Training in DIT began as our contribution to Improving Access to Psychological Therapies and primary care services, supporting the training and supervision of their DIT practitioners. We then discovered DIT could be a valuable treatment within our own tertiary NHS service for patients with complex presentations. Currently fighting for survival, like many NHS psychoanalytic psychotherapy services nationally, we have adopted a manual-guided, psychoanalytically based therapy to broaden our tertiary clinical psychoanalytic service and accommodate trends in mental health service provision, whilst protecting the quality and integrity of our psychotherapy. DIT helped us continue providing relevant and beneficial psychoanalytic and psychodynamic services to individual patients despite limitations of the financially challenged NHS, NICE guidelines and Payment by Results. We outline the progress and outcomes for patients with complex mental health presentations, include individual case discussion and our experience of using the DIT approach within a traditionally longer term psychoanalytic psychotherapy service.     

社会排斥对产品触觉信息偏好的影响及其作用机制

社会排斥的现象在当今社会日益凸显,已成为世界各国探究社会政策和不平等问题的一个重要方向。然而却鲜少有研究从心理机制的角度探讨社会排斥对人们的产品偏好的影响。本文通过1个预实验和4个主实验,系统研究了社会排斥如何影响个体对不同触感产品的偏好,并探讨了其内在影响机制。实验结果发现在经历社会排斥(相较于社会接纳)之后,个体更偏好触感柔软的产品,消极心理体验是其内在驱动机制,并且该作用机制被归属感的重要性所调节。当归属感被认为很重要时,个体在经历社会排斥后对柔软触感产品的偏好以及消极心理体验的中介作用会被强化,而当归属感被认为不重要时,以上效应会被削弱。本文还对研究结论的理论贡献和实践应用进行了深入讨论。