Music in dreams and the emergence of the self

Abstract :  This paper deals with the presence and possible 'meaning' of music in dreams. The author explores a possible meaning of music as the most fundamental human symbolic experience, which directly points to the emergence of the Self from the primal union mystique with the Great Mother. The relationships between acoustic and visual experiences are taken into account as two basic human forms of coming into existence, although wholly different from each other. The role of music in dreams seems to be that of the most direct representation of the emerging Self in its pure, pre-representational form. Therefore, when music appears in dreams, providing there is the activation of an emotional tone, all other elements—visual and verbal—should be considered as the expression of the sense to which the music is pointing. A clinical example is described in order to better express the author's opinions.     

Residential mobility and conditionality of group identification

In three studies, we found that residential mobility accounts for cross-national, regional, and individual differences in the conditionality of identification with a group. In Study 1, participants from a mobile nation (US) showed more conditional identification with other group members than did participants from a stable nation (Japan). In Study 2, we found within-nation, regional variation in this tendency. Specifically, in residentially stable Japanese cities, the attendance to home baseball games was higher when the team was performing well than when it was performing poorly. In contrast, the attendance to the home games was not associated with the team’s performance. Finally, in Study 3 we found individual differences in the conditionality of group identification, such that frequent movers identified with the school more than non-movers did when the school was described favorably, whereas they distanced themselves from the school more than non-movers when their school was described unfavorably. These findings illustrate the role of residential mobility in individual, regional, and cross-national differences in the conditionality of group identification.     

Individual difference influences on self-focused and other-focused counterproductive student behaviors

This paper extends previous research on counterproductive student behaviors by presenting an individual difference model of counterproductive student behaviors (CSBs) that includes four sets of antecedent variables: internal control variables; propensity variables; achievement striving; and severity perceptions of CSBs. Data from 276 undergraduate students shows that CSBs exhibit a two-factor solution (self-focused and other-focused CSBs), and that each of the four sets of antecedent variables explain unique variance in either self-focused CSBs or other-focused CSBs; with the influence of achievement striving being restricted to behaviors that harm the academic performance of students. The results are discussed in terms of their relationship with previous research on counterproductive behaviors and their implications for understanding of the broad domain of college student performance.     

Self as the feminine principle

In analytical psychology, ego is associated with consciousness and the masculine principle. Although die feminine principle generally characterizes the unconscious, it was not assigned a psychic structure equivalent to the ego. This paper proposes a model of the psyche where self and ego are the major modes of psychic experience. The self as the 'being' mode represents the feminine principle and functions according to primary process; the ego represents 'doing', the masculine principle and secondary process. Feminine and masculine principles are considered to be of equal significance in both men and women and are not limited to gender.
Jung's concept of the self is related to the Hindu metaphysical concepts of Atman and Brahman, whose source was the older Aryan nature-oriented, pagan religion. The prominence of self in analytical psychology and its predominantly 'feminine' symbolism can be understood as Jung's reaction to the psychoanalytic emphasis on ego and to Freud's 'patriarchal' orientation. In Kabbalah, a similar development took place when the feminine principle of the Shekinah emerged in a central, redemptive role, as a mythic compensation to the overtly patriarchal Judaic religion.
In the proposed model of the psyche neither ego nor self represents the psychic totality. The interplay of both psychic modes/principles constitutes the psyche and the individuation process.     

The effects of a concurrent task on human optimization and self control

Memory deficits have been shown to hamper decision making in a number of populations. In two experiments, participants were required to select one of three alternatives that varied in reinforcer amount and delay, and the effect of a concurrent task on a behavioral choice task that involved making either an impulsive, self-controlled, or optimal response was studied. The studies aimed to see whether or not individuals were capable of optimizing when confronted with a three-alternative choice paradigm, and if a concurrent task could induce over-selectivity toward a self-controlled, or impulsive, choice, rather than an optimal choice. Various factors which could possibly influence optimization were also explored. The results suggest that some, but not all, individuals are capable of optimizing in a three-alternative choice paradigm, especially when there is a great differential between reinforcement rates of optimal versus non-optimal behaviors. Participants with a concurrent task (continuously subtracting seven from a large number) displayed over-selectivity, evidenced by the high proportion of self-controlled responses.     

Impulse processing: a dynamical systems model of incremental eye movements in the visual world paradigm

The Visual World Paradigm (VWP) presents listeners with a challenging problem: They must integrate two disparate signals, the spoken language and the visual context, in support of action (e.g., complex movements of the eyes across a scene). We present Impulse Processing, a dynamical systems approach to incremental eye movements in the visual world that suggests a framework for integrating language, vision, and action generally. Our approach assumes that impulses driven by the language and the visual context impinge minutely on a dynamical landscape of attractors corresponding to the potential eye-movement behaviors of the system. We test three unique predictions of our approach in an empirical study in the VWP, and describe an implementation in an artificial neural network. We discuss the Impulse Processing framework in relation to other models of the VWP.     

Emergent persons

Recent psychological theorizing about the emergence of persons makes a number of ontological claims that are not always explicit. A critical consideration of such claims reveals both considerable convergence and some points of disagreement across different psychological theories of emergent personhood. What is clear is that all such theories resist the reduction of persons to biophysical or sociocultural properties, conditions, and processes. In various ways, they each call for a nonreductionistic recognition of the sociocultural constitution of important aspects of personhood, without denying the necessity of biophysical requirements of personhood. Because standard emergentist positions in physical science and the philosophy of physical science mostly ignore the sociocultural level of reality, psychological theorizing about the emergence of persons requires an alternative ontological framework. It is proposed that an ontology of levels of reality that includes the physical, chemical, biological, sociocultural, and personal/psychological is appropriate for understanding how persons are both substantively and relationally emergent within the biophysical, sociocultural world. With such an ontological framework in place, it is possible to understand human activity in the world as the primary vehicle for both the phylogenetic evolution and ontogenetic development of persons.     

Self-esteem in patients with borderline and avoidant personality disorders

This study compared self-esteem in patients with avoidant personality disorder (APD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD). Patients diagnosed with one or more personality disorders answered the questionnaire Index of Self Esteem as part of a comprehensive evaluation within the setting of a treatment trial. Our hypotheses were that (1) both patients with APD and patients with BPD would report low levels of self-esteem, (2) patients with APD would report lower self-esteem than patients with BPD. We further expected that (3) patients with higher levels of depression would report lower levels of self-esteem, but that (4) both borderline and avoidant personality pathology would contribute to explained variance in self-esteem beyond what would be accounted for by depression. All of our hypotheses were supported. The results from our study showed a significant difference in self-esteem level between the two personality disorders, patients with APD reporting lower self-esteem than patients with BPD. Subjects with both disorders were measured to have self-esteem levels within the range that presumes clinical problems. Self-esteem represents an important quality of subjective experience of the self, and the study of self-esteem in PDs can offer new and important knowledge of PDs as self-pathology.     

The pain behavior scale: Modification and validation for outpatient use

The present study investigated the validity of an inpatient pain behavior rating scale modified for outpatient use. A series of 43 consecutive outpatients referred for evaluation of chronic pain was examined using the Pain Behavior Scale (PBS) and other psychometric instruments. Analyses revealed significantly higher Pain Behavior Scale scores for low back and multiple pain-site groups. The results also indicated a high degree of internal consistency of the scale. A multiple regression analysis, predicting observed pain behavior from reported pain behavior, indicated that decreased activity accounted for 32% of the variance in the PBS score. A similar regression for pain experience found that the pain level and the sensory scale score on the McGill Pain Questionnaire accounted for 39% of the PBS variance. Psychological characteristics including disease conviction, self-control, depression, and anxiety explained 45% of the variability in the PBS score. Thus, the scale is related to pain intensity, interference with activities, and a variety of psychological characteristics. The scale provides a measure of observable pain behavior that is also relatively independent of these clinical data sources. The Pain Behavior Scale as modified for outpatient use provides a brief index of pain behavior with potential use in the comprehensive evaluation of the pain patient.     

The retrieval of self-defining memories is associated with the activation of specific working selves

This article presents two studies that investigated the impact of the retrieval of self-defining memories on individuals' sense of self. Participants recalled positive and/or negative self-defining memories, rated memory characteristics and completed measures focusing on different self-aspects. Study 1 found that participants reported higher state self-esteem after recalling a positive memory than after recalling a negative one. They also reported lower negative self-consistency and higher state self-concept clarity and positive self-consistency, but this result became non-significant after controlling for state self-esteem. Study 2 found that participants reported higher state self-esteem, a marginally higher proportion of recreation/exploration, goals and a marginally lower proportion of achievement goals after recalling a positive memory than after recalling a negative one. They also reported a higher proportion of self-cognitions referring to emotional states after recalling memories from which they had not abstracted meaning than after recalling memories from which they had done this. These findings suggest that the retrieval of vivid, emotional and highly self-relevant memories may be accompanied by the activation of specific self-representations or working selves. They also suggest that the experience of memory-related intrusive images may temporarily influence individuals' sense of self. The implications of these findings for clinical practice are discussed.