REVISITING DESTRUCTION IN “THE USE OF AN OBJECT”

“The Use of an Object” (1969a) has been widely recognized as among Winnicott's great papers and has deservedly received a good deal of attention. Much of that attention has focused on the importance that the paper gives to the role of destruction in bringing about the experience of externality. Yet the nature of that destruction has too often been assumed based on Winnicott's earlier writings. In the view that follows from that, destruction is equated with the aggression that fails to destroy the object, and the experience of externality is regarded just as the result of that failure. In offering a rereading of “The Use of an Object,” the author suggests that, while this aspect of aggression/destruction indeed plays an important role in the establishment of externality, it is only part of the story, and that the central contribution of “The Use of an Object” is Winnicott's attempt to offer a new theory of primitive destruction, one that provides an impulsive basis for separation/externality itself. This theory and Winnicott's ongoing attempts to develop it after “The Use of an Object” led him to rethink the very nature of the drives.     

Cautious behaviors of pedestrians while crossing narrow streets: Exploration of behaviors using virtual reality experiments

This study explores the cautious behaviors of pedestrians in a typical local street environment using virtual reality (VR)-based experiments under various physical safety design scenarios for roadways. The built environment of this study focused on narrow local roads where frequent daily walking occurs within a neighborhood. VR experiments can provide an objective and accurate measurement of pedestrian behaviors, thus improving the understanding of complicated pedestrian behaviors. Based on experimental data from 200 university students, we identified pedestrians’ crossing behavior that is cautionary or risky concerning various physical safety designs of streets. This study found that there are trade-off relationships between various behaviors which should be systematically studied to produce safer street design guidelines. Furthermore, as the contexts and sequences matter in behaviors for intersection crossing, the interpretation of behaviors should carefully consider the context of built environments and sequential decisions made by pedestrians. This sequential understanding of before- and during-crossing behaviors and their connections expands our knowledge of pedestrians’ crossing behaviors.     

Career guidance of adolescents in their sociocultural development and modern technologies

RelevanceThe creation of a system of work with schoolchildren focused on choosing a profession taking into account possible success in a specific professional field is relevant.AimThe article is aimed at analysis of the situation of adolescents’ susceptibility to such guidance basing on different components.Materials and MethodsThe methodology of creating and implementing a special course is focused on the formation of basic elements of readiness for professional activities.ResultsThe authors of the study developed long-term projects that are considered to improve socio-economic development and increase the quality of work in various industries and at the personal level–socio-cultural development and socialization of adolescents.ConclusionThe career guidance for adolescents should include information about the means of communication. The development of the definition of technological means to provide information on the choice of profession is a significant part of the career guidance program.     

The effect of the dominance of an in-vehicle agent’s voice on driver situation awareness,emotion regulation,and trust: A simulated lab study of manual and automated driving

As in-vehicle voice agents increase in popularity, related research is extending to how voice messages can affect the driver’s cognitive and emotional states. Accordingly, we investigated how in-vehicle agent (IVA) voice dominance and driving automation can affect the driver’s situation awareness (SA), emotion regulation (ER), and trust. To this end, a lab-based experiment was conducted with a medium-fidelity driving simulator using actor-recorded voice agents. Twenty-two female and nineteen male driver-licensed participants were recruited to drive simulated vehicles with voice agents and evaluated. The results demonstrated that compared with the dominant voice, the agent with a submissive voice significantly increased ER in both manual and automated driving. Furthermore, the submissive voice significantly increased trust in automated driving compared with the dominant agent. Cross and synergistic interaction effects exist between voice dominance and driving automation in SA and ER, respectively. This study revealed that both the content of the messages of the IVAs and their voice characteristics are essential for modulating the driver’s SA, ER, and trust in driving. It is expected that larger-scale future studies with simulation or on a real road would increase the validity of this study.     

Walking through doorways causes forgetting: Further explorations

Previous research using virtual environments has revealed a location-updating effect in which there is a decline in memory when people move from one location to another. Here we assess whether this effect reflects the influence of the experienced context, in terms of the degree of immersion of a person in an environment, as suggested by some work in spatial cognition, or by a shift in context. In Experiment 1, the degree of immersion was reduced by using smaller displays. In comparison, in Experiment 2 an actual, rather than a virtual, environment was used, to maximize immersion. Location-updating effects were observed under both of these conditions. In Experiment 3, the original encoding context was reinstated by having a person return to the original room in which objects were first encoded. However, inconsistent with an encoding specificity account, memory did not improve by reinstating this context. Finally, we did a further analysis of the results of this and previous experiments to assess the differential influence of foregrounding and retrieval interference. Overall, these data are interpreted in terms of the event horizon model of event cognition and memory.     

Hidden meaning of an early loss. The common ground of attachment and social character assessments and their clinical applications

All contemporary psychoanalytical theorists are concerned with the common problem of how to account for the preeminent importance of relations. John Bowlby, the founder of attachment theory, suggests that “instinctive” behavioral systems underlie much of the emotional life of man and have developed because they were necessary for survival. The system with which he was almost exclusively concerned was the multitude of behaviors and experiences constituting the child's “attachment” to the mother. This “strikingly strong tie, evident particularly when disrupted”, has systematically been observed by attachment researchers, through the development of a series of instruments that gauge interpersonal communication. These interpersonal communications have on their part been found to “contain traces of developmental history”.

Bowlby's theory is based on clinical accounts of cases of important loss experiences. A transcendental role is given in Bowlby's theory to the experiences of loss. It stresses that the construction of mourning processes can be seen as a manifestation of search and as a general gradual mental reorientation. The paper introduces the methodological perspectives, which are observable derivations of Bowlby's psycho‐ethological ideas. We will argue that becoming acquainted with these attachment‐research tools and with socio‐psychoanalytic assessment can enhance the development of the clinicians' observational skills, their insight and their scientific research practices. A clinical vignette seen through the lenses of the attachment assessment of loss is presented. It points in addition to the socio‐cultural‐ethnical basis that serves as an underlying structure for the development of meaning.     

The role of illustrations in children’s inferential comprehension

Illustrations are a salient source of information in children’s books, yet their effect on children’s reading comprehension has been studied only through literal factual recall. The purpose of the current study was to determine the effect of illustrations on bridging inferences, an important aspect of meaning making in comprehension models. Identical short stories were presented under different illustration conditions with pictures that represented different parts of the story. Participants were 73 7- to 11-year-olds. Illustrations both facilitated and interfered with inferencing depending on the type of information depicted; however, this effect was reduced as grade increased. Additional findings were that the overall ability to make inferences increased with age and working memory was a significant predictor of this skill. Results are discussed in relation to cognitive and developmental models of comprehension.     

Another serious misunderstanding: Jung,Giegerich and a premature requiem

Barreto's paper, ‘Requiem for analytical psychology’ utilized Jung's dreams and visions to argue for the obsolescence of Jungian psychology. Its thesis rested upon the theoretical assumptions of Giegerich's psychology as a Discipline of Interiority, which he and Giegerich claim are themselves based in Jung's psychology. Here I argue that that claim is misplaced because it depends upon a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of Jung's psychological project. I shall further argue that Giegerich's arguments for a Jungian basis to his psychology rely upon misreadings and decontextualisations of Jung's original texts. Finally, I shall attempt to draw attention to the weaknesses and contradictions involved in Barreto's interpretations of Jung's dreams and visions.     

Factors influencing drivers’ reading and comprehension of on-board traffic messages

IntroductionWhen variable message signs (VMS) or on-board traffic information systems are used, it is essential that while driving, motorists read and understand the information as soon as possible in order to make appropriate decisions to increase road safety and/or facilitate traffic flow. Thus, it is important to investigate the factors that may increase fast reading and comprehension of on-board traffic information.ObjectivesWe examined the influence of the type of message (warnings vs. recommendations), location of the pictogram (top or bottom of the text), type of display device (IPhone, Blackberry, or Tablet) and its position (horizontal or vertical) on drivers’ fast reading and comprehension of on-board messages provided via in-vehicle system. Moreover, we were interested in drivers’ acceptability of in-vehicle system.MethodForty-nine drivers (M_Men = 32, 19–65 years) participated to a reading and comprehension task while travelling on a desktop driving simulator. Participants were exposed to two series of 11 traffic messages displayed on one of the three devices. Reading and comprehension times were measured (= milliseconds) for each message. At the end, they had to fill in a questionnaire on their beliefs about on-board traffic messages and in-vehicle system.ResultsDrivers expressed a positive attitude toward on-board traffic messages and in-vehicle system. Reading and comprehension times were of approximately 4 seconds and were longer for warnings as compared to recommendations. The pictogram placed at the top of the text, the tablet and the vertical display device facilitated fast reading and comprehension.