Counsellor conflict in managing the frame: Dilemmas and decisions

An essential feature of psychodynamic counselling is a secure frame for the work that holds boundaries as sacrosanct, both to ensure ethical practice and to provide a vehicle through which unconscious processes can be recognized and understood. Conscious or unconscious attacks on the frame are inevitable in any therapeutic relationship, and provide an opportunity for exploration and insight. However such incidents also have an impact on the therapist who must decide how to respond. In order to understand more about the therapist process when there is an attack on the frame, an investigation was carried out into ways in which psychodynamic counsellors manage the difficulties and dilemmas that arise as they try to hold a secure therapeutic frame. Ten counsellors were interviewed using a semi‐ structured interview format during which they were asked about an instance when the frame was challenged and the process by which it was resolved. The resulting dilemmas were categorized using grounded theory. Three categories of dilemmas emerged a) prior to making a decision about how to deal with it, b) after making a decision, and c), as a result of the outcome of the action taken. The nature of the dilemmas and the process of resolving them are reported and discussed.     

类别指称对象提取过程的发展研究

本研究选取初中二年级、高中二年级和大学二年级学生为被试,探讨了青少年对含有类别指称对象语篇心理加工过程。实验1采用命名法,实验2采用眼动记录法。结果发现,随着年级的升高,被试在单位时间内获得的信息逐渐增多,阅读能力不断提高,对类别指称概念的理解能力也不断提高;各年级被试表现出对类别指称对象激活的增强;大学生组被试还表现出对非指称对象激活的抑制;激活是立即发生的认知过程;抑制则是延缓发生的认知过程,且是一种策略性的控制加工过程。     

汉语动词的隐含因果性对代词加工的影响

本文用四个实验探讨了汉语句子理解中动词的隐含因果性特征对代词加工的影响。实验采用2×2被试内设计,方法为探测词法。结果表明,有些汉语动词的语义中存在着隐含因果性特征,它影响了主语和宾语的相对通达性。同时发现,汉语中的宾语引发动词的隐含因果性倾向比主语引发动词中更为明显。     

篇章阅读中影响回指推理的因素

探讨回指距离、干扰词的精细描述、干扰词的典型性对回指推理的影响。包括2个实验,164名大学生被试。实验1探讨干扰词精细描述类型的影响。结果表明,干扰的精细描述并非是影响回指推理的主要因素。实验2探讨干扰词和先行词的典型性类型的相对变化的影响。结果表明高典型干扰在不同回指距离条件下都会对回指推理产生影响。从而表明高典型的干扰项干扰了回指推理发生。     

Relationship work among young adult couples: Romantic,social, and physiological considerations

We examined romantic, social, and physiological variables associated with partners discussing romantic challenges together and with friends, a process known as relationship work (RW). Actor‐partner interdependence models examining 71 heterosexual, young adult couples and their friends suggested social network approval, friendship quality, and partners' perspective taking were each associated with partners' RW patterns. Skin conductance activity readings revealed males universally experienced greater physiological arousal when discussing romantic problems than females. Unexpectedly, both males and females experienced greater skin conductance activity when discussing romantic challenges with friends than with partners. Males were more likely to discuss romantic challenges with friends when their female partners experienced greater baseline skin conductance activity. Findings inform researchers regarding links between romantic, social, and physiological functioning.     

Does attention impair temporal discrimination? Examining non-attentional accounts

Recently, Yeshurun and Levy (Psychol Sci 14:225-231, 2003) have provided evidence for the notion that visual attention impairs the temporal resolution of the visual system. Specifically, the detection of a temporal gap within a visual stimulus was impaired when a cue directed attention towards the spatial location of the stimulus. As this negative cueing effect is important to constrain theories about visual attention, we further investigated this novel effect and assessed whether it truly reflects an attentional effect. Experiment 1 examines whether the negative cueing effect is due to local temporal interference, and Experiments 2 and 3 investigate whether it reflects a luminance confound. The complete pattern of results argues against these alternatives and thus further strengthens the conclusion of Yeshurun and Levy (Psychol Sci 14: 225-231, 2003).     

Coming of Age with Self-Managed Teams: Dealing with a Problem Employee

In the wake of documented success stories from organizations using self-managed teams, additional attention should be directed at factors that can enhance as well as diminish their success. The common characteristics of highly desirable team members are described as a setting for understanding performance problems that are created when individuals with co-dependent behaviors are introduced into a team structure. Although it is difficult to pinpoint accurately the number of individuals who are affected by co-dependency, estimates that reach as high as 95 million make discussion and recommendations for dealing with these individuals in a team setting especially useful.     

When negative evidence increases confidence: change in belief after hearing two sides of a dispute

Four experiments examined change in confidence after hearing two sides of a dispute. The results showed that a case independently judged to weakly support one side often increased confidence that the opposing side was correct. Furthermore, the stronger the first case, the more likely a subsequent weak case had a reverse impact. Traditional belief‐updating models, which tend to focus on change in belief after individual pieces of evidence rather than entire cases, cannot account for these results, and a model that can account for them is introduced. In the new model, case strength is evaluated with respect to a relatively demanding (and malleable) reference point. A weak case can fall below this demanding reference point, resulting in a reverse impact on confidence. Cases must exceed relatively high strength thresholds in order to have their intended impact because they are expected to be biased summaries of evidence. When it is clear that a weak case is unbiased, it affects confidence in the intended direction. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.