PARRHESIA,PHAEDRA, AND THE POLIS: ANTICIPATING PSYCHOANALYTIC FREE ASSOCIATION AS DEMOCRATIC PRACTICE

This essay explores the mostly unexamined analogy of psychoanalytic free association to democratic free speech. The author turns back to a time when free speech was a matter of considerable discussion: the classical period of the Athenian constitution and its experiment with parrhesia. Ordinarily translated into English as “free speech,” parrhesia is startlingly relevant to psychoanalysis. The Athenian stage—in particular, Hippolytus (Euripides, 5th century BCE)—illustrates this point. Euripides's tragic tale anticipates Freud's inquiries, exploring the fundamental link between free speech and female embodiment. The author suggests that psychoanalysis should claim its own conception of a polis as a mediated and ethical space between private and public spheres, between body and mind, and between speaking and listening communities.     

You are my happiness: Socially enriched happiness belief predicts life satisfaction,especially among the poor

ABSTRACT

What three words come to your mind in response to “happiness”? Using a free-association task [cf. Nelson, D. L., McEvoy, C. L., & Dennis, S. (2000). What is free association and what does it measure? Memory and Cognition, 28, 887–899], this research finds that the number of social words (e.g. family, love) provided in link to happiness predicts people’s actual life satisfaction level. However, this association was significantly moderated by the person’s self-perceived financial state. The contingency between holding a socially-oriented belief about happiness and experienced life satisfaction was significant among members of low socioeconomic status (SES), but not among the high SES group. This pattern was replicated across two divergent samples (Asian college students, Study 1; American adults, Study 2), regardless of one’s extraversion level (Studies 1, 2) and availability of social support (number of friends, Study 2). Given the overlapping function of money and social relationships (instrumental in promoting survival), believing in the social nature of happiness seems to be more central in the life satisfaction of those with less financial resource.     

Psychological ownership: The implicit association between self and already-owned versus newly-owned objects

Evidence from explicit measures (e.g. favourability ratings, valuations) has led to the prevalent hypothesis that owned objects become cognitively associated with self-concept. Using a novel version of the Implicit Association Test (self-object IAT), wherein participants categorized objects by colour, we evaluated implicit cognitive associations involving self with already-owned and newly-owned objects. We observed faster responses when self-related words required the same response key as the colour that incidentally corresponded to self-owned objects, irrespective of length of ownership. These findings suggest that participants efficiently form cognitive associations between self and self-owned objects within mere minutes of ownership induction and inspire questions about the extent to which length of ownership drives the strength of this association.     

媒体暴力对大学生攻击性的长时效应和短时效应

本研究采取前后测实验设计,以内隐联想测验和Buss的攻击性问卷为研究工具,探讨了媒体暴力对大学生攻击性的长时效应和短时效应。结果发现:(1)个体实验前接触媒体暴力的程度越强烈,内隐攻击性越强,外显攻击性也越强;(2)接触暴力视频游戏10分钟就会增强个体的内隐攻击性,接触非暴力视频游戏10分钟对个体的内隐攻击性没有影响;接触暴力和非暴力视频游戏10分钟对个体的外显攻击性没有影响;(3)外显攻击性基线水平和游戏类型的交互作用不显著;内隐攻击性基线水平和游戏类型交互作用显著。内隐攻击性基线水平较高的个体,游戏类型对其内隐攻击性的影响差异不显著;内隐攻击性基线水平较低的个体,暴力视频游戏增加了他们的内隐攻击性,非暴力视频游戏对他们的内隐攻击性没有影响。     

Biases and regularities of grapheme–colour associations in Japanese nonsynaesthetic population

Associations between graphemes and colours in a nonsynaesthetic Japanese population were investigated. Participants chose the most suitable colour from 11 basic colour terms for each of 40 graphemes from the four categories of graphemes used in the Japanese language (kana characters, English alphabet letters, and Arabic and kanji numerals). This test was repeated after a three-week interval. In their responses, which were not as temporally consistent as those of grapheme–colour synaesthetes, participants showed biases and regularities that were comparable to those of synaesthetes reported in past studies. Although it has been believed that only synaesthetes, and not nonsynaesthetes, tended to associate graphemes with colours based on grapheme frequency, Berlin and Kay's colour typology, and colour word frequency, participants in this study tended in part to associate graphemes with colours based on the above factors. Moreover, participants that were nonsynaesthetes tended to associate different graphemes that shared sounds and/or meanings (e.g., Arabic and kanji numerals representing the same number) with the same colours, which was analogous to the findings in Japanese synaesthetes. These results support the view that grapheme–colour synaesthesia might have its origins in cross-modal association processes that are shared with the general population.     

Association between the arginine vasopressin receptor 1A (AVPR1A) gene and preschoolers’ executive functioning

Recent evidence implicates the arginine vasopressin (AVP) system in complex neuropsychological disorders which are characterized by deficits in executive functioning (EF). Despite the genetic contribution to EF, little is currently known about its molecular genetic basis. Drawing on research from social neuroscience and the role of related physiological systems in psychopathology, the current study hypothesized that variability in the AVP receptor 1a gene (AVPR1A) would be associated with EF in an epidemiological sample of 323 normally developing preschool-aged children. Using a family-based association design, the current study found that variability in the rs7298346 marker, located in the 5′-flanking region, was significantly related to a composite measure of EF in 4-year-old children after controlling for a variety of covariates and children’s theory of mind. The converse association between AVPR1A and theory of mind (after controlling for EF) was not significant, suggesting a level of specificity in this relationship. The results are discussed in terms of the difficulties faced by genetic association studies in teasing apart the behavioral phenotypes that characterize complex psychological diseases and the involvement of multiple physiological systems in human behavior.     

Brain activation patterns in response to complex triggers in the Word Association Test: results from a new study in the United States

C.G. Jung's theory of psychological complexes lies at the root of analytical psychology theory and practice. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) provides a powerful tool to validate the theory of complexes and eludicate the neuropsychologic mechanisms underlying the unconscious activation of significant memories. In this study, using fMRI, we identify two brain circuits which are activated in response to complex triggering words. Circuit one involves brain regions involved in episodic memory and somatic (body) responses and the experience of uncertainty. A second circuit involves episodic memory, emotion, visual and language association, and semiotic meaning. Specific brain regions include the right prefrontal cortex, SMA cortex, left temporal cortex, and the caudate and cingulate. These brain circuits may be thought of as the biological form in which complexes are experienced. Implications for analytic psychology practice and theory are discussed.     

Two flaws concerning belief accounts of implicit biases

The current scientific discourse offers two opposing viewpoints about the roots of implicit biases: are they belief states or subdoxastic attitudes? The goal of this paper is to show that belief accounts of implicit biases are (1) too demanding and (2) lack a satisfying reasoning theory. Firstly, I will outline the concept of attitude and its relation to implicit biases. Next, I will briefly outline Mandelbaum’s view, who gives a paradigmatic example of a belief account of implicit biases. Afterward, I will concern two flaws and discuss them in more detail. This shows that all current belief accounts of implicit biases do not emphasize these critical points enough, which makes them unsatisfying.     

Stigma by Association Among Family Members of People with a Mental Illness: A Qualitative Analysis

People with mental illness are not the sole recipients of stigmatisation; their immediate family members may be subjected to stigma by association. Through semi‐structured interviews, we investigated experiences of stigma by association among 23 immediate family members of people with mental illness. Participants reported experiencing stigma by association from community members, mental health professionals, and civil servants. Familial relationship, co‐residence, and the gender of participants appeared to play a role in their stigma experiences; parents and spouses reported different manifestations of stigma by association than siblings and children, participants who lived together with their family member with mental illness reported increased experiences of stigma by association, and in contrast to male participants, female participants reported others thinking they are overprotective and as such perpetuated, maintained, or sustained their family members' mental illness. The relevance of these factors points to the need for tailored education and emotional support provision to family members of people with mental illness. Moreover, in‐service training for mental health professionals should include the development of relevant social skills that enable the recognition of familial relationships and roles, and family members' fears, concerns, and problems. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.