Identification with the aggressor and the ‘normal traumas’: clinical implications

Ferenczi's (1933) surprisingly unknown concept of identification with the aggressor – an abuse victim's ‘eliminating’ her own subjectivity and ‘becoming’ precisely what an attacker needs her to be – has radical implications for our understanding of analytic technique. Its very frequent occurrence also forces us to broaden our understanding of what constitutes trauma. Ferenczi saw the experience of ‘traumatic aloneness’ or ‘emotional abandonment’ as the key element of trauma, since this is what enforces the traumatic responses of dissociation and identification with the aggressor. Identification with the aggressor operates in the analytic relationship in both patient and analyst. This has various consequences, including the structuring of the relationship through unconscious collusions – mutually coordinated, defensive identifications designed to help both participants feel secure. This view of the analytic relationship has clinical implications in at least four areas: the understanding of the patient's free associations, which may reflect the patient's compliance with the analyst's wishes rather than the contents of the patient's own unconscious; the need for some kind of mutuality of analysis; the traumatizing potential of the analyst's authority; and the tendency of some patients to take blame and responsibility reflexively, as a way of protecting the analyst.     

The different representational frameworks underpinning abstract and concrete knowledge: Evidence from odd-one-out judgements

Recent evidence from neuropsychological investigations of individuals with global aphasia and deep or deep-phonological dyslexia suggests that abstract and concrete concepts are underpinned by qualitatively different representational frameworks. Abstract words are represented primarily by their association to other words, whilst concrete words are represented primarily by their taxonomic similarity to one another. In the current study, we present the first evidence for this association/similarity distinction to be gathered from healthy research participants. Using a semantic odd-one-out task, it is shown that normal participants identify associative connections more quickly than similarity-based connections when processing abstract words, but that the pattern is reversed for concrete words. It is also demonstrated that the typical concrete-word advantage observed in many cognitive tasks is abolished and even reversed when participants have to comprehend the semantic associations between words. The data provide converging evidence for the different representational frameworks hypothesis and suggest that claims based on information from previous neuropsychological investigations can be generalized to normal cognition.     

Action–effect congruence during observational learning leads to faster action sequence learning

Common coding theory suggests that any action (pressing a piano key) is intimately linked with its resultant sensory effect (an auditory musical tone). We conducted two experiments to explore the effect of varying auditory action–effect patterns during complex action learning. In Experiment 1, participants were assigned to 1 of 4 groups, watched a silent video of a hand playing a sequence on a piano keyboard with no auditory action effect (observation) and were asked to practise and perform the sequence on an identical keyboard with varying action effects (reproduction). During reproduction, Group 1 heard no auditory tones (identical to observed video), Group 2 heard typical scale-ascending piano tones with each key press, Group 3 heard fixed but out-of-sequence piano tones with each key press, and Group 4 heard random piano tones with each key press. In Experiment two, new participants were assigned to 1 of 2 groups and watched an identical video; however, the video in this experiment contained typical, scale-ascending piano sounds. During reproduction, Group 1 heard no auditory tones while Group 2 heard typical, scale-ascending piano tones with each key press (identical to observed video). Our results showed that participants whose action–effect patterns during reproduction matched those in the observed video learned the action sequence faster than participants whose action–effect patterns during reproduction differed from those in the observed video. Additionally, our results suggest that adding an effect during reproduction (when one is absent during observation) is somewhat more detrimental to action sequence learning than removing an effect during reproduction (when one is present during observation).     

Bridging the gap between explicit and implicit measurement of personality: The questionnaire-based implicit association test

This study presents the questionnaire-based implicit association test (qIAT), a method that resembles the assessment procedures of self-report scales and allows an implicit assessment of constructs measured by such instruments. The qIAT measures the speed of association between ordinary questionnaires’ items (i.e., short statements rather than single words) and true versus false self-related sentences. Participants completed self-report measures of all Big-Five domains and the qIAT that measured extraversion. The qIAT implicit extraversion score showed good levels of internal consistency and it correlated with explicit extraversion but not with other explicit scales, thus supporting the convergent and discriminant validity of this measure. It also predicted a criterion behavior, and this prediction was incremental to self-report assessment of the same set of items. The qIAT opens the door for the indirect assessment of numerous psychological phenomena measured by existing self-report scales.     

Socialization tactics: Antecedents for goal interdependence and newcomer adjustment and retention

This study argues that Deutsch's theory of goal interdependence is useful to examine the dynamics of serial and investiture tactics on newcomer adjustment and retention in work team contexts. Structural equation results of interviews of specific incidents collected from one hundred and two newcomers support the hypothesized model that serial and investiture tactics used by teams promote cooperative goal interdependence and weaken competitive goal interdependence and independent goal relationship between newcomers and their teams. Cooperative goals were also found to promote positive attitudes and strong co-worker relationships whereas competitive and independent goals resulted in intentions to quit and low levels of organizational commitment and job satisfaction.     

History of the Association for Creativity in Counseling

Abstract

The Association for Creativity in Counseling (ACC), though granted status as the 19th division of the American Counseling Association only three years ago, is rich with history. This article takes the reader through the evolution of ACC and its official journal: The Journal of Creativity in Mental Health (JCMH). The ACC and the JCMHare committed to promoting the values of diversity, creativity, and relational development. Goals include providing a forum for counselors and other mental health professionals to forge growth-fostering relationships and form positive connections. This historical account is a tribute to all those involved in making ACC a reality. It provides interesting and valuable information for anyone interested in ACC or in forming an association.     

Two ways of listening to the patient

This paper highlights the tension between, on the one hand, listening to the patient's associative flow with evenly suspended attention, and, on the other hand, the vigilance and alertness required of the analyst when interpreting the transference through the patient's projective identifications. With reference to the work of Christopher Bollas, it is held that there is a fundamental ambiguousness about analytic work which in fact is desired, but that work with free associations to a large extent has unfortunately become obsolete.     

高级技工诊断生产活动的认知策略的汇编栅格法研究

本研究采用汇编栅格法探讨了高级技工(专家)诊断人机系统生产活动的认知策略,结果表明:第一,在高级技工的认知结构中,存在着对多因素交互作用下复杂情况进行诊断的认知地图,它以特定方式组合着常见的问题类型和原因特征,是制约技工复杂技能教学成效的关键要素。第二,汇编栅格法是对人机系统中专家的认知结构进行功能模拟的一种有效方法,它不仅在揭示未知的高级技工认知结构时,以其直观的投射方式提供专家启发式策略的新信息,而且在培训和评估复杂技能方面具有可观的应用前景。     

Sexuality And The Internet

Supporters of dominant scientific theories sometimes attack competing, less favoured theories in ways that conflict with expectations of proper scientific behaviour, for example by using double standards. To reduce concern about their actions, supporters can use a variety of techniques: cover up the violation of expectations; devalue the competing theory and its advocates; interpret the process as proper; use expert panels, meetings and other formal processes to give a stamp of approval to the dominant view; and intimidate opponents. These are the same five methods used regularly by perpetrators of actions widely seen as unjust, such as violent attacks on peaceful protesters. When these methods fail, the attack can backfire on the attackers. Orthodox scientists’ treatment of the theory that AIDS originated from contaminated polio vaccines used in Africa in the 1950s illustrates how this framework can be applied to science. Opponents of this theory have used all five methods of inhibiting concern about violations of expected scientific behaviour. This analysis shows why supporters of orthodoxy have a tactical advantage over challengers.     

Comment on “Correspondence analysis used complementary to loglinear analysis”

In van der Heijden and de Leeuw (1985) it was proposed to use loglinear analysis to detect interactions in a multiway contingency table, and to explore the form of these interactions with correspondence analysis. After performing the exploratory phase of the analysis, we will show here how the results found in this phase can be used for confirmation.This research was conducted while the authors were visiting the Laboratoire de Statistique et Probabilité, Universite Paul Sabatier, Toulouse. This visit was partly made possible by a joint grant of the Netherlands Organisation for the Advancement of Pure Research (Z.W.O.) and the French National Center for Scientific Research (C.N.R.S.). For helpful comments, the authors are indebted to H. Caussinus, J. de Leeuw, and two anonymous reviewers.