Moses,Michelangelo and Freud: From an interlacement of stories in history to some suggestions for treatment theory

Abstract

The first part of this paper is inspired by Freud's interpretation of Michelangelo's Moses, which as the author shows, profoundly expresses Freud's subjectivity and personal features. With reference to clinical treatment, when the analyst “reasons” without considering his or her partner's position, the setting is lacking from a relational point of view. The consequence is that the analyst is missing a precious resource, that is, his or her patient and the documental sources he or she transmits in the analytic dialogue. In the second part of the paper, the author analyzes the nature of documental sources. This information pertains to both the patients’ pasts and their histories, expressing their rigid conservative needs, and to their evolution and transformational needs, in view of future possible change. Evolution needs are not visible, because they are implicitly present, and—according to the author—they could be recognized through the method of discrete details proposed by the Italian art critic G. Morelli. A broader vision of analytic listening is also considered: the past should be taken into account with the aim of interpreting the present and the future, as changing spaces. Change in therapy is announced through nonrepressed unconscious signals and by the language of the implicit. In the conclusion, the author exposes the connections of change, implicit, symbol, metaphorical language and waiting time.     

THE SECOND SPHERE AND THE STORY OF NO STORY

The author discusses Roy Schafer's ideas of the second self and second reality, as well as his consistent theme of storyteller and story. The latter theme is also explored in the context of more recent psychoanalytic influences, such as Bionian thought, trauma theory, the French approach, and the interpersonal perspective. To illustrate the idea of the nonstory in today's clinical encounters, the author presents two clinical vignettes.     

公交行业一线员工人格特质对工作绩效影响的实证分析--以工作态度作为调节变量

通过问卷调查法,探讨在工作态度调节下大五人格特质与工作绩效的关联。对1277名公交行业一线员工的研究结果表明：(1)人格特质与工作绩效有显著的相关,工作态度在这一关系中起到调节作用。在高工作态度中,人格特质与任务绩效联系较为紧密,工作绩效的良好预测指标是尽责性和外向性;在低工作态度中,人格特质与关系绩效联系较为紧密,工作绩效的良好预测指标是宜人性和外向性。(2)在高工作态度的环境中,人们更看重工作的完成;在低工作态度的环境中,人们更看重关系的协调。工作态度调节着人格特质对工作绩效的影响。     

Self-determination and functional persuasion to encourage physical activity

This research advances a novel approach to promoting physical activity, based on the principle of functional matching in persuasion, and the self-concordance (SC) of people's motivations for physical activity. We propose that SC establishes a positive or negative orientation toward the challenge inherent in physical activity, and that the maximum yield of participation will be achieved by communications that appeal to each orientation. In two studies, we compared how messages emphasizing challenge versus available social support would influence recipients’ self-reported practices of physical activity and attitudes toward a physical activity setting. As hypothesized, these messages had differential effects for recipients whose pursuit of physical activity varied in SC, such that favorable outcomes were more reliably associated with challenge-oriented messages among respondents higher in SC versus support-oriented messages among respondents lower in SC. The findings suggest the merits of using self-regulatory, compared with object- or personality-based, constructs and measures to indicate psychological functions of ongoing health-related behaviors.     

Approach bias for food cues in obese individuals

This study aimed to investigate the existence of an approach bias for food cues in obese individuals. A community sample of 56 obese women and 56 normal weight controls completed an approach–avoidance variant of the implicit association task. The obese participants were faster to respond to trials that paired food words with approach words, and trials that paired non-food words with avoid words, than the converse pairings, thus, demonstrating an approach bias for food. This bias was evident for both high caloric and low caloric food words, and was not attributable to a state of deprivation or feelings of hunger. By contrast, the normal weight controls did not show any such bias. The results are consistent with recent neurocognitive perspectives of obesity. At a practical level, approach biases for food may present a potential target for modifying (excessive) food intake.     

Reduce temptation or resist it? Experienced temptation mediates the relationship between implicit evaluations of unhealthy snack foods and subsequent intake

A more negative implicit evaluation of unhealthy food stimuli and a more positive implicit evaluation of a weight-management goal have been shown to predict lower consumption of unhealthy food. However, the associations between these evaluations, temptation to indulge and consumption of unhealthy food remain unclear. The current study investigated whether temptation would mediate the relationship between implicit food and goal evaluations and consumption (resembling an antecedent-focused route to self-control of eating), or whether those evaluations would moderate the relationship between temptation and consumption (resembling a response-focused route). A sample of 156 women (17–25 years), who tried to manage their weight through healthy eating, completed two implicit association tasks assessing implicit food and goal evaluations, respectively. Intake of four energy-dense snack foods was measured in a task disguised as a taste test, and participants reported the strength of experienced temptation to indulge in the snacks offered. Negative implicit food evaluation was associated with lower snack intake, and temptation mediated this relationship. Implicit goal evaluation was unrelated to both temptation strength and snack consumption. The findings contribute to an understanding of how negative implicit unhealthy food evaluation relates to lower consumption, namely through the mediation of temptation to indulge in those foods.     

Resolving the theory of planned behaviour's ‘expectancy-value muddle’ using dimensional salience

The theory of planned behaviour is one of the most widely used models of decision-making in the health literature. Unfortunately, the primary method for assessing the theory's belief-based expectancy-value models results in statistically uninterpretable findings, giving rise to what has become known as the ‘expectancy-value muddle’. Moreover, existing methods for resolving this muddle are associated with various conceptual or practical limitations. This study addresses these issues by identifying and evaluating a parsimonious method for resolving the expectancy-value muddle. Three hundred and nine Australian residents aged 18–24 years rated the expectancy and value of 18 beliefs about posthumous organ donation. Participants also nominated their five most salient beliefs using a dimensional salience approach. Salient beliefs were perceived as being more likely to eventuate than non-salient beliefs, indicating that salient beliefs could be used to signify the expectancy component. The expectancy-value term was therefore represented by summing the value ratings of salient beliefs, an approach that predicted attitude (adjusted R ²?=?0.21) and intention (adjusted R ²?=?0.21). These findings suggest that the dimensional salience approach is a useful method for overcoming the expectancy-value muddle in applied research settings.     

Cross-modal working memory binding and learning of visual-phonological associations in children with reading difficulties

Reading decoding requires the association of a visual input (the printed word) with a verbal output (the spoken word), and the learning of visual-phonological associations via repeated exposure occurs both explicitly (by instruction and training) and implicitly (by exposure to written material). However, a general ability to implicitly learn visual-phonological associations (or cross-modal bindings) in children with reading difficulties (RD) has not been deeply explored. The present paper examined this issue in two studies comparing groups of children with RD with matched groups of control children in a working memory binding task involving sequences of variable combinations of nonsense shapes and nonwords (odd trials), as well as fixed combinations (even trials). Stimuli presentation was followed by a recognition test in which the nonwords were given one at a time and the children were required to mouse click on their respective shapes. In Study 1, fixed bindings were presented in random sequences across even trials, and the recognition test presented the nonwords at random. In Study 2, fixed bindings were presented in the same order across even trials, and the recognition test presented the nonwords following the same sequence order. In both studies, a consistent and strong learning effect of fixed bindings was observed for the control groups, with significantly better performance than the groups with RD. Such results suggest that poor cross-modal binding learning is associated with reading difficulties. Implications for the study and treatment of dyslexia are discussed.     

On applying cognitive psychology

Recent attempts to assess the practical impact of scientific research prompted my own reflections on over 40 years worth of combining basic and applied cognitive psychology. Examples are drawn principally from the study of memory disorders, but also include applications to the assessment of attention, reading, and intelligence. The most striking conclusion concerns the many years it typically takes to go from an initial study, to the final practical outcome. Although the complexity and sheer timescale involved make external evaluation problematic, the combination of practical satisfaction and theoretical stimulation make the attempt to combine basic and applied research very rewarding.     

Supervision of supervision: Specialism or new profession?

Abstract

Consecutive BAC Codes of Ethics and Practice of the Supervision of Counsellors have emphasised the importance of supervisory consultations for supervisors, and the need of evaluating and monitoring supervision work. Supervision of supervision work has also been an integral part of the training of supervisors, in order for them to learn supervision by actually supervising and receiving feedback on their work. The paper attempts to define and conceptualise the task of the supervisor of supervision in comparison with and by contrast to ordinary supervision and covers such areas as function, format, focus, presentation.