Transforming despair to hope in the treatment of extreme trauma: a view from the supervisor’s chair

The author considers how, when working with severely traumatised patients, times of despair can be transformed into moments of hope within the therapeutic process. She considers these moments from the perspective of ‘the supervisor’s chair’ and what emerges within the supervisory relationship when difficult and distressing sessions are openly and honestly bought to supervision. Drawing on Thomas Ogden’s ideas about ‘dreaming up the patient’ in supervision, and Michael Parsons’ thoughts about the supervisory relationship, she gives two examples of this process in action, the first about the transformation of despair to hope in the consulting room, and the second about the transformation of despair to hope in the professional network. She argues that these transformational moments of hope correspond to what Daniel Stern and his colleagues have described as ‘moments-of-meeting’ and are indicative of a potential turning point in the therapy. These fleeting moments need to be attended to and nurtured so that their potential for change and emotional growth and recovery can be harnessed.     

Indifference sets of reference points in multi‐objective integer linear programming

Reference point approaches for multi‐objective problems rely on the definition of an achievement scalarizing function that projects reference points onto the non‐dominated solution set. In this paper, we investigate the behaviour of reference points using a Tchebycheff metric‐based scalarizing function in multi‐objective pure integer linear programming (MOILP). Since the non‐dominated solutions are discrete in MOILP, there are multiple reference points that lead to the same solution, i.e. there are indifference sets on the reference point space. We investigate some properties of the reference points in MOILP and also the graphical representation of indifference sets for tri‐objective problems. We further investigate properties of the reference points when additional limitations on the objective function values are introduced. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Loss of Loss Aversion: Paying Attention to Reference Points

We agree with Gal and Rucker ( 2018 , in press) that loss aversion is not as firmly established as typically assumed. We affirm, however, the more general principle put forward within Prospect Theory (D. Kahneman & A. Tversky, 1979), which is that reference points increase people's sensitivity to objective changes in value. We show how the literatures on counterfactual thought, social comparison, and goal pursuit are consistent with the notion that reference points increase sensitivity to change in value, while not being consistent with loss aversion. We then examine, within the framework of Regulatory Focus theory (E. T. Higgins, 1997, 1998), how different reference points combine with characteristics of the actor and the situation to give rise to loss aversion (more sensitivity to negative outcomes than to positive outcomes) as well as to the reverse pattern (more sensitivity to positive outcomes than to negative outcomes). Our review suggests that the status quo, even when used as a reference point, is not necessarily neutral. It also suggests that anchor points other than the status quo may serve as reference points and that people may use more than one reference point simultaneously. More generally, we call for a critical examination of the “bad is stronger than good” principle.     

Randomized single-blind multicenter trial comparing the effects of standard and augmented acupuncture protocols on sleep quality and depressive symptoms in patients with depression

The study was aimed to compare the effects of standard and augmented acupuncture on depressive symptoms and sleep disturbances in patients with depression. This is a randomized, single-blind, multicenter trial. 140 subjects with clinical insomnia (score of ≥ 7 on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)) were randomized to the standard (LI4, LIV3, EX-HN3, and GV20) or augmented (LI4, LIV3, EX-HN3, GV20, LU7, and KID6, including intradermal needles for sustained treatment) acupuncture groups. Participants received two sessions weekly for six weeks. In trial, The primary outcomes were improvements in PSQI and the Hamilton Rating Scale (HAMD). Secondary outcomes were treatment credibility and adverse events. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, week 3, end of treatment, and 4-week follow-up. From the 105 randomized patients, 89 completed the trial and were included in the final analyses. Better efficacy was observed in the augmented group compared with the standard acupuncture to improve the PSQI and HAMD at week 3, end of treatment, and 4-week follow-up (all p < .05). The HAMD scores improved with time, except between end of treatment and 4-week follow-up, while in the standard group, HAMD scored improved from baseline to week 3, and stopped improving thereafter. The PSQI scores improved with time in the two groups, except between end of treatment and 4-week follow-up. Compared with the standard protocol, the augmented acupuncture protocol had a better efficacy to treat depression and to improve sleep quality of patients with depression.     

Effect sizes and cut-off points: a meta-analytical review of burnout in latin American countries

Burnout is a highly prevalent globalized health issue that causes significant physical and psychological health problems. In Latin America research on this topic has increased in recent years, however there are no studies comparing results across countries, nor normative reference cut-offs. The present meta-analysis examines the intensity of burnout (emotional exhaustion, cynicism and personal accomplishment) in 58 adult nonclinical samples from 8 countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela). We found low intensity of burnout but there are significant differences between countries in emotional exhaustion explained by occupation and language. Social and human service professionals (police officers, social workers, public administration staff) are more exhausted than health professionals (physicians, nurses) or teachers. The samples with Portuguese language score higher in emotional exhaustion than Spanish, supporting the theory of cultural relativism. Demographics (sex, age) and study variables (sample size, instrument), were not found significant to predict burnout. The effect size and confidence intervals found are proposed as a useful baseline for research and medical diagnosis of burnout in Latin American countries.     

正负参照点下性别和损益情景对大学生延迟折扣的影响

大量研究表明,延迟折扣受到个体特质性和状态性因素的影响。本研究通过两个实验分别探究正参照点(实验1)和负参照点(实验2)下,特质性因素性别和状态性因素损益情景对大学生个体延迟折扣的影响。实验1研究发现,在正性参照点下,无论男女,收益情景的主观远期价值远高于损失情景。实验2研究发现,在负性参照点下,男女在损益情景的主观远期价值不同;与男性相比,女性的主观远期价值在损失情景中更高,而在收益情景中则无显著差异。本研究结果表明,在不同的参照点下,男女在损益情景中表现了不同的延迟折扣倾向;与男性相比,女性在负性参照点面对损失情景跨期选择时,更愿意选择延迟赔偿。     

Approximately Efficient Solutions in Vector Optimization

An approach to approximating solutions in vector optimization is developed for vector optimization problems with arbitrary ordering cones. This paper presents a study of approximately efficient points of a given set with respect to a convex cone in an ordered Banach space. Existence results for such approximately efficient points are obtained. A domination property related to these existence results is observed and then it is proved that each element of a given set is approximated by the sum of a point in a convex cone inducing the ordering and a point in a finite set consisting of such approximately efficient points of the set.     

警惕啊!基因决定论

基因已经成为２０世纪遗传学中的一个关键词基因决定论也正在走近我们的生活本文从遗传学的角度阐述了基因决定论的种种不当之处,并且指出基因的作用与人类的生活方式密切相关,而人类的全部文明史就在于克服单纯的基因决定论所带来的局限。     

Points of view analysis revisited: Fitting multidimensional structures to optimal distance components with cluster restrictions on the variables

Points of view analysis (PVA), proposed by Tucker and Messick in 1963, was one of the first methods to deal explicitly with individual differences in multidimensional scaling, but at some point was apparently superceded by the weighted Euclidean model, well-known as the Carroll and Chang INDSCAL model. This paper argues that the idea behind points of view analysis deserves new attention, especially as a technique to analyze group differences. A procedure is proposed that can be viewed as a streamlined, integrated version of the Tucker and Messick Process, which consisted of a number of separate steps. At the same time, our procedure can be regarded as a particularly constrained weighted Euclidean model. While fitting the model, two types of nonlinear data transformations are feasible, either for given dissimilarities, or for variables from which the dissimilarities are derived. Various applications are discussed, where the two types of transformation can be mixed in the same analysis; a quadratic assignment framework is used to evaluate the results.The research of the first author was supported by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW); the research of the second author by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO Grant 560-267-029). An earlier version of this paper was presented at the European Meeting of the Psychometric Society, Leuven, 1989. We wish to thank Willem J. Heiser for his stimulating comments to earlier versions of this paper, and we are grateful to the Editor and anonymous referees for their helpful suggestions.     

Rating the similarity of simple perceptual stimuli: asymmetries induced by manipulating exposure frequency.

When judging the similarity of two stimuli, people's ratings often differ depending on the order in which the comparison is presented (A vs. B or B vs. A). Such directional asymmetries have typically been demonstrated using complex concepts that have a large number of semantic features and a standard explanation is that different sets of features are emphasized depending on the direction of the comparison. In this study, we show that directional asymmetries in the similarity of simple perceptual stimuli can be predictably manipulated merely by presenting each member of a pair with different frequency. Participants rated the similarity of color patches before and after performing an irrelevant training task in which a subset of colors was presented ten times more frequently than others. The similarity ratings after training were significantly more asymmetric than the ratings before training. We discuss the implications of these findings for models of similarity judgment and propose a computationally explicit explanation based on asymmetries in representational stability.