On the nature and standing of psychoanalytic psychotherapy

In this paper, I offer some reflections on the standing of psychoanalytic psychotherapy in the National Health Service (NHS), with special reference to contemporary forms of evidence-based thinking. I consider what may follow when a narrow view of science or psychotherapeutic practice becomes conventional wisdom and assumes dominance. I place stress on the potential loss to NHS psychology and psychiatry if psychoanalytic psychotherapy becomes increasingly marginalized on the one hand, or overly standardized on the other.     

Preschoolers' attention and emotion in an achievement and an effect game: A longitudinal study

Understanding positive emotions' shared and differentiating features can yield valuable insight into the structure of positive emotion space and identify emotion states, or aspects of emotion states, that are most relevant for particular psychological processes and outcomes. We report two studies that examined core relational themes (Study 1) and expressive displays (Study 2) for eight positive emotion constructs—amusement, awe, contentment, gratitude, interest, joy, love, and pride. Across studies, all eight emotions shared one quality: high positive valence. Distinctive core relational theme and expressive display patterns were found for four emotions—amusement, awe, interest, and pride. Gratitude was associated with a distinct core relational theme but not an expressive display. Joy and love were each associated with a distinct expressive display but their core relational themes also characterised pride and gratitude, respectively. Contentment was associated with a distinct expressive display but not a core relational theme. The implications of this work for the study of positive emotion are discussed.     

Character Strengths: Stability and change from a military college education

A service academy military education seeks to develop character. Twenty-four character strengths measured by the Values in Action – Individual Strengths instrument are examined longitudinally to determine effects on character from a service academy education. Significant growth equations were obtained for Citizenship-Teamwork, Hope-Optimism, Fairness, Capacity to Love and be Loved, Appreciation of Beauty, Industry-Perseverance, Zest-Enthusiasm, Spirituality, Creativity, Leadership, Humor-Playfulness, Judgment, and Love of Learning from a mixed models analysis (overall Type 1 error set at .05). Based upon differences expected from a cross-sectional national sample it was inferred that the military college education differentially affected all character strengths except Gratitude, Citizenship-Teamwork, Creativity, Hope-Optimism, Capacity to Love and be Loved, Humor-Playfulness, Perspective, Modesty-Humility, Appreciation of Beauty, and Judgment.     

Size does matter: Women mentally rotate large objects faster than men

Performance in a computerized “mental rotation” task was measured in groups of males and females while they rotated Shepard‐Metzler‐like cube assemblies on either a standard laptop screen (size = 36 cm) or on a large display wall (584 cm) where the stimuli appeared at considerably larger sizes and within a much wider field of view than that typically used in most spatial tasks. Males and females did not differ significantly in performance in the standard size condition with regards to response time but females performed faster than males in the large display condition. Males were also found to be significantly more accurate than females, regardless of display. We found no sign of trading accuracy for speed for either of the sexes or screen size conditions. We surmise that such an effect may be due to differences in task‐solving strategies between the sexes, where a holistic strategy – which may be preferred by males is negatively affected by large object sizes, whereas a piecemeal approach, that may be preferred by females, is virtually unaffected by display size.     

On creating a psychoanalytic mind

The term process knowledge is introduced to highlight a particular way of analyzing that centers on how our patients gain knowledge. It is suggested that analyzing with heightened awareness to process knowledge is crucial for the patients' capacity for self-analysis, and differs from helping patients primarily gain knowledge of their unconscious fantasies and conflicts as the primary curative factor in psychoanalysis.     

Do behavioural self-blame and stigma predict positive health changes in survivors of lung or head and neck cancers?

Survivors of lung or head and neck cancers often change tobacco and alcohol consumption after diagnosis, but few studies have examined other positive health changes (PHCs) or their determinants in these groups. The present study aims to: (a) document PHCs in survivors of lung (n?=?107) or head and neck cancers (n?=?99) and (b) examine behavioural self-blame and stigma as determinants of PHCs. We hypothesised that: (a) survivors would make a variety of PHCs; (b) behavioural self-blame for the disease would positively predict making PHCs; and (c) stigma would negatively predict making PHCs.

Methods: Respondents self-administered measures of PHC, behavioural self-blame, and stigma. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis tested the hypotheses.

Results: More than 65% of respondents reported making PHCs, the most common being changes in diet (25%), exercise (23%) and tobacco consumption (16.5%). Behavioural self-blame significantly predicted PHCs but stigma did not. However, both behavioural self-blame and stigma significantly predicted changes in tobacco consumption.

Conclusions: Many survivors of lung or head and neck cancers engage in PHCs, but those who do not attribute the disease to their behaviour are less likely to do so. Attention to this problem and additional counselling may help people to adopt PHCs.     

Lifestyle changes are related to reductions in depression in persons with elevated coronary risk factors

This observational study investigates whether persons with elevated coronary risk factors (CRFs >3 and/or diabetes) and depression [i.e., ≥16 on the Center for Epidemiological Scale – Depression (CES-D)] can make changes in health behaviours over 3 months and improve depressive symptoms and other CRFs. Analyses were based on data from 310 men and 687 women enrolled in the high-risk arm of the Multisite Cardiac Lifestyle Intervention Program, targeting diet (10% fat), exercise (3 h per week) and stress management (7 h per week). As expected, at study entry, depressed persons had a more adverse medical status, consumed more dietary fat and practiced less stress management than non-depressed persons. To examine 3-month changes, participants were grouped into (1) depressed persons who became non-depressed (CES-D ≤ 16, n = 248; 73%), (2) persons who remained or became depressed (CES-D >16, n = 76) and (3) non-depressed persons who remained non-depressed (n = 597). All persons, regardless of group, met program goals. The greatest improvements (i.e., diet, exercise, perceived stress, hostility and mental health) were observed in Group 1 relative to Groups 2 and 3, which did not differ from each other. Comprehensive lifestyle changes appear to be feasible and beneficial for initially depressed persons with elevated CRFs.     

Happiness: unlocking the mysteries of psychological wealth,by Ed Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener

No research to date has supported the ‘social contagion’ effect of laughter and smiles in a non-Western context, nor among children. Expressions of positive affect were here compared according to social and non-social conditions among 163 children between the ages of 5–12 while playing in a park in Afghanistan. Independent observers coded laugh and smile responses using published criteria and identified 147 laugh responses and 697 smile responses. Children in the social play condition demonstrated significantly more laughs than children in the non-social play condition, and the number of peer observers present in the social play condition significantly increased the number of participant smile responses, but not laugh responses. Findings supported the idea in Western research that laughter and smiles may function in moderating social relationships and communicating affect. The authors recommend future research to investigate the relationship between positive affect and well-being across cultures, with consideration for practical interventions.     

Feature importance in feature generation and typicality rating

Many theoretical models of cognition are based on the assumption that cognitive processes and representations are hierarchically structured. The issue of whether these hierarchies are mere constructs or conceptual tools, or whether they have psychological and neurological reality, is addressed. Theories across a range of cognitive domains are reviewed and four kinds of evidence are considered: behavioural, neuropsychological, ontogenetic, and logical. Logical constraints are identified in relation to operating principles of control, access, economy and analogy. The general characteristics of hierarchical structures and their advantages and disadvantages are discussed.     

CONSIDERATIONS ON DEPRESSIVE CONFLICT AND ITS DIFFERENT LEVELS OF INTENSITY: IMPLICATIONS FOR TECHNIQUE

This article considers the problem of depressive conflict (DC) and the difficulties that arise in integrating aggression towards the object of libidinal cathexis. This conflict results, in particular, from the destructive omnipotence that infantile fantasies attribute to the aggression. In order to better clarify Klein's very broad concept of the depressive position, three levels of severity of depressive conflict are proposed, depending on the type of fantasies concerning the loss of the object that predominate in the individual. These are: fantasies of catastrophic and irreparable destruction of the object ('parapsychotic' DC); fantasies of death and serious damage of the object ('para-depressive' DC); and fantasies of rejection and loss of the love of the object ('para-neurotic' DC). Having looked at these theoretical hypotheses, their implications for technique will then be considered, particularly the importance of focusing the interpretation on guilt feelings rather than on drives in the transferential relationship. A clinical example drawn from the work of Klein and a clinical vignette of a particularly difficult analysis illustrate this technical hypothesis.