Preparatory Set,Response Complexity,and Reaction Latency

The interaction between preparatory set and response complexity was demonstrated in an experiment investigating the reaction latency of discrete arm movements. Following simple finger-lift reaction-time (RT) trials, subjects performed simple and complex versions of a discrete horizontal arm movement under one of two enforced preparatory set conditions. For the simple task, requiring subjects to attend to the components of the response prior to stimulus presentation (enforced motor set) produced significantly shorter RTs than when concentration was on the stimulus (enforced sensory set). However, RT differences for the complex version of the task failed significance. Theoretical implications of the results for Henry’s (1960) memory drum theory of neuromotor reaction were discussed.     

Clinging,gripping, holding,containment: Reflections on a survival reflex and the development of a capacity to separate

This paper attempts to describe how, in the very first months of extra‐uterine life, personality structures are formed around notions of personal space, separateness, attachment and individuation. The contribution of a forgotten Hungarian analyst, Imre Hermann, who wrote about the ‘clinging reflex’, will be explored in relation to the origin of Bowlby's concept of attachment and Rey's theoretical understanding of personal space. Particular attention will be given to transitions, transitional experiences and the development of a sense of internal space. Vignettes from infant observations will be used to illustrate the theoretical frame of reference. Clinical material from the analysis of a child and an adult patient will be provided to postulate how a distorted perception of personal space and separateness in the first few months of life may affect the capacity to attach and to individuate.     

THE FATE OF AGGRESSION IN MASO‐MASOCHISTIC RELATIONSHIPS

This paper examines an underexplored dimension of interpersonal relating: the relationship formed between two individuals who relate to each other in masochistic ways. The common assumption is that a sadist forms an alliance with a masochist, and that a balance is struck between an individual who is “one up” and another who is “one down.” However, relationships are frequently established between two people who both experience themselves as chronically “one down,” each playing victim to the other's aggression. This paper explores disavowed aggression in this type of couple, the implications of this disavowal for treatment, and the sadomasochistic reverberations within the therapist.     

Personal and social protective factors of cyberhate: A general strain theory approach

Adolescents of today grow up in a connected world. While online communication offers great opportunities, it can also have negative impact on adolescents' life. In this work, we are interested in the use of online communication tools to share and create cyberhate content. Anchored in the general strain theory, we studied how social support (i.e., parental, peers and teacher support) may be related to cyberhate perpetration. We further tested how personal characteristics such as empathy, self-esteem and anxiety could predict the propensity to be involved as cyberhate perpetrators. We collected self-reported questionnaires of 1019 French young people (13.04 years; ranging from 9 to 17) and measured their perceived (a) parental, (b) peers and (c) teachers' support as well as their (d) empathy/benevolence, (e) self-esteem and (f) anxiety. We also measured cyberhate perpetration and the association between perpetration, social support and personal characteristics. Our results highlight that parental and teacher support represent protective factors for cyberhate perpetration. Our results further suggest that self-esteem is negatively linked to the propensity to cyberhate perpetration.     

The first interview: Anxieties and research on initiating psychoanalysis

A qualitative clinical study of preliminary interviews by the Working Party on Initiating Psychoanalysis (WPIP) of the European Psychoanalytic Federation suggests that the unconscious dynamics in first interviews are extraordinarily powerful and that they give rise to deep unconscious anxieties in both patient and analyst, with the corresponding defences against them. Furthermore, the group dynamics observed in the clinical workshops and in the research team doing the study suggest that both the anxieties and the defences are conveyed to these groups in the form of unelaborated ‘session residues’ provoking renewed anxieties and defences in them. These findings contribute to our understanding of what goes on in first interviews, but also raise interesting questions about the psychoanalytic research process in psychoanalysis and how confrontation with the unknown is dealt with in that context. Rather than as a means to avoid anxiety, method in clinical research can be seen as a way to help the research group to contain its reactions and to tolerate them until the group finds its way to further elaboration. These points are illustrated with a clinical case drawn from the study.     

Correlating the internal length in strain gradient plasticity theory with the microstructure of material

The internal length is the governing parameter in strain gradient theories which among other things have been used successfully to interpret size effects at the microscale. Physically, the internal length is supposed to be related with the microstructure of the material and evolves during the deformation. Based on Taylor hardening law, we propose a power-law relationship to describe the evolution of the variable internal length with strain. Then, the classical Fleck–Hutchinson strain gradient theory is extended with a strain-dependent internal length, and the generalized Fleck–Hutchinson theory is confirmed here, by comparing our model predictions to recent experimental data on tension and torsion of thin wires with varying diameter and grain size. Our work suggests that the internal length is a configuration-dependent parameter, closely related to dislocation characteristics and grain size, as well as sample geometry when this affects either the underlying microstructure or the ductility of the material.     

Clinical theory at the border(s): Emerging and unintended crossings in the development of clinical theory

The author provides some scaffolding for thinking about emerging and unintended integrative developments in clinical theory. The emergent theory to which the author refers works at a different level of theoretical discourse than explicit attempts at comparative translation of psychoanalytic concepts or theories. In contrast, most of the theory that is explored in this paper involves clinical discourse aimed at solving important common clinical problems. The work of a group of authors (Jay Greenberg, John Steiner, Anton Kris, Michael Feldman and Charles Spezzano) is described as simultaneously embedded within a particular orientation while demonstrating a kind of unwitting reach to a broad swathe of analysts. Distinctions are made between this kind of linking of clinical theory versus self‐consciously syncretic and integrative approaches to theory development. The author also discusses the educational implications of this emergent theory for teaching and learning during psychoanalytic training.