Seeing and being seen in the experience of the client and the therapist

There is more to non-verbal communication than observing the client, although intense observation of the client has taken second place to listening to their words. After reflecting on the history of the use of sight in medicine and psychoanalysis, the author examines the significance for Freud and others of the ‘senses at a distance' (hearing and sight), and issues such as voyeurism and exhibitionism in the therapeutic relationship. The phenomenon of seeing and being seen is related through case examples to issues about distance and space, paranoid anxiety and communication disorders. Attention is also paid to illusion as a way of seeing, and its relevance in the counter-transference. The article concludes by looking at the way clients see therapists, tracing briefly the progression from self-pre-occupation to seeing the therapist as a separate other.     

The Limits of Attention for Visual Perception and Action in Aging

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to investigate whether aging results in an increased attentional blink effect in older adults as compared to young adults. A rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) paradigm was employed in which participants were asked to identify two targets (dual-task condition) presented in rapid succession. These targets were separated by various intervals in a stream of stimuli. The performance for identifying the second target was normally diminished as compared to identification of a single-task target. Various combinations of tasks, such as two perceptual tasks or one perceptual and one action task, as well as different types of pointing action, such as pointing to a displaced target, pointing to a stationary target or pointing to a disappeared target, were manipulated in this study to see if aging may further impact these variables. The results of this study showed that in young adults, successful identification of the first target interfered with identifying the second target, as well as the initiation time (action planning) of pointing to the second target. However, identification of the first target did not interfere with pointing movement time and pointing accuracy, even when the target was displaced, which required online control of action. Conversely, for older adults, successful central identification not only interfered with identifying the second target and with the pointing initiation time, but also interfered with pointing movement time for a displaced target. This suggests that older adults seem to be unable to concurrently identify the first target and correct their already-initiated pointing movement compared to young adults.     

Repetition in visual word identification: Benefits and costs

University students performed lexical tasks with visually presented target words after the presentation of an identical or unrelated prime, at short (80–120?ms) or longer (410–710?ms) prime–target stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs). Experiment 1 showed perceptual identification benefits in vocal responding at a short SOA that were reduced (accuracy) or reversed (latency) at a longer SOA. Experiment 2 showed a transition from a repetition benefit to a cost over 3 SOAs in a target-masked version of the lexical decision task (LDT; target displayed for only 141?ms). In Experiment 3 the repetition cost was replicated at a 530-ms SOA in the LDT with masked targets, but a repetition benefit was observed in the conventional LDT (target displayed until response). The dependence of repetition costs on target masking is more consistent with biases based on episodic confusions than refractoriness of lexical representations.     

Can the dual-route cascaded computational model of reading offer a valid account of the masked onset priming effect?

The masked onset priming effect (MOPE) refers to the empirical finding that target naming is faster when the target (SIB) is preceded by a briefly presented masked prime that starts with the same letter/phoneme (suf) than when it does not (mof; Kinoshita, 2000, Experiment 1). The dual-route cascaded (DRC) computational model of reading (Coltheart, Rastle, Perry, Langdon, & Ziegler, 2001) has offered an explanation for how the MOPE might occur in humans. However, there has been some empirical discrepancy regarding whether for nonword items the effect is limited to the first-letter/phoneme overlap between primes and targets or whether orthographic/phonological priming effects occur beyond the first letter/phoneme. Experiment 1 tested these two possibilities. The human results, which were successfully simulated by the DRC model, showed priming beyond the first letter/phoneme. Nevertheless, two recent versions of the DRC model made different predictions regarding the nature of these priming effects. Experiment 2 examined whether it is facilitatory, inhibitory, or both, in order to adjudicate between the two versions of the model. The human results showed that primes exert both facilitatory and inhibitory effects.     

Affective Expectations Influence Neural Responses to Stressful Images in Soldiers

In the present study, we examined how expectations about the affective valence of an event influence immediate neurocognitive responses to the event. Both neutral images and negative images displaying war photos were shown to active duty military personnel undergoing predeployment training. Expectations regarding the affective content of upcoming images were manipulated by means of abstract visual cues that were valid only 75% of the time. Besides providing greater ecological validity, inclusion of invalid cues enabled us to examine separately, effects of the expected and actual valence of the images. Neurocognitive responses within the first second after image presentation were examined using the late positive potential (LPP), a noninvasive measure of brain electrical activity known to index affective processes. Negative images evoked an enhanced LPP relative to neutral images over central-parietal and right anterior electrode sites. Both the central-parietal and anterior LPP were found, likewise, to be modulated by expected valence. Expectation of negative versus neutral images led to an enhanced central-parietal LPP and an attenuated anterior LPP over both hemispheres independent of image valence. These findings are interpreted in terms of the allocation of attention to motivationally salient events, affective interpretation of those events, and induced affective/motivational states. By helping to characterize affective responses to acute stress and the regulation of those responses by psychological context, our study contributes to a basic understanding of how such regulation may become disordered and may aid in the development of targets for therapeutic interventions.     

对妊娠晚期畸形胎儿实施致死性引产的可行性分析

在妊娠晚期发现胎儿畸形,许多胎儿父母要求引产。一些患儿父母因为在医院引产出活体畸形婴儿而与医院产生纠纷。本文考虑采用医疗方法在引产前或引产中使胎儿心跳停止,确保引产出的胎儿为死婴（即致死性引产）以减少纠纷,利于社会。本文试图从医疗、伦理、法律的角度,探讨在胎儿父母要求下,对妊娠晚期畸形胎儿实施致死性引产的可行性。     

中晚明阳明学的格物之辩

对《大学》中“格物”观念的不同理解与诠释,可以反映朱子学与阳明学这理学传统两大典范的基本差异。但中晚明阳明学“格物”观念的发展却呈现出较为复杂的面貌。由中晚明不同阳明学者的格物之辩可见,中晚明阳明学的“格物”观表现为两种不同的取向。一种以聂双江、王宗沐、王艮以及刘蕺山等人为代表,将“格物”完全收缩到自我意识的领域,不免取消了“格物”这一经典用语本身所具有的面对客观事物的致思方向。另一种以王龙溪、周海门、欧阳南野、王塘南等人为代表,通过将“物”理解为意向性中的对象或者作为各种实际生活行为的“事”,使“格物”工夫不再是一种单纯自我意识的孤立活动,而是展开于自我与外界事物的关系结构与互动过程。在后者看来,如果说朱子学的“格物”“忘内求外”而不免“逐物”的话,前者则又“务内遗外”而不免“绝物”。作为一种既不“逐物”又不“绝物”的“合内外”工夫,后者其实是阳明晚年成熟“格物”思想的继承和发扬,反映了阳明学在与朱子学互动过程中由反对到吸收的动向。并且,这一动向在中晚明一些朱子学者的“格物”观处也有鲜明的体现。     

The effect of sight levels on daily stressors and coping styles

The structures of daily stressful events of visually impaired people are reported, and the effects of the sight levels of the subjects on these structures are examined. Sixty‐nine visually impaired people (22 males, 47 females) were interviewed and divided into three groups according to their sight levels. Subjects provided examples of stressful events for three coping styles (Don’t, Do by others, Do by oneself). Statistical analyses of the data indicated that the sight levels of visually impaired people are related to the structure of stressful events and coping styles.     

成人后期日常能力自评与操作水平的横断比较

采用自我评估与纸笔操作相结合的方法 ,对 2 3 3名 55至 74岁的成人后期被试完成七项日常活动的能力进行横断比较。结果表明 :自评能力与操作能力既存在一定的一致性 ,也存在相当大的差异性 ,各活动项目上的自评水平比操作水平要高 ;操作水平表现出随年龄增长而下降的趋势 ,从 70岁开始下降最为明显 ,而自评水平未呈现出这种变化特点 ;不同活动领域上的操作水平存在不同的发展轨迹 ;在少数活动领域具有显著的性别差异     

Modification of performance on the Span of Apprehension Task in a group of young people with early onset psychosis

The aim of the study was to examine the effect of contingent monetary reinforcement and enhanced instructions on Span of Apprehension (SPAN) performance in a group of young people with early onset psychosis. Twenty-five participants (mean age 16.7) received a 3- and 12-letter version of the SPAN task six times: baseline, three x intervention, post-test, and 10-day follow-up. No significant effects of time were found in the 3-letter condition, indicating a ceiling effect for accuracy. In the 12-letter condition detection rates improved significantly reaching a maximum at the third intervention (p < 0.001). Performance showed a temporary decline at post-test, but performance returned to the maximum level at the 10-day follow-up. The study suggests that SPAN performance can be improved in young people with early onset psychosis using relatively simple interventions and that performance gains are relatively durable.