Analysis of the creation of 'emptiness', of 'nothingness', in certain types of psychosis

Some psychotic patients manage to create nothingness and emptiness thanks to the amount of work their ego accomplishes. That is the paradox we find in schizophrenic patients, their ego is simultaneously weak and powerful. When we analyse how this nothingness/emptiness is created, we enter into a strange world in which the patient's ego is, in part, defective and fragmented; his or her thinking apparatus, capacity for perceiving and feeling are under attack. Yet this same ego can call on intellectual ability, imagination and tremendous energy in order to create a highly complex structure, thanks to which the psychotic individual manages to create a kind of para-organization of space by splitting 'nothingness' (the space between representations) and 'density' (a compact magma made up of many different highly-condensed representations). Both nothingness and density may give the impression that the patient is 'nowhere to be found' and therefore impossible to analyse. In this paper, I shall describe these mechanisms as they appear in the clinical material of a female psychotic patient.     

Do local properties function as cues for musical key perception?1

Abstract: A global property (i.e., pitch set) of a melody appears to serve as a primary cue for key identification. Previous studies have proposed specific local properties in a melody (e.g., the augmented fourth, the perfect fifth, etc.) that may function as further cues. However, the role of the latter in key identification is controversial. The present study was designed to investigate what kinds of local properties, if any, function as reliable cues for key identification. Listeners were asked to identify keys for 450 melodies that consisted of the same pitch set, but which differed in sequential constraints. Using multiple discriminant analyses, we evaluated relative contributions of as many kinds of local properties as possible (e.g., single intervals, single pitch classes in each sequential position, etc.). The results showed that, except for the pitch class of the final tone, for which interpretation should be taken cautiously, none of the specific local properties examined contributed significantly to key identification. This finding suggests that, contrary to prior findings, key identification is derived from unidentified properties other than the specific local properties.     

Sensory Over-Responsivity in Elementary School: Prevalence and Social-Emotional Correlates

Sensory over-responsivity (SOR) towards tactile and auditory input can impact children’s participation in academic and social activities; however the prevalence of SOR behaviors and their relation to social-emotional problems and competence has not been rigorously studied. This study investigated SOR in a representative sample of elementary school-aged children (n = 925, 50% boys, ages 7–11 years) who were followed from infancy. Sixteen percent of parents reported that at least four tactile or auditory sensations bothered their children. Being bothered by certain sensations was common while others were relatively rare. Parents of children with versus without elevated SOR in school-age reported higher frequencies of early and co-occurring internalizing, externalizing, and dysregulation problems, and lower levels of concurrent adaptive social behaviors. Early identification of elevated SOR and assessment of concurrent social-emotional status are important to minimize their impact on social adaptive behaviors at school age.     

Effect of delay on children's delay-execute prospective memory performance

To date, little work has been done investigating prospective memory in children, particularly using a delay-execute paradigm. Two experiments were conducted to investigate this issue with children aged 5–11 years. While playing a computer driving game, children's ability to carry out a delayed intention either immediately a target cue appeared or after an additional delay, was assessed. These findings supported the few previous studies in this area by showing that preschool children are able to perform event-based prospective memory tasks. The results also extended these findings by demonstrating the impact of briefly delaying the execution of a retrieved intention, and revealing that there were important improvements in prospective memory performance from early to late childhood. The suggestion is made that executive resources may be responsible for this pattern of performance.     

中小学生情绪调节策略与生理反应的关系

采用实验法探讨了巾小学生情绪调节策略与生理反应的关系。研究表明,悲伤情绪状态下,认知重评策略的生理反应要比表达抑制策略的生理反应小;快乐情绪状态下,两种策略的生理反应无显著差异;表达抑制策略下,悲伤情绪组的生理反应大于快乐情绪组的生理反应;认知重评策略下,悲伤情绪组的生理反应小于快乐情绪组;低年级学生比高年级学生情绪的生理反应大;女生比男生情绪的生理反应大;低学业水平学生比高学业水平学生情绪的生理反应大。     

初中生师生关系对学业成绩的影响研究

本研究采用自编问卷,选取384名初中生为被试,考察初中生师生关系的特点以及与学业成绩的关系.研究表明:(1)初中生师生关系主要表现为亲密性、依赖性、冲突性三个维度;(2)师生关系在冲突性上年级差异极其显著,在亲密性、依赖性上不显著;(3)师生关系与学业成绩为显著正相关,在冲突性方面差异显著,在亲密性、依赖性方面差异不显著.因此,建立良好的师生关系,有助于减少师生之间的冲突;建立相互尊重、相互信任的师生关系,有利于促进学生的学业成绩.     

Physiological arousal and reactions to outgroup members during competitions that implicate an important social identity

Exposure to sports competitions, especially those involving violence, can elevate physiological arousal, potentially setting the stage for transforming hostile inclinations into aggressive behavior. Personality and cognitive factors that influence the interpretation given to such competitions may influence the impact of these events. The effects of exposure to a sporting competition that had high or low importance for subjects' social identity on pre- to post-film blood pressure and evaluations of outgroups were examined. Aggression may be particularly likely when arousal levels are elevated, and such arousal was expected to be determined by the importance of the identity at stake, regardless of the outcome of the competition. Individuals who were either strongly identified with America or were less identified viewed a boxing match where the American athlete lost the competition (and the Russian contestant won), or the Russian athlete lost (and the American won). Both diastolic and systolic blood pressure measures showed an increase pre- to post-film in the highly identified persons while no such change was observed in the low identitied individuals. Cognitive measures assessing evaluations of the Russian boxer, and Russians in general, showed effects parallel to the arousal indexes with high identified persons expressing more derogation of threat-relevant targets than did those low in identification. Arousal increases in only the highly identified viewers predicted derogation of Russians. Discussion centers on the role of identification with a sports team on physiological processes and their implications for spectator aggression.     

中小学生正念注意觉知与心理健康：情绪调节和积极重评的跨时间中介作用

本研究探讨中小学生正念注意觉知的发展及其与心理健康的关系,并考察情绪调节和积极重评在其中起到的中介作用。研究采用追踪设计,来自江西地区两所小学(4到6年级)和两所中学(7到9年级)的共1251名学生(男生691人,女生560人)在间隔半年的两个时间点分别填写了测量正念注意觉知、心理健康(生活满意度、抑郁、焦虑、学业压力)、情绪调节以及积极重评的问卷。结果表明：(1)中学生正念注意觉知显著低于小学生;(2)中小学生正念注意觉知与两个时间点的情绪调节、积极重评及心理健康均显著相关;(3)跨时间点中介效应检验结果表明,在中小学生正念注意觉知和各心理健康变量的关系中,情绪调节中介效应均显著,积极重评中介效应均不显著。结论：中小学生正念注意觉知与心理健康密切相关,正念注意觉知通过情绪调节能力间接作用于中小学生心理健康。     

班级欺凌规范对初中生旁观者行为的影响：道德推脱的中介作用

为了探究校园欺凌中班级欺凌规范、道德推脱与旁观者协助欺凌和置身事外行为的关系,研究1对4316名初中生进行问卷调查,研究2选取142名初中生进行实验研究。结果发现：（1）班级欺凌规范、道德推脱正向预测旁观者面对欺凌时的协助欺凌与置身事外行为;（2）道德推脱在班级欺凌规范与旁观者协助欺凌行为、置身事外行为中起中介作用。