Winnicott, Balint, and the Independent Tradition

This article compares and contrasts two main aspects of the work of Winnicott and Balint: their theories of infantile development and their theoretical and clinical work on the use of regression as a therapeutic agent. The relationship of their thinking to aspects of the British Independent Group's theories and clinical work is noted vis-à-vis the basic acceptance of classical theory and technique, acknowledgment and use of some of Klein's contributions, the influence of trauma and the external environment on psychic development and psychopathology, the importance of holding and the setting, and the reintegration of previously split off and lost parts of the self.     

Breaking the Solid Ground of Common Sense: Undoing “Structure” with Michael Balint

Balint's great merit was to question what, in the classical perspective, was assumed as a prerequisite for analysis and thus located beyond analysis: the maturity of the ego. A fundamental premise of his work was Ferenczi's distrust for the structural model, which praised the maturity of the ego and its verbal, social, and adaptive abilities. Ferenczi's view of ego maturation as a trauma derivative was strikingly different from the theories of all other psychoanalytic schools and seems to be responsible for Balint's understanding of regression as a sort of inverted process that enables the undoing of the sheltering structures of the mature mind. Balint's understanding of the relation between mature ego and regression diverged not only from the ego psychologists, who emphasized the idea of therapeutic alliance, but also from most of the authors who embraced the object-relational view, like Klein (who considered regression a manifestation of the patient's craving for oral gratification), Fairbairn (who gave up the notion of regression), and Guntrip (who viewed regression as a schizoid phenomenon related to the ego weakness). According to Balint, the clinical appearance of a regression would depend also on the way the regression is recognized, is accepted, and is responded to by the analyst. In this respect, his position was close to Winnicott's reformulation of the therapeutic action. Yet, the work of Balint reflects the persuasion that the progressive fluidification of the solid structure could be enabled only by the analyst's capacity for becoming himself or herself [unsolid].     

不同年级学生阅读科技文章的眼动研究

本实验使用４２００Ｒ眼动仪对小学三年级、初二、高二和大学生阅读科技文章的眼动特征进行研究。结果发现;１．随年龄的提高,被试阅读课文的总注视次数显著减少;２．高年级学生能够根据阅读内容的重要性来灵活地调节自己的眼动策略;３．随着年级的提高,各年级被试使用前进式回视的比例逐渐减少,而使用选择式回视的比例逐渐增加。     

任务难度对基于位置返回抑制时间进程的影响

在返回抑制的实验范式下,采用线索一靶子模式进行了视觉字母觉察实验、实验发现,返回抑制在线索与靶子之间的时间间隔（ＳＯＡ）为７００ｍｓ时出现,且在９００ｍｓ时消退。这与先前许多实验发现的返回抑制在ＳＯＡ为３００ｍｓ左右时出现的结果不一致。作者认为,实验任务的难度是影响返回抑制时间进程的一个重要因素。     

对分心物特性抑制中位置因素的排除

本研究以汉语单字词为材料,使用反应时技术,考察在归类住条中分心物的位置因素是否也与分心物特性因素一样,影响被试对探测显示中目标的反应时间（RTDT）。结果表明,RTDT不随分心物位置数目变化而变化,只随着分心物特性数目变化而变化．由此得出,象归类这种属于语义表征的、与位置无关的任务中被试并不抑制分心物出现的位置,并可进一步推论,分心物抑制可能是一种灵活机制。     

Linear relations amongk sets of variables

A family of solutions for linear relations amongk sets of variables is proposed. It is shown how these solutions apply fork=2, and how they can be generalized from there tok3.The family of solutions depends on three independent choices: (i) to what extent a solution may be influenced by differences in variances of components within each set; (ii) to what extent the sets may be differentially weighted with respect to their contribution to the solution—including orthogonality constraints; (iii) whether or not individual sets of variables may be replaced by an orthogonal and unit normalized basis.Solutions are compared with respect to their optimality properties. For each solution the appropriate stationary equations are given. For one example it is shown how the determinantal equation of the stationary equations can be interpreted.     

The asymptotic distribution of commonality components

Commonality components have been defined as a method of partitioning squared multiple correlations. In this paper, the asymptotic joint distribution of all 2 ^k – 1 squared multiple correlations is derived. The asymptotic joint distribution of linear combinations of squared multiple correlations is obtained as a corollary. In particular, the asymptotic joint distribution of commonality components are derived as a special case. Simultaneous and nonsimultaneous asymptotic confidence intervals for commonality components can be obtained from this distribution.This work was supported in part by the Spencer Foundation and the National Science Foundation.The authors are grateful to Bryna Siegel-Gorlick for her help in obtaining the data used in Example 4.3, and to the referees for their comments and suggestions.     

SELECTIVE ASSOCIATIONS PRODUCED SOLELY WITH APPETITIVE CONTINGENCIES: THE STIMULUS-REINFORCER INTERACTION REVISITED

In studies reporting stimulus-reinforcer interactions in traditional conditioning paradigms, when a tone-light compound was associated with food the light gained stimulus control, but when the compound was paired with shock avoidance the tone gained control. However, the physical nature of the reinforcerrelated events (food vs. shock) presented in the presence of the tone-light compound was always confounded with the conditioned hedonic value of the compound's presence relative to its absence. When the compound was paired with shock, its presence was negative relative to its absence (which was shock-free). In contrast, when the compound was paired with food, its presence was positive relative to its absence (which was food-free). The present experiment dealt with this confounding effect by conditioning a tone-light compound to be positive or negative, relative to its absence, solely with food reinforcement. One group of rats received food for responding in the presence of the tone-light compound and no food in its absence. The other group also responded in the presence of the compound, but received food only in its absence. These rats were trained on a chained schedule in which responding in the presence of the tone-light compound produced a terminal link signaled by the absence of the compound; responding ceased in the terminal link because it delayed food delivery. In a test session to assess stimulus control by the elements of the compound, tone and light were presented separately under extinction conditions. Rats that had been exposed to a positive correlation between food and the compound emitted almost double the responses in the presence of the light as in the presence of the tone. In comparison, rats that had been exposed to a negative correlation emitted only two thirds as many responses in the presence of the light as in the presence of the tone. Because this selective association was produced using only food, it appears that the contingencies under which a reinforcer is presented, rather than (or as well as) its physical properties, can generate the selective associations previously attributed to “stimulus-reinforcer interactions.” This could mean that regardless of the class of reinforcer that ultimately maintains responding (appetitive or aversive), the contingency-generated hedonic value of the compound stimulus may influence the dominant modality of stimulus control.     

Unequal but not separate: Emergence of rich–poor cooperation in resource exchange

Addressing inequality is a critical challenge for society as a whole and requires sustained efforts to promote fairness and opportunity for all. Filling in the resource gap across social classes is essential in reducing inequality. Previous studies have revealed that ingroup favouritism hinders the rich from cooperating with the poor and expands the wealth gap. Nevertheless, how to find ways of narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor remains an open question. Inducing rich–poor cooperation could be effective in eliciting resource flow across classes. In this study, two experiments using a modified Prisoner's Dilemma game were conducted in Japan (N = 213) and China (N = 150) to examine whether highlighting partners' cooperativeness under permeable group boundaries induces rich–poor cooperation. All participants were allocated to the rich group and participated in the game with programmed rich- or poor-group partner bots, whose cooperation rates were manipulated. Despite the initial resource disparities between participants and the partner bots, participants were more likely to select and cooperate with cooperative poor-group partners than with non-cooperative rich-group partners. Generalized trust played an important role in the enhancement of rich–poor cooperation. The findings shed light on the possibility of reducing inequality and promoting social mobility in society.     

Openness relates to COVID-19 vaccination rates across 48 United States but politics trump personality

Does geographic variation in personality across the United States relate to COVID-19 vaccination rates? To answer this question, we combined multiple state-level datasets: (a) Big Five personality averages (i.e., extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness; Rentfrow et al., 2008), (b) COVID-19 full-vaccination rates (CDC, 2021a), (c) health-relevant demographic covariates (population density, per capita gross domestic product, and racial/ethnic data; Webster et al., 2021), and (d) political and religiosity data. Analyses showed openness as the strongest correlate of full-vaccination rates (r = 0.51). Controlling for other traits, demographic covariates, and spatial dependence, openness remained significantly related to full-vaccination rates (r_p = 0.55). Adding political and religiosity data to this model diminished openness effects for full-vaccination rates to non-significance (r_p = 0.26); however, extraversion emerged as a significant correlate of full-vaccination rates (r_p = 0.37). Although politics are paramount, we suspect that states with higher average openness scores are more conducive to novel thinking and behavior—dispositions that may be crucial in motivating people to take newly-developed vaccines based on new technologies to confront a novel coronavirus.