Proactive control of proactive interference using the method of loci

Proactive interferencebuilds up with exposure to multiple lists of similar items with a resulting reduction in recall. This study examined the effectiveness of using a proactive strategy of the method of loci to reduce proactive interference in a list recall paradigm of categorically similar words. While all participants reported using some form of strategy to recall list words, this study demonstrated that young adults were able to proactively use the method of loci after 25 min of instruction to reduce proactive interference as compared with other personal spontaneous strategies. The implications of this study are that top-down proactive strategies such as the method of loci can significantly reduce proactive interference, and that the use of image and sequence or location are especially useful in this regard.     

“It Ain't Over ‘til It's Over”: Infinite Conversations,Imperfect Endings,and the Elusive Nature of Termination

Despite general agreement as to the importance and subtlety of managing the final (“termination”) phase of psychoanalysis, the way that analytic work is brought to a close has been both undertheorized and problematic in practice. How and under what conditions a psychoanalytic process might best be brought to an end is a problem that has plagued psychoanalytic theorists, clinicians, and their patients from the earliest days of psychoanalysis. Patient and analyst do not discover a “royal road” to the end of analysis. Rather, patient and analyst together forge a trail through the thickets of their work to a juncture at which they find that their paths can once again diverge. This paper attempts to explore the ways in which patients and analysts negotiate these most complex and elusive transitions. Analyst and analysand, having come to recognize the limits of their conscious awareness and the ultimate uncertainty at the heart of the psychoanalytic process, must live with the tension generated in the encounter between the inherent limits that eventually will herald the end of analysis and the recognition of new possibilities that beckon the pair into new byways of analytic exploration. Since we can never be certain when ending analysis forecloses promising avenues of new growth, or when continuing analysis constitutes a collusion between patient and analyst in eluding the difficult but ultimately generative ending of analysis, the author suggests that it is preferable to hold the notion of termination lightly, trying as best he can throughout an analysis to facilitate the exploration of its very boundaries, limits, and possibilities.     

I've Got You Under My Skin Reply to Commentaries

In replying to the commentaries by Adrienne Harris and Barbara Pizer, I further elaborate some of the ideas set forth in “Something Is Happening Here.” In particular, some considerations are offered with regard to work with trauma survivors from a body-centered energy therapy perspective. I also further consider some of the complexities of touch in a psychoanalytic treatment and the nature of “inadvertency.”     

A Direct Study of Halo Effect

Five individuals were evaluated on a 7-point scale from strongly dislike (1) to strongly like (7). A week later the same people were rated on 16 relatively distinct traits, such as carefulness, sense of humor, fairness, and sociability. For three of the rated individuals, there were no extreme ratings on the general impression (liking) scale by raters, and the correlations between those scores and mean trait ratings were .26, .32, and .36. For the other two, there were sharp and extreme ratings on the general liking scale, and correlations between those scores and mean trait ratings were .60 and .76. This method provides a more appropriate and more meaningful index of halo effect than other methods because it is based more directly on Thorndike's (1920) original concept.     

Risk,religiosity, and emerging adulthood: description of Christian,Jewish, and Muslim university students at entering the freshman year

American students transitioning to university are at an increased risk for behaviours such as binge drinking, depression and suicidality. Despite the proliferation of prevention and intervention programs, rates remain high. Although religiosity is known to confer a protective effect in this population, it remains largely untapped as a resource because, among other reasons, it is poorly understood, poses ethical challenges, and exposes areas of distrust between the religious and medical establishments. This report describes the findings of a survey that examined possible factors explaining the relationship between religiosity, risky behaviours and emotional extremes in students as they transitioned into their first year of university. This study accounted for the religious diversity of the US by surveying Christian, Jewish, Muslim and religiously unaffiliated students. Findings indicated that religiosity was consistently and negatively correlated to risky behaviours across all faith groups. Interestingly, unique patterns in levels of religiosity emerged among the various faith groups. Similarly, patterns of engagement in risky behaviours demonstrated variation among religious groups. Our findings add to the body of evidence that suggests university-based professionals take into consideration student religiosity when creating prevention intervention programs for students.