The Self is Alive and Well and Living in Relational Psychoanalysis.

Within relational theory the concept of the self continues to occupy a central role. It has survived the premature reports of its demise through a supposed postmodern dissolution and has changed in significant ways to now include areas of subjective experiencing that were previously excluded from consideration. This article illustrates some of those changes, and the tensions within psychoanalysis that have accompanied them. Suggestion is made for a fresh return to thinking about the self that will continue to expand its boundaries and will embrace an inclusive abundance of experience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toward building an international consensus in professional values

We have studied 8,495 regular season games in the National Basketball Association over eight seasons (1987-1988 through 1994-1995) to analyze the effects of travel and rest on performance. We found that more time between games improved performance, an effect that was constant over time and statistically significant. More than 1 day between games increased the home team's score by 1.1 points and the visitor's by 1.6 points. Peak performance occurred with 3 days between games. The negative effects of little time between games may be due to lack of time for physical recovery, rather than any effects of circadian rhythm (jet lag). We found few consistent effects of distance traveled or direction of travel. We did find a suggestion of circadian rhythm effects in a subanalysis of games on either coast in which the visitor traveled across the country, while the home team did not travel (n = 101). In these games, the visiting team did four points better (p = 0.07) when they traveled west to east rather than east to west, almost nullifying the home-court advantage. This effect, like similar findings for Monday Night Football games, may be due to West Coast visitors playing night games at an earlier time according to their "internal clock". An incidental finding in our study was that the home-court advantage decreased over 8 years, from about six points to three points (due to relatively lower field-goal percentages and fewer free throws by the home team).     

Variability of antigenic epitopes of the fusion protein of Newcastle disease virus

Systems theory has been critiqued by a number of feminist writers who felt that it did not adequately address the issues of violence and male domination in families. This essay argues that systems theory describes the world from an "exogenic" perspective--the scientific world of nature, which is intrinsically amoral. In the exogenic world all causality is circular, as nature maintains a system that has survived for billions of years. Bateson found "mind" to be within the system of nature, implying that mind must also be amoral. However, most people view the world from an "endogenic" perspective, a personal construction of reality molded by the environment in which they live, and which inevitably incorporates morality. Humans believe that violence is wrong, not for intellectual reasons, but for moral reasons. Implications for therapy are presented. A postmodern or constructivist position is taken as a way to acknowledge the influence of relationships on problems and definitions of problems, while allowing for a moral or legal consensus to pervade the therapeutic enterprise.     

THE REMOVAL OF INTERNAL POROSITY IN COPPER

Abstract

Observations on the removal of internal porosity in copper have shown the importance of grain boundaries in the sintering process. Grain boundaries act as strong vacancy sinks in contrast to twin boundaries and dislocations, which apparently do not absorb a large number of vacancies. It is concluded that, in copper, the mechanism of sintering is that of the diffusion of vacancies to the grain boundaries, where they are destroyed by the progressive removal of planes of atoms adjacent to the boundaries.     

Syllable chunking in zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) song.

Examined how 61 young zebra finch males copied song from 5 adult tutors. Zebra finch song consists of a string of 5–25 distinct syllables, and these syllables were copied as chunks, or strings of consecutive syllables (modal length?=?3). The silent interval between 2 syllables was copied as part of the syllable after the silence. Copied chunks had boundaries that fell at consistent locations within the tutor's song, marked by a relatively long intersyllable silent period, a transition between call-like and noncall-like syllables, and a tendency for the tutor male to stop his song short. Young males also tended to break their songs off at the bondaries of the chunks they had copied. Chunks appear to be an intermediate level of hierarchy in song organization and to have both perceptual (syllables were learned as part of a chunk) and motor (song delivery was broken almost exclusively at chunk boundaries) aspects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Time out of mind: Dissociation in the virtual world.

While greatly facilitating ease of interaction across time and geographic boundaries, the virtual world presents an unreal universe comprised of instant connection and gratification. Our culture has embraced this alternate reality in the form of online journals, chat rooms, and excessive involvement with video games, as well as Internet pornography and sexual solicitation. Psychoanalytic principles can greatly illuminate our understanding of individuals' involvement with virtual reality as it becomes disruptive to work and meaningful relationships. Two cases will be used to illustrate overinvolvement with the virtual world as a form of dissociation in which the individuals retreat from the painful memories, deficits, and helplessness they experience in the real world to a subjective state in which they can attempt to exercise control and aggressively capture the supplies they lack. In the course of treatment, the dissociated material must be invited into the therapeutic dyad so that it may become a conscious and accepted part of the self. The process involves both verbal interpretation and relational grounding in the person of the therapist. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Hazards of Underspecified Models: The Case of Symmetry in Everyday Predictions.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 115(1) of Psychological Review (see record 2008-00265-009). On p. 772 (Real Data section), some numbers were listed incorrectly. The correct numbers are as follows: For soccer world championships (1930-1978), number of games in which a given team both won and led at halftime = 151, number of games in which a team won the game = 243, number of games in which a team led at halftime = 196, P(WinMid|WinEnd) = .62, and P(WinEnd|WinMid) = .77. For the German Bundesliga (1994-1995), number of games in which a given team both won and led at halftime = 132, number of games in which a team won the game = 223, number of games in which a team led at halftime = 174, P(WinMid|WinEnd) = .59, and P(WinEnd|WinMid) = .76. The conditional probabilities are referred to again on p. 778. There, it should read "These quotients correspond to P(WinMid|WinEnd)/P(WinEnd|WinMid), the empirical values of which were found to be .81 and .78 (.62/.77 and .59/.76, see above)."] Should one be more confident when predicting the whole (or an event based on a larger sample) from the part (or an event based on a smaller sample) than when predicting the reverse? The relevant literature on judgment under uncertainty argues that such predictions are symmetrical but that, as an empirical matter, people often fail to appreciate this symmetry. The authors show that symmetry in prediction does not necessarily hold. In addition to an empirical study involving predictions about soccer games, they develop a theoretical model showing that, at least for the ranges of numerical values usually found in everyday judgment problems, symmetry in predictions is uncommon when 2 different sample sizes are involved. The complexity of the theoretical model used in this analysis raises questions about model specification in judgmental research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Modern manifestations of materialism: A legacy of the enlightenment discourse.

Explores a postmodern criticism of P. S. Churchland's (1986, 1987, 1988, and 1989) claims regarding materialism. Materialism is classically understood to be the philosophical position which holds that matter is the fundamental reality of the world, and so neurobiological explanations can be said to be materialistic. Neurobiological explanations of behavior are used increasingly in the place of psychological explanations. This trend is indicative of the rise in popularity of materialism. Churchland is one of the intellectual leaders in the modern manifestation of materialism. She is a self-proclaimed materialist and "neurophilosopher." In order for Churchland to maintain her materialist position, she must assume a transparency in scientific method, an assumption which is a legacy of Enlightenment philosophy. However, many postmodern philosophers including M. Heidegger (1962, and 1977) and H. G. Gadamer (1995) have questioned this assumed transparency of method. The implications of this postmodern philosophy for the current materialistic trends in psychology are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Video games in psychotherapy.

Video games have found their way into the clinical care of youth in most medical fields, and academic interest in their use is increasing steadily. The popularity of video games among youth may qualify them as a useful tool in psychotherapy for children and adolescents. Limited literature on use of video games in mental health care suggests that they can help young patients become more cooperative and enthusiastic about psychotherapy. Recent experience suggests that video games may facilitate therapeutic relationships, complement the psychological assessment of youth by evaluating cognitive skills, and elaborate and clarify conflicts during the therapy process. Concerns about video game content, perceived effects on youth, and lack of familiarity with this medium may form a barrier in their use in therapy offices. Further research on the benefits of video game use in psychotherapy, including patient characteristics that may moderate outcomes, is needed. Finally, future collaborations between clinicians and video game developers may produce specific games to be used in psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Distributive judgments under uncertainty: Paccioli's game revisited.

Many decision biases arise from the inability to ignore past events. The coherence of decisions is also compromised by the inability to fully use information related to the future. In Paccioli's game, a stake of money goes to the first player to score a certain number of wins. When the game is prematurely interrupted, they may divide the stake according to the proportions of wins relative to rounds played. Alternatively, they may assess the probability that a player would reach the criterion number of wins first if the game were continued. The first decision rule (ratio), which is past-oriented, leads to contradictions across games. The second rule (probability), which is future-oriented, does not. In seven studies, use of the ratio rule emerges across testing methods, in games of chance and games of skill, and independently of extraneous factors (such as random responding, lack of awareness, or proneness to other past-oriented biases). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exploring the postmodern: Perils or potentials?

In an attempt to rescue the self from the ravages of postmodern analysis, M. B. Smith (see record 1994-37277-001) called into action traditional investments in science and moral vision. However, not only are the grounds for these investments found wanting, they themselves harbor threats to human well-being. Furthermore, by understanding the postmodern conception of language as relational, a certain place can be made for both empirical research and moral deliberation. At the same time, postmodern thought opens new vistas for psychology and new horizons for the self. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Video games in health care: Closing the gap.

Although a great deal of media attention has been given to the negative effects of playing video games, relatively less attention has been paid to the positive effects of engaging in this activity. Video games in health care provide ample examples of innovative ways to use existing commercial games for health improvement or surgical training. Tailor-made games help patients be more adherent to treatment regimens and train doctors how to manage patients in different clinical situations. In this review, examples in the scientific literature of commercially available and tailor-made games used for education and training with patients and medical students and doctors are summarized. There is a history of using video games with patients from the early days of gaming in the 1980s, and this has evolved into a focus on making tailor-made games for different disease groups, which have been evaluated in scientific trials more recently. Commercial video games have been of interest regarding their impact on surgical skill. More recently, some basic computer games have been developed and evaluated that train doctors in clinical skills. The studies presented in this article represent a body of work outlining positive effects of playing video games in the area of health care. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Can We Demystify Theory? Examining Masculinity Discourses and Feminist Postmodern Theory.

In this essay I argue that theory in psychology need not be mystifying to non-theorists. I use feminist postmodern theory and the discourses of masculinity to demonstrate how theory can facilitate the exploration of questions and reveal what has been marginalized and obscured. My premise is further illustrated by an examination of the male sex drive discourse. I suggest in conclusion that the question in any theory is always about the choice of question. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A postmodern perspective on feminist gerontology

This article argues the need for research in a feminist gerontology that is informed by postmodern and poststructuralist theories. Feminist gerontology is defined and described as part of a larger movement in the field toward critical gerontology. A brief summary of postmodern thought is followed by questions for researchers in gerontology and guidelines for feminist research which is interpretive, interactive, critical, and change-oriented.     

Cooperation and competition in peaceful societies.

Most of the world's nonviolent societies base their peaceful worldviews on cooperation and an opposition to competition. Although they have nurturant, affiliative societies, many raise their children to be hesitant and fearful about the intentions of others so that they will internalize nonviolent values and never take their peacefulness, or that of others, for granted. The children in these societies lack competitive games; although they are loved as babies, by the time they are 2 or 3 years old. they are made to feel no more important than others. These societies devalue achievement because it leads to competition and aggressiveness, which leads to violence they feel. Their rituals reinforce their cooperative. harmonious beliefs and behaviors. They have internalized their peaceful, cooperative values so that their psychological structures accord with their beliefs in nonviolence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Signifying the pandemics: metaphors of AIDS, cancer, and heart disease

This article offers a symbolic analysis of the cultural construction and signification of three of the major "pandemics" of the late 20th century: AIDS, cancer, and heart disease. It is based on unstructured interviews conducted in Israel between 1993-94 with 75 nurses and 40 physicians and between 1993-95 with 60 university students. Two key symbols, "pollution" and "transformation," are shown to constitute AIDS and cancer within a symbolic space that I suggest is "beyond culture," where body boundaries are dissolved and cultural categories are dismantled. Heart disease, in contrast, is metaphorized as a defect in the "body machinery." The article concludes by arguing that heart attack is depicted as the pathology of the Fordist, modernist body, while AIDS/cancer are pathologies of the postmodern body in late capitalism.     

I wish I were a warrior: The role of wishful identification in the effects of violent video games on aggression in adolescent boys.

This study tested the hypothesis that violent video games are especially likely to increase aggression when players identify with violent game characters. Dutch adolescent boys with low education ability (N=112) were randomly assigned to play a realistic or fantasy violent or nonviolent video game. Next, they competed with an ostensible partner on a reaction time task in which the winner could blast the loser with loud noise through headphones (the aggression measure). Participants were told that high noise levels could cause permanent hearing damage. Habitual video game exposure, trait aggressiveness, and sensation seeking were controlled for. As expected, the most aggressive participants were those who played a violent game and wished they were like a violent character in the game. These participants used noise levels loud enough to cause permanent hearing damage to their partners, even though their partners had not provoked them. These results show that identifying with violent video game characters makes players more aggressive. Players were especially likely to identify with violent characters in realistic games and with games they felt immersed in. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of elastic anisotropy on the migration of intergranular liquid films and the precipitation of a liquid phase in a CoCu alloy

When a Co20Cu (wt%) alloy prepared by liquid phase sintering at 1300°C is heat-treated at 1150°C, the intergranular liquid films and grain boundaries migrate, leaving behind a new solid solution with reduced Cu content. The phenomenon is identical to that observed previously in MoNi. The calculated driving force for the migration is almost equal to the coherency strain energy in the solute diffusion zone ahead of the migrating boundaries. The migrating liquid films show faceting with curved planes and edges. Their shape closely resembles the growth shapes predicted on the basis of the coherency strain energy with anisotropic elastic constants. During the heat-treatment, liquid precipitates form within grains and at grain boundaries, and they also show faceting, which is consistent with orientation dependent coherency strain energy in the diffusion zone around the precipitates.     

The application of postmodern thought to the clinical practice of psychoanalytic psychotherapy

The purpose of this article has been to acquaint psychoanalysts and psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapists with some of the most current ideas in philosophy and psychology, which have crucial implications for our professional organizations and our clinical work. The basic stance of this postmodern thinking constitutes a challenge to what is called foundationalism, which dominated scientific and philosophical thought until recently. In place of foundationalism, even in the production of scientific or philosophical works, we could hope for an ongoing dialogue between a king or queen who states the basic theoretical orientation, the loyal opposition that looks for inconsistencies and kinks in it, the jester who deconstructs the whole thing and introduces parenthetical digressions, and finally, a secret society of organization that functions to hold the adherents of the theory together and provide them with a unifying ego ideal. Postmodern thought is described and there is some discussion of its "four horsemen," Derrida, Rorty, Foucault, and Lyotard, who in general question the possibility of whether any form of interpretation can be thought of as related to reality or the truth. My own point of view is that an intermediate position is necessary rather than a binary opposition between nihilism and foundationalism or more specifically, postmodernism and traditional psychoanalysis. That is to say, within certain horizons and with an understanding of the cultural and historical referents that always affect and delimit both the patient and the therapist, it is still possible to reach conceptions about what is going on both in the psychoanalytic process and the psyche of the patient that have at least a tentative "truth." Careful attention to the patient's material following an interpretation can provide clues about the validity of our conception at the time. But the horizons and historicity that delimit all "truth" reduce the authority and the stature of the analyst, make the analyst less of an arbiter of what is "reality," and focus greater attention on the therapist-patient dyad, which is consistent with the modern trend in psychoanalytic treatment anyway. The notion of social constructions as constituting the psychoanalytic process was discussed and it was suggested that this notion suffers from the lack of sufficient attention to the historical determinants of how a given individual reacts in a given situation. A patient will react differently to different therapists, depending on the transference or projective identifications that the patient brings to the treatment, regardless of the interpersonal interaction. This is in opposition to the idea that transference is primarily an effect of the therapist-patient dyad, and preserves a major aspect of traditional Freudian theory. The dangers of postmodern thought disintegrating into nihilism are described, and the limitations of so-called postmodern thought are discussed, including the intrinsic paradoxical nature of any postmodern proposition. At the same time, postmodern thought is useful in calling attention to the "space of the Other" in human affairs, to the tendency to form binary oppositions in which the second element in each binary pair is part of the Other and is depreciated, and to remind us that there are always further interpretations of the narrative that emerges from the psychoanalytic situation. The feminization of psychotherapy and its relationship to feminism are important current issues. Postmodern thought is valuable in responding to the common complaint of feminists about Nietzsche's attitude toward women; postmodernist approaches emphasize the ambiguous and the allegorical aspects of Nietzsche's thought, to the extreme orf Derrida's contention that Nietzsche is not really interpretable at all. At the same time feminists legitimately object to postmodernist erosion of the grounds for political action. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED)     

Spatial expression dynamics of Men-9 delineate the third floral whorl in male and female flowers of dioecious Silene latifolia

Sex determination in Silene latifolia is controlled by heteromorphic sex chromosomes. Female flowers have five fused carpels and ten arrested stamen primordia. The male-determining Y chromosome overrides female development to suppress carpel formation and promote stamen development. The isolation and characterization of two S. latifolia. Male enhanced cDNAs, Men-9a and Men-9b, which probably represent different alleles of a novel gene are reported here. Men-9a and Men-9b share 91.8% coding sequence nucleotide identity, yet only 85.4% amino acid identity. The Men-9 cDNAs are related to the previously reported MROS3 cDNA from S. latifolia. However, MROS3 is not present in the S. latifolia population used in these studies and the expression dynamics of Men-9a and Men-9b contrast dramatically with those reported for MROS3. Men-9 cDNAs are expressed primarily in anthers of young male flowers, with highest expression in 1-2 mm buds. Men-9 expression is also observed at a low level in female flowers. In situ hybridization analysis reveals two phases of Men-9 expression. The first phase is during a common stage of early stamen development in male and female flowers prior to stamen arrest in female flowers. The second phase of Men-9 expression is maximal in the epidermis and endothecium of Y chromosome- and Ustilago violacea-induced stamens; expression in male and female flowers extends to the epidermis of the staminal nectaries with strict boundaries at the second and fourth whorls, Men-9 gene expression therefore delineates the boundaries of the third floral whorl in S. latifolia flowers.