How Two Share a Task: Corepresenting Stimulus-Response Mappings.

Previous research has shown that individuals unintentionally adjust their behavior to others by mimicking others' actions and by synchronizing their actions with others. This study investigated whether individuals form a representation of a coactor's task when the context does not require interpersonal coordination. Pairs of participants performed a reaction time (RT) task alongside each other, responding to 2 different dimensions of the same stimulus. Results showed that each actor's performance was influenced by the other's task. RTs on trials that required a response from both participants were slowed compared with trials that required only a response from 1 actor. Similar results were observed when each participant knew the other's task but could not observe the other's actions. These findings provide evidence that shared task representations are formed in social settings that do not require interpersonal coordination and emerge as a consequence of how a social situation is conceptualized (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An interpersonal analysis of affinity, clarification, and helpful responses with American Indians.

The interpersonal impact of counselor affinity, clarification, and helpful verbal responses used in the initial stages of counseling American Indian clients was examined. In Phase 1 of the study, a panel of 10 practicing counselors provided intent ratings for each type of response; 82 psychology students generated counselor statements in response to written counseling vignettes and rated their intent in providing each response. In Phase 2, 43 American Indian students assumed the role of a client and judged the interpersonal impact of each type of counselor verbal intervention using the Impact Message Inventory. The results with respect to Affinity and Clarification conditions revealed a reaction pattern of friendly submissiveness and supported the interpersonal principle of complementarity. More complex, uncomplementary reactions associated with hostile dominance were evoked by the Helpful condition. Implications of these findings and the utility of the interpersonal paradigm for cross-cultural counseling research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Investigating Hospital Administrators' Experience of Workplace Mistreatment.

This study examines the nature and impact of workplace mistreatment, excluding sexual harassment and physical contact, experienced by administrators of a hospital. Factor analyses show that mistreatment behaviours are reflected by three dimensions: verbal abuse, work obstruction, and emotional neglect. Verbal abuse is regarded as an interpersonal form of mistreatment whereas obstruction and neglect are considered as organizational forms. Administrators reported having experienced organizational mistreatment more frequently than interpersonal mistreatment. We then examined relationships among mistreatment, context support, employee psychological well-being, organizational commitment, work satisfaction, and intent to leave. As predicted, supportive work environments mediate between workplace mistreatment and well-being, commitment and work satisfaction but, surprisingly, not the intention to leave the organization. Implications for healthier and more productive workplaces for hospital administrators are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal exchange structure of brief psychodynamic-interpersonal and cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy.

A verbal exchange is a set of 2 people's co-occurring speech-act categories that accomplish some subtask within an interpersonal encounter. Factor analysis of verbal response mode (speech act) frequencies in 1,630 segments (each approximately 10 to 12 min) drawn from the brief psychodynamic-interpersonal or cognitive-behavioral treatment of 39 mainly depressed clients identified 6 exchanges in each treatment—4 that were the same in both treatments (Revealing, Storytelling, Explaining, and Inquiring) and 2 that distinguished each treatment (Exploring and Interpreting in psychodynamic–interpersonal treatment; Prescribing and Reframing in cognitive–behavioral treatment). The exchanges showed distinctive temporal patterns across segments of sessions and across sessions of each time-limited treatment. The verbal exchange is a midsize concept that links atomistic verbal codes with clinical or theoretical concepts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some intentions are observable.

In discussing the relation of therapist intentions to verbal response modes (VRMs), Hill and O'Grady (1985) confused two senses of the term intention—(a) the private purpose of an intervention and (b) the meaning of the utterance, which is on record in the sense that the speaker accepts responsibility for saying it. Hill and O'Grady's list of intentions contained purposes, and they correctly pointed out that researchers' most direct access to these is by the speaker's self-report. VRM codes concern intended meaning, which goes beyond grammatical structure or literal meaning. Nevertheless, VRM codes reflect a level of communication that is intrinsically public in the following sense: The coder is in the same logical position as the communication's intended audience. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Verbal response mode correlates of experiencing.

This study, one in a series seeking indices of good psychotherapy process in the client's verbal behavior, compared specific verbal response mode (VRM) indices with the more global Experiencing (EXP) Scale, a measure reported to correlate with positive psychotherapy outcome. W. B. Stiles's (1978, 1979) VRM taxonomy was used to code the 90 transcribed interview segments published in the EXP manual. As predicted, the strongest VRM correlate of EXP level was the percentage of utterances that were Disclosure in form (1st person; "I") and intent (revealing subjective experience). Results suggest that good process may be measurable on an utterance-by-utterance basis. (5 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Counselor verbal response modes and experienced empathy": Correction to Barkham and Shapiro.

Reports an error in "Counselor verbal response modes and experienced empathy" by Michael Barkham and David A. Shapiro (Journal of Counseling Psychology, 1986[Jan], Vol 33[1], 3-10). The second paragraph of the author acknowledgement should have read as follows: We thank Ian Spalding for supervision of the session recordings, Liz Colley for programming and advice on data analysis, Richard Shillcock and Jane Oakhill for response mode coding, and Robert Elliott for comments on a draft. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1986-15306-001.) Client and counselor perceptions of empathy at different stages in the counseling process were examined in relation to the verbal response modes used by counselors in 24 client–counselor dyads. Each of 6 counselors (aged 32–58 yrs) at college counseling centers was studied in counseling with 4 clients, of whom 2 were in initial sessions and 2 were in sessions drawn from ongoing counseling relationships. Clients perceived counselors as showing significantly greater empathy during ongoing than during initial sessions, and counselors perceived themselves as showing significantly greater empathy during initial sessions than did clients rating the same sessions. Clients rated counselors using fewer general advisements as more empathic, whereas counselors who rated themselves more empathic used more explorations and fewer reassurances. At the moment-to-moment level tapped by interpersonal process recall, exploration was the only category strongly associated with both client and counselor experiences of empathic communication in both initial and ongoing sessions. (50 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal problems of people who describe themselves as lonely.

Major interpersonal problems (e.g., "I find it hard to trust other people") that were identified in an earlier study were grouped in the present study into semantic categories. These problems can be related to other forms of complaint, such as the form "I am (adjective)." The complaint "I am lonely," for example, seems to summarize specific interpersonal difficulties in socializing. The UCLA Loneliness Scale was used to identify 25 lonely and 45 not-lonely students who described their major interpersonal problems by performing a Q sort with a standardized set of problems. Results show that lonely people consistently reported problems of inhibited sociability. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of personal and impersonal refutation of audience counterarguments on attitude change.

"The present experiment compared the effectiveness of personal and impersonal modes of refuting audience counter arguments in changing attitudes toward the abolition of student deferments. There was no evidence that personal refutation was any more or any less effective in this respect than impersonal refutation; nor were there any significant differences in the extent to which recipients (a) comprehended the speaker's intended conclusion or (b) discounted the talk as being biased or unfair. For the personal refutation group the more a subject discounted the appeal, the less favorable he was to the speaker's proposition; this relationship did not obtain for the impersonal refutation group." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interpersonal problems, attachment styles, and outcome in brief dynamic psychotherapy

The Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP) has been used to identify dysfunctional patterns in interpersonal interactions. Interpersonal problems can be organized in two dimensions, and the two-dimensional space can be divided into eight equal sectors (octants). Subscales of the IIP describe each of these octants. The instrument has been used to identify (a) interpersonal problems that are discussed most often in a brief dynamic psychotherapy and (b) problems that are treated most easily. The results show that problems in the "exploitable" octant improve most frequently, whereas problems in the "dominating," "vindictive," and "cold" octants do not improve as readily. Attachment styles in adulthood were examined (following a model proposed by Bowlby), and different attachment styles were found to correspond to different types of interpersonal problems. Finally, these variables were related to the ability to describe other people clearly. The article also discusses implications for brief dynamic psychotherapy.     

Conversational and social responses to depressive interpersonal behavior.

Examined responses to depressive interpersonal behavior. 30 undergraduates interacted with a same-sex confederate for 7 min in the context of waiting together for an experiment to begin. Confederates employed either a depressed role (depressive interpersonal behavior and reporting serious deficits in functioning), a normal role (normal interpersonal behavior and reporting minimal deficits in functioning), or a physically ill role (normal interpersonal behavior and reporting serious deficits in functioning). Ss who interacted with a "depressive" responded with a higher rate of silences and directly negative comments and a lower rate of overall verbal responding. Their expressions of direct support were equivalent to those made to the "physically ill" confederates and greater than those in the normal condition. Ss also were more rejecting of partners who behaved in a depressed manner and described them in more negative terms and as having greater interpersonal impact than confederates in other roles. There were no induced mood differences. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Young children's understanding of interpretive diversity between different-age listeners.

Tested children's understanding of interpretive diversity by assessing their attributions of knowledge to a mother and a preverbal baby, who both had access to an informative verbal message. In Exp 1, most children between ages 4 and 8 yrs overattributed knowledge to the preverbal baby after an informative message. Exps 1a and 1b demonstrated that overattributions were not due to conflating the speaker's intent to inform with the informativeness of the message, nor were they due to overestimating babies' limited knowledge. In Exp 2, 6- and 8-yr-olds acknowledged interpretive differences between the baby and adult listener if the message was not obviously informative. It is concluded that children do not readily view individual differences as related to interpretive differences, especially in the absence of cues inherent to a message that might suggest that the message has multiple interpretations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Premises of interpersonal theory.

Premises of interpersonal theory are elucidated in order to crystallize its foundations and to point up the utility of discussing psychoanalytic theory on the level of premises. In regard to human psychology, interpersonal theory assumes an inextricable interpenetration of biology and external influences. It therefore questions assigning biology or "biologized" concepts predominance in explaining meaning or the contents of the mind. Biology is implicated in many interpersonal concepts, but not in the form implied in such concepts as drive or inherently arising endogenous states. Rather than an unfolding general nature, interpersonal theory assumes an outcome emerging from the interaction of manifold biological potentials with complex social influences. Such a perspective implies further assumptions about human impressibility, social determinism, psycho/social multidimensionality, complexity, and uniqueness. These assumptions lead to a focus on individual psychology, on character, for example, rather than general psychology, and on holistic/field conceptions of causality rather than the causal linkage of relatively isolated dimensions. ... (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dissociation and Internal Models of Protection: Psychotherapy With Child Abuse Survivors.

This article presents strategies for treating child abuse survivors based on a theory of interpersonal protection that integrates research in attachment, developmental psychopathology, trauma, dissociation, and experiential psychotherapy. The theory proposes that abused children do not form internal working models of an effective protector, with the result that they have difficulty defending themselves against interpersonal aggression and internal self-criticism; thus, a core psychotherapy task is to help survivors develop adequate representations of protection. The article provides case examples and describes interventions targeting the client-therapist relationship, other client relationships, client self-criticism, and traumatic memories. The author discusses dissociation as an intervention marker; client verbal and nonverbal feedback to therapist interventions; subselves and internal roles; the "inner critic"; guided imagery, role-plays, and dramatic enactment methods; and directions for future research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rules in children's moral judgments: Integration of intent, damage, and rationale information.

39 6- and 7-yr-olds responded to stories about boys who interfered with workmen painting a house. Stimulus variables included intent, damage, and the rationale offered by actors for their behavior. Ss judged how much actors should be punished. 20 Ss applied the additive rule to intent, damage, and rationale; 7 Ss applied it to intent and rationale but ignored damage; and 5 Ss applied the rule to rationale and damage but ignored intent. Seven Ss used a configural rule and ignored intent when actors expressed remorse or belligerence. Only when actors admitted guilt were both intent and rationale included in the judgment. Results suggest that children's judgments represent rule-governed response sets. In these response sets, the additive rule provides the structure needed to integrate information from diverse stimulus dimensions. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Whither the bias: The female client's "edge" in psychotherapy?

Tested the hypothesis that, along several dimensions, women may be favored as psychotherapy clients by examining ratings of the process-relevant interpersonal characteristics and gross outcome expectancies for 72 new male and 92 new female clients (mean age 41 yrs). Eight male and 8 female therapists (mean age 36 yrs) completed a questionnaire that assessed clients on interpersonal evaluation and interpersonal control dimensions and included ratings of client's social skills, expected treatment success, expected termination conditions, and expected duration of treatment. Results show that, as hypothesized, males were ascribed more negative interpersonal characteristics and poorer social skills than females. Males were also rated higher on a composite "controllingness" variable. There was a significant client sex difference in expected duration of treatment (with females expected to stay longer), but no differences were found in expectancies regarding premature termination or treatment success. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Orientation on understanding interpersonal influence

Everyone influences and is influenced by others. Are you satisfied with the impact your influence has on others? If not, it can be changed by examining and working on the dimensions of your "style of influence," such as activity, visibility, involvement, and productivity. The author analyzes some of the opposites on a spectrum or "wheel of influence," showing how they may be melded by moderation to achieve the kind of impact you may wish. For instance, there is the analyzer vs. the performer, the leader vs. the follower, the experimenter vs. the organizer, and the asserter vs. the listener. As modes of influence, extremes in any dimension are self-defeating, but by balancing aspects of both sides, desirable "compromises" can be developed. Should you wish to change your style of influence, helfpful procedures to follow are suggested, which, hopefully, will result in satisfying interpersonal relationships and understanding.