Help or flight? Increased threat imminence promotes defensive helping in humans.

In humans and other mammals, defensive responses to danger vary with threat imminence, but it is unknown how those responses affect decisions to help conspecifics. Here, we manipulated threat imminence to investigate the impact of different defensive states on human helping behaviour. Ninety-eight healthy adult participants made trial-by-trial decisions about whether to help a co-participant avoid an aversive shock, at the risk of receiving a shock themselves. Helping decisions were prompted under imminent or distal threat, based on temporal distance to the moment of shock administration to the co-participant. Results showed that, regardless of how likely participants were to also receive a shock, they helped the co-participant more under imminent than distal threat. Reaction times and cardiac changes during the task supported the efficacy of the threat imminence manipulation in eliciting dissociable defensive states, with faster responses and increased heart rate during imminent compared to distal threats. Individual differences in empathic concern were specifically correlated with helping during imminent threats. These results suggest that defensive states driving active escape from immediate danger may also facilitate decisions to help others, potentially by engaging neurocognitive systems implicated in caregiving across mammals.

Implicit Memory Associations and Gambling.

Associations that people report in response to words or phrases ('implicit associations') may provide information about their interest and engagement in certain activities that might not have been reported if they had been directed asked. The present study investigated the word and behavioural associations reported by 494 university undergraduates to words and phrases that could be construed as having gambling-related connotations. These reported associations were then related to each student's level of gambling involvement and his or her problem gambling status. Results showed there to be a significant positive relationship between the number of gambling-related memory associations and reported level of gambling involvement as well as problem gambling status. Behaviour associations tended to be stronger than word associations, suggesting that each type of association may tap into a different facet of associative memory. Associations with problem gambling status were also stronger than associations with level of gambling involvement. The results suggest that implicit associations may have utility in both the assessment of problem gambling as well as predicting future gambling involvement.

Tactile Defensiveness and Impaired Adaptation of Neuronal Activity in the Fmr1 Knock-Out Mouse Model of Autism.

Sensory hypersensitivity is a common symptom in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), including fragile X syndrome (FXS), and frequently leads to tactile defensiveness. In mouse models of ASDs, there is mounting evidence of neuronal and circuit hyperexcitability in several brain regions, which could contribute to sensory hypersensitivity. However, it is not yet known whether or how sensory stimulation might trigger abnormal sensory processing at the circuit level or abnormal behavioral responses in ASD mouse models, especially during an early developmental time when experience-dependent plasticity shapes such circuits. Using a novel assay, we discovered exaggerated motor responses to whisker stimulation in young Fmr1 knock-out (KO) mice (postnatal days 14-16), a model of FXS. Adult Fmr1 KO mice actively avoided a stimulus that was innocuous to wild-type controls, a sign of tactile defensiveness. Using in vivo two-photon calcium imaging of layer 2/3 barrel cortex neurons expressing GCaMP6s, we found no differences between wild-type and Fmr1 KO mice in overall whisker-evoked activity, though 45% fewer neurons in young Fmr1 KO mice responded in a time-locked manner. Notably, we identified a pronounced deficit in neuronal adaptation to repetitive whisker stimulation in both young and adult Fmr1 KO mice. Thus, impaired adaptation in cortical sensory circuits is a potential cause of tactile defensiveness in autism.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT We use a novel paradigm of repetitive whisker stimulation and in vivo calcium imaging to assess tactile defensiveness and barrel cortex activity in young and adult Fmr1 knock-out mice, the mouse model of fragile X syndrome (FXS). We describe evidence of tactile defensiveness, as well as a lack of L2/3 neuronal adaptation in barrel cortex, during whisker stimulation. We propose that a defect in sensory adaptation within local neuronal networks, beginning at a young age and continuing into adulthood, likely contributes to sensory overreactivity in FXS and perhaps other ASDs.

A geometric model of defensive peripersonal space.

Potentially harmful stimuli occurring within the defensive peripersonal space (DPPS), a protective area surrounding the body, elicit stronger defensive reactions. The spatial features of the DPPS are poorly defined and limited to descriptive estimates of its extent along a single dimension. Here we postulated a family of geometric models of the DPPS, to address two important questions with respect to its spatial features: What is its fine-grained topography? How does the nervous system represent the body area to be defended? As a measure of the DPPS, we used the strength of the defensive blink reflex elicited by electrical stimulation of the hand (hand-blink reflex, HBR), which is reliably modulated by the position of the stimulated hand in egocentric coordinates. We tested the goodness of fit of the postulated models to HBR data from six experiments in which we systematically explored the HBR modulation by hand position in both head-centered and body-centered coordinates. The best-fitting model indicated that 1) the nervous system's representation of the body area defended by the HBR can be approximated by a half-ellipsoid centered on the face and 2) the DPPS extending from this area has the shape of a bubble elongated along the vertical axis. Finally, the empirical observation that the HBR is modulated by hand position in head-centered coordinates indicates that the DPPS is anchored to the face. The modeling approach described in this article can be generalized to describe the spatial modulation of any defensive response.

An Introduction to Using the Method of Levels (MOL) Therapy to Work with People Experiencing Psychosis.

This paper provides a basic introduction to using method of levels (MOL) therapy with people experiencing psychosis. As MOL is a direct application of perceptual control theory (PCT), a brief overview of the three main theoretical principles of this theory--control, conflict, and reorganization will be outlined in relation to understanding psychosis. In particular, how these principles form the basis of problem conceptualisation and determine what an MOL therapist is required to do during therapy will be illustrated. A practical description of MOL will be given, using case examples and short excerpts of therapeutic interactions. Some direct contrasts will also be made with cognitive behaviour therapy for psychosis (CBTp) and psychodynamic approaches (PA) in order to help illustrate the theory and practice of MOL.

Rationalizing meat consumption. The 4Ns.

Recent theorizing suggests that the 4Ns - that is, the belief that eating meat is natural, normal, necessary, and nice - are common rationalizations people use to defend their choice of eating meat. However, such theorizing has yet to be subjected to empirical testing. Six studies were conducted on the 4Ns. Studies 1a and 1b demonstrated that the 4N classification captures the vast majority (83%-91%) of justifications people naturally offer in defense of eating meat. In Study 2, individuals who endorsed the 4Ns tended also to objectify (dementalize) animals and included fewer animals in their circle of moral concern, and this was true independent of social dominance orientation. Subsequent studies (Studies 3-5) showed that individuals who endorsed the 4Ns tend not to be motivated by ethical concerns when making food choices, are less involved in animal-welfare advocacy, less driven to restrict animal products from their diet, less proud of their animal-product decisions, tend to endorse Speciesist attitudes, tend to consume meat and animal products more frequently, and are highly committed to eating meat. Furthermore, omnivores who strongly endorsed the 4Ns tended to experience less guilt about their animal-product decisions, highlighting the guilt-alleviating function of the 4Ns.

Positive illusions in adolescents: the relationship between academic self-enhancement and depressive symptomatology.

Positive illusions are systematically inflated self-perceptions of competence, and are frequently seen in areas of great difficulty. Although these illusions have been extensively documented in children and adults, their role in typical adolescent emotion regulation is unclear. This study investigated the relationship between positive illusions, depressive symptomatology, and school stress in a sample of 71 school-based adolescents. Findings revealed that adolescents who were achieving slightly below average in math significantly overestimated their performance, but adolescents did not overestimate their performance in spelling. Positive illusions in math were negatively related to depressive symptomatology. Implications for positive illusions theory are discussed.

Border bias: the belief that state borders can protect against disasters.

In this research, we documented a bias in which people underestimate the potential risk of a disaster to a target location when the disaster spreads from a different state, but not when it spreads from an equally distant location within the same state. We term this the border bias. Following research on categorization, we propose that people consider locations within a state to be part of the same superordinate category, but consider locations in two different states to be parts of different superordinate categories. The border bias occurs because people apply state-based categorization to events that are not governed by human-made boundaries. Such categorization results in state borders being considered physical barriers that can keep disasters at bay. We demonstrated the border bias for different types of disasters (earthquake, environmental risk) and tested the underlying process in three studies.

Failing to report details of an event: a review of the directed forgetting procedure and applications to reports of childhood sexual abuse.

Recent reviews of child sexual abuse (CSA) disclosure indicate that many victims delay disclosing abuse for some period of time (e.g., London, Bruck, Ceci, & Shuman, 2005). During this period of non-disclosure, CSA victims may avoid thinking about or discussing their abuse experiences. Some scholars argue that this may lead to a directed forgetting (DF) effect, whereby later recall of the unrehearsed memories becomes more difficult (e.g., M. A. Epstein & Bottoms, 2002). This paper reviews the DF literature and discusses the potential contribution of DF to silence. The review begins with a description of the basic DF protocol used, discusses underlying mechanisms thought to be responsible for the DF effect, and then examines applications of the DF protocol to memory for emotion-laden word lists and autobiographical events. Overall, the applied studies demonstrate that DF effects generalise beyond memory for innocuous word lists; however, we describe several important avenues of research that require further exploration. Most noteworthy, and particularly relevant to the common application of DF to memory for CSA, are those studies that examine the influence of DF on children's autobiographical memory.

How silence affects memory, self, and society: foreword to the special issue.

This special issue of Memory focuses on silence and its implications for memory, and also on the implications of silences that extend beyond memory, to the functioning of individuals, groups, and societies. Silence can represent things taken for granted, and also things unsayable. The memory implications of silencing are complex. In terms of traditional memory research concerns-with accuracy and completeness-silencing has clearly negative implications. But silencing is also a means by which self and group become aligned in their views of the past. The contributions here make a strong case for memory researchers to consider what is not recalled, as well as what is.

Speaking silence: the social construction of silence in autobiographical and cultural narratives.

Voice and silence are socially constructed in conversational interactions between speakers and listeners that are influenced by canonical cultural narratives which define lives and selves. Arguing from feminist and sociocultural theories, I make a distinction between being silenced and being silent; when being silenced is contrasted with voice, it is conceptualised as imposed, and it signifies a loss of power and self. But silence can also be conceptualised as being silent, a shared understanding that need not be voiced. More specifically, culturally dominant narratives provide for shared understandings that can remain silent; deviations from the norm call for voice, and thus in this case silence is power and voice expresses loss of power. At both the cultural and the individual level, there are tensions between culturally dominant and prescriptive narratives and narratives of resistance and deviation, leading to an ongoing dialectic between voice and silence. I end with a discussion of why, ultimately, it matters what is voiced and what is silenced for memory, identity and well-being.

"I remember", "I thought", "I know I didn't say": silence and memory in trauma narratives.

Society's interest in sexual abuse waxes and wanes in ways that mirror the fluidity of memory narrated by trauma survivors. Although a great deal of research explores memory processes, including the neurophysiology of trauma, little considers the ways in which disclosure delays and socio-cultural pressures for silence appear in narratives of childhood sexual abuse survivors. This qualitative study examines the narratives of four female survivors and illustrates the importance of listening with an ear towards the various layers of silence held within them. The analysis draws attention to the potential limitations of memory research, including the importance of considering relational aspects when examining trauma narratives.

Câncer materno: a compreensão da criança e suas representações / Maternal cancer: the child's understanding and its representations / Cáncer materno: comprensión del niño y sus representaciones

O câncer é uma doença crônico-degenerativa, que tem como uma de suas principais características a capacidade de invadir tecidos e órgãos do corpo, favorecendo o crescimento desordenado de células. É uma doença que impacta fortemente a pessoa enferma e todos à sua volta, incluindo sua família e seus amigos. A partir desse cenário, este trabalho visou compreender a visão da criança e o impacto emocional sofrido diante do diagnóstico de câncer da mãe. Buscou-se avaliar, a partir de ferramentas lúdicas e do desenho-estória, o entendimento da criança em relação ao processo de adoecimento materno, tomando como base o referencial psicanalítico para reconhecer como ela lidou com a situação. Participaram desta pesquisa uma mulher de 39 anos com diagnóstico de câncer em remissão e seu filho de 9 anos. Os resultados demonstraram que o adoecimento materno causou impactos emocionais significativos e assustadores para o infante, gerando fantasias irreais relacionadas ao câncer e a si próprio. Dessa forma, considera-se de fundamental importância o cuidado estendido aos familiares do indivíduo doente, a fim de que se tenha um olhar a todos que sofrem diante desse contexto.(AU)

Cancer is a chronic-degenerative disease that has as one of its main characteristics the ability to invade tissues and organs of the body, favoring the disordered cell growth. It is a disease that strongly impacts the sick person and everyone around them, including their family and friends. Based on this scenario, this work aimed to understand the child's view and the emotional impact suffered in the face of the mother's cancer diagnosis. It sought to evaluate, with ludic tools and drawing history, the child's understanding about the mother's illness process, based on the psychoanalytic framework to recognize how they deal with the situation. A 39-year-old woman diagnosed with cancer, in remission, and her 9-year-old son participated in this research. The results showed that the maternal illness caused significant and frightening emotional impacts for the infant, creating unrealistic fantasies related to cancer and to himself. Thus, the care extended to the sick individual's family and to the relatives is considered of fundamental importance, to give a complete care for all those who suffer in this context.(AU)

El cáncer es una enfermedad crónico-degenerativa, que tiene como una de sus principales características la capacidad de invadir tejidos y órganos, favoreciendo un crecimiento desordenado de las células. Enfermedades como esta impactan fuertemente a la persona que está enferma y a todos los que la rodean, incluidos familiares y amigos. Considerando esta situación, este estudio tuvo como objetivo comprender la percepción de un niño y el impacto emocional que sufrió ante el diagnóstico del cáncer vivido por su madre. Se pretendió evaluar, utilizando herramientas lúdicas y de dibujo-cuento, la comprensión del niño al proceso de enfermedad materna, buscando reconocer cómo el niño manejó este proceso a partir del referencial teórico psicoanalítico. En esta investigación participaron una mujer de 39 años diagnosticada de cáncer en remisión y su hijo de 9 años. Los resultados mostraron que los impactos emocionales de la enfermedad materna fueron significativos y aterradores para el infante, generando fantasías irreales relacionadas con el cáncer y él mismo. De esta forma, el cuidado extendido a la familia del individuo que está enfrentando esta enfermedad es importante para promover una atención integral a quienes la padecen en este contexto.(AU)

[Japanese college students' pessimism, coping strategies and anxiety: validation of the Japanese Defensive Pessimism Inventory (JDPI)].

The purpose of this study was to develop the Japanese Defensive Pessimism Inventory (JDPI), which measures defensive pessimism in an academic achievement situation for Japanese undergraduate students and differentiates between those who are realistically pessimistic and those who are defensively pessimistic. In Study 1,695 undergraduates completed the JDPI. A factor analysis revealed that the 24 items of the JDPI comprised four factors: Pessimism, Past experience, Positive reflectivity, and Effort. In Study 2, 618 undergraduates completed the JDPI, the Test Coping Strategy Scale, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The JDPI had high internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Defensive pessimists and strategic optimists had higher scores on the active coping strategy and lower scores on the avoidant-thinking coping strategy than did realistic pessimists. Furthermore, defensive pessimists and realistic pessimists had higher scores on the state anxiety and lower scores on the optimistic-thinking coping strategy than did strategic optimists. The results indicate that the JDPI had high concurrent validity.

Defensive reflexes in people with pain - a biomarker of the need to protect? A meta-analytical systematic review.

Upregulation of defensive reflexes such as the nociceptive flexion reflex (NFR) has been attributed to sensitisation of peripheral and spinal nociceptors and is often considered biomarkers of pain. Experimental modulation of defensive reflexes raises the possibility that they might be better conceptualised as markers of descending cognitive control. Despite strongly held views on both sides and several narrative reviews, there has been no attempt to evaluate the evidence in a systematic manner. We undertook a meta-analytical systematic review of the extant English-language literature from inception. Thirty-six studies satisfied our a priori criteria. Seventeen were included in the meta-analysis. Reflexive threshold was lower in people with clinical pain than it was in pain-free controls, but reflex size, latency, and duration were unaffected. The pattern of difference was not consistent with sensitisation of nociceptive neurones, as these changes were not isolated to the affected body part but was more consistent with top-down cognitive control reflective of heightened protection of body tissue. The pattern of modulation is dependent on potentially complex evaluative mechanisms. We offer recommendations for future investigations and suggest that defensive reflex threshold may reflect a biomarker of a broader psychological construct related to bodily protection, rather than sensitisation of primary nociceptors, spinal nociceptors, or pain.

A retinoraphe projection regulates serotonergic activity and looming-evoked defensive behaviour.

Animals promote their survival by avoiding rapidly approaching objects that indicate threats. In mice, looming-evoked defensive responses are triggered by the superior colliculus (SC) which receives direct retinal inputs. However, the specific neural circuits that begin in the retina and mediate this important behaviour remain unclear. Here we identify a subset of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) that controls mouse looming-evoked defensive responses through axonal collaterals to the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) and SC. Looming signals transmitted by DRN-projecting RGCs activate DRN GABAergic neurons that in turn inhibit serotoninergic neurons. Moreover, activation of DRN serotoninergic neurons reduces looming-evoked defensive behaviours. Thus, a dedicated population of RGCs signals rapidly approaching visual threats and their input to the DRN controls a serotonergic self-gating mechanism that regulates innate defensive responses. Our study provides new insights into how the DRN and SC work in concert to extract and translate visual threats into defensive behavioural responses.

The unique associations between rape acknowledgment and the DSM-5 PTSD symptom clusters.

It is well documented in the sexual assault literature that more than half of rape survivors do not label their experience as rape. This is called unacknowledged rape. Although this phenomenon is common and undoubtedly has huge implications for psychotherapy, the impact of acknowledgment status on psychological adjustment is unclear. The present study aimed to delineate the unique impact of rape acknowledgment on psychopathology by examining PTSD symptoms at the cluster level. To examine this, 178 female college students who reported rape completed an online survey, including an assessment of PTSD symptoms in the past month. The results suggested that, after accounting for several covariates, acknowledged rape survivors reported significantly greater levels of intrusion and avoidance symptoms compared to unacknowledged rape survivors. The findings suggest that examining PTSD symptoms at the cluster level may provide more insight into the process of recovery following rape and therefore may better inform treatment decisions.

Increasing the power for detecting impairment in older adults with the Faces subtest from Wechsler Memory Scale-III: an empirical trial.

Empirical studies have questioned the validity of the Faces subtest from the WMS-III for detecting impairment in visual memory, particularly among the elderly. A recent examination of the test norms revealed a significant age related floor effect already emerging on Faces I (immediate recall), implying excessive difficulty in the acquisition phase among unimpaired older adults. The current study compared the concurrent validity of the Faces subtest with an alternative measure between 16 Alzheimer's patients and 16 controls. The alternative measure was designed to facilitate acquisition by reducing the sequence of item presentation. Other changes aimed at increasing the retrieval challenge, decreasing error due to guessing and standardizing the administration. Analyses converged to indicate that the alternative measure provided a considerably greater differentiation than the Faces subtest between Alzheimer's patients and controls. Steps for revising the Faces subtest are discussed.

[Defensive pessimists and coping: the goodness of fit hypothesis].

The goodness of fit hypothesis (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) posits that it is adaptive to use emotion-focused coping and not to use problem-focused coping in uncontrollable situations. This study examines the coping skills that defensive pessimists (DPs) tend to use in uncontrollable situations. The participants were 282 Japanese college students, from which 61 DPs and 64 strategic optimists (SOs) were identified. Based on the controllability they reported about recalled stress situations, they were classified into controllable or uncontrollable subgroups. Eight coping skills, which are concerned with emotion-focused or problem-focused coping, were compared. T-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that DPs in uncontrollable situations tended not to use emotion-focused coping, which is not consistent with the goodness of fit hypothesis, but they also tended not to use problem-focused coping, which is consistent with the hypothesis. These results imply that DPs can control their behavior adaptively so they do not increase stress more in uncontrollable situations, although they have a vulnerability to feel stress easily because they can not use emotion-focused coping effectively.

Regressões em análise: contribuições de Ferenczi e Balint para a técnica psicanalítica / Regressions in psychoanalysis: Ferenczi's and Balint's contributions to the psychoanalytic technique / Regresiones en análisis: contribuciones de Ferenczi y Balint a la técnica psicoanalítica

Na clínica psicanalítica contemporânea temos nos defrontado, cada vez mais, com impasses técnicos que nos exigem repensar a teoria sobre a técnica psicanalítica. Essa revisão teórica se justifica a partir de uma maior incidência de quadros clínicos cujo dinamismo psíquico não se encontra balizado hegemonicamente pela lógica do recalque, mas pela predominância de outros mecanismos defensivos, como a clivagem/splitting do eu, e formas de expressão não verbais como passagens ao ato e acting outs. Diante da necessidade de reconfigurar alguns parâmetros da técnica psicanalítica, delimitamos como objetivo deste artigo a investigação do tema do manejo clínico das regressões em análise a partir das contribuições teórico-clínicas de Sándor Ferenczi e de seus desdobramentos e avanços propostos Michael Balint. Assim, pretendemos extrair das modificações no dispositivo analítico propostas por esses autores, elementos que nos ajudem a pensar o manejo clínico com pacientes cujo sofrimento remete às falhas traumáticas dos primórdios da constituição subjetiva.

In contemporary psychoanalytic clinic we have faced increasingly technical deadlocks that require to rethink the psychoanalytic technique theory. This situation requires a revision of psychoanalysis technical theory. This theoretical revision is justified by a higher incidence of clinical conditions whose psychic dynamic is not hegemonic marked by the logic of repression, but the predominance of other defensive mechanisms, e.g. splitting, and non-verbal forms of expression such as acting out. Given the need to reconfigure some parameters of the psychoanalytic technique, we set as the objective of this article the investigation of clinical management of regressions under analysis from the theoretical and clinical contributions of Sándor Ferenczi and from developments and advances by Michael Balint. Therefore, from the changes proposed by these authors, we will attempt to extract elements that will help us think different clinical management of patients whose suffering refers to traumatic failures in the early stages of development, in an analytical setting.

En la clínica psicoanalítica contemporánea nos hemos enfrentado, cada vez más, con impases técnicos que nos obligan a repensar la teoría sobre la técnica psicoanalítica. Esta revisión teórica se justifica por una mayor incidencia de cuadros clínicos cuyo dinamismo psíquico no responde a la lógica de la represión, sino por el predominio de otros mecanismos defensivos, como el clivaje / escisión del yo, y formas de expresión no verbal como pasajes al acto y "acting outs". Ante la necesidad de reconfigurar algunos parámetros de la técnica psicoanalítica, el objetivo de este artículo es delinear la investigación del tema del manejo clínico de las regresiones en análisis, a partir de las contribuciones teórico-clínicas de Sándor Ferenczi y sus desdoblamientos y avances en la teoría de Michael Balint. Así, pretendemos extraer, de las modificaciones en el dispositivo analítico propuestas por esos autores, elementos que nos ayuden a pensar sobre el manejo clínico con pacientes cuyo sufrimiento remite a los fracasos traumáticas de los primordios de la constitución subjetiva.