Untangling the confounded relationship between perceiver sex and walker sex on the bistable perception of emotion displaying point-light walkers.

Point-light displays of walking gait carries an assortment of information about the individual and this information is often perceivable to others. Some of these bits of information are entangled, with some facilitating and others inhibiting each other. We sought to untangle the perception of basic threat emotions from sex of the walker and the perceiver, as expressed through the bistable perception of anticipated approaching or withdrawing point-light walkers. Stationary point-light walkers displaying anger or fear were shown to 164 psychology student perceivers, who were told that the walkers would be either walking towards them or walking away from them. Perceivers were asked to identify the displayed emotion for each walker stimulus. Expected walker direction showed no influence on the perception of either emotion, across either sex of the perceivers or walkers. Anger was identified better on male walkers and fear was identified better on female walkers. Female perceivers were able to identify both emotions better than male perceivers, but only when displayed by female walkers. The sex of both the perceiver and the walker interact to influence the perception of basic threat emotions displayed through point-light walking gait, with implications for the development of inter-sexual and intra-sexual group cohesion programs.

Adaptation aftereffects influence the perception of specific emotions from walking gait.

We investigated the existence and nature of adaptation aftereffects on the visual perception of basic emotions displayed through walking gait. Stimuli were previously validated gender-ambiguous point-light walker models displaying various basic emotions (happy, sad, anger and fear). Results indicated that both facilitative and inhibitive aftereffects influenced the perception of all displayed emotions. Facilitative aftereffects were found between theoretically opposite emotions (i.e. happy/sad and anger/fear). Evidence suggested that low-level and high-level visual processes contributed to both stimulus aftereffect and conceptual aftereffect mechanisms. Significant aftereffects were more frequently evident for the time required to identify the displayed emotion than for emotion identification rates. The perception of basic emotions from walking gait is influenced by a number of different perceptual mechanisms which shift the categorical boundaries of each emotion as a result of perceptual experience.

Competing Ethical Interests Regarding Privacy and Accountability in Psychotherapy.

"Jane" is a mother of two, who was referred for psychotherapy. However, Jane had misgivings about engaging in the offered psychotherapy because of threats made by her domestically violent partner. The therapy sessions are audio recorded for the purpose of professional supervision and clinician reflective practices. Jane's partner had threatened to subpoena the therapy recordings to legally separate Jane from her children. This article focuses on how three different parts of Jane's multidisciplinary care (i.e. clinicians, policy professionals and medico-legal professionals) exhibit different competing ethical priorities. Psychotherapeutic clinicians private use of audio recordings of the therapy enhances patient care and their own professional development but with the risk of concealing possible unethical behaviour by either party. Medico-legal access to the therapy recordings preserves potentially relevant evidence in the pursuit of justice but risks the interpretation of the psychotherapeutic information outside of the therapeutic context. Policies advocating the inclusion of the therapy recordings in the medical record improves clinician (and health service) accountability but risks harming the vulnerable patient due to threats to patient-therapist confidentiality.

Walking my way? Walker gender and display format Confounds the perception of specific emotions.

Previous evidence has shown that males and females display different gait kinematics which may influence the perception of emotions displayed through the same walking gait. We therefore investigated the influence of walker gender on the perception of happiness, sadness, anger and fear displayed through walking movements. Full-light (FL), point-light (PL) and synthetically modelled point-light walkers (SW) of both genders were shown to perceivers over three experiments. Additionally, gender ambiguous synthetic walkers were shown to control for the influence of form, gender stereotypes and idiosyncratic gait movements on emotional gait perception. Each emotion was identified above chance level for both walker genders and in all display conditions though significantly less in PL and SW than in FL. The gender of the walker did not influence the pattern of identifications in FL walkers (Fear > Sad > Happy > Anger > Neutral), but did influence the identification patterns in PL (Female: [Happy = Sad = Fear = Anger] > Neutral; Male: Fear = Sad = [Happy > Anger] > Neutral) and SWs (Female: Happy = Sad = Anger = Fear = Neutral; Male: [Happy = Sad = Anger] > [Fear = Neutral]; Ambiguous: [[Happy = Sad = Anger] > Fear] = Neutral). The gender of the walker and format in which they are displayed influenced the perception of different basic emotions. The constructed SW stimuli also displayed happiness, sadness and anger with equivalent intensity in female, male and gender ambiguous walkers thus untangling the perception-expression entanglement that has plagued previous emotion perception research.

Not all is noticed: Kinematic cues of emotion-specific gait.

Perceiving emotions from gait can serve numerous socio-environmental functions (e.g. perceiving threat, sexual courting behaviours). Participant perceivers were asked to report their strategies for identifying happiness, sadness, anger and fear in point-light walkers. Perceivers claimed they identified happiness by a bouncing gait with increased arm movement, sadness by a slow slouching gait, anger by a fast stomping gait and fear by both fast and slow gaits. The emotion-specific point-light walker stimuli were kinematically analysed to verify the presence of the gait cues perceivers reported using to identify each emotion. Happy and angry walkers both displayed long strides with increased arm movement though angry strides had a faster cadence. Fearful walkers walked with fast short strides reminiscent of a scurrying gait. Sad walkers walked with slow short strides consequently creating the slowest walking pace. However, fearful and sad walkers showed less arm movement in their gait in different ways. Sad walkers moved their entire arms whilst fearful walkers primarily moved their lower arms throughout their gait.

Integration in the Psychodynamic Psychotherapy of Severe Personality Disorders: The Conversational Model.

The psychotherapy of commonly occurring severe personality disorders-borderline, narcissistic, avoidant, dependent, obsessive compulsive, and schizoid-presents the therapist with a unique therapeutic challenge, as each personality disorder rarely occurs alone. Integration of what is most useful and what works in each model is being proposed to enable a more successful approach to the diversity of presentations. We describe the conversational model, some outcome research, and descriptive studies to illustrate this. Based in psychoanalytic theory, the conversational model is integrated with trauma theory, findings in memory research, linguistics, neurophysiological data, and, above all, on the observations of clinical experiences. Our emphasis in this article is on the treatment principles, methods, and techniques, along with case examples to illustrate what we mean. Case material is taken from audio recordings for which written informed consent was obtained for presentations and journal articles. Some changes have been made to maintain confidentiality.

Dataset reporting the perceiver identification rates of basic emotions expressed by male, female and ambiguous gendered walkers in full-light, point-light and synthetically modelled point-light walkers.

This data set describes the experimental data collected and reported in the research article "Walking my way? Walker gender and display format confounds the perception of specific emotions" (Halovic and Kroos, in press) [1]. The data set represent perceiver identification rates for different emotions (happiness, sadness, anger, fear and neutral), as displayed by full-light, point-light and synthetic point-light walkers. The perceiver identification scores have been transformed into Ht rates, which represent proportions/percentages of correct identifications above what would be expected by chance. This data set also provides Ht rates separately for male, female and ambiguously gendered walkers.

The Future Emerges from the Past : Comment on "Personal Genomic Testing, Genetic Inheritance, and Uncertainty".

The case of Jordan (Mason 2017) highlights the gamble of connecting with the past through genomic testing. Unfortunately for Jordan, his genomic testing identified two variant genes which account for up to 75 per cent of early-onset Alzheimer's disease cases. Furthermore, his children were identified as having a 50 per cent risk of inheriting the gene which corresponds to the majority of early-onset Alzheimer's disease cases. Now Jordan is not only burdened with the foreknowledge that he will most likely develop Alzheimer's disease at a relatively young age but also burdened with the knowledge that his children may share his fate. Jordan was overwhelmed by his attempts to understand the genetic tests and experienced substantial distress. This response highlights the need for industry-wide regulations that adequately prepare individuals for the decision of whether to initiate genomic testing and require the results to be interpreted with genetic counsellors or other suitably skilled doctors. Furthermore, these industry-wide regulations need to be accountable to the same evidence-based standards that regulate the rest of the medical professions.

Tuberculosis and mental health in the Asia-Pacific.

OBJECTIVE: This opinion piece encourages mental health researchers and clinicians to engage with mental health issues among tuberculosis patients in the Asia-Pacific region in a culturally appropriate and ethical manner. The diversity of cultural contexts and the high burden of tuberculosis throughout the Asia-Pacific presents significant challenges. Research into tuberculosis and mental illness in this region is an opportunity to develop more nuanced models of mental illness and treatment, while simultaneously contributing meaningfully to regional tuberculosis care and prevention. CONCLUSIONS: We overview key issues in tuberculosis and mental illness co-morbidity, highlight ethical concerns and advocate for a regional approach to tuberculosis and mental health that is consistent with the transnational challenges presented by this airborne infectious disease. Integrating tuberculosis and mental health services will go a long way to addressing the needs of vulnerable populations and stopping the transmission of one of the world's biggest infectious killers.

Effective Therapeutic Relationships Using Psychodynamic Psychotherapy in the Face of Trauma : Comment on "The Ethics of Isolation for Patients With Tuberculosis in Australia".

The case of Xiang as described by Jane Carroll is indeed disconcerting well beyond the immediately apparent factors contained within the article. While Xiang's direct medical expenses are excessive and his inability to pay for those expenses and further support his noncustodial family seem to be the main issues up for debate, Xiang, however, is likely going to need much more psychosocial support if he is to regain his previous independent functionality or retain any aspect of a quality of life whilst continuing his indefinitely isolated treatment. In this response, I briefly outline the probable effects of Xiang's current situation on his social identity and mental health as well as a potential way that we can minimize these adverse effects.