Emotion-abstraction patterns in verbatim protocols: a new way of describing psychotherapeutic processes.

The goal of the study was to develop a computer-aided system that is able to identify key moments in transcripts from psychoanalytic sessions and to provide an adequate theory of change. The term key moment refers to 1 or more sessions of a treatment or to segments of a session that are seen as clinically important and often considered to be a turning point or breakthrough and that mirror points of insight as they occur in the course of the psychotherapeutic process. It will be shown that patterns built of combinations of the content analysis variable "emotion tone" and "abstraction" allow for describing therapeutic cycles including key moments. The method is shown successfully for a single case and for a sample of improved and not improved patients.

The clinician's illusion and the psychotherapy practice: an application of stochastic modeling.

The caseload of practicing clinicians tends to be unrepresentative of the population of psychotherapy patients. This results from the fact that, although the majority of patients use relatively few treatment sessions, the majority of a clinician's time is spent with longer term cases--a minority of patients consume the majority of services. Here, a stochastic model is used to describe the development of caseloads under 4 different treatment regimens. It is shown that a psychotherapy practice will reach a steady state (a stable case mix) in relatively short time and at that this will limit the open appointment slots available each week to serve new patients. Implications for training and clinic staffing are discussed.

Topics and signs: defensive control of emotional expression.

This single-case study examined frank disclosure of important topics in a brief exploratory psychotherapy, including topics closely related to a recent, unintegrated stressor life event. Quantitative measures of emotion and control variables showed heightened levels of both emotionally and defensive control during discourse on the topic of the stressor event. In future studies, such measures of verbal and nonverbal signs of emotional expression and defensive control might be used to identify topics in an unresolved state.

[Relationship, resistance and insight as depicted in measures concerning form and content of speech - a textual analysis of the course of a female in-patient with eating disorder]. / Zur Abbildung von Beziehung, Widerstand und Einsicht in formalen und inhaltlichen Gesprächsmerkmalen - Eine textanalytische Untersuchung der Verbatimprotokolle einer stationären Einzelpsychotherapie bei einer essgestörten Patientin.

OBJECTIVES: This multi-methodical single case study examines how relationship, resistance and insight, the important therapeutic factors, are conveyed in a therapeutic process. METHODS: For depicting interaction the textual parameters - direct speech, acknowledgement tokens, activity of speech and personal pronouns - of Formal Psycholinguistic Text Analysis (Overbeck et al., 1996) are applied. The activity of the unconscious theme is measured by the Interferenzindex (Argelander, 1984). The link of emotional experiences with words is depicted by the Computerized Referential Activity method (Mergenthaler and Bucci, 1999). The attainment of emotional insight in the Model of the Therapeutic Cycle is perceived via the Emotion-/Abstraction-Patterns (Mergenthaler, 1997). RESULTS: Three phases are discriminated accordingly: Resistance, characterised by defensive intellectualization, symbolic representation on the basis of the secure relationship and emotional insight and detachment. CONCLUSIONS: The validity of the results in this single case study is guaranteed by the multi-methodical strategy.

The Penn Psychoanalytic Treatment Collection: a set of complete and recorded psychoanalyses as a research resource.

From a set of seventeen complete and tape-recorded psychoanalyses, a sample of findings is presented: (a) the level of agreement of two clinical judges on the psychological health of these patients is adequate for the late sessions, but not for the early sessions; (b) the amount of change during psychoanalysis appears to be similar to that in the Menninger Foundation Psychotherapy Research Project; (c) psychiatric severity measures from the early sessions can yield a significant level of prediction of the later benefits from psychoanalysis. Finally, further research uses of this collection of psychoanalyses are suggested.

Applying multiple computerized text-analytic measures to single psychotherapy cases.

The authors applied five different computer-assisted measures for the analysis of textual data to the transcripts of two brief psychotherapies. The five measures involved different computational procedures and were derived from different theoretical backgrounds. The two cases when compared did not show uniform results in their trends over time for any one method. However, examination and comparison of the five measurements for each case yielded convergent phenomena, which could then be validated by other data available for these cases.

[Analytical determination of polysaccharide thickening agents for foods--a review (author's transl)]. / Analytik der als Lebensmittelzusatzstoffe verwendeten Polysaccharide.

In this report, the analytical methodology, as developed by the authors for polysaccharides, used as thickening agents in foods is reviewed and summerized. Present additive regulations increase actuality and need for this subject. The analytical methodology consists of the following steps: a) isolation of the polysaccharides from the food samples, b) purification of the polysaccharide, c) determination of the monomeric compounds by thin layer chromatography or by gas chromatography, d) separation into neutral and into acid compounds by ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-Cellulose and e) determination of the types of linkages between monomeric compounds by permethylation.

[Analysis of polysaccharides used as food additives. VI. Identification of mixtures of polysaccharides by methylation analysis (author's transl)]. / Beiträge zur Analytik von als Lebensmittelzusatzstoffe verwendeten Polysacchariden. VI. Identifizierung von Polysaccharidgemischen mit Hilfe der Methylierungsanalyse.

Polysaccharide mixtures used as stabilizers having identical sugar units, but differing in their linkages can be identified with confidence by means of methylation analysis. Such mixtures are methylated with sodium hydride and methyl iodide in anhydrous dimethylsulfoxide. The methylated products are acid hydrolyzed and the resulting methyl sugars are separated and identified by thinlayer- or gaschromatography.

[Analysis of polysaccharides used as food additives iv. Gaschromatographic identification and determination of neutral components in polysaccharide-hydrolysates (author's transl)]. / Beiträge zur Analytik von als Lebensmittelzusatzstoffe verwendeten Polysacchariden. IV. Gaschromatographische Identifizierung und Bestimmung neutraler Bausteine von Polysaccharid-Hydrolysaten

The monosaccharides, which are obtained by hydrolytic cleavage of the polysaccharid containing stabilisators, can be separated gaschromatographically by the way of their aldonitrilacetates. After hydrolysis, the mixtures are neutralized by an anion exchanger, evaporated to dryness, converted in pyridin with hydroxylamin to the aldoximes and hereafter with acetic anhydride to the aldonitrilacetates. Dissolved in chloroform, these compounds are used for gaschromatographic separations; only one peak is obtained for each sugar. This is a great advantage to the previous methods, where the anomeric constellations lead up of five peaks for one sugar compound and for complicated sugar mixture, it therefore was difficult to evaluate their gaschromatograms.

[The Ulm databank]. / Die Ulmer Textbank.

Since 1968 one of our major research efforts consists in establishing a methodology for performing psychoanalytic process research. Within this frame tape-recording of psychoanalytic long-term treatments constituted an essential methodical step inevitably leading to the production of a large collection of verbatim transcripts. We gradually and inadvertently realized the need for a major computerized databank to assist our own research. With support of the German Research Foundation we started in 1980 with the development of the Ulm Textbank Management System. While realizing the system it became obvious that such a databank would serve as well other researchers involved in process research when analyzing verbatim material. The final shape of the systems thus was strongly influenced by the orientation towards a variety of users and methodological approaches. Meanwhile this task is completed and the Ulm Textbank, as it is known, is available as a new unique tool for psychotherapy research.

Linking verbal and non-verbal representations: computer analysis of referential activity.

The objective of this study was to develop a computer assisted procedure to model the Referencial Activity scales as scored by raters. Referential Activity is defined as the function of connecting non-verbal experience with language. Using a large text corpus that had been rated by experienced and reliable judges, extreme samples from both ends of the Referential Activity Scales were selected. The Characteristic Vocabularies for each of these corpora, words that were significantly more frequent in each corpus as compared to the other, were then identified. A small set of 181 frequent words was derived that accounted for half of all words in the text corpora. These words were used as dictionaries for a Computerized Referential Activity measure based on computer assisted content analysis techniques. The new measure showed a correlation with judge-scored Referential Activity of around .50 across both the development and test corpora.

[Analysis of polysaccharides used as food additives. V. Gaschromatographic identification of hydrolysis products in uronic acids containing polysaccharides]. / Beiträge zur Analytik von als Lebensmittelzusatzstoffe verwendeten Polysacchariden V. Gaschromatographische Identifizerung der Hydrolyseprodukte uronsäurehaltiger Polysacchride

Alduronic acids can be found among the monomeric units of polysaccharides, which are used as stabilisators in the food industry. Gaschromatographically they cannot be separated directly by the way of their aldonitrilacetates but it is possible by the procedure described. The 1-0-methylalduronic-acidmethylesters, obtained by the methanolysis of the polysaccharides, are reduced with boronhydrid to the corresponding methyl glycosides; there are split with acid to the aldoses, which are converted in pyridine with hydroxylamine to the aldoximes and than with acetic anhydride to the aldonitrilacetates, which can be separated by gaschromatography without difficulty.

The relationship among attachment representation, emotion-abstraction patterns, and narrative style: a computer-based text analysis of the adult attachment interview.

The main aim of this research was to test the discriminant capacity of computer-based, linguistic text measures which are economically compilable (Emotion-Abstraction Patterns, Mergenthaler, 1996; Computerized Referential Activity, Mergenthaler & Bucci, 1999) in differentiating between complex attachment representations in the Adult Attachment Interview (Main & Goldwyn, 1994). The study of N = 40 healthy controls produced the consistent result that, of the two insecure attachment categories, the group 'dismissing' (n = 10) showed the lowest means on all text measures, whereas the group 'preoccupied' (n = 10) showed the highest means. The mean of the attachment group 'secure' (n = 20) lay between these groups. This ranking is consistent with the results of studies which had another research focus, showing deactivation or hyperactivation of attachment-relevant information in both insecure attachment groups, as well as flexibility in the 'secure' group. We also discuss whether the coincidence of language markers for emotion and abstraction, as well as Computerized Referential Activity, is adequate to operationalize the construct of coherence in narrative style.

[Computerized analysis of the verbal behavior of patients and therapists in the 1st diagnostic interview]. / Análisis computarizado de la conducta verbal de pacientes y terapeutas en la primera entrevista diagnóstica.

From 282 psychoanalysis-oriented First Interview existing in the Computarized Text-Bank of the University of Ulm, Germany, a 68-sample was selected in order to assess and evaluate the following points: (a) Describing the talking behavior of both patients and therapists, according to specific variables; (b) Constructing a sample for the future development of a "Computarized First-Interview Archive", and (c) Testing some hypotheses connected to the verbal style of psychosomatic patients, compared with psychoneurotic patients; female patients compared with male patients; and older patients compared with younger patients. Using computarized dictionaries and the Electronic-Verbal-Analysis System (EVA) already stored and programmed at Ulm, formal, grammatical, and content analysis were performed. As a result, the determinant influence of diagnosis, and the heavy influence of age and sex on verbal style were shown. As regards the text measurements discriminating capacity, it was found out that grammatical analysis, with its high reliability, and validity, proved to be the best discriminative tool.

Content analysis of verbal behaviour in psychotherapy research: a comparison between two methods.

Verbal behaviour of a mixed patient population during psychotherapeutic interviews was analysed for affective content by means of two content analytic techniques, the Gottschalk-Gleser method and the 'anxiety topics dictionary' developed at the University of Ulm. Both methods share basic theoretical assumptions regarding affect definition and strive for pragmatic relevance in their meaning categories. They differ with respect to the analysis program they employ, the main difference being the coding unit and the extent to which they take into account contextual information. Correlational data presented shows a significant positive relationship between scores for shame and separation anxiety from both methods. A somewhat weaker correlation was found for guilt anxiety. These results suggest a formal similarity between these constructs as operationalized by both methods and call for further research on the comparability of meaning categories in studies of verbal behaviour.

[Effect of the setting on therapeutic verbalization of affects]. / Der Einfluss des Settings auf die therapeutische Verbalisierung von Affekten.

In psychotherapy research vocabulary measures are still an exception, although clinically relevant hypotheses might well be investigated by means of those measures. The affective vocabulary seems to be particularly apt to serve as an indicator of psychotherapeutic processes, since the "processing of emotions" can be regarded as a crucial part of any kind of psychotherapy. The emotion theory of Dahl and a classification schema derived from DeRivera will be explained in the text. The development of the Affective Dictionary Ulm (ADU), a computer measure for evaluation of affective vocabulary was based on this classification system. The distinction between two important categories of emotions, it-emotions (like anger) referring to wishes about objects, and me-emotions (like depression) reflecting self states, i.e. beliefs about the status of wish fulfillment, will be explained. The study described focuses on the affective vocabulary of one psychotherapist in three different settings: initial interviews, short term therapy and psychoanalysis. It can be demonstrated, that the "intensity" of the setting significantly positively correlates with the use of words indicating object (or it-) emotions. According to the transference paradigm, these results suggest, that the intensification of psychodynamic settings lead to an increasing work on help to regulate object relationships.

Vocabulary measures for the evaluation of therapy outcome: re-studying transcripts from the penn psychotherapy project.

In this study we investigated how vocabularies of patients, as well as therapists, are related to outcome of psychotherapeutic treatment. For this purpose 80 transcripts of the ten most and ten least improved patients of the Penn Psychotherapy Project (PPP) were included in the Ulm Textbank. In addition to the total amount of speech, different vocabulary measures, such as the "private vocabulary" and the "shared vocabulary" of patient and therapists, were applied to the transcripts. Furthermore, the "Regressive Imagery Dictionary" "RID" was applied as a content analytic approach, measuring primary and secondary process content in a given text. Significant correlations of these variables with the PPP outcome measure "residual gain" were found, indicating, that successful therapists tend to accommodate more to the language of their patients compared with their non-successful colleagues.

Análisis computarizado de la conducta verbal de pacientes y terapeutas en la primera entrevista diagnóstica. / [Computerized analysis of the verbal behavior of patients and therapists in the 1st diagnostic interview]

From 282 psychoanalysis-oriented First Interview existing in the Computarized Text-Bank of the University of Ulm, Germany, a 68-sample was selected in order to assess and evaluate the following points: (a) Describing the talking behavior of both patients and therapists, according to specific variables; (b) Constructing a sample for the future development of a [quot ]Computarized First-Interview Archive[quot ], and (c) Testing some hypotheses connected to the verbal style of psychosomatic patients, compared with psychoneurotic patients; female patients compared with male patients; and older patients compared with younger patients. Using computarized dictionaries and the Electronic-Verbal-Analysis System (EVA) already stored and programmed at Ulm, formal, grammatical, and content analysis were performed. As a result, the determinant influence of diagnosis, and the heavy influence of age and sex on verbal style were shown. As regards the text measurements discriminating capacity, it was found out that grammatical analysis, with its high reliability, and validity, proved to be the best discriminative tool.