scholarly journals Stimulus Features of the Object Relations Technique Affecting the Linguistic Qualities of Individuals’ Narratives

Author(s):  
Attà Negri ◽  
Martino Ongis

AbstractPrevious studies on projective techniques have investigated the effects of variation in stimulus features on individuals’ response behavior. In particular, the influence of chromatic colors and form definition on the images elicited by the stimuli has been tested. Most studies have focused on the Rorschach and TAT and have examined effects in terms of variables such as reality testing and reactions to perceptual details. This is the first study to examine the effects of variation in visual stimuli as represented in features of the Object Relations Technique (ORT) cards on linguistic indicators of connection to emotional experience using measures of the referential process. The ORT was administered to 207 Italian non-clinical participants to explore effects of color, form and content variation on language style. The sample was stratified by age, gender, marital status and education to be representative of the Italian population. The stories told in response to the card images were rated using computerized linguistic measures, including the Weighted Referential Activity Dictionary—Italian version (IWRAD) which indicates the degree to which language is connected to nonverbal experience, and the Weighted Reflection/Reorganization List—Italian version (IWRRL) which detects a linguistic style of personal re-elaboration of emotional experience. The results provide support for the color-affect and form-reality testing hypotheses. Cards with better form definition, including color definition, and with fewer silhouettes of people elicited responses that were higher in IWRAD and lower in IWRRL, and also higher in the degree to which the two measures varied together. Implications of the results for use of ORT in clinical assessment and intervention are discussed.

2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 193-206
Author(s):  
Rachele Mariani ◽  
Leon Hoffman

AbstractThis paper presents a comparison between a clinical evaluation and a computerized linguistic analysis of the treatment notes of the first two years of an analysis conducted four sessions a week with the patient lying on a couch. Clinical notes had been written as part of the analyst’s standard practice after every session, some years prior to the planning of this study. The notes describe the analytic interchange and the analyst’s internal thoughts. The linguistic analysis focuses on two analytically relevant linguistic variables: Referential Activity (RA), a measure of the degree of connection between emotional processing and language, and Reflection, the use of words referring to thoughts. The examination of the linguistic measures point to overlooked parts of sessions which may be clinically significant. In particular, the examination of the clinical material during the nodal points of the first summer break, where significant changes in the linguistic measures were seen, provided clinical understanding of the analytic work that was not explicitly noted at the time of treatment. This method has the potential to be utilized in ongoing treatments and to improve the supervisory process.


2000 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 172-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilze L Bruscato ◽  
Eduardo Iacoponi

Introdução: Relação objetal tem sido um conceito fértil para a psicanálise e para a psiquiatria. O reconhecimento crescente do valor diagnóstico do conceito de relação objetal nos transtornos psiquiátricos tem levado ao desenvolvimento de várias escalas que pretendem mensurá-lo. O estudo teve o propósito de produzir os índices de validade e confiabilidade da versão em português de um instrumento amplamente usado, planejado para avaliar relações objetais, o Bell Object Relations and Reality Testing Inventory (BORRTI - Form O). Métodos: A amostra foi composta de 218 estudantes de graduação de psicologia. Uma análise fatorial exploratória obteve, com sucesso, as quatro dimensões descritas nos estudos originais. Resultados: Estas dimensões demonstraram boa correlação dos escores quando comparadas às respectivas dimensões da versão em inglês do BORRTI - Forma O (0,62 para alienação, 0,82 para vinculação insegura, 0,83 para egocentrismo e 0,78 para incapacidade social). Os escores de confiabilidade também foram aceitáveis, com um valor alpha de Cronbach para todos os itens de 0,59 e confiabilidade split-half Spearman-Brown de 0,63. Conclusões: Tornando estes índices disponíveis, o estudo pode contribuir para a escolha adequada de escalas que investiguem relações objetais no Brasil.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (7) ◽  
pp. eaaw4358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip A. Kragel ◽  
Marianne C. Reddan ◽  
Kevin S. LaBar ◽  
Tor D. Wager

Theorists have suggested that emotions are canonical responses to situations ancestrally linked to survival. If so, then emotions may be afforded by features of the sensory environment. However, few computational models describe how combinations of stimulus features evoke different emotions. Here, we develop a convolutional neural network that accurately decodes images into 11 distinct emotion categories. We validate the model using more than 25,000 images and movies and show that image content is sufficient to predict the category and valence of human emotion ratings. In two functional magnetic resonance imaging studies, we demonstrate that patterns of human visual cortex activity encode emotion category–related model output and can decode multiple categories of emotional experience. These results suggest that rich, category-specific visual features can be reliably mapped to distinct emotions, and they are coded in distributed representations within the human visual system.


1996 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 347-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan J Rutherford ◽  
James R McKay ◽  
Arthur I Alterman ◽  
John S Cacciola ◽  
Terry G Cook

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Galeoto ◽  
Julita Sansoni ◽  
Michela Scuccimarri ◽  
Valentina Bruni ◽  
Rita De Santis ◽  
...  

Objective. The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) is an evaluation tool to diagnose older adult’s depression. This questionnaire was defined by Yesavage and Brink in 1982; it was designed expressly for the older person and defines his/her degree of satisfaction, quality of life, and feelings. The objective of this study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Italian translation of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-IT). Methods. The Italian version of the Geriatric Depression Scale was administered to 119 people (79 people with a depression diagnosis and 40 healthy ones). We examined the following psychometric characteristics: internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, concurrent validity, and construct validity (factor structure). Results. Cronbach’s Alpha for the GDS-IT administered to the depressed sample was 0.84. Test-retest reliability was 0.91 and the concurrent validity was 0.83. The factorial analysis showed a structure of 5 factors, and the scale cut-off is between 10 and 11. Conclusion. The GDS-IT proved to be a reliable and valid questionnaire for the evaluation of depression in an Italian population. In the present study, the GDS-IT showed good psychometric properties. Health professionals now have an assessment tool for the evaluation of depression symptoms in the Italian population.


1987 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanna Nigro

Several studies were conducted during the period 1978–1983 to ascertain whether there has been, in recent years, change among Italian undergraduates in perceived control. Six samples of Italian undergraduates completed the Italian version of the Rotter locus of control scale. In 1983 I-E scores, for men as well as for women, were significantly higher than those obtained in 1978. Over time there has been a moderate but gradual shift within the population toward a more external locus of control. Moderate but significant sex differences were found for each sample. Findings suggested that the increase in external control is influenced by realistic considerations. Further implications of the finding were discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachele Mariani ◽  
Alessandro Gennaro ◽  
Silvia Monaco ◽  
Michela Di Trani ◽  
Sergio Salvatore

The Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic posed a significant challenge to the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of each individual. It also brought the importance of daily emotional management for survival to the forefront of every human being. Our study aims to explore whether emotional processes perform different functions during waking thoughts and night dreams during the first lockdown in Italy. Utilizing Multiple Code Theory (MCT), our goal is to verify whether waking thoughts facilitate a functional disconnection in order to manage the trauma caused by COVID-19. Two online forms were distributed to random participants in the general population, presenting a total of 49 reports of night dreams (23 males; mean age 33.45 ds. 10.12; word mean 238.54 ds. 146.8) and 48 reports of waking thoughts (25 males; mean age 34.54 ds. 12.8; word mean M. 91 words ds. 23). The Referential Process linguistic measures and Affect Salience Index were utilized. It was found that Affect Salience is present in both dreams and in waking thoughts; however, Referential Activity was higher in dreams and Reflection and Affect words were higher in waking thoughts. Two different processes of emotional elaboration emerged. The results highlight the use of greater symbolization processes during dreams and a higher emotional distance in waking thoughts. These results confirm that during the nocturnal processes, there is greater contact with the processing of trauma, while during the diurnal processes, defensive strategies were activated to cope with and manage life via a moment of the defensive disruption of daily activities.


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