The differential use of metaphor in psychotherapy

Metaphor is seen to play a significant role in psychoanalytic theory and technique. While acknowledging this view, this paper examines the differences in which individuals of varying developmental profiles, experience, comprehend and use metaphor in the context of psychotherapy. Differences in the capacity to play, adaptively regress, regulate affect, maintain ego boundaries, and symbolize, are found to affect capacities to employ those figures of speech in words or phrases literally denoting one type of object or idea but used in place of others by suggesting likenesses or analogies. A rationale for differential use of interventions involving metaphor is offered.     

Controlling type 1 error rate for sequential,bioequivalence studies with crossover designs

Sample size reestimation in a crossover, bioequivalence study can be a useful adaptive design tool, particularly when the intrasubject variability of the drug formulation under investigation is not well understood. When sample size reestimation is done based on an interim estimate of the intrasubject variability and bioequivalence is tested using the pooled estimate of intrasubject variability, type 1 error inflation will occur. Type 1 error inflation is caused by the pooled estimate being a biased estimator of the intrasubject variability. The type 1 error inflation and bias of the pooled estimator of variability are well characterized in the setting of a two‐arm, parallel study. The purpose of this work is to extend this characterization to the setting of a crossover, bioequivalence study with sample size reestimation and to propose an estimator of the intrasubject variability that will prevent type 1 error inflation.     

Miaoicization vis-à-vis sinicization: contrasting Miao subgroups in contemporary China

This article studies the Miao classification as an example to examine the minzu shibie project initiated by the Chinese Communist Party after 1949. The Miao classification that originates with the minzu shibie project can be defined as a process of miaoicization; however, it is not a unified Miao group (as projected by the classification team) that has emerged but rather one dominant Miao subgroup that defines the official Miao category in contemporary China. At the moment the most dominant Miao subgroup is the Hmu group in Southeast Guizhou. The overemphasis of Hmu sub-culture to represent all the Miao of China is related to the fact that over the last decades many important leaders in Guizhou have been Hmu. While all Hmu are sinicized to a certain extent, it seems that the Hmu at the bottom of the socioeconomic scale are most likely to be sinicized and to amalgamate with the Han majority.     

The story of Lucy: lessons learned,lessons taught

ABSTRACT

This article provides an extended case example highlighting the value of a supportive approach to practice, in addition to the importance of holding a psychodynamic developmental frame of reference. Concepts of repetition compulsion, the holding environment, and object constancy are applied to the clinical material. The case is underscored for its value as a teaching tool.     

Elderly migration: For sun and money

Discussions about elderly migration and its implications for growth planning tend to neglect the role of economic forces. Our view is that cost-of-living variations among states give elderly households on fixed incomes an incentive to move that closely resembles the effects of wage opportunities on workers who migrate. To test this view, we employ a state-by-state index of cost of living for a retired couple to explore its impact on migration choices of the elderly. The effects of cost of living on migration are investigated in terms of the probability that an elderly person will move out-of-state during a five-year period and the probability that a given state will be chosen as destination once a decision has been made to migrate. The influences of cost of living at both origin and destination are strongly confirmed.     

Elderly migration: For sun and money

Discussions about elderly migration and its implications for growth planning tend to neglect the role of economic forces. Our view is that cost-of-living variations among states give elderly households on fixed incomes an incentive to move that closely resembles the effects of wage opportunities on workers who migrate. To test this view, we employ a state-by-state index of cost of living for a retired couple to explore its impact on migration choices of the elderly. The effects of cost of living on migration are investigated in terms of the probability that an elderly person will move out-of-state during a five-year period and the probability that a given state will be chosen as destination once a decision has been made to migrate. The influences of cost of living at both origin and destination are strongly confirmed.     

Personality factors predicting changes in shift work tolerance: A longitudinal study among nurses working rotating shifts

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between personality factors (hardiness, morningness, flexibility, and languidity) and longitudinal changes on different measures of shift work tolerance (fatigue, sleepiness, anxiety and depression) over one year among nurses working rotating shifts. A total of 642 female Norwegian nurses working in a rotating three-shift schedule participated in the study. The cohort was established by age-stratified selection among members of the Norwegian Nurses Association in 2008. Questionnaires were administered in 2008/2009 (T1) and in 2009/2010 (T2). The results showed that hardiness was negatively related to fatigue, anxiety and depression at T2 when controlling for the scores on these constructs at T1. Morningness was not related to any indicators of shift work tolerance at T2 when controlling for shift work tolerance at T1. Flexibility was negatively related to anxiety at T2 when controlling for anxiety at T1. Languidity was positively related to sleepiness and fatigue at T2 when controlling for sleepiness and fatigue at T1. The findings indicate that personality factors, especially hardiness, can predict changes related to shift work tolerance over a period of one year.     

Corporate Strategy and Gendered Professional Identities: Reorganization and the Struggle for Recognition and Positions

Will decentralization of responsibilities in services give women service workers at the lower levels of the organization better and more ‘professional’ jobs and a recognition of their importance in the organization? This article looks at the valuation of so‐called women's skills in services in reorganization processes involving dehierarchization and decentralization of responsibilities. Through four cases of reorganized private and public services in Norway it is shown that more focus on customers and decentralization of responsibilities for the services may lead to recognition of gendered skills and an improved position for women service workers at the lowest levels of the organization. When the tasks of the workers are closely linked to the core function of the organization and not dominated by the organization's ‘dirty work’, the women at the lowest levels may obtain a more ‘professional’ work role and their work be recognized as important for the organization.     

Nuclear Plant PRA: How Far Has It Come?

Nearly ten years have passed since the publication in August 1974 of the draft Reactor Safety Study (WASH 1400), the first detailed attempt to apply probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) techniques to estimate the public risks posed by commercial nuclear power plants. Now is an opportune time to look back and see how PRA has fared over these ten years. We will not attempt to pass judgement on how the Reactor Safety Study report itself has withstood the test of time, as that task is best left to others less directly involved in preparing the report. Instead, we will examine advances in the understanding, acceptance, and utilization of PRA techniques, as well as technical advances in PRA methods. Some of the significant insights gained from PRAs will be discussed. Finally, some observations on the future of PRA will be offered.     

Person perception effects of computer-simulated male and female head movement

Sixteen male and sixteen female student observers were shown computer-simulated sequences of male and female head movement based on time-series protocols of real-life interactions and were asked to rate their impressions of the computer actors on the screen. While in one experimental condition the sex of the movement origin matched the sex of the computer model, the movement protocols were exchanged in the second condition. Impression formation effects were analyzed in a three-factorial ANOVA design, with the independent factors (1) sex of observer, (2) sex of computer model, and (3) sex of movement origin. The results point to strong main effects of the sex of movement origin. Male behavior was perceived as more active and mobile, whether displayed by a male or female computer model. However, three-way interactions indicate that male and female head movement was evaluated differently by male and female observers depending on the sex of the computer model. Counterintuitively, female computer models scored higher in male observers' judgments of friendliness and attractiveness when displaying male head movement.