A Comparison of Ambient Casino Sound and Music: Effects on Dissociation and on Perceptions of Elapsed Time While Playing Slot Machines

This research examined the effects of a casino’s auditory character on estimates of elapsed time while gambling. More specifically, this study varied whether the sound heard while gambling was ambient casino sound alone or ambient casino sound accompanied by music. The tempo and volume of both the music and ambient sound were varied to manipulate temporal engagement and introspection. One hundred and sixty (males = 91) individuals played slot machines in groups of 5–8, after which they provided estimates of elapsed time. The findings showed that the typical ambient casino auditive environment, which characterizes the majority of gaming venues, promotes understated estimates of elapsed duration of play. In contrast, when music is introduced into the ambient casino environment, it appears to provide a cue of interval from which players can more accurately reconstruct elapsed duration of play. This is particularly the case when the tempo of the music is slow and the volume is high. Moreover, the confidence with which time estimates are held (as reflected by latency of response) is higher in an auditive environment with music than in an environment that is comprised of ambient casino sounds alone. Implications for casino management are discussed.     

HIV and the Cycle of Trauma in Gay Men

Summary

Forged within the sociocultural context of the collective trauma of AIDS, HIV prevention efforts became rigid, focusing almost exclusively on patient education as risk reduction. However, while some people have not been able to incorporate risk reduction into their behavioral patterns, others have indeed returned to high-risk behavior after a period of reduced risk as evidenced by the “Bareback” movement. HIV prevention education has overlooked the effect of oppression and sexual trauma on the lives of gay men, and the impact of these phenomena on the gay male's interest in, and ability to, negotiate safer sex. Sexual trauma has been shown to have a direct effect on HIV risk and seropositivity. Additionally, as sexual trauma (often in the form of homophobia) and HIV infection have numerous parallels, the gay man may have analogous ways of relating to, processing and dealing with the two phenomena. Case histories are offered to illustrate how the relationship between HIV and sexual trauma may be examined in an effort to enhance the self-esteem and self-concept of the gay man, and thereby offer greater possibilities for him to protect himself.     

Introduction: Queering Later Life

Summary

The field of sexual trauma developed from the sociopolitical movements of the feminist, rape, and child protection movements. As thinking in the field developed, however, it has been difficult to integrate the perspective of the male survivor of sexual trauma into these perspectives. Gay men, in particular, have been notably absent from the literature, except when their abuse history is discussed as an etiology for their sexuality. It is clear that gay men suffer violence and oppression in the form of homophobia—an abuse with a sexual focus. Integrating the experience of gay men who have suffered trauma into perspectives regarding sexual trauma offers a possibility to enhance understanding about, as well as prevention efforts against, the sexual abuse of children. This includes expanding definitions and vocabulary regarding sexual trauma, as well as recognizing the impact on mental health professionals of working with survivors of sexual trauma.     

分光光度法测定多元酸离解常数的优化计算法

本文讨论了依据优化计算原理用分光光度数据计算多元酸离解常数的优化方法和计算机程序,用编制的计算机程序计算了多种多元酸的离解常数,所得结果与文献值相符。     

分光光度法测定酸碱的离解常数(I)——一元酸碱离解常数测定的通用方法

本文建立了测定在可见光范围内有吸收作用的一元酸碱试剂离解常数的分光光度方法,设计了处理实验数据的计算机程序.用于实际,所得结果与文献值一致.     

Flow and Dissociation: Examination of Mean Levels, Cross-links, and Links to Emotional Well-Being across Sports and Recreational and Pathological Gambling

To examine whether flow (Csikszentmihalyi (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. NY: Harper & Row) and dissociation (Jacobs (1986). Journal of Gambling Behavior, 2, 15-31) are experienced across sports and recreational and pathological gambling, we assessed a sample of 511 college students (256 females and 255 males, M age = 19.54) that was comprised of 14 pathological gamblers, 21 non-addicted gamblers, and 476 athletes. The findings showed that both flow and dissociation lay on a continuum of subjective experiences across activity groups. Specifically, pathological gamblers experienced lower levels of flow than athletes, whereas recreational gamblers lay in between the previous groups in this regard. In contrast, pathological gamblers experienced higher mean levels of dissociation than athletes and recreational gamblers who, in turn, were similar in this regard. A LISREL model showed that flow was positively associated with general emotional well-being, whereas dissociation was negatively associated with well-being.     

Phase Oriented Psychotherapy for Gay Men Recovering from Trauma

Summary

Gay men live in a culture of trauma in the United States. Phase Oriented Psychotherapy offers an integrative treatment model for helping gay men overcome the helplessness and disconnections that result from trauma. Successful recovery in this model yields a basic cognitive shift from indiscriminately attributing traumatic significance to present events to accurately differentiating discomfort from danger and responding to situations with aware choice. The model is a synthesis of the phase-oriented model of recovery with the principles of gay-affirmative psychotherapy. Recovery occurs over stages: (a) Stabilization of symptoms and the development of coping skills; followed by (b) Integration of dissociated or fragmented aspects of experience (including affects, sensations, beliefs, memories, identity); leading to (c) New Self and Relational development. This type of work will present distinct challenges to both therapist and client. Specific techniques are offered to aid the therapist both to assist the client and protect him/herself.     

Group Therapy for Survivors of Severe Childhood Abuse: Repairing the Social Contract

ABSTRACT

This article presents a model for conducting time-limited group therapy with adult survivors of severe childhood abuse who are diagnosed with complex post-traumatic and dissociative disorders. While difficult to engage in mixed groups, these clients can succeed in structured, homogeneous groups focused on responsible participation, social connection and symptom management. Group sessions are organized around verbal promises, “social contracts,” that encourage the client's active, attentive engagement. Gentle confrontation of dissociative defenses is integral to the success of each session. Group guidelines, the provision of structure, and common themes are explained, as are the group therapist's complicated countertransference responses to these clients.     

Dissociation,Traumatic Attachments,and Self-Harm: Eating Disorders and Self-Mutilation

Self-harm, such as eating disorders and self-mutilation, represents dissociated compensatory attempts to serve self-regulatory functions. Self-harm develops when the child who has become attached to those who have inflicted pain and suffering maintains that attachment by inflicting pain on himself. Brain imaging studies have found that the communication pattern between parent and child shapes the way the child’s attachment system adapts to experiences with the attachment figure, literally hardwiring the child’s brain. The good news is that a safe and secure attachment is very good medicine and can rewire the brain. An attachment-based multi-phase approach to treatment is presented.