Psychology and psychoanalysis in Brazil - From cultural syncretism to the collapse of liberal individualism

This paper focuses first on cultural syncretism, used to characterize Brazilian culture. The other aspect of this socially and racially blended culture is the unfinished assimilation of liberalism in politics and the economy, which defines Brazilian society. The increased assimilation and dissemination of psychology may be linked with these in cultural and social aspects. During the military period (1964-1974) the major expansion in university-level studies in psychology contributed ideologically to the dissemination of psychology throughout Brazilian society. This introduced a type of psychology that was related primarily to clinical practice and developed in opposition to social work practice. This paper examines the ideological bases for this conflict between clinical and social work. Criteria for understanding the cultural dissemination of psychoanalysis are then discussed, and it is argued that cultural incorporation of psychoanalysis involves the development of discourse complexes to reflect particular aspects of Brazilian society. The criteria (a non-totalitarian society and the displacement of a magical and religious interpretation of mental disturbance by psychiatric interpretation) are evaluated in relation to the peculiarities of Brazilian syncretism. The paper argues that cultural syncretism and the incomplete assimilation of liberal ideology must be included as criteria in understanding the particular cultural incorporation of psychoanalysis in Brazil.

The Challenges of Psychology at Work in Mental Health: the drugs issue.

This article aims to show that the challenges of psychology in working with mental health in the field of drugs is traversed by both the conceptions molded by biopolitical forces (FOUCAULT) as the decadence of modern democracy (AGAMBEN), and visible features in the current treatment given in Brazil to issue of smoking (SILVA), as well as urbanistic projects such as the case of Luz district in São Paulo (LEITE & CASTRO). In this sense, it leads us to question about what is prohibited, about who actually suffers the punishment, in short, about what do we really take care when we take into account the Unheimlich (FREUD) and other social interdicts (BATAILLE).

O Psicólogo e sua inserção na Saúde Pública: estudo da situação dos profissionais maranhenses no Programa CAPS

Estudo sobre o psicólogo e sua inserção na saúde pública, a partir do programa Centro de Atenção Psicossocial CAPS, no estado do Maranhão, tendo como pressupostos as políticas de saúde mental, a atuação e a experiência profissional nesse programa. Trata-se de uma pesquisa empírica cujos dados foram obtidos a partir de instrumento constituído por entrevista semi-estruturada. Utilizou-se o Termo de Consentimento para garantia dos participantes de forma ética e segura. Os dados coletados foram analisados de acordo com o método da Análise do Discurso. O estudo teve como fundamento epistemológico as teorias do campo das Políticas Públicas, da Psicologia da Saúde e da Psicanálise. Os resultados confirmaram a hipótese levantada, sendo possível concluir que a experiência do profissional de psicologia no Maranhão está em construção no cotidiano dos CAPSs com pouca articulação teórico-prática e visibilidade dos gestores no que diz respeito às políticas públicas. Embora o programa CAPS esteja em expansão, dificuldades e desafios indicam ainda certa precariedade em sua organização, estruturação e funcionamento das ações e serviços oferecidos.

A psicologia do ego de ernst kris e seu legado para a psicanálise da arte

This article intends to discuss the importance of the ego-psychology towards the psychoanalytical interpretation of the aesthetic experience. Its focus is based on the Ernst Kris original work, therefore it intends to present certain basis of his aesthetical thinking. In this case, however, it will suggest one certain reading which emphasizes the problem of sublimation as a drive destination-and not as a defense mechanism-in within this relationship between art and psychoanalysis; hence, it brings out a phenomenon that crosses the psychoanalytical thinking since its first conception.

Vivências e repercussões psíquicas da mulher na gestação de risco: um estudo sobre a pré eclâmpsia e o vínculo materno-filial

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Instinct and the unconscious; a contribution to a biological theory of the psycho-neuroses,

Mode of access: Internet.

AUSÊNCIA PATERNA E SUAS REPERCUSSÕES SOBRE O DESENVOLVIMENTO INFANTIL

O presente estudo teve por objetivos a) investigar as repercussões da ausência paterna sobre o desenvolvimento da criança; b) descrever o conteúdo intrapsíquico de crianças com pais presentes e de crianças com pais ausentes no lar. Para tanto foram estudados três casos de crianças em idade escolar que freqüentavam uma instituição não governamental da cidade de Santos e utilizou-se dos instrumentos entrevista semi-estruturada com as mães e Procedimento de Desenho-Estória com Tema com as crianças. A aplicação foi feita nos seguintes termos, pediu-se ao participante que desenhasse uma criança e, em seguida que contasse uma estória sobre o desenho. Após, foi solicitado à criança que desenhasse o pai dessa criança e que contasse uma estória sobre esse mesmo desenho. Optamos também por aplicar o Teste das Matrizes Coloridas de Raven - Escala Especial com as crianças. Embora cada caso tivesse revelado suas peculiaridades, os resultados mostraram indicativos de distúrbios da identidade sexual, desamparo, insegurança, tendências depressivas, além de associação entre a ausência paterna, déficit cognitivo e/ou inibição intelectual. Foi também observado em um dos casos, dificuldades da mãe em permitir que o pai paternasse . Concluiu-se que a ausência paterna foi percebida pela criança não somente como a falta da pessoa do pai no lar, mas sim por sua omissão; somando-se ao fato de que a internalização da figura paterna não pareceu determinada pelo laço biológico, mas sim pela possibilidade de oferecimento à criança de identificação e afeto. Entendeu-se com esse estudo que o desenvolvimento psíquico saudável pode ser facilitado pela introjeção das boas figuras materno/paternas pela criança. Sendo assim, estudos dedicados ao tema da paternidade são tão importantes de serem explorados na atualidade quanto o foram aqueles destinados à maternidade ao longo da história da psicologia do desenvolvimento e da psicanálise. (AU)

"Beyond Freud and Jung": Sabina Spielrein's Contribution to Child Psychoanalysis and Developmental Psychology

Up to the present day, Sabina Spielrein has been seen as a means to deeper understanding of Freud and Jung and, in particular, the relationship between these two “great men”. This is also the reason why her scholarly achievements after her 1912 essay "Destruction as the Cause of Coming Into Being” are hardly taken into account. This study shows that Spielrein's main research work was in the areas of child analysis and developmental psychology—that is, beyond the work and the persons of Freud and Jung—and that she made numerous significant contributions to the field, so many of them ahead of her time.

The psychology of reading: an experimental study of the reading and movements of the eye,

Mode of access: Internet.

Eye-movements and visual imagery : a working memory approach to the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder

It has been claimed that the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can be ameliorated by eye-movement desensitization-reprocessing therapy (EMD-R), a procedure that involves the individual making saccadic eye-movements while imagining the traumatic event. We hypothesized that these eye-movements reduce the vividness of distressing images by disrupting the function of the visuospatial sketchpad (VSSP) of working memory, and that by doing so they reduce the intensity of the emotion associated with the image. This hypothesis was tested by asking non-PTSD participants to form images of neutral and negative pictures under dual task conditions. Their images were less vivid with concurrent eye-movements and with a concurrent spatial tapping task that did not involve eye-movements. In the first three experiments, these secondary tasks did not consistently affect participants' emotional responses to the images. However, Expt 4 used personal recollections as stimuli for the imagery task, and demonstrated a significant reduction in emotional response under the same dual task conditions. These results suggest that, if EMD-R works, it does so by reducing the vividness and emotiveness of traumatic images via the VSSP of working memory. Other visuospatial tasks may also be of therapeutic value.

Peripheral vision benefits spatial learning by guiding eye movements

The loss of peripheral vision impairs spatial learning and navigation. However, the mechanisms underlying these impairments remain poorly understood. One advantage of having peripheral vision is that objects in an environment are easily detected and readily foveated via eye movements. The present study examined this potential benefit of peripheral vision by investigating whether competent performance in spatial learning requires effective eye movements. In Experiment 1, participants learned room-sized spatial layouts with or without restriction on direct eye movements to objects. Eye movements were restricted by having participants view the objects through small apertures in front of their eyes. Results showed that impeding effective eye movements made subsequent retrieval of spatial memory slower and less accurate. The small apertures also occluded much of the environmental surroundings, but the importance of this kind of occlusion was ruled out in Experiment 2 by showing that participants exhibited intact learning of the same spatial layouts when luminescent objects were viewed in an otherwise dark room. Together, these findings suggest that one of the roles of peripheral vision in spatial learning is to guide eye movements, highlighting the importance of spatial information derived from eye movements for learning environmental layouts.

Experiences of countertransference: Reports of clinical psychology students

While historically linked with psychoanalysis, countertransference is recognised as an important component of the experience of therapists, regardless of the therapeutic modality. This study considers the implications of this for the training of psychologists. Fifty-five clinical psychology trainees from four university training programmes completed an anonymous questionnaire that collected written reports of countertransference experiences, ratings of confidence in managing these responses, and supervision in this regard. The reports were analysed using a process of thematic analysis. Several themes emerged including a desire to protect or rescue clients, feeling criticised or controlled by clients, feeling helpless, and feeling disengaged. Trainees varied in their reports of awareness of countertransference and the regularity of supervision in this regard. The majority reported a lack of confidence in managing their responses, and all reported interest in learning about countertransference. The implications for reflective practice in postgraduate psychology training are discussed.

Visual search and eye movements: Studies of perceptual span

In visual search one tries to find the currently relevant item among other, irrelevant items. In the present study, visual search performance for complex objects (characters, faces, computer icons and words) was investigated, and the contribution of different stimulus properties, such as luminance contrast between characters and background, set size, stimulus size, colour contrast, spatial frequency, and stimulus layout were investigated. Subjects were required to search for a target object among distracter objects in two-dimensional stimulus arrays. The outcome measure was threshold search time, that is, the presentation duration of the stimulus array required by the subject to find the target with a certain probability. It reflects the time used for visual processing separated from the time used for decision making and manual reactions. The duration of stimulus presentation was controlled by an adaptive staircase method. The number and duration of eye fixations, saccade amplitude, and perceptual span, i.e., the number of items that can be processed during a single fixation, were measured. It was found that search performance was correlated with the number of fixations needed to find the target. Search time and the number of fixations increased with increasing stimulus set size. On the other hand, several complex objects could be processed during a single fixation, i.e., within the perceptual span. Search time and the number of fixations depended on object type as well as luminance contrast. The size of the perceptual span was smaller for more complex objects, and decreased with decreasing luminance contrast within object type, especially for very low contrasts. In addition, the size and shape of perceptual span explained the changes in search performance for different stimulus layouts in word search. Perceptual span was scale invariant for a 16-fold range of stimulus sizes, i.e., the number of items processed during a single fixation was independent of retinal stimulus size or viewing distance. It is suggested that saccadic visual search consists of both serial (eye movements) and parallel (processing within perceptual span) components, and that the size of the perceptual span may explain the effectiveness of saccadic search in different stimulus conditions. Further, low-level visual factors, such as the anatomical structure of the retina, peripheral stimulus visibility and resolution requirements for the identification of different object types are proposed to constrain the size of the perceptual span, and thus, limit visual search performance. Similar methods were used in a clinical study to characterise the visual search performance and eye movements of neurological patients with chronic solvent-induced encephalopathy (CSE). In addition, the data about the effects of different stimulus properties on visual search in normal subjects were presented as simple practical guidelines, so that the limits of human visual perception could be taken into account in the design of user interfaces.