Laura Lucia Parolin

Mu suppression and human movement responses to the Rorschach test.

Electroencephalographic &mgr; wave suppression was investigated using all 10 static, ambiguous Rorschach stimuli. In an earlier study using four Rorschach stimuli, the two stimuli that elicited feelings of movement were associated with &mgr; suppression. In this study, we replicated this relationship using all 10 Rorschach stimuli while overcoming a number of other earlier limitations. The results strongly support the hypothesis that internal representation of the feeling of movement is sufficient to suppress the &mgr; rhythm even when minimal external cues are present. This outcome increases the generalizability and ecological validity of this approach and gives support to the traditional interpretation of the Rorschach human movement responses as being associated with cognitive functioning, empathy, and social cognition.

Mirroring Activity in the Brain and Movement Determinant in the Rorschach Test

Human movement (M) responses to the Rorschach are related to cognitive sophistication, creativity, and empathy. Recent studies also link Ms to EEG-mu suppression, an index of mirroring activity in the brain. In this article, we further investigate the link between Ms and mu suppression by testing some clinical interpretative distinctions. Previously collected EEG data recorded during the administration of the Rorschach were reanalyzed. We hypothesized that (a) among several responses investigated, only M would be associated with mu suppression, and (b) Ms with active movement, ordinary form quality, or whole human figures would be most strongly associated with mu suppression. Hypothesis 1 was fully confirmed, thus supporting that the traditional interpretation of M has a neurobiological foundation. Hypothesis 2 was partially confirmed; that is, active Ms were associated with mu suppression more strongly than passive Ms (p < .05), but no other significant differences emerged. Clinical implications are discussed.

Rorschach Comprehensive System Data for a Sample of 116 Preadolescent and 117 Adolescent Nonpatients From Italy

This project provides information on how preadolescent and adolescent nonpatients perform on the Rorschach test, administered and scored following Exners guidelines (2003). Lis, Salcuni, Parolin, and Superchi (2001) reported previously initial data for 51 adolescent nonpatients living in Italy who were administered this instrument by graduate and postgraduate students in a 2-year research course at the Psychotherapy School of the University of Padua, between July 1998 and February 2001. The current study is an extension of that work and includes information on additional adolescent nonpatients and preadolescent nonpatients, gathered between April 2001 and December 2006. The study thus includes information on 233 participants, 116 preadolescents (aged 12–14) and 117 adolescents (aged 15–18). Individuals were excluded if they had a major medical illness in the past 6 months, any psychiatric hospitalization, psychological treatment within the past 2 years, any felony conviction, or psychological testing within the past year. Interrater reliability statistics at the response level for scoring segments are reported both with percentage of agreement and iota. Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS) findings are presented.

Maternal depression and attachment: the evaluation of mother-child interactions during feeding practice.

Internal working models (IWMs) of attachment can moderate the effect of maternal depression on mother–child interactions and child development. Clinical depression pre-dating birthgiving has been found to predict incoherent and less sensitive caregiving. Dysfunctional patterns observed, included interactive modes linked to feeding behaviors which may interfere with hunger–satiation, biological rhythms, and the establishment of children’s autonomy and individuation. Feeding interactions between depressed mothers and their children seem to be characterized by repetitive interactive failures: children refuse food through oppositional behavior or negativity. The aim of this study was to investigate parenting skills in the context of feeding in mothers with major depression from the point of view of attachment theory. This perspective emphasizes parents’ emotion, relational and affective history and personal resources. The sample consisted of 60 mother–child dyads. Mothers were divided into two groups: 30 with Major Depression and 30 without disorders. Children’s age ranged between 12 and 36 months The measures employed were the Adult Attachment Interview and the Scale for the Evaluation of Alimentary Interactions between Mothers and Children. Insecure attachment prevailed in mothers with major depression, with differences on the Subjective Experience and State of Mind Scales. Groups also differed in maternal sensitivity, degrees of interactive conflicts and negative affective states, all of which can hinder the development of adequate interactive patterns during feeding. The results suggest that IWMs can constitute an indicator for the evaluation of the relational quality of the dyad and that evaluations of dyadic interactions should be considered when programming interventions.

The Impact of Administration and Inquiry on Rorschach Comprehensive System Protocols in a National Reference Sample

We investigated the impact of administration and inquiry skills on Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 1974, 1991, 1993) protocols collected for the Italian adult nonpatient reference sample. The same research team collected CS protocols on two occasions. The initial reference sample (N = 212; Lis, Rossi, & Priha, 1998) was collected under the supervision of experienced psychologists who carefully studied CS administration and scoring procedures (Exner, 1986, 1990, 1993). The second sample (N = 101; Lis, Zennaro, Calvo, & Salcuni, 2001) was collected after the team obtained additional and sustained CS training from Rorschach workshops certified instructors. Both samples were scored, reliably but they showed large differences on many codes, with protocols from the second sample being richer and more complex than the first. The results indicate that administration skills can have a dramatic impact on CS protocols and may contribute to variations in samples collected by different investigators. Training standards should be devised to insure uniform administration procedures are followed when collecting CS protocols.

Rorschach Comprehensive System Data for Two Samples of Nonpatient Children From Italy: 75 Aged 5–7 Years and 148 Aged 8–11 Years

This project provides information on how nonpatient children perform on the Rorschach test, administered and scored following Exners guidelines (1995). Lis, Parolin, Zennaro, and Mazzeschi (2001) previously reported initial data for 70 nonpatient children living in Italy who were administered this instrument by graduate and postgraduate students in a 2-year research course at the Psychotherapy School of the University of Padua between July 1998 and February 2001. The current study is an extension of that work and includes information on an additional 153 participants gathered between November 2002 and December 2006. The total number of participants includes 223 individuals, 75 5–7-year-old children in the first level of elementary school, and 148 8–11-year-old children in the second level of elementary school. Exclusion criteria are described, and interrater reliability statistics at the response level for scoring segments are reported using percent agreement and iota. Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS) findings are presented.

Rorschach Comprehensive System Data for a Sample of 249 Adult Nonpatients From Italy

This project provides information on how Italian adult nonpatients perform on the Rorschach test administered and scored following Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS) guidelines (Exner, 1995). Lis, Zennaro, Calvo, and Salcuni (2001) reported previously initial data for 101 of the nonpatients who were administered this instrument between July 1998 and February 2001 by graduate and postgraduate students in a 2-year research course at the Psychotherapy School of the University of Padua. The current study extends that previous work and includes information on an additional 148 participants gathered between April 2001 and March 2004, for a total of 249 individuals. Exclusion criteria are described and interrater reliability statistics at the response level for scoring segments are reported using both percent of agreement and iota. Comprehensive System findings are presented.

Walking on a mental time line: Temporal processing affects step movements along the sagittal space.

Time is often conceptualized in terms of space (Boroditsky, 2000; Lakoff & Johnson, 1980). For instance, the phrase “to take a step back in time”metaphorically implies amental time travel toward the past as well as an egocentric backward motion in physical space. A prevalent representation of temporal concepts, indeed, construes the past and the future as respectively behind and in front of the ego (see for a review Nú~ nez&Cooperrider, 2013). Accordingly,manual responses to pastand future-related linguistic information are faster when the response direction is compatible with a back-tofront mental time line (MTL) (Sell & Kaschak, 2011; Ulrich et al., 2012; see also Torralbo, Santiago, & Lupi a~ nez, 2006). Similarly, vocal responses referring to the sagittal space (e.g., “front” or “back”) have been shown to interfere with temporal processing (Eikmeier, Hoppe, & Ulrich, 2015; Eikmeier, Schr€ oter, Maienborn, Alex-Ruf, & Ulrich, 2013; see also Torralbo et al., 2006). These findings are consistent with the proposal of an egocentric MTL, though direct evidence supporting this representation is still needed (Bender & Beller, 2014). Indeed, the egocentric MTL is supposed to originate from our walking experience in the physical world: as people typically walk in forward direction, they consequently move forward through both space and time (Clark, 1973a). Yet, the fact that similar space-time compatibility effects emerge in both verbal and manual responses has led to discount a strong view of metaphoricmapping, whichmaintains a functional involvement of sensorimotor processes in the representation of temporal information (see for a discussion, Eikmeier et al., 2015). Accordingly, some authors have rather suggested a weak view of metaphoric mapping, which situates the MTL at higher levels of cognition (Eikmeier et al., 2015). Insofar, however, a major omission of this line of research is that manual responses were restricted to the frontal space. This does not allow to fully support the existence of an egocentric MTL, where the past and the future have been originally conceived as behind and as in front of an active ego, respectively (Clark, 1973a). On these grounds, here we reasoned that if the egocentric MTL originates from walking, temporal processing should affect step movements along the sagittal space (i.e., both in the front and in the back space). Nineteen participants were asked to categorize auditory words referring either to the past (e.g., yesterday) or to the

Distancing the present self from the past and the future: Psychological distance in anxiety and depression

Humans show a systematic tendency to perceive the future as psychologically closer than the past. Based on the clinical hypothesis that anxiety would be associated more with future threat life events, whereas depression with past loss events, here we explored whether people with anxiety- and depression-related personality traits perceive differently the psychological distance of temporal events. Results showed that the common tendency to perceive the future as psychologically closer than the past is exaggerated in individuals with anxiety-related personality traits, whereas this asymmetry drastically shrinks in individuals with depression-related personality traits. Beyond substantiating the hypothesis that the past and the future are differently faced by people with depression- and anxiety-related personality traits, the present findings suggest that temporal orientation of ones self may be greatly altered in anxiety and depression.

Attachment, social value orientation, sensation seeking, and bullying in early adolescence

In this study, bullying is examined in light of the “prosocial security hypothesis”— i.e., the hypothesis that insecure attachment, with temperamental dispositions such as sensation seeking, may foster individualistic, competitive value orientations and problem behaviors. A group of 375 Italian students (53% female; Mean age = 12.58, SD = 1.08) completed anonymous questionnaires regarding attachment security, social values, sensation seeking, and bullying behaviors. Path analysis showed that attachment to mother was negatively associated with bullying of others, both directly and through the mediating role of conservative socially oriented values, while attachment to father was directly associated with victimization. Sensation seeking predicted bullying of others and victimization both directly and through the mediating role of conservative socially oriented values. Adolescents’ gender affected how attachment moderated the relationship between sensation seeking and problem behavior.