Michael Wogan

Sex Difference and Task Effects in Lateralization of EEG-Alpha

Hemispheric lateralization of alpha band power in the temporal (T3/T4) EEG was studied in 11 subjects, 5 females and 6 males, performing 7 tasks, including Block Designs, Mental Letter, Embedded Figures Test, and Rod and Frame Test. Each block of 7 tasks was repeated 4 times. The findings indicate that, depending on the task, males are more consistently right-or left-lateralized, than females. While males tend to adopt consistent processing strategies on tasks such as Block Designs, the Rod and Frame Test, or Mental Letter, females fail to show consistent lateralization across replications. The findings are intepreted in terms of the effects of socialization on both task performance and cerebral lateralization.

Influencing Interaction and Outcomes in Group Psychotherapy

It has frequently been observed (Tuckman, 1965; Yalom, 1970) that therapy groups tend to develop trust and effectiveness through a slow progression of stages. It would be beneficial, as well as economical, if some way could be found to shorten the amount of time it would take for a group to build up functional cohesiveness and to interact in ways which maximize therapeutic learning. This seems particularly pertinent to short-term groups. Recent research by Schaul (1971) has demonstrated that significant changes could be made in the rates of interaction and content of discussion in groups in a laboratory setting by appropriate preliminary manipulations. In her experiment there were three treatment conditions, in addition to the

An Inmate Classification System Based on PCL: SV Factor Scores in a Sample of Prison Inmates

Abstract Psychopaths represent a significant management challenge in a prison population. A sample of ninety-five male inmates from three medium security prisons was tested using the Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV). Using traditional criteria, 22% of the inmates were classified as psychopaths. Scores on the two factor dimensions of the PCL:SV were used to develop a four-way classification system. Inmates in each quadrant present unique characteristics, both in terms of personality traits and behavior. Management and treatment options are outlined for each of the four quadrants.

Management of Pain Through Cerebral Activation

The present experiment was designed to explore the relationship between pain, language and cerebral functioning in normal subjects, as an analogue to alexithymia. Left hemisphere cerebral activation,

EEG measures of alternative strategies used by subjects to solve block designs.

Twenty-one subjects performing block designs were videotaped while simulataneous EEG measures were recorded. Blind raters classified each 10-sec videotape sample into one of five categories for “strategy of approach” to the block design task. Subsequent correlations were obtained between rated strategy of approach and EEG measures. Strategies were found to differ in amount of right hemisphere alpha activity present, indicating varying amounts of right hemisphere involvement, depending on the strategy employed.

The psychoanalytic theory of addiction: A reevaluation by use of a statistical model

The theories and methods of psychoanalysis have had a profound influence on the other human sciences. 1-3 However, movement in the other direction--from other human sciences to psychoanalysis--has normally been met with resistance. As Szasz has observed, this resistance may be attributed to the success of psychoanalysis in disseminating its theory and method to other sciences. 4 In a struggle to retain their distinctiveness, psychoanalysts have refined their clinical techniques and defined them as the psychoanalytic method. This methodological resistance has had a negative effect on the development and evaluation of psychoanalytic theory. Thus, Sears can write (p. 133):

A high-gain, low-noise amplifier for EEG

This paper describes an amplifier for an electroencephalograph with gain of 1×104 to 1×106 and made entirely of commercially available IC components. The two-stage amplifier has a preamplifier stage with fixed gain of 1000, and a second stage with variable gain from 1 to 100. The final stage, an anti-aliasing filter, adds a gain of 10 to the signal. The circuit has high common mode rejection, low input bias current, very low noise characteristics, low offset voltages, and offset nulling capability built into the circuit.

A Structured Intervention for Japanese Women with Breast Cancer

Editor’s Note: In this issue, our guest reviewer is Michael Wogan, Ph.D., who is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Rutgers University. Dr. Wogan first became interested in cross-cultural issues in clinical work in the early 1970s, when he was at the Mental Health Service at the University of Connecticut. He has continued with this interest since then and has had the opportunity to work with a number of international students over the years.

Discussion of “Group Therapy Program Development”

MICHAEL WOGAN, Ph.D, J.D. The article by Cox, Ilfeld, Ilfeld, and Brennan on clinician-administrator collaboration raises important issues for group therapists and other clinicians. Discussion and elaboration of these issues will be important to everyone who is interested in mental health treatment issues. As the discussion indicates, the independent practice association (IPA) is increasingly favored as an organizational device that permits clinicians to bid on treatment contracts with large health maintenance organizations (HMOs), insurance companies, employers, or other managed care organizations (MCOs). In order to survive in the era of managed care, administrative expertise has become an increasingly important skill used to deal with the demands of these large organizations. Administrators speak a common language. An effective administrator in an IPA can serve as a useful resource for gathering and shaping information, and communicating it to outside organizations or to other administrators when the IPA is embedded within a larger bureaucratic structure. Administrators collect and analyze data and are especially helpful to a treatment team when they can identify patterns of treatment use andrelapse. Out of this information, the treatment team can identify what works, what works well, and what works well for whom, all of which are important questions that clinicians rarely have time to investigate or answer. Most clinicians will welcome having information about these issues to help guide them in making choices, both for treatment of patients and in terms of resource allocation. IPAs vary widely in their organization, size, and management structure. I believe it will be useful to broaden the discussion to include questions related to the form of the organization, liability for malpractice, and