Wilma Bucci

Pathways of Emotional Communication

The phenomena that have been characterized clinically as “unconscious communication” may be accounted for systematically as emotional communication, which occurs both within and outside of awareness. The new formulation is based on current work in cognitive science, extended to account for emotional information processing, not information processing alone, and emphasizes the structure and organization of the multiple modalities of mental processing, rather than the dimension of awareness. The process of emotional communication, as it takes place in treatment (as in all the interactions of life), is accounted for in terms of the referential process, defined within the theoretical context of the multiple code theory. The referential process operates in the patient attempting to express emotional experience, including warded off experience, in verbal form; in the analyst who listens, experiences, and generates an intervention; and in the interaction between the two.

The Referential Process, Consciousness, and the Sense of Self

The concepts of multiple code theory and the referential process are examined in relation to levels of awareness and the sense of self as characterized in recent work in neuropsychology by Damasio. The juxtaposition of subsymbolic and symbolic systems in working memory, as this operates in the referential process, is central to both consciousness and the sense of self. The roots of pathology lie in dissociation within emotion schemas; this applies at different levels for all forms of neurosis. The goal of psychoanalytic treatment is integration of dissociated schemas; this requires activation of subsymbolic, including bodily experience, in the session itself, in relation to symbolic representations of present and past experience. Implications concerning repression, resistance, the primary process, the role of language in therapeutic change, and other psychoanalytic concepts are discussed.

Linking verbal and non-verbal representations: Computer analysis of referential activity

The objective of this study was to develop a computer assisted procedure to model the Referencial Activity scales as scored by raters. Referential Activity is defined as the function of connecting non-verbal experience with language. Using a large text corpus that had been rated by experienced and reliable judges, extreme samples from both ends of the Referential Activity Scales were selected. The Characteristic Vocabularies for each of these corpora, words that were significantly more frequent in each corpus as compared to the other, were then identified. A small set of 181 frequent words was derived that accounted for half of all words in the text corpora. These words were used as dictionaries for a Computerized Referential Activity measure based on computer assisted content analysis techniques. The new measure showed a correlation with judge-scored Referential Activity of around .50 across both the development and test corpora.

Linking words and things: basic processes and individual variation

Abstract This study investigates individual differences in activity or strength of the system of referential connections between verbal and nonverbal representations in the mind. Level of Referential Activity (RA) as measured by direct naming speed is related to performance in two more complex verbal performance tasks: (1) generating descriptive terms to distinguish closely related colors; and (2) generating brief spoken descriptions of a personal experience. Subjects with rapid naming speeds were more likely to produce spoken narratives high in qualities of immediacy and objectivity, and also to use a metaphoric style in generating color terms, i.e., by using terminology referring to entities outside of the color domain. Performance in both tasks indicated greater use of ‘image to word’ links in the high RA subjects; more reliance on ‘word to word’ links in the low RA group. The function involved in RA is distinct from the type of abstract ability measured by standard verbal intelligence and fluency tests, and is also distinct from imagery ability per se.

Beneath the Surface of the Therapeutic Interaction: the Psychoanalytic Method in Modern Dress

This study represents a new generation of psychotherapy process research, using multiple perspectives on the data of the analytic situation, including impressions of the treating analyst, ratings of complete sessions by clinical judges, and objective linguistic measures. Computerized measures of language style developed in the framework of multiple code theory were applied to verbatim session recordings from a psychoanalytic case; the measures are illustrated in microanalyses of the process in two sessions. The results show agreement between the linguistic measures and clinical ratings based on a psychoanalytic perspective. The linguistic measures look beneath the surface of the therapeutic interaction by relying largely on lexical items of which clinicians are not likely to be explicitly aware, and enable a new perspective on the therapeutic discourse as seen in the graphic images of the microprocess. While the results of this study were limited to a single case, the automatized measures can be readily applied to large samples and in repeated single case designs. Two goals of process research, using measures such as those developed in this study, are discussed: to develop measures of mediating variables that can be used to identify specific treatment effects in comparative outcome studies; and, beyond this pragmatic aim, to assess development of capacities for self-exploration and self-regulation as psychoanalytic treatment goals.

Dissociation from the Perspective of Multiple Code Theory, Part I

Abstract The multiple code theory, based on current work in cognitive science and neuroscience, provides a new context for examining the psychological and biological bases of dissociative processes. As I elaborate here, we need to broaden our understanding of dissociative processes as encompassing not only means of protection against anxiety and stress, but also a broad range of positive functions that underlie courage, productivity, exploration and joy; we also need to broaden the definition of trauma to encompass a wide range of chronic as well as acute events. In this paper, I outline the spectrum of dissociative processes, as these apply in psychic sickness and health, from the perspective of multiple code theory; then examine new views on trauma and its regulation; then discuss briefly the implications of these changes in perspective for treatment of the various types of dissociative processes that clinicians encounter—and experience.

Varieties of dissociative experiences: A multiple code account and a discussion of Bromberg's case of "William".

Adaptive functioning depends on integration of subsymbolic with symbolic functions within emotion schemas, as defined by multiple code theory. Psychological disorders result from dissociations within and between emotion schemas; dissociation is implicated in varying ways in all emotional disorders. Therapeutic work, as seen in P. M. Brombergs (2003) clinical material, requires activation of subsymbolic bodily and sensory experience in the session; associated with ongoing events in the therapeutic relationship; triggering memories of the past. Reconnection of dissociated components of the emotion schemas occurs through their being activated and held in working memory. The effectiveness of interventions to facilitate such connection depends on gradual development of the therapeutic relationship, the converse of the etiology of a dissociated schema.

The Penn psychoanalytic treatment collection: A set of complete and recorded psychoanalyses as a research resource

From a set of seventeen complete and tape-recorded psychoanalyses, a sample of findings is presented: (a) the level of agreement of two clinical judges on the psychological health of these patients is adequate for the late sessions, but not for the early sessions; (b) the amount of change during psychoanalysis appears to be similar to that in the Menninger Foundation Psychotherapy Research Project; (c) psychiatric severity measures from the early sessions can yield a significant level of prediction of the later benefits from psychoanalysis. Finally, further research uses of this collection of psychoanalyses are suggested.

The Need for a "Psychoanalytic Psychology" in the Cognitive Science Field

Cognitive science has incorporated seminal concepts of psychoanalysis without acknowledging this influence. This article covers psychoanalytic ideas already incorporatedimplicitly or explicitly-in modern cognitive psychology, as well as ideas whose inclusion would benefit the cognitive field. These include the emphasis on mental models, mind-body interaction, unconscious processes, dual processes of thought, and naturalistic research milieus. The article discusses reasons why the psychoanalytic roots of these ideas have not been acknowledged and shows how the theories of multiple coding and the referential process provide a basis for bridging the psychoanalytic and cognitive science fields. Finally, it is argued that scientific psychology requires a subfield of psychoanalytic psychology that covers the integration of information-processing functions, including somatic and emotional processes, in the context of an individual’s overall goals.

Topics and Signs: Defensive Control of Emotional Expression.

This single-case study examined frank disclosure of important topics in a brief exploratory psychotherapy, including topics closely related to a recent, unintegrated stressor life event. Quantitative measures of emotion and control variables showed heightened levels of both emotionally and defensive control during discourse on the topic of the stressor event. In future studies, such measures of verbal and nonverbal signs of emotional expression and defensive control might be used to identify topics in an unresolved state.