Wolfgang Tschacher

Sequences of emotions in patients with borderline personality disorder

Objective:  To investigate sequences of emotions (temporal dependence of emotions) to identify specific patterns of borderline personality disorder (BPD).

Video-based quantification of body movement during social interaction indicates the severity of negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia

In schizophrenia, nonverbal behavior, including body movement, is of theoretical and clinical importance. Although reduced nonverbal expressiveness is a major component of the negative symptoms encountered in schizophrenia, few studies have objectively assessed body movement during social interaction. In the present study, 378 brief, videotaped role-play scenes involving 27 stabilized outpatients diagnosed with paranoid-type schizophrenia were analyzed using Motion Energy Analysis (MEA). This method enables the objective measuring of body movement in conjunction with ordinary video recordings. Correlations between movement parameters (percentage of time in movement, movement speed) and symptom ratings from independent PANSS interviews were calculated. Movement parameters proved to be highly reliable. In keeping with predictions, reduced movement and movement speed correlated with negative symptoms. Accordingly, in patients who exhibited noticeable movement for less than 20% of the observation time, prominent negative symptoms were highly probable. As a control measure, the percentage of movement exhibited by the patients during role-play scenes was compared to that of their normal interactants. Patients with negative symptoms differed from normal interactants by showing significantly reduced head and body movement. Two specific positive symptoms were possibly related to movement parameters: suspiciousness tended to correlate with reduced head movement, and the expression of unusual thought content tended to relate to increased movement. Overall, a close and theoretically meaningful association between the objective movement parameters and the symptom profiles was found. MEA appears to be an objective, reliable and valid method for quantifying nonverbal behavior, an aspect which may furnish new insights into the processes related to reduced expressiveness in schizophrenia.

Modeling psychotherapy process by Time-Series Panel Analysis (TSPA)

Abstract The authors introduce the methodology of aggregated time-series analysis (time-series panel analysis [TSPA]), by which prototypical process patterns are estimated using longitudinal psychotherapy process data. Empirical trajectories of 202 outpatients (15–107 sessions) were available. Presession questionnaires provided measures of patients well-being and patients therapy motivation. TSPA was contrasted with growth curve modeling. Fixed effects were estimated in both methods. Unbalanced longitudinal data considering multiple levels can be analyzed. Using Granger causality derived from time-lagged associations, the TSPA pattern revealed feedback relationships between well-being and therapy motivation. Growth curve analysis highlighted logarithmic increases of well-being trajectories. In particular, TSPA can illuminate change mechanisms in psychotherapy field data by its nonexperimental approximation to an analysis of causal dynamic structures.

The dynamical systems approach to cognition : concepts and empirical paradigms based on self-organization, embodiment, and coordination dynamics

Intelligent Behavior - A Synergetic View (H Haken) Cognitive Coordination Dynamics (S Kelso) Grounded in the World: Developmental Origins of the Embodied Mind (Revised Reprint) (E Thelen) What is Coordinated in Bimanual Coordination? (F Mechsner & W Prinz) Cognition in Action: The Interplay of Attention and Bimanual Coordination Dynamics (J J Temprado et a.) A Synergetic Approach to Describe the Stability and Variability of Motor Behaviour (K Witte et al.) The Role of Synchronization in Perception-Action (T-C Chan et al.) A Mean-Field Approach to Self-Organization in Spatially Extended Perception-Action and Psychological Systems (T Frank & P J Beek) Efficiency Aspects of Self-Organizing Systems (W Tschacher et al.) The Embodiment of Intentionality (S Jordan) Cognitive Science, Representations and Dynamical Systems Theory (W F G Haselager) Self-Steered Self-Organization (F Keijzer) SIRN (Synergetic Inter-Representation Networks), Artifacts and Snows Two Cultures (J Fortugali) Brain Dynamics: Methodological Issues and Applications in Psychiatic and Neurologic Diseases (L Fezard) Dynamical Systems Theory: Applications to Pedagogy (J L Abraham).

Nonverbal synchrony and affect in dyadic interactions

In an experiment on dyadic social interaction, we invited participants to verbal interactions in cooperative, competitive, and ‘fun task’ conditions. We focused on the link between interactants’ affectivity and their nonverbal synchrony, and explored which further variables contributed to affectivity: interactants’ personality traits, sex, and the prescribed interaction tasks. Nonverbal synchrony was quantified by the coordination of interactants’ body movement, using an automated video-analysis algorithm (motion energy analysis). Traits were assessed with standard questionnaires of personality, attachment, interactional style, psychopathology, and interpersonal reactivity. We included 168 previously unacquainted individuals who were randomly allocated to same-sex dyads (84 females, 84 males, mean age 27.8 years). Dyads discussed four topics of general interest drawn from an urn of eight topics, and finally engaged in a fun interaction. Each interaction lasted 5 min. In between interactions, participants repeatedly assessed their affect. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we found moderate to strong effect sizes for synchrony to occur, especially in competitive and fun task conditions. Positive affect was associated positively with synchrony, negative affect was associated negatively. As for causal direction, data supported the interpretation that synchrony entailed affect rather than vice versa. The link between nonverbal synchrony and affect was strongest in female dyads. The findings extend previous reports of synchrony and mimicry associated with emotion in relationships and suggest a possible mechanism of the synchrony-affect correlation.

Reduced perception of the motion-induced blindness illusion in schizophrenia

Motion-induced blindness (MIB) occurs when target stimuli are presented together with a moving distractor pattern. Most observers experience the targets disappearing and reappearing repeatedly for periods of up to several seconds. MIB can be viewed as a striking marker for the organization of cognitive functioning. In the present study, MIB rates and durations were assessed in 34 schizophrenia-spectrum disorder patients and matched controls. The results showed that positive symptoms and excitement enhanced MIB, whereas depression and negative symptoms attenuated the illusion. MIB was more frequently found in normal subjects. The results remained consistent after adjusting for reaction time and error rates. Hence, MIB may provide a valid and reliable measure of cognitive organization in schizophrenia.

Change in Suicide Rates in Switzerland Before and After Firearm Restriction Resulting From the 2003 “Army XXI” Reform

OBJECTIVE Firearms are the most common method of suicide among young men in Switzerland. From March 2003 through February 2004, the number of Swiss soldiers was halved as a result of an army reform (Army XXI), leading to a decrease in the availability of guns nationwide. The authors investigated the patterns of the overall suicide rate and the firearm suicide rate before and after the reform. METHOD Using a naturalistic study design, the authors compared suicide rates before (1995–2003) and after the intervention (2004–2008) in the affected population (men ages 18–43) and in two comparison groups (women ages 18–44 and men ages 44–53). Data were received from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office. Interrupted time series analysis was used to control for preexisting temporal trends. Alternative methods (Poisson regression, autocorrelation analysis, and surrogate data tests) were used to check validity. RESULTS The authors found a reduction in both the overall suicide rate and the firearm suicide rate after the Army XXI reform. No significant increases were found for other suicide methods overall. An increase in railway suicides was observed. It was estimated that 22% of the reduction in firearm suicides was substituted by other suicide methods. The attenuation of the suicide rate was not compensated for during the follow-up years. Neither of the comparison groups showed statistically significant changes in firearm suicide rate and overall suicide rate. CONCLUSIONS The restriction of firearm availability in Switzerland resulting from the Army XXI reform was followed by an enduring decrease in the general suicide rate.

Nonverbal synchrony or random coincidence? how to tell the difference

Nonverbal synchrony in face-to-face interaction has been studied in numerous empirical investigations focusing on various communication channels. Furthermore, the pervasiveness of synchrony in physics, chemistry and biology adds to its face-validity. This paper is focused on establishing criteria for a statistical evaluation of synchrony in human interaction. When assessing synchrony in any communication context, it is necessary to distinguish genuine synchrony from pseudosynchrony, which may arise due to random coincidence. By using a bootstrap approach, we demonstrate a way to quantify the amount of synchrony that goes beyond random coincidence, thus establishing an objective measure for the phenomenon. Applying this technique to psychotherapy data, we develop a hypothesis-driven empirical evaluation of nonverbal synchrony. The method of surrogate testing in order to control for chance is suitable to any corpus of empirical data and lends itself to better empirically informed inference.

Less Structured Movement Patterns Predict Severity of Positive Syndrome, Excitement, and Disorganization

Disorganized behavior is a key symptom of schizophrenia. The objective assessment of disorganized behavior is particularly challenging. Actigraphy has enabled the objective assessment of motor behavior in various settings. Reduced motor activity was associated with negative syndrome scores, but simple motor activity analyses were not informative on other symptom dimensions. The analysis of movement patterns, however, could be more informative for assessing schizophrenia symptom dimensions. Here, we use time series analyses on actigraphic data of 100 schizophrenia spectrum disorder patients. Actigraphy recording intervals were set at 2 s. Data from 2 defined 60-min periods were analyzed, and partial autocorrelations of the actigraphy time series indicated predictability of movements in each individual. Increased positive syndrome scores were associated with reduced predictability of movements but not with the overall amount of movement. Negative syndrome scores were associated with low activity levels but unrelated with predictability of movement. The factors disorganization and excitement were related to movement predictability but emotional distress was not. Thus, the predictability of objectively assessed motor behavior may be a marker of positive symptoms and disorganized behavior. This behavior could become relevant for translational research.

Temporal interaction of process variables in psychotherapy

A sample of 91 courses of dyadic psychotherapy using different treatment modalities was analyzed in order to study session-by-session dynamics. The process data consisted of therapist and patient session reports and therapy outcome was evaluated by pre-post questionnaires and direct measures of change. After data reduction by principal component analysis, linear time series models of the resulting factors were computed to describe the prototypical dynamical patterns of the sample and of the modality subsamples (cognitive-behavioral, client-centered, schema-theoretical psychotherapy). It was found that the factor of Patients Sense of Self-Efficacy/Morale governed the observed dynamics of the sample, whereas the therapeutic bond factors did have less impact on the dynamics. The dynamical patterns of client-centered therapies differed from other modalities. The dynamics-outcome findings showed that direct measures of change were associated with a specific process pattern in which the patients sense of self-efficacy was supported by other process variables.