Journal of Psycholinguistic Research最新文献

This summary paper provides a brief review of major contributions in a group of papers that were collected to honor the work of Bernard Maskit, who died in March 2024. Professor Maskit was a mathematician who contributed major theoretical and methodological advances in the study of multiple code theory and the referential process. Each of the papers in this issue incorporate applications of his ideas and the new measures that he developed. The applications include basic epistemological ideas, linguistic findings, and innovative approaches to psychotherapy theory and research. Plans for future theoretical and applied research directions are discussed.

Referential process (RP) refers to how nonverbal experiences are translated into verbal forms, and it has been proposed as a foundational framework for understanding psychotherapeutic change (Bucci, 1993; Bucci, Maskit, & Murphy, 2016; Bucci, 2013). While most of the prior research has examined RP in the context of psychodynamic psychotherapy and single-case designs, the current study examined RP in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) for 40 depressed clients. The Discourse Attributes Analysis Program (DAAP; Maskit, Bucci, & Murphy, 2012) was employed to evaluate discourse attributes within 80 session transcripts. Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) was used to analyze the data. There was a higher occurrence of affect words in EFT transcripts and a higher occurrence of reflection words in CBT transcripts reflecting each approach's theory of change. The results of the study highlighted the therapists' ability to effectively connect to their experiences and articulate themselves clearly to clients. Among the highest client-rated sessions, therapists of good outcome clients used more concrete, imagistic, specific, and clear language compared to therapists of poor outcome clients. Therapists of the good outcome group had higher WRADM (weighted referential activity mean) scores ((β =.018, p =.006) and WRADHP (weighted referential activity high proportion) scores (β =.059, p =.008). Moreover, clients' session ratings increased as therapists' WRADM (β = 15.08, p =.017) and WRADHP (β = 4.12, p =.032) increased. Contrary to the hypotheses, clients' WRADM, WRADHP, and WRAD/WRRL did not differ between highest and lowest-rated sessions, nor did they predict clients' session ratings. Clients in the two outcome groups also did not differ in terms of how much they symbolized and then reflected on their experiences. Clinical, theoretical, and measurement implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

This study examined differences in clinical process-as measured via pause length and frequency, and language-style-between in-person and Zoom treatment formats in the psychodynamic treatment of a man with a diagnosis of Body Dysmorphic Disorder. While the COVID-19 pandemic saw the widespread adoption of remote videoconferencing software across a range of talk therapy formats, differences in clinical process between Zoom and in-person treatment formats still have not been widely investigated. This study examined turn-taking dynamics in therapy, a development with ramifications for clinical process as conceptualized via the Referential Process construct of Multiple Code Theory. This study is the first application of the new T-DAAP, the Time-based Discourse Attributes Analysis Program, which analyzes transcripts using measures of Referential Process functions-Arousal, Symbolizing, and Reflecting/Reorganizing-in terms of elapsed time rather than standard methods based on word count. Differences in number and length of pauses, and Referential Process measures (WRAD and WRRL) were compared between 8 in-person and 8 Zoom sessions from the Spring of 2020. Mean pause length was significantly lower in the Zoom condition than in the in-person condition, for both participants, for both within-, and between-speakers pauses. The patient also showed a larger number of turn-taking pauses, and a higher level of Reflection in the Zoom condition, while other Referential Process measures remained largely consistent for the two participants. Ramifications for the understanding of clinical process were explored.

Language characteristics reflect the ability to connect emotions to words and thoughts, thus transforming non-verbal material into material that can be communicated to others, allowing people to share their emotional experience with others and to regulate their own emotions. In this review, we present the results from the last decade by the three main university research groups (Universities of Rome, Bergamo, and Padua) on Italian computerized linguistic measures of the Referential Process (RP). We discuss 22 studies across several clinical and non-clinical settings and populations, exploring the application of RP measures to heterogeneous materials, such as transcripts of validated clinical instruments, expressive writings, autobiographical memories, dreams, and the therapists' clinical notes. We also consider the associations between linguistic measures and psychological constructs. The results show the existence of definite linguistic characteristics in the different samples examined. Specifically, a higher use of sensory-somatic words appears to be associated with depressive states, while a greater use of abstract words is associated with defensive dimensions. Additionally, RP measures seem to capture the affective dysregulation features shown by individuals with higher alexithymia scores, indicating reduced symbolizing and affective capabilities. In general, these findings confirm a strong association between language and bodily functioning, highlighting the connection between physical arousal, emotion, thoughts, and health/pathology dimensions.

The analysis of epistemological beliefs underlying psychotherapeutic interventions has been largely neglected by research in psychotherapy, training in psychotherapy and psychology, and often by theorists of different clinical orientations. The main risks of this neglect are the unexamined adoption of the epistemology that is taken for granted by the culture and is largely inconsistent with the specifics of the object of study of psychological science; the reduction of intervention effectiveness due to the inconsistency between epistemology, theory, and practice; and the maintenance of the gap between research and practice due to the different epistemologies used by clinicians and researchers. This article discusses the scientific status of the computerized linguistic measures of the Referential Process when used for clinical and research purposes. Our claim is that these measures developed to test Wilma Bucci's multiple code theory don't represent an objective examination of the psychotherapeutic process, but rather a methodological option to guide the researcher and clinician in identifying the most plausible scientific hypotheses about the complex phenomenon of emotional communication between speakers. Comparison of data from different points of view (therapist, patient, external observer, computerized linguistic analysis, etc.) and in different contexts (therapies, psychological tests, everyday conversations, experimental situations, etc.) will be presented as promising and viable ways to examine the validity of the hypotheses based on the Referential Process theory.

In the clinical situation, there are both verbal and non-verbal interactions. Patients express themselves, whether in words or otherwise, in direct or disguised ways, whether consciously or unconsciously. Such conscious or unconscious ideas and feelings are related to personal desires, relationships with important people in their present or past life, or in the transference relationship. These ideas and feelings are organized in the brain/mind as emotion schemas. Wilma Bucci argues that emotion schemas derive from subsymbolic and symbolic processes, which may be conscious or unconscious. It is important to note that the term "emotion schema," is used much less frequently than the term "mental representation." Since too many people consider the term "mental representation" a static concept, the term "emotion schema" can be a shorthand for "emotionally infused mental representation." This paper proposes that the construct of unconscious fantasy overlaps with that of emotion schema. The importance of priming phenomena between the members of the therapeutic dyad is discussed. Each person's unconscious fantasy can serve as a prime for the other.

This is a condensed version of a series of talks given by Bernard Maskit at the Referential Process Workshop Conference, at the New York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute (July, 2023). Dr. Maskit discusses the Discourse Attributes Analysis Program (DAAP) which he created to evaluate psychotherapy and other texts utilizing measures of the Referential Process, a theory developed in the context of multiple code theory (Bucci in Psychoanalysis and cognitive science: a multiple code theory, Guilford Press, New York, 1997, 2023). Dr. Maskit's emphasis is for his audience to understand how his system can be used technically and conceptually, and to provide updates on how measures can be aligned with time to produce new insights. In the first days of the Workshop, Dr. Maskit reviewed the development of the DAAP and its measures; sections of these talks are summarized here with references to relevant publications. He then went on to focus on development of the new TimeDAAP and its crucial role in the Referential Process project. We note with sadness that Dr. Maskit died before he could review and edit his presentation for publication. Wilma Bucci participated in the work presented here and prepared Dr. Maskit's talks for publication. We thank Sean Murphy, Michael Peral and Perry Suskind for their invaluable contributions to this paper.

This study aims to explore the relationship between linguistic features of the Referential Process (RP) applied to autobiographical narratives, personality dimensions, and affect regulation capabilities in a group of women diagnosed with restrictive anorexia nervosa (AN). The study included 40 female participants hospitalized with AN during an acute phase, with a mean age of 19.50 (SD = 3.8). Participants completed several assessments, including the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory 2 (MMPI-2), the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI-3), the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), and the Relationship Anecdotes Paradigm Interview (RAP). The RAP interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed for the application of RP Linguistic Measures. The results of the correlation analysis revealed several significant associations among linguistic measures, EDI-3 scale scores, affect regulation measures, and personality dimensions. The linguistic measures indicating higher rationality, abstraction, and cognitive word usage, were associated with higher psychopathological severity in AN. Alexithymia showed significant correlations with the Affect words, supporting the perspective of MCT concerning dissociation of emotional schemas. These findings confirm the relationship between linguistic measures and the severity of the disease. Therefore, autobiographical narratives can be considered not only as diagnostic indicators, but also as variables to verify the efficacy of treatments in patients with AN.