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Biomedical subjects

M J Horowitz

Publications and source records attributed to M J Horowitz.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1977

Reactions of transcendental meditators and nonmeditators to stress films. A cognitive study.

To experimentally test the claimed stress-reducing effects of Transcendental Meditation (TM), two stress films were shown to a group of 60 meditators and nonmeditators. Stress response was observed through the use of cognitive and affective measures employing content analysis techniques and self-ratings. The meditators did not show less stress response than the nonmeditators. On several self-rating scales, a group of subjects who had signed up to be initiated into TM rated themselves significantly more stressed and emotionally distressed than either a control group or meditators. There was a trend for meditators who meditated during the experiment to show less stress response to the films than meditators who were told not to meditate; however, this difference was significant on only one measure, a subjective stress scale.

Cognition↗
PubMed1977

Cognitive and interactive aspects of splitting.

The author discusses splitting, the segregation of multiple inner schemata of self and others, from the points of view of cognitive structure, cognitive process, anad interpersonal transaction. A case example illustrates how one borderline patient shifted fluidly during therapy among four isolated and sometimes incompatible representations of the doctor-patient relationship. The author concludes that therapists working with borderline patients must be aware of atypical transference patterns and may have to introduce, as a special nuance of therapy, work to stabilize patients' realistic self- and therapist images before offering interpretations.

Cognition↗
PubMed1977

The response to stress.

The normal response to stress can be understood in terms of periods of outcry, denial, and intrusive thoughts leading to working-through to completion. The general physician who understands this pattern can assist the patient through the denial phase by encouraging ventilation and through the intrusive phase by providing structure, advice, and medication to temper the painful feelings. With such assistance, most patients can integrate the stress event into their lives, with the duration of response related to the severity of the stress. A year of stress response after the death of a loved one is common. Psychiatric referral is indicated if the stress response seems unduly prolonged, has lead to maladjustive reactions, is disproportionate to the actual loss, or threatens to overwhelm the person.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1977

Visual imagery and defensive processes.

The ideas and feelings that a patient usually avoids gain expression in therapy as words, images, or acts. The model presented of these representational systems conceptualizes defensive processes as information processing decisions at the boundaries of particular systems and describes in detail the cognitive maneuvers that regulate image formation. Specification of these operations allows for acute observation and selective wording of the interpretation and direction on the part of the therapist that may help a patient override unconscious defenses by conscious choice.

Cognition↗
PubMed1975

Intrusive and repetitive thoughts after experimental stress. A summary.

Clinical research indicates a tendency to compulsive repetitions of traumatic experiences. Such phenomena have not been studied experimentally and so the generality of the tendency has been uncertain. With development of operational definitions and content analysis techniques, it was possible to quantity and examine intrusive and stimulus-repetitive thought in a series of experiments with controlled variations in subject selection, stimuli, demand set, and context. Comparison of data across experiments indicates a tendency toward intrusive and stimulus-repetitive thought that is not restricted to "traumas" or a few predisposed individuals. Intrusive and repetitive thought appears to be a general stress-response tendency seen in a large proportion of persons after even mild to moderately stressful events. It is concluded that the intrusive repetitions observed clinically are extreme forms of this general stress-response tendency.

Affect↗
PubMed1975

A cognitive model of hallucinations.

Hallucinations occur in a wide variety of altered states of consciousnes and are an important symptom in various psychiatric syndromes. Several psychological and biological theories of their origin have offered, ranging from the concept of wish fulfillment, to the hypothesis of an electorchemical release of the perceptual system, to denials that hallucinatory phenomena exist. No explanation has completely satisfied clinicans, probably because the word "hallucination" labels a complex set of phenomena. The author accepts this complexity and offers a conceptual analysis of four key dimensions of the halucinatory experience in an attempt to clarify the gamut of experiences that may be called hallucinations.

Affective Symptoms↗
PubMed1975

Sliding meanings: a defense against threat in narcissistic personalities.

Narcissistic defects are often associated with the use of habitual defensive operations in which meanings are shifted in order to protect the self-concept. Such cognitive maneuvers, used as a character style, not only protect against threatening ideas and emotional responses, but also lead to a constellation of traits and patterns of relationship that constitute a narcissistic personality disorder. Reconstruction, with clear designations of a self-as-actor, are useful in the psychotherapy of such persons provided that these reconstructions are done with the utmost tact and concern for maintenance of the therapeutic relationship.

Attention↗