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PubMed1997

The meaning of the symbolic function in psychoanalytic psychotherapy: clinical theory and psychotherapeutic applications.

This study presents the clinical theory and psychotherapeutic applications of symbolic function in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. The three modes of symbolic function (indexical, iconic and conventional symbolic) form the representations of the self and the object and further the unconscious fantasy, which includes the affective bond between these representations. During his/her development the child absorbs from the mother a new ego capacity (by means of identification), which I call the reflective-integration capacity. Then, the ego of the child has two crucial functions: the fantasy world adopted through the symbolic function and the reflective-integrative capacity. In psychoanalytic psychotherapy our aim is to study the fantasy world of the patient by means of the reflective-integrative capacity, or if this capacity is missing or weak, to promote its development. During psychoanalytic psychotherapy a shared area of reflection-integration is formed, in which the healing changes occur. These healing changes include mainly the formation, consolidation and enrichment of the symbolic function of the patient. The consolidation of symbolic function and the capacity to move within the different modes of symbolic function occur in the area of psychology in which there are incapabilities and/or conflicts (e.g. separation anxiety) in the patient. Clinical case material is presented to illustrate these phenomena.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

WAIS-III Digit Symbol-Incidental Learning base rates: findings for college student and patient samples.

Frequencies for Pairing and Free Recall of the WAIS-III Digit Symbol-Incidental Learning procedure were determined separately for 104 college students and 73 patients with substance abuse disorders. Means for age and education were 22.2 yr. (SD=5.1) and 14.7 yr. (SD=1.0) and 46.0 yr. and 12.2 yr. (SD=9.4), respectively. Base rate tables indicated that for Pairing, 93% of students and 89% of patients paired the number 1 with the appropriate symbol. Conversely, only 43% of students correctly paired the number 3 with its associated symbol, while 30% of patients paired the number 4 with its appropriate symbol. When Free Recall was assessed, 98% of students remembered the first symbol, but only 61% recalled the third. The most frequently recalled symbol by patients was the ninth (97%) and the most infrequently recalled symbol was the fourth (50%). The present base rate tables may be helpful for detecting unusual recall frequencies on the Incidental Learning procedures.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

New theory of hippocampal function: associated rehearsal of multiplexed coded symbols.

A new theory of the role of the hippocampus in the selective storage of information in long-term memory is presented. This theory is based on the very recent discovery that neurons in the mammalian cerebral cortex transmit extremely precise copies of patterns of discharge in time when specific sensory inputs are presented, patterns that are interpreted to code for or symbolize specific items of information. The theory incorporates and provides an explanation for both the complex and unique internal structure of the hippocampal formation (the hippocampus and associated dentate gyrus) and the roles of many of the direct and indirect connections that structure makes with other brain structures. It also explains the deficits in learning that result from damage to the hippocampus and/or tracts that provide inputs to (or outputs from) this body as well as the role of the hippocampal formation in mapping the relationship of an individual to objects in its environment. The proposed enplanation is as follows. The hippocampal formation functions as a coordinated structure that, specifically, generates multiple copies of two different kinds of symbols (i.e., specific patterns of trains of nerve discharges in time). These two kinds of patterns are respectively provided by the entorhinal cortex through the perforant-alvear pathways and by the septal region, through the fornix, one of the two inputs to and the only output from the hippocampal formation. These two separate and different kinds of patterns are used to make multiplexed patterns that are ultimately transmitted to the cingulate gyrus and from there to other cortical memory storage locations. This transmission of amplified representations of different symbols occurs through the fornix. From there they are either transmitted to the mammilary bodies in the hypothalamus and from there to the anterior thalamic nuclei or, alternatively, directly to the anterior thalamic nuclei, bypassing the mammilary bodies. These thalamic nuclei in turn project the information to the cingulate gyrus of the cortex. The effect of the transmission of these mixtures of symbols is to cause the coordinated rehearsal and selective storage of relationships between separate inputs (specifically, patterns of discharge that symbolize different aspects of input) that are of probable significance to the survival of the system. The repeated presentation of such specific combinations of representations (symbols) then causes rehearsal-consolidation of these symbol associations as more permanent memories.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Symbolic play of children with language impairment: a critical review.

There have been a number of studies that have reported on the symbolic play abilities of children assessed as demonstrating developmental language disorders or specific language impairment. In general, this research has reported significant differences in the symbolic play abilities of children with language impairment and those developing language normally. In most, though interestingly, not all cases, the differences reflected less developed symbolic play of the children with language impairments. It will be argued here that these reported differences should not be interpreted as demonstrative of marked deficits in the general representational or specific symbolic play competence of children with language impairments. It will be argued further that part of the research conducted to date on the symbolic play abilities of children with language impairment has been confounded by the encroachment of language into the research procedures, that the level of play often investigated has not been unquestionably symbolic in nature, and that the actual differences in symbolic play have not been substantial.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed2003

Estimation of entropies and dimensions by nonlinear symbolic time series analysis.

Symbolic nonlinear time series analysis methods have the potential for analyzing nonlinear data efficiently with low sensitivity to noise. In symbolic nonlinear time series analysis a time series for a fixed delay is partitioned into a small number (called the alphabet size) of cells labeled by symbols, creating a symbolic time series. Symbolic methods involve computing the statistics of words made from the symbolic time series. Specifically, the Shannon entropy of the distribution of possible words for a range of word lengths is computed. The rate of increase of the entropy with word length is the metric (Kolmogorov-Sinai) entropy. Methods of computing the metric entropy for flows as well as for maps are shown. A method of computing the information dimension appropriate to symbolic analysis is proposed. In terms of this formulation, the information dimension is determined by the scaling of entropy as alphabet size is modestly increased, using the information obtained from large word length. We discuss the role of sampling time and the issue of using these methods when there may be no generating partition.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Exploring visual-graphic symbol acquisition by pre-school age children with developmental and language delays.

The process of language acquisition requires an individual to organize the world through a system of symbols and referents. For children with severe intellectual disabilities and language delays, the ability to link a symbol to its referent may be a difficult task. In addition to the intervention strategy, issues such as the visual complexity and iconicity of a symbol arise when deciding what to select as a medium to teach language. This study explored the ability of four pre-school age children with developmental and language delays to acquire the meanings of Blissymbols and lexigrams using an observational experiential language intervention. In production, all four of the participants demonstrated symbol-referent relationships, while in comprehension, three of the four participants demonstrated at least emerging symbol-referent relationships. Although the number of symbols learned across participants varied, there were no differences between the learning of arbitrary and comparatively iconic symbols. The participants' comprehension skills appeared to influence their performance.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed2001

A dissociation between symbolic number knowledge and analogue magnitude information.

Semantic understanding of numbers and related concepts can be dissociated from rote knowledge of arithmetic facts. However, distinctions among different kinds of semantic representations related to numbers have not been fully explored. Working with numbers and arithmetic requires representing semantic information that is both analogue (e.g., the approximate magnitude of a number) and symbolic (e.g., what / means). In this article, the authors describe a patient (MC) who exhibits a dissociation between tasks that require symbolic number knowledge (e.g., knowledge of arithmetic symbols including numbers, knowledge of concepts related to numbers such as rounding) and tasks that require an analogue magnitude representation (e.g., comparing size or frequency). MC is impaired on a variety of tasks that require symbolic number knowledge, but her ability to represent and process analogue magnitude information is intact. Her deficit in symbolic number knowledge extends to a variety of concepts related to numbers (e.g., decimal points, Roman numerals, what a quartet is) but not to any other semantic categories that we have tested. These findings suggest that symbolic number knowledge is a functionally independent component of the number processing system, that it is category specific, and that it is anatomically and functionally distinct from magnitude representations.

Aged↗
PubMed1995

Teaching symbolic play skills to children with autism using pivotal response training.

Used Pivotal Response Training (PRT) to teach 7 children with autism to engage in symbolic play behaviors. Symbolic play, complexity of play behavior, and creativity of play were assessed. In addition, generalization measures were obtained across settings, toys, and play partners. Interaction with the play partners and comparison with typical controls were also examined. Results indicated that children with autism rarely exhibited symbolic play before training or after a control condition. After specific symbolic play training using PRT, all of the children learned to perform complex and creative symbolic play actions at levels similar to that of language-matched typical controls. In most cases the children generalized their play to new toys, environments, and play partners and continued to engage in symbolic play behavior after a 3-month follow-up period. In addition, interaction skills improved after training. Treatment implications for these findings are discussed.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed1984

The ideologies of despair: a symbolic interpretation of punks and skinheads' usage of barbiturates.

In this paper a symbolic approach will be used to explain the high rate of barbiturate misuse among two modern youth movements namely punks and skinheads. It will be argued that punks and skinheads are youth social protest movements which have channelled their social protest through subcultural 'style' and symbolism. Neither group has developed an articulate coherent philosophy at the self-conscious level, rather both groups express their 'style' symbolically by dress, attitudes and behaviour. Both movements are working class in ethic, but whilst punks embody a total alienation from and rejection of conventional society, the skinheads identify with a militant working class ethic. Like many people in modern society, both groups have turned to bodily symbolism as a means of expressing themselves and their position in society. The punks and skinheads interviewed came from extremely disrupted and delinquent backgrounds which may be a general tendency amongst members of these movements. It is suggested that as a result of many of their members' disrupted backgrounds, these groups have developed negative and disturbed attitudes in their ideologies which they express symbolically through the medium of their bodies in a number of ways, including through the use of drugs. Barbiturates are amongst the most self-destructive and negative of drugs and bodily behaviour induced by them provides those punks and skinheads who use drugs with an ideal vehicle for symbolically expressing their frustration and discontent.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

The role of modelling and request type on symbolic comprehension of objects and gestures in young children.

In a first study, we considered whether modelling and the type of an adult's request influenced children's ability at 1;8 and 2;2 to comprehend gestures and replica objects as symbols for familiar objects. In a second study, we evaluated whether modelling and type of request influenced children's ability at 1;8 (N = 24) to understand unfamiliar (i.e. unconventional) objects as symbols. Results of Study 1 indicated that children at 2;2 comprehended a gesture as a symbol in the absence of any previous model demonstration. All children comprehended a replica as standing for another object, although modelling marginally improved children's performance at 2;2 and decreased performance at 1;8. In general, the type of request did not influence children's comprehension of gestures or replicas as symbols. Results of Study 2 showed that modelling and request type did not influence children's understanding of objects that are unconventional and novel, as symbols. The studies converge to suggest that symbolic comprehension is a highly context-dependent ability that continues to develop over the second year.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed2004

The impact of aided language stimulation on symbol comprehension and production in children with moderate cognitive disabilities.

Over the past decade, aided language stimulation has emerged as a strategy to promote both symbol comprehension and symbol production among individuals who use graphic mode communication systems. During aided language stimulation, an interventionist points to a graphic symbol while simultaneously producing the corresponding spoken word during natural communicative exchanges. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of aided language stimulation on children with moderate cognitive disabilities. Three preschool children with moderate cognitive disabilities who were functionally nonspeaking participated in the investigation. The investigator implemented a multiple-probe design across symbol sets/activities. Elicited probes were used to determine whether the children increased their comprehension and production of graphic symbols. Results indicated that all 3 children displayed increased symbol comprehension and production following the implementation of aided language stimulation.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMed1982

Influence of alexithymia on symbolic function.

The archetypal test with nine elements (AT9), specifically designed as a tracer of symbolic function, and the psychosomatic questionnaire of Sifneos et al., for assessment of alexithymia, were both proposed within the context of a psychosomatic consultation to 49 hospitalized patients being investigated for physical symptoms representative of psychosomatic problems at large. The AT9 test enables the utilization of G. Durand's theory of the Anthropological Structures of the Imaginary, and was our theoretical support to engage upon an empirical study in the hope of contributing to the debate about the influence of alexithymia on symbolic function. Faced with the AT9 aim of having to create a mythical micro-universe through three tasks: a drawing, a story, and answers to a questionnaire, the patients exhibited different behaviors. 13 of 49 patients were found not to be alexithymic, and their symbolic function was totally comparable to a normal population. The other 36 patients were found to be alexithymic in increasing degrees, and the symbolic function was found to be abnormal in all the protocols studied. The greatest abnormality was seen in patients who scored 7-8 on the alexithymia scale where 12 of the 18 protocols showed no evidence whatsoever of a mythical micro-universe. We suggest that alexithymia does influence the symbolic function and disorganizes it the more one is alexithymic. Also depending on the type of symbolic function put forth, we would like to propose graphic documents to illustrate Freyberger's intuition about a distinction to be made within the alexithymic population between a primary and secondary form.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Symbols and their function in managing the anxiety of change: an intersubjective approach.

The author suggests that change inevitably creates anxiety because of loss and confrontation with the unknown. It is proposed that one function of symbols is to manage the anxiety of change. They do this by creating a means by which anxieties can be presented to the subject and then communicated to another mind. These creations are called symbolic because, it is proposed, their purpose is the communication as well as the incorporation of internal anxieties and desires with external exigencies, which might be termed symptoms. Viewing them in this way enables the analyst to put symbolic phenomena as they emerge in an analysis into an intersubjective perspective. The author suggests that thinking of symbols as purely intrasubjective phenomena limits our perspective. It is more technically useful to look at the communicative aspects of symbols as they present themselves to the symbolising subject; and, subsequently, to the analyst in the dialogue within the psychoanalytic setting because the objective and temporal dimension of the setting can thereby be included. Two clinical examples of symbols are discussed, one that was brought for analysis and a second that developed in the course of an analysis. One is given as an example of resistance to change, whereas the other revealed an unconscious drive for change.

Anxiety↗
PubMed2004

[Symbol-based communication in non-human primates: a C. S. Peirce's semiotic analysis].

Are (or were) there any other symbolic species? This question has been addressed by researchers from many different fields and is responsible for a historical controversy on the existence of a threshold between "symbolic creatures" vs "simple forms of language creatures". According to the mainstream ethology and comparative psychology only the Homo sapiens is cognitively equiped to produce and interpret symbols. Here, I introduce an empirically testable model of symbolic semiosis ("symbolic action of sign") supported by C.S.Peirce logical-phenomenological theory of categories. I suggest that a specific sign-user pattern of behavior, observed in non-human primate communication, indicate a transition from indexical to symbolic semiosis.

Animal Communication↗
PubMed2004

Reaction times to words vs symbols for both hands.

Reaction times were used to infer an interaction between different stimuli (verbal and symbolic) and the hand used to respond to such stimuli for 26 college students. Significant differences in reaction times were found dependent upon whether the stimulus was a word or a symbol and which hand was used in response to the different stimuli. There was more rapid mediation with significantly shorter latency for symbolic stimuli than for verbal stimuli for both the right and left hands. Also, latency was shorter for symbolic stimuli using the right hand than for verbal stimuli using the left hand. It may be concluded from this that efficacy of symbolic stimuli is primary in conveyance of denotative meaning. The primacy of symbolic stimuli for denoting meaning might be traced to evolutionary sources.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Symbolic play language during sensory integration treatment.

OBJECTIVE: Clinical writings on sensory integration treatment and theory have long professed that play serves as an important means of implementing treatment goals. However, to date, there has been little research that examines this aspect of the intervention. With the use of play language as an indicator for the occurrence of play, this study examined the frequency and characteristics associated with symbolic play language that therapists and children use during sensory integration therapy. This study is part of an ongoing research program designed to examine therapist-child interactions. METHOD: The frequency of symbolic play language observed in 41 videotaped treatment sessions of therapist-child dyads (21 children, 12 therapists) was recorded with the Challenge Coding System. The presence of symbolic play language was recorded if the child or therapist used language that incorporated the child, therapist, equipment, or activity into a symbolic or pretend play theme. The frequency of symbolic play language and percentage of time spent using play language were calculated. Associations among frequency of play language, child age, and behavior during the session (e.g., seeking assistance, cooperation) were also examined. RESULTS: Symbolic play language proved to be a major feature of sensory integration treatment sessions. It also correlated with child age and with some features associated with therapeutic interactions (i.e., child tries hard, child seeks assistance, therapist assists child, therapist modifies activity, therapist structures activity). CONCLUSION: The results suggest that these therapists used play language frequently and that this usage may support children in sensory integrative therapy to successfully accomplish activities.

Child↗
PubMed2000

[Snake as a symbol in medicine and pharmacy - a historical study].

The snake and snake venoms have stimulated the mind and imagination of humankind since the beginning of records about society. No animal has been more worshipped yet more cast out, more loved yet more despised than the snake. The essence of the fascination with fear of the snake lies within the creature's venom. Snakes have been used for worship, magic potions and, medicine, and they have been the symbol of love, health, disease, medicine, pharmacy, immortality, death and even wisdom. In the Sumer civilization (B.C. 2350-2150), designs with 2 snakes appeared. In Greek mythology (B.C. 2000-400), statues of Asclepius (God of Medicine), with "Caduceus" (made of two snakes and a staff), and his daughter Hygeia (God of Health), holding a snake and bowl, were created as symbols for medicine and health, respectively. A kind of Caduceus (1 snake and 1 staff) has been used as a symbol by the World Health Organization (WHO) and a snake and bowl as a symbol of pharmacies in Europe. Snakes have also been worshipped by old Indian peoples involved in Hinduism since 6-4th century B.C. In ancient Egypt, snake designs were used in hieroglyphs. In China, dried bodies of about 30 species of snakes are still using as Chinese medicines. In Japan, a painting of the symbol of "Genbu" (snake with tortoise) was found recently on the north wall of the Takamatsuzuka ancient tomb (7-8th century A.D.), however it is a symbol of a compass direction, and has probably less relation to medicine and pharmacy.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Symbolic participation. The role of projective drawings in a case of child abuse.

Projective drawings have long been an invaluable tool in understanding the nonverbal, preconscious world of the patient, and it is well established that the drawings of children who have suffered physical and sexual abuse display predictable variations in the representation of visual symbols. However, careful attention to the individual symbol system of young children can reveal the unexpected, particular ways that trauma may be recorded in nonverbal and kinesthetic dimensions, especially when the trauma occurs before the acquisition of language. This essay explores the history of the psychoanalytic approach to the visual arts and the central ideas about the process of image-making in response to loss. A case is then presented in which one child's idiosyncratic visual symbol became a powerful communication between patient and therapist, through its ability to evoke a mutual, nonverbal, kinesthetic experience. Through the mechanism of projection, visual symbols can serve as a meeting ground in which the therapist may be able to participate in some of the nonverbal aspects of the patient's experience. In this instance, the emergence of a stable visual symbol in the intersubjective field facilitated first an unconscious identification with the patient and then a conscious understanding that had a mutative impact on the child's ability to organize nonverbal affect states within the therapy. This chapter illustrates the utility of a psychoanalytic understanding and attention to symbolic communication in a child whose manifest anxiety was phenotypically indistinguishable from Attention Deficit Disorder.

Child Abuse↗