Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-29T13:18:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Carolina E Perroni.pdf: 1145832 bytes, checksum: a05ff28512b53e57b44921cf8796556a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-12-20 / The present study investigated the effects of exposure to aversive events- controllable and incontrollable on the performance of young adults on an escape/avoidance task that followed such exposure. A second goal of the present study was to evaluate the possible effects of requests of verbal reports over the participants performances. Participants were 40 adults assigned to 3 groups: participants of the Escape Group were exposed to a Training Condition when an aversive sound could be turned off by his/hers responses. These participants were, then, exposed to a Test Condition (40 trials) where a second response turned off the same sound. Participants of the Yoked Group where exposed to a Training Condition similar to the Escape Group, but no responses were effective to turn off the sound. The same Test condition was programmed for participants off the Yoked and Control Groups. Participants off the Escape and Yoked Groups were assigned to 1 of 3 conditions of verbal report: they were asked if they know how to turn off the sound on the 40th trial, or 3 different trials, or on 23 trials of the Training Condition. Results did not suggest the common effects associated with helplessness. Results also showed that the verbal reports did not contribute to the emergence or to the prevention of helplessness. Results showed, on the other hand, that certain patterns of responding on the Training Condition were closely related to participants performances on the Test Condition / O presente estudo teve como objetivo investigar quais seriam os efeitos da exposição a eventos aversivos incontroláveis ou controláveis sobre o desempenho em uma tarefa posterior a tal exposição, em sujeitos humanos. Um segundo objetivo foi verificar se estes efeitos seriam alterados pela solicitação de relatos do desempenho aos participantes. Para tanto foi utilizado um procedimento de tríades, comumente usado em estudos que investigam desamparo. Os participantes também receberam, na fase de treino, solicitação de relatos acerca da tarefa e de seu desempenho. Participaram 40 adultos que foram distribuídos aleatoriamente em 7 grupos experimentais: Fuga, Emparelhado e Controle (com 8 participantes cada um) e Fuga 3, Emparelhado 3, Fuga 23 e Emparelhado 23 (com 4 participantes cada um). Os participantes (exceto do Grupo Controle) foram submetidos a duas fases experimentais (Treino e Teste), cada uma com 40 tentativas de apresentação de um som. Na Fase de Treino, os participantes dos Grupos Fuga, Fuga 3 e Fuga 23 podiam terminar o estímulo aversivo (som), caso teclassem 3 vezes a tecla F1. Para os participantes dos grupos Emparelhado, Emparelhado 3 e Emparelhado 23 nenhuma resposta era efetiva para o término do estímulo aversivo na Fase Treino. Todos esses participantes receberam em determinadas tentativas da fase de treino solicitação para que relatassem se sabiam como desligar o som: a diferença entre eles foi o momento de solicitação de relatos verbais e a quantidade de solicitações. Em uma tentativa de evitar comportamentos supersticiosos, as apresentações de sons de diferentes durações para os participantes dos Grupos Emparelhados na fase de treino foram randomizadas. Os resultados apontaram que os participantes dos Grupos Emparelhados tiveram melhor desempenho na Fase de Teste do que os participantes dos outros grupos, indicando que neste caso não se observou os efeitos da exposição a eventos aversivos incontroláveis que vêm sendo chamados de desamparo. Os participantes do grupo Fuga tiveram um melhor desempenho na Fase Teste em relação aos participantes do grupo Controle. Em relação às solicitações de relato verbal, dizer que sabia o que fazer não foi preditivo de sucesso na Fase de Teste. No entanto, as repetidas perguntas parecem ter tido o efeito de promover a descrição, pelo participante, de seu próprio comportamento, sugerindo que o perguntar poderia ter induzido algum comportamento de auto-observação. Além disso os resultados indicam que certos padrões de respostas na Fase de Treino, estão relacionados com o desempenho na Fase de Teste

Department of Psychology, University of Newcastle. Bibliography: leaves 69-78.

Dr. Lenore Walker developed battered woman syndrome to address the issue of domestic violence and to give battered women a defense in situations in which they kill their abusive partners when they are not overtly threatening them. Self-defense law is based on male on male combat. Women are less able to protect themselves in an attack by a man, and so they may preemptively attack their sleeping partners to avoid a situation in which they cannot adequately protect themselves. Battered woman syndrome explains why these battered women act in a way that is irrational to a non-battered person. Walker's theory of learned helplessness explains why the woman does not leave the abusive relationship, and the cycle of violence theory explains why she perceives an imminent threat. Battered woman syndrome is problematic in its legal application because of problems with its scientific validity and reliability. It also furthers gender stereotypes and blurs the line between a justification and an excuse defense. While, Dr. Walker's intentions were good, battered woman syndrome is inadequate. Women's difference from men still have to be acknowledged in cases in which battered women kill their husband's, but social agency framework is a more effective way to acknowledge gender differences. This framework takes into account social circumstances that would explain a woman's actions rather than including pathology. This would explain why the woman did not leave an abusive relationship. To avoid the pathology of BWS while explaining why the woman felt an imminent threat, the defense can turn to a pattern of abuse that helps her reasonably recognize when violence is likely.

The unsatisfactory achievement of adult competency among emerging adults aging out of foster care is well documented. However few studies have examined how development within the child welfare system impacts the ability to achieve competence. In this study, homeless emerging adults who had not aged out of foster care were compared to peers who were homeless and aged out of foster care. The child welfare system is a unique environment with its own policies. In order to better understand the process of development within the child welfare system, the current study used life course developmental theory to understand how the child welfare system affects the development of children and their ability to achieve competencies. Specifically, the role of learned helplessness in influencing the developmental trajectory of children aging out of foster care was examined. The data were collected utilizing participatory action research methods and the use of this methodology among homeless emerging adults is explored. The current study analyzes data collected by the Texas Network of Youth Services. The study examined issues surrounding the transition to adulthood among homeless emerging adults using a participatory action research methodology. The sample included emerging adults 18 to 25 years old who were homeless (n=134). A subset of the sample aged out of foster care. The results indicated that, 1) homeless emerging adults who have not aged out of foster care may be an appropriate comparison group for those who have aged out, 2) homeless emerging adults who aged out of foster care were more likely to have a perception of learned helplessness that may impede their ability to achieve adult competency when compared to those who did not age out of foster care, and 3) despite receiving services to prepare them for adulthood, homeless emerging adults who aged out of foster care had just as much difficulty achieving adult competency as their homeless peers who did not receive these services. Finally, results showed that the use of participatory action research among homeless emerging adults may be a promising approach for future research. Participants expressed feeling empowered and having perceptions that indicated self-efficacy. This indicated that this type of methodology may be promising in altering perceptions of learned helplessness. / text

Depression and post-traumatic stress disorder are common psychiatric comorbidities related to stress. These conditions are frequently treated with antidepressants such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s). However, there are individual differences in susceptibility to stress-induced psychopathologies and response to antidepressants. Therefore, there is a need to identify biologic factors that predict vulnerability to stress and response to treatment. Furthermore, few studies have examined the neural correlates of antidepressant treatment response in a stress-susceptible animal model. This dissertation had three specific aims: 1) to characterize behavioral predictors of stress vulnerability by studying three dimensions of temperament (reward dependence, novelty-specific activity and harm avoidance) before stress exposure using a stress-susceptible rat strain, 2) to identify the neural network effects of response and non-response to SSRI treatment using a stress-susceptible animal model, and 3) to determine the neurophysiologic correlates of helplessness susceptibility. This was examined via measurement of regional brain metabolic capacity and functional connectivity within relevant neural circuits, and measurements of corticosterone and heart rate. These effects were studied in rats that underwent inescapable shock exposure followed by escape testing. Holtzman rats showed greater predisposition to helpless behavior following inescapable shock compared to Sprague Dawley and Long-Evans strains. Also, increased activity in a novel environment and low heart rate appeared to be markers of helplessness susceptibility in Holtzman rats. Limbic-cortical network effects were identified that distinguished between responders and non-responders to antidepressant treatment in the Holtzman strain. Finally, hypermetabolism of the lateral habenula and a less interactive prefrontal-limbic cortex were identified in subjects with higher susceptibility towards helplessness within the Holtzman strain. Similar findings have been reported with other depression animal models and human neuroimaging studies. These findings support that the helpless dimension of mood disorders can be accurately modeled with the Holtzman rat strain and confirm that the lateral habenula and prefrontal cortex are key regions mediating the helpless phenotype and response to SSRI treatment. / text

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Santa Cruz, 1988. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 283-301).

A proposta geral deste estudo é examinar como o referencial psicanalítico freudiano poderia colaborar na abordagem do fenômeno da precarização do trabalho, investigando os modos de subjetivação presentes na contemporaneidade. Procuramos estabelecer um diálogo na interface psicanálise, saúde e trabalho, a partir da observação psicanalítica de um caso investigado na Vigilância em Saúde do Trabalhador do Município de São Paulo, dispondo de dispositivos de análise da articulação sujeito e sociedade e recuperando o fundamento do método psicanalítico na sua dimensão de extensão. A análise da organização do processo produtivo, no caso estudado, demonstrou que o trabalhador é submetido a uma condição de trabalho precarizada com exposições múltiplas que podem levá-lo a perda da saúde e morte precoce. A situação encontrada na empresa foi remetida ao conceito de cadeia produtiva que, sob a lente psicanalítica, revelaria uma montagem perversa, marcada pelo viés da servidão e sustentada por uma modalidade de manipulação do poder na contemporaneidade. A partir da idéia freudiana desenvolvida em O mal-estar na civilização (1930), segundo a qual o trabalho é um dos instrumentos que o homem criou para lidar com o seu desamparo (Hilflosigkeit) e viver em sociedade, foi possível articular precarização do trabalho, desamparo e servidão / The general propose of this study is to examine how the Freudian psychoanalytical approach could collaborate in the addressing the phenomenon of precariousness of the labor, investigating the contemporary ways of subjectivity construction. We seek a dialogue in psychoanalysis interface, health and work, from a psychoanalytic observation of a case investigated in the Workers Health Surveillance (VST-COVISA) of the city São Paulo, devices featuring analysis of the joint subject and society, and recovering the foundation of the psychoanalytic in dimension extension. The analysis of the organization of the production process, in the case studied, showed that the worker subjected to a precarious working condition with multiple exposures can have a loss in health and an early death. The situation faced in the company was referred to the concept of supply chain that, under the psychoanalytical lens, would reveal a perverse assembly, marked by the bias of bondage and sustained by a kind of manipulation of power in the contemporary society. From the Freudian idea developed in The civilization and its discontents (1930) whereby the work is one of the tools that the man has created to deal with his helplessness (Hilflosigkeit), it was possible to articulate precariousness of the labor, servitude and helplessness

No description available.

[pt] Este trabalho é o resultado de uma pesquisa sobre o desenvolvimento do conceito de desamparo no percurso teórico de Freud, desde os textos prépsicanalíticos do final do século XIX, até suas últimas obras na década de 1930. Investigamos como Freud compreende, a partir da categoria de desamparo, algumas das mediações presentes entre a vida psíquica e a vida política, ou ainda, alguns dos elos que unem o desenvolvimento singular dos indivíduos e o desenvolvimento geral da civilização. Analisando a categoria do desamparo, pudemos compreender como Freud passa a conceber a vida como uma dádiva conferida pelo Outro e não como o propósito máximo do ser vivente. Isto é, sem a alteridade não há destino para a pulsão senão a destruição total da vida. Tal conclusão revela a necessidade de pensarmos o aparelho psíquico como o produto de um trabalho social e não como algo essencialmente individual. / [en] This work is the result of research on the development of the concept of helplessness in Freud s theoretical trajectory from the pre-psychoanalytic texts of the end of the 19th century to his latest works in the 1930s. We investigate how Freud builds on the category of helplessness in order to understand some of the mediations that take place between psychic life and political life, or, differently put, some of the links that connect the singular development of individuals and the general development of civilization. Analyzing the category of helplessness we could understand how Freud starts to conceive life as a gift conferred by the Other and not as the highest aim of the living being. That is, without otherness there is no destination for the drive but the total destruction of life. Such conclusion shows the need to think of the psychic apparatus as the product of social work instead of something essentially individual.

No description available.