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Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology

The Unconscious
Processes Lab

158 Cambridge Ave, Garden City

New York, NY 11530

Stacked Vintage Books

Research and Articles

by lab members

Conscious Intelligence is Overrated: The Normative Unconscious and Hypnosis

Hypnosis has been mysterious and controversial for hundreds of years. The legacy of this history is still with us. The philosophy of Ryle and of Dennett argue that the usual emphasis placed on states of conscious- ness and privileged access is misplaced. Cognitive neuroscience sup- ports this by showing that unconscious processes explain much of our functioning and that what we call consciousness and privileged access is illusory. Attribution theory can largely account for the subjective states that have been seen as characteristic of and unique to hypnosis.

The Modular Assessment of Risk for Imminent Suicide (MARIS)

Reliable diagnostic tools for the short-term suicide risk assessment are needed. The recently developed multi-informant Modular Assessment of Risk for Imminent Suicide (MARIS) includes four modules: two are patient-rated and two clinician-rated. The patient-rated modules assess a proposed pre-suicidal cognitive/emotional state (Module 1) as well as patients' attitudes towards suicide (Module 2). The clinician-rated modules assess traditional suicide risk factors (Module 3) and clinicians' emotional responses to the patient (Module 4).

Distress Tolerance as a Risk Factor for Specific Internet-Use Disorders

Existing research on distress tolerance has focused on non-technological addictions and general Internet addiction; however, none explored its association with specific Internet-use addictions. This study aimed to investigate whether distress tolerance could be a risk factor for three specific Internet-use disorders: Internet gaming disorder (IGD), problematic social media use (PSMU), and problematic pornography use (PPU) guided by the interaction of person-affect-cognition-execution (I-PACE) model. As emotional regulation and distress tolerance are related but distinct constructs, emotional regulation was controlled in the current study.

Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus

This chapter reviews the identification, history, and possible etiologies of the commonly underdiagnosed idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH). It offers a thorough overview of the cognitive profile of iNPH patients in comparison to healthy adults and summarizes the cognitive improvements observed before and after intervention in these cases. The overall cognitive profile is presented, along with recommendations for strategies that may advance diagnostic clarity. Enhancing early detection and accurate diagnosis is crucial for improving patient outcomes.

Depressive Personality Disorder: An Integrative Review

Depression is one of the most pervasive disorders encountered in clinical practice. Characterological depression, otherwise known as depressive personality disorder (DPD) has been hypothesized for the last century, but never gained full recognition as an Axis-II disorder. This paper examines the evolving understanding of depression and defines the syndrome known as depressive personality. It investigates the overlap between characterological depression and other mood disorders, particularly dysthymia.

Therapist Affect Focus Patient Outcomes in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy: A Meta-Analysis

The authors systematically examined the relationship between therapist facilitation of patient emotional experience/expression and outcome in psychodynamic psychotherapy. Method: Computer and manual searches were conducted for relevant publications, and 10 independent samples of short-term dynamic psychotherapy were included in a meta-analysis. Data analysis included calculation of an overall effect size of the relationship between therapist affect focus and outcome, statistical significance, and test for homogeneity. In addition, moderator analyses were conducted to examine the potential impact of type of outcome construct used and the methodological quality of individual studies.

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