Lecture 9

Question 1

Mentalizing

Answer 1

Capacity to understand ourselves and others in terms of intentional mental states. Imaginative mental activity.

• Thinking and feeling at the same time
• Cognitive and affective
• Dynamic, constantly going on

Question 2

Window of tolerance

Answer 2

Within you’re appropriately responsive.

Above: Hyperarousal, anger, agitation, hypervigilance etc.

Under: Hypoarousal; numbness, shut down, poor self care etc.

Ineffective mentalizing is when you very quickly shoot out of window of tolerance and don’t get back to it quickly

Question 3

Non-effective mentalizing

Answer 3

Lack of doubt, very rigid. Unjustified certainty about internal mental states of self and others.
Highly emotionally aroused is in it, even though this is not per se non-effective

Question 4

Development

Answer 4

Interplay of environment, biology, caregiver (epistemic trust)

Caregiver reflects intentions of child accurately (marked/contingent/congruent)

Child than develops affect regulation, notion of mind by being in mind and agency/subjective sense of self

Question 5

Quotes for pre-mentalizing modes

Answer 5

Teleological mode (0-2.5)
- Actions speak louder than words
- Object constancy (if I can’t see it it’s not there

Psychic equivalent (+- 2)
- You think/feel/like what I feel/think/like
- Internal = external. (eg monster under the bed)

Pretend mode (3-4 yr)
- Internal reality is disconnected from external reality. Not linked to experience.
- Decoupled, chair = train in pretend play

Dependent on what stage patient is in, the treatment focus is established

Question 6

Dimensions

Answer 6

Automatic vs controlled
- Implicit, non conscious vs explicit, reflective

Self-focused vs Other-focused
- From own perspective vs focus on other, resonating

Interior-focused vs Exterior-focused
- Focus on self and others internal world vs on external/physical cues

Cognitive vs Affective
- Understanding, taking perspective vs feeling

Question 7

Dimensions

Answer 7

Automatic vs controlled
- Implicit, non conscious vs explicit, reflective

Self-focused vs Other-focused
- From own perspective vs focus on other, resonating

Interior-focused vs Exterior-focused
- Focus on self and others internal world vs on external/physical cues

Cognitive vs Affective
- Understanding, taking perspective vs feeling

Question 8

Epistemic trust

Answer 8

a filter that is used to choose/ be open to learn from the social world around us. Focus on filtering which info is reliable and relevant. This filter is disturbed in psychopathology

Question 9

Experiment epistemic trust

Answer 9

Conditions:
- Same or different caregiver
- Caregiver gives the child attention vs not

Results:
- When attention is given, 70% the child has learned the preference of the caregiver
- If the other caregiver asks for it, still 70% gives right one back. it has generalized.

• In the condition where exp. does not give attention: Still 70% gives the object to the same caregiver
• When the other comes in, it is back to 50/50. It did not generalize.

Conclusion:
- Child learns, but doesn’t take it in as generalizable significant meaning.