N.H. Hadley – författare

Elective mutism is discussed within the context of silence and gender differences in communication. The elective mutism literature focuses on the characteristics of specific patients but little has been done in systematic theory building. Hadley addresses this issue and argues for a multidimensional theory of elective mutism. The book has five major purposes: (1) to provide a background for the problem of elective mutism by identifying the characteristics of healthy users of silence; (2) to provide a compendium of practical approaches for assessing and treating elective mutism; (3) to suggest etiological models of elective mutism based on the evaluation and synthesis of case study data; (4) to identify recurring themes and major issues in the published literature; and (5) to identify research questions related to the assessment and treatment of elective mutism. The book includes an assessment instrument for monitoring and recording information about the behaviour of silence users. It can also be used to monitor and record progress during treatment.Topics covered include characteristics of elective mutism, psychosocial factors of silence and communication, psychosocial characteristics of electively mute persons, theories of elective mutism, legal aspects of the silence user role, direct observation of behaviour, why-questions beyond direct observation, assessment of electively mute behaviour, and unsystematic informal treatments. The treatment section is extensive and includes behavioural interventions such as positive self-modelling and expressive therapies such as play therapy, phototherapy and art therapy. This text has been written for applied researchers and practitioners in the disciplines of school psychology, speech-language pathology, special education, expressive therapy, family therapy, psychiatry, clinical psychology, paediatric medicine and social work.

Undeniably, language is at the core of human existence. Merleau-Ponty (1945) posited that thought and language are one - cognition being language; language, cognition. Although such a categorical stance can be challenged from a number of theoretical perspectives as dogmatic and nonveridical, the critical role of language in humanness is irrefutable. It is what defines and distinguishes creatures at the apex of the phylogenetic scale. The fact that cognition predates verbal fluency and can take various nonverbal forms does not diminish the pivotal role of language - it is a functional requisite, an imperative. More than a mere vehicle to express thought, it transforms, modifies and shapes much of cognition. It cannot be trivialized. On many grounds man is capably rivalled by lower forms of existence - the gazelle is more graceful; the lion is stronger; the cheetah is fleeter. It is through his use of symbols that man usurps the ascendant position. Cassirer in Essay on Man (1946) described man as animal symbolicum, the animal that creates symbols and a symbolic world. Through language, humans transcend time and are able to describe events temporally removed - to reflect on the past, to conjecture the future. With words man can paint pictures, muse and dream, embrace and console, persuade and corrupt, educate and be educated. Language is a preferred performatory domain, nowhere more than in Western Civilization.

Everyone exhibits styles of movement and speech, traits and habits which are characteristic of them as people but do not contribute dir­ ectly to their purposeful activity at anyone time. Many of these will be expressions of personality of which the individual may be unaware or even cherish and which evoke a favorable or neutral response from others. Conversely, displays such as gross involuntary tics or compul­ sive rituals are a burden to the sufferer and are socially embarrassing or obnoxious. These may be manifestations of a more fundamental neurotic disorder or the product of deep-seated maladaptive learning. Nail-biting occupies a central position along such a spectrum. Al­ though it may serve as a tension-reducing or other functional device, few nail-biters would not wish to be rid of the habit but find it as difficult to eliminate as, say, an addiction to smoking. Even so, it cannot be considered abnormal in a psychiatric sense in that many nail-biters exhibit none of the traits and symptoms characteristic of mental disorder.

Everyone exhibits styles of movement and speech, traits and habits which are characteristic of them as people but do not contribute dir­ ectly to their purposeful activity at anyone time. Many of these will be expressions of personality of which the individual may be unaware or even cherish and which evoke a favorable or neutral response from others. Conversely, displays such as gross involuntary tics or compul­ sive rituals are a burden to the sufferer and are socially embarrassing or obnoxious. These may be manifestations of a more fundamental neurotic disorder or the product of deep-seated maladaptive learning. Nail-biting occupies a central position along such a spectrum. Al­ though it may serve as a tension-reducing or other functional device, few nail-biters would not wish to be rid of the habit but find it as difficult to eliminate as, say, an addiction to smoking. Even so, it cannot be considered abnormal in a psychiatric sense in that many nail-biters exhibit none of the traits and symptoms characteristic of mental disorder.

The scene is Britain in the late 40''s and early 50''s. More specifically, the location is the newly formed Psychology Depart­ ment of the University of London Institute of Psychiatry, Mauds­ ley Hospital. Hans J. Eysenck, then University Reader in Psych­ ology, had an ambitious and bold plan. unheard of for those days, which he was determined to bring to fruition come what may. First, personality was to be mapped out in terms of a small number of operationally defined, measurable dimensions. Next, these di­ mensions would be related experimentally to their as yet to be identified underlying physiological determinants. This research was to lead to a comprehensive model of psychological, social and biological activity which would account for virtually every facet of human functioning. To facilitate this grand scheme, Eysenck gathered around him a carefully selected team of eager young faculty and doctoral can­ didates among whom I had the good fortune to be included, first as a graduate student and then as a full-fledged academic. The guiding model was that of the searching student rather than the unquestioning disciple, and it was this spirit of directed but open­ minded enquiry which guided us in the decades which lay ahead. That Eysenck''s aspirations are not fully realized despite many years of intense endeavor does not detract from the intellectual excitement of those times and the impetus given to clinical psychology in the United Kingdom by these remarkable beginnings.

The scene is Britain in the late 40's and early 50's. More specifically, the location is the newly formed Psychology Depart­ ment of the University of London Institute of Psychiatry, Mauds­ ley Hospital. Hans J. Eysenck, then University Reader in Psych­ ology, had an ambitious and bold plan. unheard of for those days, which he was determined to bring to fruition come what may. First, personality was to be mapped out in terms of a small number of operationally defined, measurable dimensions. Next, these di­ mensions would be related experimentally to their as yet to be identified underlying physiological determinants. This research was to lead to a comprehensive model of psychological, social and biological activity which would account for virtually every facet of human functioning. To facilitate this grand scheme, Eysenck gathered around him a carefully selected team of eager young faculty and doctoral can­ didates among whom I had the good fortune to be included, first as a graduate student and then as a full-fledged academic. The guiding model was that of the searching student rather than the unquestioning disciple, and it was this spirit of directed but open­ minded enquiry which guided us in the decades which lay ahead. That Eysenck's aspirations are not fully realized despite many years of intense endeavor does not detract from the intellectual excitement of those times and the impetus given to clinical psychology in the United Kingdom by these remarkable beginnings.