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In the natural environment, objects are frequently occluded, and people continuously complete partly occluded objects Do local processes or global processes control the completion of partly occluded objects? To answer this question, most previous studies simply asked subjects to draw the completions they “saw” Such drawing tasks are highly subjective, and they provide equivocal results Our studies are the first to use an objective, implicit paradigm (primed matching) to determine the extent to which local or global processes underlie the visual completion of partly occluded objects Our results suggest that global processes dominate perceptual completion, whereas local processes do not play a large role Therefore, local theories of completion, or theories in which local processes dominate, cannot be entirely correct

This study sought to determine whether clinically significant improvement could be obtained using a psychodynamic/interpersonal group treatment based on a comprehensive conceptualization of perfectionism. A sample of 71 community-recruited perfectionistic individuals participated in the University of British Columbia Perfectionism Treatment Study. Eighteen of these participants were initially nonrandomly assigned to a waitlist control condition. All participants completed measures of perfectionism traits, perfectionistic self-presentation, and automatic perfectionistic thoughts, as well as measures of distress including depression, anxiety, and interpersonal problems at pretreatment, posttreatment, and at a 4-month follow-up. Multilevel modeling demonstrated that perfectionism levels decreased with large effect sizes and that these decreases were associated with reductions in distress measures. Clinically significant decreases were found in all perfectionism components, and posttreatment scores on most variables were significantly lower in the treatment condition versus the waitlist control condition. The findings suggest that psychodynamic/interpersonal group treatment is effective in treating components of perfectionism.

To be perfect would require a n individual to be an automaton without charm, without character, without vitality, and almost without any redeeming qualities. . . . The human quality in each of us comes from our imperfections, from all of those "defects" that give us o u r unique personalities and make us real people. Without those "defects" we are cold, sterile, and, indeed, unlovable.

The present study tested whether perfectionism dimensions uniquely predict chronic unipolar and chronic bipolar symptoms. A sample of 121 patients and former patients completed the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, the General Behavior Inventory, and the Beck Depression Inventory. The results confirmed that the perfectionism dimensions are related to chronicity of depression symptoms. Whereas self-oriented perfectionism was uniquely associated only with chronic unipolar symptoms, both socially prescribed and other-oriented perfectionism were uniquely associated with chronic bipolar symptoms. Importantly, these relationships remained significant after controlling for the effects of concurrent state depression. Finally, only socially prescribed perfectionism was uniquely associated with state depression. The results provide support for the position that perfectionism dimensions are important in both chronic and state depression symptoms, but the perfectionism dimensions may differ in terms of their degree of association with various facets of depressive phenomena. ResumeCette etude cherche a determiner si les divers types de perfectionnisme ne permettent de pr&iire que les symptomes unipolaires et bipolaires chroniques. Cent vingt et un (121) patients et anciens patients ont rempli 1'echelle multidimensionnelle du perfectionnisme, 1'inventaire du comportement general et 1'inventaire de depression de Beck. Les resultats ont confirme qu'il existe des liens entre les types de perfectionnisme et la chronicite des symptomes de depression. Alors que le perfectionnisme oriente vers soi etait associe aux symptomes unipolaires chroniques, le perfectionnisme oriente vers les autres et le perfectionnisme prescrit par la societe etaient tous deux associes aux symptomes bipolaires chroniques. II importe de souligner que ces liens sont demeures importants meme apres qu'il y a eu controle des effets d'une depression ponctuelle concomitante. Enfin, seul le perfectionnisme prescrit par la societe etait associe a la depression ponctuelle. Les resultats justifient la position que les types de perfectionnisme jouent un role important dans 1'expression des symptomes de depression chronique et ponctuelle, mais que leur degre d'association avec les divers aspects de la depression peut varier.Depression in Canada, as elsewhere, is a common form of psychological disturbance. It has been estimated that 5% of men and 10% of women will become severely depressed at least once during their lives (Woodruff, Goodwin, & Guze, 1974). In samples of Canadian women between 18 and 65 years, approximately 8% had been clinically depressed within the previous year (Costello, 1982) and in 1994, over 1.1 million Canadians experienced a major depression episode (Diverty & Beaudet, 1997). Also, an examination of general-practice patients in Canada found that one-third of all patients were experiencing at least mild levels of depression (Barnes & Prosen, 1984; also see Costello & Devins, 1989). Depression tends to exact its toll in many ways with economic...