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Abstract

The effect of emotional disclosure through expressive writing on available working memory (WM) capacity was examined in 2 semester-long experiments. In the first study, 35 freshmen assigned to write about their thoughts and feelings about coming to college demonstrated larger working memory gains 7 weeks later compared with 36 writers assigned to a trivial topic. Increased use of cause and insight words was associated with greater WM improvements. In the second study, students (n = 34) who wrote about a negative personal experience enjoyed greater WM improvements and declines in intrusive thinking compared with students who wrote about a positive experience (n = 33) or a trivial topic (n = 34). The results are discussed in terms of a model grounded in cognitive and social psychological theory in which expressive writing reduces intrusive and avoidant thinking about a stressful experience, thus freeing WM resources.
... Through the act of writing, individuals have the opportunity to work through unpleasant feelings and gain a deeper understanding of themselves. Klein and Boals (2001) found that writing can greatly enhance mental clarity. Their study revealed that individuals who engaged in a 20-minute writing exercise, expressing their opinions and emotions on a specific topic, demonstrated significantly higher levels of mental clarity compared to those who did not write. ...
... Considering the result of the study, it can be deduced that the writing tasks enhanced the beta wave activities in the frontal regions of the brain. This finding corresponds to those of Klein, and Boals (2001) who believed that writing tasks can enhance attention. Prominent research reveals that the average attention span of individuals is currently estimated to be around 8 seconds. ...
... Surprisingly, many individuals are unaware that writing entails multitasking. It necessitates the simultaneous processes of composing, thinking, and reading (Klein & Boals, 2001). Consequently, this intense engagement directs attention towards the task at hand. ...
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Quantitative electroencephalogram (QEEG) quantitatively records brain wave oscillation changes in any brain activity. Beta waves are produced during brain consciousness when an external stimulus induces computation, reasoning, attention, and logical thinking. Accordingly, the present study tried to measure beta wave changes during writing to analyze the changes of beta oscillatory changes while performing a writing task at the intermediate level. The study followed a quantitative method with the quasi-experimental design. To meet the purpose, thirty foreign language learners (15 males and 15 females) participated in this study voluntarily. They were doing writing tasks while their brain waves were recorded in the F3, F4, and Fz brain regions by applying the QEEG technique. The results reported positive significant differences on beta oscillatory activities in these brain areas, indicating the effectiveness of writing task activities in enhancing attention. The study has implications for language teachers to manipulate creative writing tasks as compositions to enhance attention as a prerequisite of learning and beta waves activation. Moreover, it is suggested that TEFL scholars apply interdisciplinary approaches to uncover the effects of different tasks on brain oscillatory activities.
... Pennebaker, 1997;Frattaroli, 2006). In educational settings, it has been linked to better academic performance, increased self-efficacy, and enhanced critical thinking skills (Klein & Boals, 2001;Park et al., 2014;Qian et al., 2024). ...
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This study employed an embedded correlational mixed-method approach to examine the effectiveness of automated writing application equipped with adaptive learning (AL) strategy in enhancing the writing skills, critical language awareness (CLA), and creativity of L2 learners. The study included 80 intermediate-level participants who were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (using an AL application) or a control group (using a technology-enhanced non-AL application). Data were gathered through writing tasks, CLA and creativity questionnaires, and semistructured interviews. Quantitative data revealed that using AL strategy significantly improved writing outcomes compared to non-AL application. AL strategy offered individualized instruction, immediate feedback, and focused practice, resulting in enhanced accuracy and language proficiency. It also positively influenced CLA by providing language analysis, exposure to language variation, and discourse analysis techniques. Additionally, AL strategy promoted learners’ creativity through targeted practice, an errortolerant environment, and personalized learning paths. Qualitative data confirmed the quantitative findings, with participants in the experimental group affirming the positive effects of AL applications on writing proficiency, CLA, and creativity. The study highlights the benefits of AL strategy and offers pedagogical implications for integrating AL features in language learning contexts.
... Consequently, journals and their publishing houses are important for various reasons, depending on the purpose of the journal. At the level of personal use, excessive writing for journals can help individuals achieve their goals, track progress and growth, gain selfconfidence, improve writing and communication skills, and reduce stress and anxiety (Klein & Boals, 2001). In the world of business, use of journals can help entrepreneurs and employees stay focused, track growth, identify areas for improvement, and clarify thoughts and ideas (Bergman & McMullen, 2022). ...
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A journal publishing house grows by maintaining and increasing the level of production of journals over the years. As a result, a non-decreasing trend becomes worrisome, because it may mean some likelihood of decline in journal publications. A declining trend warrants an investigation into this aspect, and possible intervention methods for a turnaround to increase journal publications. A respected publishing house in South Africa showed declining trends in its annual yield of various of its journals. The aim of the study was to measure the journal productivity of various journals in a specified publishing house with specific objectives being to determine the level of production over the years; to compare the level of production for the various journals; and to identify the most produced and the least produced journals. A categorical multivariate time series analysis-based study design was conducted. A trend of published articles in a South African oral health-based journal publishing house was investigated for 11-years from 2008 to 2018 in which 197 journals were used. The journals were under the subfields of direct restorative dentistry (DRD), direct restorative materials (DRM), endodontics and paedodontics. Publications of the paedodontics and direct restorative dentistry and materials journals showed a decline over the years, to their extinction. There was no journal on indirect restorative materials, which is a field related to other restorative journals. Merging these could enhance the popularity of a new one. Then, the constantly low endodontics may be augmented by increasing the journal scope.
... By writing and concretizing the memory of negative events in the narrative, and describing the pressures, thoughts, a complete narrative of the stressful breast cancer event is reconstructed, increasing the degree of clarity of awareness of the cancer event. Klein et al.'s study found that expressive writing can effectively reduce intrusive thoughts [25]. "Cancer is like a bomb that tore my life apart. ...
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To explore the mechanism of the effect of expressive writing on the post-traumatic growth of breast cancer patients, and to provide evidence for the rehabilitation of cancer patients. A qualitative interview study was done among 15 young convalescent breast cancer patients who participated in expressive writing intervention in a tertiary A hospital in Guangdong Province, The interview focused on the psychological experience of post-traumatic growth in the process of expressive writing, while content analysis focuses on the content of expressive writing. The interview materials were sorted and analyzed using the Colaizzi 7-step analysis method, and the themes were organized. Results showed that Five themes were extracted from the psychological experience of the post-traumatic growth, including the personality change, the relationship change, the life change, the meaning of illness, the gratitude and dedication. The text content of breast cancer patients' expressive writing includes five dimensions: fact description, emotional expression, self affirmation, cognitive reappraisal, and meaning discovery. There were obvious post-traumatic growth in convalescent young breast cancer patients, while experiencing the negative events and negative psychology of illness. The potential therapeutic mechanism of expressive writing in breast cancer survivors includes five factors: fact description, emotional expression, self affirmation, cognitive reappraisal, and meaning discovery.
... weniger repräsentativ: "However, the overall evidence for psychological health benefits of expressive writing is not as robust or consistent as for physical health" (Baikie et al., 2012, S. 311). Zu weiteren positiven Wirkungen auf nicht gesundheitsbezogener Ebene gehören etwa ein verbesserter Notendurchschnitt bei Studierenden (Cameron & Nicholls, 1998;Pennebaker & Francis, 1996), weniger Fehlzeiten am Arbeitsplatz (Francis & Pennebaker, 1992), ein verbessertes Arbeitsgedächtnis (Klein & Boals, 2001) sowie sportliche Leistungen (Scott et al., 2003). Spätere Studien, u. a. von Pennebaker und Chung (2011) selbst sowie von Frattaroli (2006) weisen jedoch nur moderate bis kleine Effektstärken gegenüber den ursprünglich mittelgroßen Effekten expressiven Schreibens auf. ...
... weniger repräsentativ: "However, the overall evidence for psychological health benefits of expressive writing is not as robust or consistent as for physical health" (Baikie et al., 2012, S. 311). Zu weiteren positiven Wirkungen auf nicht gesundheitsbezogener Ebene gehören etwa ein verbesserter Notendurchschnitt bei Studierenden (Cameron & Nicholls, 1998;Pennebaker & Francis, 1996), weniger Fehlzeiten am Arbeitsplatz (Francis & Pennebaker, 1992), ein verbessertes Arbeitsgedächtnis (Klein & Boals, 2001) sowie sportliche Leistungen (Scott et al., 2003). Spätere Studien, u. a. von Pennebaker und Chung (2011) selbst sowie von Frattaroli (2006) weisen jedoch nur moderate bis kleine Effektstärken gegenüber den ursprünglich mittelgroßen Effekten expressiven Schreibens auf. ...
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Zusammenfassung In diesem Kapitel werden abschließende Gedanken zu dieser Arbeit vorgestellt und unter Berücksichtigung der dargestellten Ergebnisse (Kapitel 13) weiterer Forschungsbedarf aufgezeigt und formuliert.
... weniger repräsentativ: "However, the overall evidence for psychological health benefits of expressive writing is not as robust or consistent as for physical health" (Baikie et al., 2012, S. 311). Zu weiteren positiven Wirkungen auf nicht gesundheitsbezogener Ebene gehören etwa ein verbesserter Notendurchschnitt bei Studierenden (Cameron & Nicholls, 1998;Pennebaker & Francis, 1996), weniger Fehlzeiten am Arbeitsplatz (Francis & Pennebaker, 1992), ein verbessertes Arbeitsgedächtnis (Klein & Boals, 2001) sowie sportliche Leistungen (Scott et al., 2003). Spätere Studien, u. a. von Pennebaker und Chung (2011) selbst sowie von Frattaroli (2006) weisen jedoch nur moderate bis kleine Effektstärken gegenüber den ursprünglich mittelgroßen Effekten expressiven Schreibens auf. ...
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Zusammenfassung Nachdem in Abschnitt 12.2 durch individuelle Fallbeschreibungen die jeweiligen Pflegesituationen und -beziehungen eingehend beschrieben wurden, erfolgt nun eine fallübergreifende Ergebnisdarstellung. Dabei werden mit Blick auf die in Kapitel 6 dargestellten Forschungsfragen die induktiv und deduktiv ausgewerteten Analyseergebnisse der Tagebucheinträge sowie der Interviews aufgezeigt und interpretiert. Dabei liegt der Fokus auf der Beschreibung und Wahrnehmung schöner Momente, deren Wirkung auf pflegende Angehörige und Menschen mit Demenz sowie der Bewertung und Reflexion der Tagebuchmethode.
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Writing can facilitate existential change by helping individuals to address existential issues within themselves. Writing can help the individual to recognize and revise dysfunctional thought patterns and find a new perspective about themselves and their life. Writing therapy can encourage self-analysis in existential crises and support the search for meaning and existential reframing. Writing can help in the self-healing process by reducing feelings of powerlessness as a result of trauma. Writing therapy can be used as a tool to manipulate and reshape traumatic events, enabling the transfer of emotional truths. In the Turkish literature, there are no studies on the use of writing therapy in applied and clinical psychology. Writing therapy is a form of therapy that uses the act of writing to address emotional, psychological and physical problems. Different techniques are used and can be done independently or with a therapist. It can provide emotional healing, mental growth and personal development. The aim of this study is to examine the potential applicability of writing therapy. In the study, the "document review-literature review" method was used as a data collection method. Writing therapy is an effective method for coping with mental disorders. It has positive effects on post-traumatic stress, anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, grief and loss, substance abuse, eating disorders, interpersonal relationship problems, communication skill problems and low self-esteem. The short-term effects of writing therapy can sometimes be feelings of discomfort or negative mood, but in the long term it can provide many mental and physical health benefits. Writing therapy represents an effective method of psychotherapy that can help individuals who have difficulty expressing their emotions and is an effective, feasible and affordable therapy option for a range of psychopathology issues in clinical psychology. However, more research is needed on how long-lasting the effects of writing therapy are. Özet: Yazma, bireyin kendi içindeki varoluşsal sorunları ele almasına yardımcı olarak, varoluşsal değişimi kolaylaştırabilir. Yazma, bireyin işlevsiz düşünce kalıplarını fark etmesine ve gözden geçirmesine, kendisi ve yaşamı hakkında yeni bir perspektif bulmasına yardımcı olabilir. Yazı terapisi, varoluşsal krizlerde bireyin öz analizini teşvik ederek anlam arayışını ve varoluşsal yeniden çerçevelemeyi destekleyebilir. Yazmak, travma sonucu oluşan güçsüzlük duygusunu azaltarak kendi kendini iyileştirme sürecinde yardımcı olabilir. Yazı terapisi, travmatik olayları manipüle etmek ve yeniden şekillendirmek için bir araç olarak kullanılarak, duygusal gerçekleri aktarmayı sağlar. Türkçe alan yazına bakıldığında uygulamalı ve klinik psikolojide yazı terapisinin kullanımı hakkında çalışmaya rastlanmamaktadır. Yazı terapisi, duygusal, psikolojik ve fiziksel sorunları ele almak için yazma eylemini kullanan bir terapi şeklidir. Farklı teknikler kullanılır ve bağımsız veya terapist eşliğinde yapılabilir. Duygusal iyileşme, zihinsel büyüme ve kişisel gelişim sağlayabilir. Bu çalışmanın amacı yazı terapisinin potansiyel uygulanabilirliğini incelemektir. Araştırmada veri toplama yolu olarak, "belge tarama-literatür tarama" yönteminden yararlanılmıştır. Yazı terapisi, ruhsal bozukluklarla baş etmek için etkili bir yöntemdir. Travma sonrası stres, anksiyete, depresyon, obsesif-kompulsif bozukluk, yas ve kayıp, madde bağımlılığı, yeme bozuklukları, kişilerarası ilişki sorunları, iletişim becerisi sorunları ve düşük öz saygı gibi durumlar üzerinde olumlu etkileri vardır. Yazı terapisinin kısa vadeli etkileri bazen rahatsızlık hissi veya olumsuz ruh hali olabilir, ancak uzun vadede birçok zihinsel ve fiziksel sağlık yararı sağlayabilir. Yazı terapisi, duygularını ifade etmekte güçlük çeken bireylere yardımcı olabilecek etkili bir psikoterapi yöntemini temsil etmekte ve klinik psikolojideki bir dizi psikopatoloji sorunu için etkili, uygulanabilir ve ekonomik bir terapi seçeneğidir. Bununla birlikte, yazı terapisinin etkilerinin ne kadar uzun süreli olduğu konusunda daha fazla araştırmaya ihtiyaç vardır.
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The author investigated whether expressive writing enhances emotional adaptation to a stressful event (graduate entrance exams) by reducing event-related intrusive thoughts or by desensitizing people to such thoughts. Participants in the experimental group, who were instructed to write their deepest thoughts and feelings about the exam, exhibited a significant decline in depressive symptoms from 1 month (Time 1) to 3 days (Time 2) before the exam. Participants in the control group, who wrote about a trivial topic, maintained a relatively high level of depressive symptoms over this same period. Expressive writing did not affect the frequency of intrusive thoughts, but it moderated the impact of intrusive thoughts on depressive symptoms. Specifically, intrusive thoughts at Time 1 were positively related to depressive symptoms at Time 2 in the control group and were unrelated to symptoms in the expressive writing group.
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A research synthesis was conducted to examine the relationship between a written emotional expression task and subsequent health. This writing task was found to lead to significantly improved health outcomes in healthy participants. Health was enhanced in 4 outcome types—reported physical health, psychological well-being, physiological functioning, and general functioning—but health behaviors were not influenced. Writing also increased immediate (pre- to postwriting) distress, which was unrelated to health outcomes. The relation between written emotional expression and health was moderated by a number of variables, including the use of college students as participants, gender, duration of the manipulation, publication status of the study, and specific writing content instructions.
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Chapter
This chapter explores the nature of confession and inhibition. Conversely, not confiding significant experiences is associated with increased disease rates, ruminations, and other difficulties. This pattern of findings has helped in developing a useful theory of active inhibition that shares many of the assumptions of learning theory, psychodynamic models, and more recent cognitive perspectives. The chapter examines the nature of confession per se. The chapter focuses on the physiological and psychological effects of confronting or actively avoiding past traumatic experiences. Based on a number of laboratory and field studies, it is clear that requiring people to write or talk about traumas is associated with both immediate and long-term health benefits. The chapter presents a formal theory of active inhibition. The links among the theory and Freud, animal learning, and cognitive perspectives are discussed in the chapter. The chapter describes the reexamination of catharsis, the development and breakdown of the self, and the role of psychosomatics in social psychology.