I

In a psychopathological interview, an interviewer aims to gain access to the psychopathological phenomena that takes place in the subject’s daily life. The access to meaning is possible via the interviewer’s own subjective experience of the world and meaning system. Indeed, the psychopathologist has to becomes “immersed” in the observation process.  His own system of meaning and his immersion in the world the subject inhabits, have become processes in understanding his subject’s experiences. 

 

在精神病理學面談中，訪談者努力進入個體日常生活中出現的精神病現象。要明白當中的意義，訪談者必須運用自身對世界的主觀經歷和意義系統。精神病理學家必須沉浸於整個觀察過程。精神病理學家自身的意義系統，是否能夠沉浸在病人的生活世界，是明白病人主觀經歷的關鍵要素。

Mental representations provide a convergence between the phenomenological approach and cognitive models. Key features of representations include a limited span of awareness, as well as the use of generative linguistic structures to construct complex Situational Models to represent the social world. Mental representations handle information with constraints arising from the biological evolution of the human brain. This perspective enables the understanding of psychopathological process as failures in information handling.

 

內心表徵理論來自現象學與認知模型的匯合。表徵理論指出，人類的專注力很短暫，於是利用語言結構，建構複雜表徵，用處境模型來代表社群世界。此外，生物進化也限制了大腦的記憶容量，內心表徵處理資訊的能力也有一定能力限制。資訊理論有助我們明白，很多精神問題，或許與大腦處理資訊失效有關。

Man shows individual variations in their abilities to fruitfully engage with specific aspects of experience. Man manifests positive and negative dispositions towards objects in his Lifeworld. These dispositions prompt whether the individual engages or not engages with particular aspects of the Lifeworld (in an act of choice). The mental world of an individual develops according to these choices. Individuals have the freedom to decide whether to follow the preferences. 

 

涉身各種生活經歷的能力，每個人有明顯的差異。面對生活世界的客體，我們正面或負面的性格，都會影響我們的投入程度。我們的性格特質，會影響我們的選擇、參與生活世界的某個領域與否。內心世界隨著我們作出的選擇，一步一步建立，個體可以決定、跟從或不跟從這些取向。

The “proximal” environment represents the part of the environment that is in close proximity to the individual, for instance, personal space, home, and accessories. Importantly it is defined not only by physical proximity, but also by “informational proximity”. It is often a familiar environment associated with a sense of security. Cyberspace may play an increasingly important role. The environment that a person inhabits and manages, is a space in which personalized preferences are actualized. The person selects to engage in some directions over others. The environment can be differentiated into more controllable and less controllable domains. In daily life much energy is invested into shaping this proximal environment by personal choices. This cumulates to give a sense of personal identity. The act of choosing produces organised information that eventually conveys a sense of identity for the individual.

 

「資訊緊密環境」是指個體接連的環境部分，例如個人空間、家居與個人飾物等。重要的是，「資訊緊密環境」不單單指物理環境，更包括「資訊環境」。「資訊緊密環境」給我們熟悉的感覺，也給我們安全感。「資訊緊密環境」中，網際空間愈來愈扮演重要的角色。在這片我們居住和打理的空間，我們可以表達個人喜好，可以選擇參與的方向。環境大致可分為較大可控和較少可控的領域。在日常生活中，我們花很多精力，透過個人選擇，塑造「資訊緊密環境」。這些選擇，建構我們的內心組織，漸漸建立起一份身份認同。

In a broad sense, information may be considered as a measure of “order” (level of organisation, or complexity) in a system.  The opposite of information is “disorder” in a system. A system that is less specified (i.e. where multiple possibilities are open) is considered to be more disorderly and “low” in information. In communication (a specific case of information transfer), the information state in the recipient system changes upon arrival of signals from the sender system. The signals result in the recipient system becoming more specified (i.e. more disposed towards a specific response).

 

從一個較闊的角度去看，資訊可以被視為系統秩序的指標(例如：層次，複雜性)；相反的，當系統處於秩序混亂，系統會缺乏明確的指明 (多種可能) ，會被視為秩序混亂或資訊含量低。在溝通過程中(資訊傳遞)，傳送系統會發出信號，當信號抵達接收系統，資訊狀態會改變，資訊會變得明確，並傾向作出特定的反應。