“I am doing okay”: Intrapersonal Coping Strategies of Children Living in an Institution

In this case study, we utilized a Resilience framework and Sense of Coherence theory to understand how a group of children coped while living in an institution as a consequence of HIV/AIDS. We followed a qualitative and interpretivist approach. The experiences of nine children (5 girls and 4 boys) aged between 11 and 15 years is highlighted. The primary data generation strategy was informal interviews. However, we based these interviews upon participatory task-based and multimodal activities incorporating visual (drawings, pictures), auditory (stories, conversation), tactile (clay modeling) and kinaesthetic (role play) activities to stimulate conversation and discussion. All interviews were voice recorded and the contents thereof, thematically analysed. Children living in this institution use the following intrapersonal coping strategies: a sense of spiritual connectedness, disengagement (fantasy, denial and detachment), and positive intrapersonal characteristics. Intrapersonal sources of resilience help children to establish meaningfulness and comprehensibility in their lives on a continuum of engagement or disengagement. They use spiritual connectedness and socially responsible behaviour to engage and fantasy, denial and detachment to disengage.     

The Validity of the “Mother” and “Father” Cards of the Rorschach

This article presents analyses on psychometric properties of a recent revision of the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory (SASSI-3). Participants were 772 individuals from a range of clinical settings who were independently diagnosed according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev. [DSM-III-R]; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 1987) or DSM-IV (APA, 1994) criteria regarding the presence or absence of a substance-dependence disorder. A development sample (n = 391) was used to formulate SASSI-3 decision rules that yielded 95% agreement with clinical diagnoses of substance dependence. Correspondence with the criterion variable was shown to be 97% in a cross-validation sample (n = 381) from the same clinical settings. Convergent relations were demonstrated with a variety of other indexes of substance misuse, including clinical assessments of substance abuse history, alcohol and drug-related arrests, self-reported use of illicit drugs, and other instruments designed to screen for substance misuse. Further, logistic regression analyses indicated no significant differences in the overall accuracy of the SASSI-3 as a function of respondents' demographic characteristics or clinical ratings of respondents' level of adjustment and functioning (Global Assessment of Functioning ratings; APA, 1987, 1994).     

The “Feeling of Movement”: Notes on the Rorschach Human Movement Response

Human movement responses (M) on the Rorschach have been traditionally viewed as lying neither completely in the inkblot (external reality) nor within the subject's mind (inner world). The authors contend that M is not reducible to the “body that I have” but to the “body that I am,” which is a higher level organization of bottom-up and top-down brain networks, integrating body implicit awareness, psychological functioning, and social cognition. Two sources of evidence suggest the close relationship among M, psychological functions, and brain mechanisms. One comes from meta-analytical evidence supporting the close association between M and higher level cognitive functioning or empathy. The second comes from some preliminary studies showing that M activates brain circuits included in the mirror neuron system (MNS). Two conclusions can be drawn: (a) M is related to the effective use of the mentalization function; and (b) future neuroscientific investigations could lead to an understanding of the neuropsychological mechanisms underlying Rorschach responses and variables.     

Influence of Destabilization on the Temporal Characteristics of “Volitional” Stepping

Previous work suggests that there may be fundamental differences between compensatory stepping responses evoked by postural perturbation and visually cued “volitional” stepping (e.g., gait initiation). In contrast to visual cueing, postural destabilization evokes an array of sensory inputs that are intrinsically linked to the mobilization of rapid compensatory responses. The hypothesis examined in this study was that this fundamental difference would lead to distinct changes in the temporal characteristics of the stepping response. Six healthy young adults were instructed to step quickly in response to either visual cueing or anterioposterior platform motion. Both forward and backward stepping responses were characterized, using measures of vertical ground reaction force. A stereotypical temporal patterning of the stepping response occurred in both stimulus conditions and both directions of stepping, and anticipatory postural adjustments were evident in all trials. However, postural destabilization led to a more rapid initiation and execution of the temporal pattern, in comparison with visually cued responses. The most pronounced effect was seen in the duration of the response, which was reduced by a factor of two, with approximately proportional foreshortening of both the preparatory and swing phases. The results suggest that sensory information conveying a state of instability has a distinct influence on the characteristics of a subsequent stepping reaction. The persistence of the anticipatory postural adjustments suggests that the failure to see this element of the response in previous studies may reflect fundamental differences between volitional and unplanned compensatory stepping.     

On the Attention — Demand Value of Rorschach Stimuli

The attention-demand value of the Rorschach stimuli was investigated by measuring free looking time elicited by each card. Reports of content were not given by Ss. There were significant differences between cards in amount of looking which they elicited. This was closely related to judged complexity of the cards (r = .78) and response productivity of the cards under normal administration of the Rorschach test (r = .72). A comparison of looking times under two instructions, non-defensive and defensive, showed that the instructional variable tended to produce greater differences in looking time for some cards than for others. Cards low in complexity showed relatively longer looking times under the defensive conditions.     

Comment on “Retention Characteristics of Motor Short-Term Memory Cues”

Marteniuk (1973) used negative results, which may be attributed to a lack of power, to question the adequacy of variable error as a measure of forgetting. He also used these negative results, along with constant error results which were consistent with the Laabs (1971, 1973) model of motor memory, to reject parts of the model related to variable error. Caution is advised when interpreting negative results and interchanging dependent measures.     

The Rorschach and traumatic loss: can the presence of traumatic loss be detected from the Rorschach?

Loss, an expected part of everyone's life, can be a catalyst promoting significant growth. But all losses are not the same or affect everyone in like manner. Some losses are of such magnitude and intensity that individuals cannot cope, and, therefore, they keep reliving them (posttraumatic stress syndrome) as if through repeated attempts (Freud, 1923-1922/1961) they might master what had been initially so overwhelming. This study, using an inpatient hospital sample, examines the Rorschach protocols of individuals who had experienced traumatic loss in childhood or early adolescence and compares them with a control group of individuals who appear to have no such history. Our hypotheses that victims of early trauma have a distinguishing Rorschach profile was validated in the exploratory study. Further study is needed to clarify whether factors other than traumatic loss may be contributing to this profile.     

The Rorschach and Traumatic Loss: Can the Presence of Traumatic Loss Be Detected From the Rorschach?

Loss, an expected part of everyone's life, can be a catalyst promoting significant growth. But all losses are not the same or affect everyone in like manner. Some losses are of such magnitude and intensity that individuals cannot cope, and, therefore, they keep reliving them (posttraumatic stress syndrome) as if through repeated attempts (Freud, 1923-1922/1961) they might master what had been initially so overwhelming. This study, using an inpatient hospital sample, examines the Rorschach protocols of individuals who had experienced traumatic loss in childhood or early adolescence and compares them with a control group of individuals who appear to have no such history. Our hypotheses that victims of early trauma have a distinguishing Rorschach profile was validated in the exploratory study. Further study is needed to clarify whether factors other than traumatic loss may be contributing to this profile.     

Of Men and Money: Characteristics of Occupations that Affect the Gender Differentiation of Children’s Occupational Interests

Occupational interests become gender differentiated during childhood and remain so among adults. Two characteristics of occupations may contribute to this differentiation: the gender of individuals who typically perform the occupation (workers’ gender) and the particular goals that the occupation allows one to fulfill, such as the opportunity to help others or acquire power (value affordances). Two studies tested hypotheses about whether U.S. 6- to 11-year-olds show gender differences in their interest in novel jobs that were depicted as (a) being performed by men versus women and (b) affording money, power, family, or helping values. In Study 1, 98 children rank-ordered their preferences for experimentally-manipulated novel jobs, and they answered questions about their occupational values and the value affordances of jobs in which men and women typically work. In Study 2, a second sample of 65 children was used to test the replicability of findings from Study 1. As hypothesized, children were more interested in jobs depicted with same- than other-gender workers in both studies. Boys showed greater interest than did girls in novel jobs depicted as affording money in Study 1, but not Study 2. Explicit knowledge that men and women typically work in jobs that afford differing values increased with participants’ age.     

Quality of Life in Pediatric Cancer Patients: The Relationships Among Parents’ Characteristics,Children’s Characteristics,and Informant Concordance

As advancements in the treatment of childhood cancer have resulted in increasing survival rates, the psychosocial functioning of child patients has become an increasingly important issue. In this pilot study, we investigate the relationships among parents’ characteristics, children’s characteristics, and the quality of life experienced by children who are diagnosed with cancer. Forty-seven mothers, sixteen fathers, and nineteen children completed measures about their own psychological functioning as well as measures about the children’s quality of life. Mothers’ ratings of their children’s quality of life were correlated positively with the ratings provided by both fathers and the children themselves. In addition, significant relationships were found between mothers’ depression and parenting stress and children’s quality of life as well as between mothers’ and fathers’ anxiety and children’s quality of life. Finally, using regression analyses, mothers’, fathers’, and children’s ratings of their own characteristics predicted significantly their ratings of the children’s quality of life. The importance of examining the psychological characteristics of family members when assessing the quality of life of children who are diagnosed with cancer is discussed.     

A Procedural Critique of “Bender Gestalts of Organic Children: Accuracy of Clinical Judgment”

It is suggested that conclusions from a study by Wagner and Murray be tempered with respect to several procedural flaws: (a) their failure to include an appropriate control group for comparison with brain-injured Ss; and (b) failure to adequately describe the organic group. The results, therefore, cannot be taken as evidence for or against the use of the Bender Gestalt Test in differential diagnosis of brain-impaired children.     

Children’s Evaluation and Categorization of Transgender Children

Despite extant evidence of negative peer treatment of transgender adolescents and adults, little is known about how young children perceive transgender peers, particularly those who have socially transitioned or are living in line with their gender rather than sex at birth. Whereas children have been shown to be averse to gender nonconformity in peers, because many transgender children appear and behave in ways consistent with their expressed gender (but not their sex at birth), it is unclear how children evaluate these identities. In 2 studies, we investigated 5- to 10-year-old children’s (N_total = 113) preferences for transgender versus gender-“typical” peers who either shared their gender identity or did not. We also examined whether children categorized transgender peers by their sex or expressed gender, as it might inform their evaluations. Children preferred cisgender peers over transgender peers; however, they also liked peers of their own gender rather than the other gender (e.g., female participants preferred girls over boys), demonstrating that the oft-documented own-gender bias plays an important role even when children are reasoning about transgender peers. Children did not reliably categorize transgender peers by sex or gender; yet those who categorized transgender peers by their sex showed greater dislike of transgender peers. The current studies are the first to investigate cisgender children’s attitudes toward transgender children and suggest that perceptions of gender categorization and conformity play a role in children’s evaluations of transgender peers.     

Challenges Since Wikipedia: The Availability of Rorschach Information Online and Internet Users’ Reactions to Online Media Coverage of the Rorschach–Wikipedia Debate

We conducted 2 studies to assess the availability of Rorschach information online and Internet users’ attitudes since the inkblots were published on Wikipedia. In the first study, the authors conducted 2 Google searches for Web sites containing Rorschach-related information. The top 88 results were classified by level of threat to test security; 19% posed a direct threat. The authors also found Web sites authored by psychologists that divulged sensitive Rorschach information. In the second study, 588 comments to online news stories covering the Rorschach–Wikipedia debate were coded as expressing favorable or unfavorable opinions regarding the field of psychology, psychologists, and the Rorschach. Eight percent of comments described unfavorable opinions toward psychology, 15% contained unfavorable opinions toward psychologists, and 35% portrayed unfavorable opinions of the Rorschach. Common themes and popular misconceptions of the Rorschach contained in these comments are described. Implications and recommendations for practice are discussed. Limitations, including the second study's narrow sample and self-selection bias, are also detailed.