Pastoral counseling on voluntary sterilization for retarded individuals

Conclusion Wise counseling can relieve the anxiety and inner conflict of parents torn between the dread of their retarded offspring becoming a parent and the fear of an operation they believe to be illegal, immoral, and castrating.By knowing where to refer patients, clergymen can make it possible for some of these deprived members of society to find support and love within marriage without being overburdened by children they are not capable of rearing properly.The author wishes to express her sincere thanks and appreciation to the Reverend Jerry Carpenter, Reverend Robert Denton, and Reverend William H. Genne for reading this paper, and especially to the Reverend Edward L. Lee, Jr. and to Reverend Charles F. Penniman, Jr. for their many suggestions.     

Variables related to contacting/not contacting counseling services recommended by school psychologists

A study was conducted analyzing 132 referrals made by school psychologists to families for counseling outside of the school setting. Thirty-three variables were explored as having possible relationships with the outcome of the referral recommendation. Findings of this study were discussed in light of previous research, implications for practice were detailed, and study limitations noted.     

Factors related to perceived power usage in schools

Based on Raven's (1992) power interaction model, situational and personal variables were examined as determinants of power choice in educational settings. The impact of educational sector (secular, religious), class level, gender and content of conflict on perceived power usage in teacher–pupil conflicts was analysed. A total of 370 elementary and junior high school pupils and 62 teachers from the same schools responded to a series of scenarios where they were asked how often specific power bases are used by teachers in trying to gain compliance. Results indicated that harsh power bases were perceived as more prevalent in the secular educational sector rather than in the religious one, in junior high school rather than elementary school, for boys as compared with girls, and for conflicts stemming from students rather than teachers. Findings were interpreted in terms of conformity level and frequency of conflicts. The discussion also addresses the lack of correspondence between teacher and pupil responses.     

Factors related to helping behavior in preschool-age children

The present two studies were conducted to assess the prosocial behaviors (comforting and helping) of preschool children as a function of the race and gender of the subjects and peer confederates. Results indicated that black, preschool-age males demonstrated prosocial behaviors more often than did white males and females. These findings were discussed in terms of the confounding between race of child and father absence; that is, a disproportionate number of black children were living in fatherless homes. It was suggested that single parents may turn to their opposite-sex child for both emotional and physical support and thus the child learns comforting and helping behaviors early in life. Support for this suggestion was derived from the finding that the number of household chores assigned to a child was positively related to helping behavior. The present results also showed that comforting and helping behaviors were negatively related, suggesting that prosocial acts are not a function of a general personality trait but are situationally specific. Finally, it was noted that race and gender of the peer confederate were not factors in determining the prosocial responses of the subjects.     

Age-related EMG variables during maximum voluntary contraction

We studied the neuromuscular adaptation that occurs with aging by comparing changes in surface electromyography (EMG) variables from the tibialis anterior muscle in 12 young (21.4 +/- 1.7 yr. old) and 13 older subjects (70.8 +/- 3.1 yr. old). EMG variables such as the muscle fiber conduction velocity, median frequency, and averaged rectified value were calculated during maximum voluntary contraction for 5-sec. isometric contractions. The dorsiflexion force, muscle fiber conduction velocity, median frequency, and average rectified value during maximum voluntary contraction were significantly smaller in the older than in the younger group (p < .05). These results suggested that the neuromuscular system in older subjects is affected by the selective atrophy of fast twitch fibers and differences in motor unit firing statistics. Our results suggest the utility of applying the EMG observed during maximum voluntary contraction to the noninvasive evaluation of neuromuscular function in elderly persons.     

Recognition of alphabetic characters during voluntary eye movements

In this paper we reconsider the question of vision during eye movements using a novel display procedure which guarantees that the eye was not stopped at any time during the eye movement. The results of our experiment lead us to conclude that true “saccadic suppression,” is a most elusive phenomenon. Furthermore, a brief analysis of the optics of the eye movement suggests that a substantial amount the elevation of visual threshold during eye movements can be attributed to simple retinal smear if one acknowledges the dominating importance of edge effects in visual threshold measurements.     

Transpersonal approaches to counseling

The transpersonal movement is concerned with expanding the personal boundaries of individuals to facilitate mind and body self-control through various unusual modes, such as autogenic feedback, hypnosis, yoga, and meditation. This article discusses transpersonal approaches to counseling with emphasis on the possibilities of using suggestion, relaxation, hypnosis, imagery, and dreams. The author offers a concept of transpersonal counseling in which children would be trained to control their own mental, emotional, and physiological processes.     

Factors related to dysfluent speech in bilingual Cuban-American adolescents

Four bilingual Cuban-American male adolescents who were dysfluent in their primary language (Spanish) were referred to a bilingual speech pathologist. The boys and their parents were individually interviewed and administered questionnaires. Responses obtained helped explain possible reasons for the youngster's dysfluencies in only one of their acquired languages as well as reasons for the onset of the dysfluent speech. Sociological and cultural factors apparently play a major role. Parental cooperation and involvement would therefore be vital in remediation?     

Factors related to eating disorders in young adolescent girls

The objective of this study was to identify factors related to eating disorders in young adolescent girls. Three hundred eighty-five girls who were attending a career conference at a midwestern university completed the Eating Disorder Instrument (EDI) along with a biographical data sheet. The EDI is designed for the assessment of psychological and behavior traits common in eating disorders. While 81% of the young subjects were assessed to be within the range for ideal weight or were underweight, 78% preferred to weigh less. Only 14% were satisfied with their current weight. Findings for each of the subscales used revealed significant differences among the girls based on intact versus broken family; subjects' actual and preferred weight; whether the family ate meals together; average grades; age and grade in school; fathers' occupation; future career plans; place of residence; and feelings toward their mothers.     

Reduced cortical voluntary activation during bilateral knee extension

IntroductionReduced neural drive is mainly thought to explain the bilateral deficit phenomenon, i.e. the difference in maximal isometric voluntary contraction (MVC) between unilateral and bilateral contractions. The aim of the present study was to further document if bilateral knee extension is associated with changes in voluntary activation level assessed by both peripheral nerve electrical stimulation and transcranial magnetic stimulation.MethodsFourteen subjects performed unilateral and bilateral knee extensions with both superimposed femoral electrical nerve stimulation and transcranial magnetic stimulation in order to assess voluntary activation (VA_FNES) and cortical voluntary activation (VA_TMS), respectively.ResultsThere was no difference in MVC force of the tested leg when involved in unilateral and bilateral knee extensions (p = 0.87). However, a significantly reduced VA_FNES (−2.1 ± 2.4%; p = 0.01) and VA_TMS (−1.6 ± 2.7%; p = 0.04) have been evidenced during bilateral knee extension.DiscussionIt is hypothesized that counterbalances could have masked the decrease of voluntary activation during bilateral contraction.