Broadening (and narrowing) the scope of brand relationships

The Attachment–Aversion Relationship Model proposed by Park, Eisingerich, and Park represents the latest in a series of attempts to expand, refine, and validate the increasingly popular concept of brand relationships. We find much value in the effort. We suggest, however, that researchers should avoid indiscriminate use of the term and focus on identifying the unique contribution that the notion of brand relationships can make to theory and practice. We also note how the present model could be expanded to achieve this objective.     

Private psychotherapy training in Italy: A systematic analysis

This paper examines the results of a systematic analysis, organised by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research, of private psychotherapy training in Italy. Since 1989, training in psychotherapy in Italy has been governed by a national law which recognises both public and private institutions. While the public system usually comprises approximately 150 students, the private system has grown significantly over time, registering thousands of students in hundreds of schools (for example, 19,123 students in 212 schools in 2011). Systematic analysis variables included geographical distribution, theoretical approaches, training methods, student and teacher characteristics, student’s personal psychotherapy, supervision and apprenticeships. Data were obtained from 92% of the schools. The primary issues discussed in this paper are as follows: the uneven geographical distribution of the schools; the disorderly amalgamation of traditional scientific paradigms; programmes which concentrate on theory and fail to meet international guidelines. One key issue is the excess supply with regard to demand, meaning that recently graduated psychotherapists (especially women) risk underemployment and financial hardship. Student enrolment is also increasingly problematic. This is the first paper to present an in-depth analysis of one European country’s situation in this field. The authors believe it will foster comparison and discussion internationally.     

On the Logic of Classes as Many

The notion of a "class as many" was central to Bertrand Russell's early form of logicism in his 1903 Principles of Mathematics. There is no empty class in this sense, and the singleton of an urelement (or atom in our reconstruction) is identical with that urelement. Also, classes with more than one member are merely pluralities — or what are sometimes called "plural objects" — and cannot as such be themselves members of classes. Russell did not formally develop this notion of a class but used it only informally. In what follows, we give a formal, logical reconstruction of the logic of classes as many as pluralities (or plural objects) within a fragment of the framework of conceptual realism. We also take groups to be classes as many with two or more members and show how groups provide a semantics for plural quantifier phrases.     

The relationship between auditory discrimination and oral production of Spanish sounds in children and adults

The purpose of this study was to investigate the question of age in relation to second-language learning. Specific variables investigated were the auditory discrimination and oral production of Spanish sounds. Two test were constructed: (1) The auditory discrimination test used minimal pairs of Spanish sounds, and (2) the oral production test used words that differed in only one sound. Both tests were given individually to a group of randomly chosen English monolingual speakers. A group of children (1 st-graders) and a group of adults (12th-graders) were tested to determine if both tests taken together would show one group to have a higher foreign language aptitude than the other group. While it was hypothesized that children would perform better than adults, the multivariate analysis of variance indicated that, with both tests taken together, adults were superior in auditory discrimination and oral production, supporting the idea that adults because of their cognitive advantage and maturity are more efficient and successful in these two aspects of foreign-language learning. Children did not exhibit the facility that early-foreign-language-learning advocates have postulated.This article is based on a dissertation submitted by Alba A. Rosenman to the Department of Secondary, Higher, and Foundations of Education, Ball State University. The research was supported in part by a Graduate Student Research Grant from Ball State University. I am grateful to Dr. Larry Henriksen for his help in the statistical design and analysis of the data and to Dr. Herbert Stahlke for phonetic analysis.     

Reflex conditioning in a spinal man.

A man with a completely transected spinal cord and a spastic neurogenic bladder was conditioned to void upon the presentation of an external stimulus. A classical conditioning paradigm was employed in which strong abdominal shock (unconditioned stimulus) was paired with an initially neutral mild electrical stimulation of the thigh (conditioned stimulus; CS). After the pairing trials, a reliable conditioned response of urination was elicited by the CS alone. The conditioned response did not extinguish over time, and the procedure left the bladder with clinically safe residual amounts of urine. Practical implications of the conditioning technique for the treatment of spastic neurogenic bladder conditions in spinally injured patients are discussed, as is the theoretical significance of conditioning at the reflex level in the absence of cortical involvement.     

Psychotherapy among children and teenagers in the republic of Georgia

Psychotherapy was conducted with 103 children and teenagers. Medical checkups and physiological evaluations were performed along with analyses of family relations and social environments. Problems discovered were multifarious and can be classified as those owing to age, those resulting from the Georgian lifestyle (the traditional Georgian family consists of several generations living together and provides the basic structure for the development and maturation of youth), and those that had emerged in the previous 3 years as a result of a hostile social environment. Perinatal pathology (pathological pregnancy, complicated delivery, asphyxia, and prematurity) was revealed in 30% of the cases. Psychotherapy resulted in stable psychological balance in 42% of the cases.     

A multiple change score comparison of traditional and behavioral college teaching procedures

Seventy-six students in a college-level course in human development were divided into an experimental and a control group of approximately equal size. Both groups were given a pretest composed of fill-in and multiple-choice items. The control group was exposed to conventional educational practices while the experimental group was treated in a manner similar to that described by Johnston and Pennypacker (1971), performing only on fill-in items. Post-test results showed significantly greater changes in the experimental group, regardless of the type of test item, although the difference was greater in the case of the fill-in items. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for both future research and tactics in the development of improved teaching technologies.     

Predictive factors of quality of life in acquired brain injury

Background/ObjectiveThe sequelae and the disability and dependence that follow an acquired brain injury (ABI) may result in a significant reduction in the quality of life (QoL) of those affected. The objective was to assess the QoL of a sample of Spanish patients with an ABI and analyze the influence of certain sociodemographic and injury-related variables on their QoL. Method: The sample comprised 421 adults (60% male; M_age = 53.12; SD = 14.87). Professionals and relatives assessed the patients’ QoL through the CAVIDACE scale, an ABI-specific tool based on the eight-domain QoL model. Results: Univariate analyses showed statistically significant differences in the QoL scores in several sociodemographic (age, civil status, education level, prior employment status, type of home, level of supports, loss of legal capacity, recognized dependence, and degree of dependence) and injury-related (time since the injury, location of the injury, and presence of post-traumatic amnesia) variables. The multiple linear regression showed that loss of legal capacity, time since the injury, prior employment status, location of the injury, and degree of dependence were significant QoL predictors. Conclusions: These findings provide knowledge for the development of programs aimed at reducing the negative impact of ABI on QoL.     

How to combat the negative impact of discrimination in a collectivist context? The safeguarding function of peer-oriented hope

The objective of the study was to assess the moderating role of locus-of-hope on the relations between everyday discrimination and well-being outcomes in a collectivist setting. There were 444 Filipino undergraduate students who participated in the research. Findings showed that discrimination was negatively linked to subjective well-being and flourishing while loci-of-hope (internal, external-spiritual, external-family, and external-peers) were positively associated with well-being indices. Further, external-peer locus-of-hope moderated the relations between everyday discrimination and well-being outcomes such that for those who had higher external-peer locus-of-hope, everyday discrimination may still be linked to greater well-being. The theoretical and practical implications are elucidated.