Something to Shout About: A Simple,Quick Performance Enhancement Technique Improved Strength in Both Experts and Novices

In sports where an explosion of power or strength is necessary (e.g., weight lifting, tennis), athletes often yell or grunt to increase force production. Martial artists have used a similar technique for centuries called a kiap, but scientific evidence of its effectiveness is scarce. This study examined the effect of kiaping on strength and whether expertise influenced its effectiveness. Fifty (25 novices, 25 experts) martial artists completed a handgrip strength test under no kiap and kiap conditions. Performance for all participants was significantly better with the kiap (437.1 Newtons ± 94.9) than without (408.0 Newtons ± 90.6; p < .001).     

Participatory Evaluation: A Case Study of Involving Stakeholders in the Evaluation Process

ABSTRACT

One way to ensure that an evaluation has “utility” is to use a participatory evaluation approach where the evaluator partners with primary users to carry out various phases of an evaluation. This article provides a case study of how participatory evaluation was used in an out-of-school youth development and employment program at the Science Museum of Minnesota's Kitty Andersen Youth Science Center. Youth staff participated in a series of evaluation workshops where they learned about evaluation, made their own meaning of evaluation data, generated recommendations to improve their museum work, and ultimately took more ownership and control of their program. As a result of the workshops, youth also carried out their own formative evaluation of four museum programs. The program manager and the youth staff reaped a number of benefits from this process. The factors leading to its success are discussed.     

The Perpetrator-Motive Research Design: A strategy for understanding motivations,values, and tactics of criminal offenders

For decades, applied research in the field of behavioral criminology has been successfully utilized to develop theories and training modalities for the purpose of informing practice. One method for conducting this type of research is in-depth interviews of perpetrators. The Perpetrator-Motive Research Design (PMRD) is a 12-step methodological design, which focuses on gaining a thorough understanding of the motivations, values, needs, and tactics of those who commit offenses against others. PMRD has been employed in a pilot study conducted with captive-takers in the FBI's Global Hostage-Taking Research and Analysis Project (GHosT-RAP). Even though global captive-taking is a major domestic and international security problem that affects the interests of the United States, and poses serious challenges abroad, only a modicum of investigative attention has been directed to this problem. This void is addressed through the tripartite mission of GHosT-RAP: (1) to elicit and describe captive-taker values and paradigms, (2) to determine motivations and methods for captive-taking, and (3) to utilize resultant data to improve strategies for mitigation and prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery activities. In addition, GHosT-RAP will serve to formalize and operationalize the PMRD approach into a well-defined, systematic, and replicable process that can be used to better understand a myriad of offenders and their nominal enterprises.     

A Note on Family Acceptance Involving Interracial Friendships and Romantic Relationships

Perceptions of family acceptance concerning interracial friendships and romantic relationships were investigated in a group of 142 undergraduates. The Assessment Scale of Interracial Relationships (ASIR) was constructed by the authors and administered to 68 men and 74 women recruited from introductory psychology courses. Results showed that both men and women held negative attitudes toward interracial relationships, although Black students held more favorable attitudes than did White students. These findings also showed that the women were less accepting of interracial friendships and romantic relationships than the men were. Both Black and White students indicated that family perception of these interracial relationships would be negative.     

Changes in Immobility Responses in Rat Pups with Maternal Stimuli

Presentation of maternal stimuli to an isolated rat pup results in what has been called “comfort” responses, as indicated by both behavioral and physiological quieting. This experiment investigated the role of passive maternal stimuli on tonic immobility and dorsal immobility in 9- and 15-day-old rat pups. Although these stimuli appeared ineffective in inducing tonic immobility, presentation of the mother did produce an increase in duration of dorsal immobility in 15-day-old pups. This increase in the dorsal immobility response may reduce struggling in the presence of the mother and thereby aid the mother in transporting the infant back to the nest.     

A Comparison of Normals and Subnormals in Mirror Drawing

A sample of 75 mothers between 15 and 19 years of age was used to investigate the relationship between depression and the maternal behavior of young mothers. Depression, as measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies of Depression (CES-D) Scale, varied with marital status, education, and maternal age and was related to hostile, indifferent and rejecting patterns of mother-child interaction. Levels of depression increased in relation to the amount of stress faced by the young mother and decreased when the mother was involved in a supportive social network.     

Spirituality and Substance Abuse Recovery

Researchers explored patient and staff perceptions of spiritual well-being and the spiritual needs of patients enrolled in a residential substance abuse treatment program. The Spiritual Well-Being Scale was used to gather quantitative data. Additionally, a brief questionnaire containing one qualitative and two quantitative questions was completed by both clients and staff. A statistically significant difference was found, indicating a more positive sense of spiritual well-being among patients upon discharge. Although the staff and clients of the residential program have similar perceptions regarding the concept of spiritual well-being, their definitions do not appear identical.     

Journal File

This article examines the use of multi-couple group therapy treatment for couples in which at least one member has served in the military. Multi-couple group therapy could provide relief on a taxed system while improving the functioning and well-being of the Soldiers. The authors discuss trauma, the importance of the mission, military hierarchy, and frequent relocation as essential to understanding and working effectively with this population and how multi-couple group therapy could utilize the systemic influences to increase overall therapeutic efficacy. The article ends with a brief discussion on further research ideas.