A historical perspective on recent studies of social learning about foods by Norway rats

Early naturalists explained field observations of social influences on animal learning in terms of spoken language, deliberate tuition of one animal by another, or intentional imitation. During the first half of the present century, experimental psychologists analyzed instances of social learning by animals in laboratory tasks as special cases of operant or classical conditioning. Neither of these traditional approaches provided much insight into the complex processes that often support animal social learning. By combining ethological focus on social learning as it occurs in natural habitat with analytical techniques developed in the psychological laboratory, contemporary researchers have made considerable progress in describing the many ways in which social interactions influence behavioural development in animals. The author's investigations of social influences on food selection by Norway rats provide one example of such an ethopsychological approach to the study of animal social learning.     

Recovery from occipital stroke: a self-report and an inquiry into visual processes

This report summarizes the behavioural effects of a right occipital stroke in the author. An upper left quandrantanopia resolved over the first 50 poststroke days to leave a scotoma that included the left upper quadrant of the fovea and extended upwards about 6 degrees and lateral about 15 degrees. There was no further reduction in size over the next 4 years. In the early stages of recovery there was an inability to detect consciously either the presence of objects or their motion, except upon reflection once an object entered the intact visual field. This has been referred to previously as blindsight. On about the fourth day poststroke, part of the scotoma became visually active, producing a scintillating aura, which remains. Shortly thereafter colour perception returned in the scotoma, as did motion detection. Although there was little additional change in the field defect after 2 months, the author's visual abilities have continued to improve, in large part because of a shift in fixation such that information at the centre of the visual field now falls about 1.5 degrees into the lower right portion of the fovea. The implications of the visual and behavioural changes are discussed in the context of multiple visual systems and with respect to recovery of function.     

A Study of the Role of Gender in Family Therapy Training

A survey of the role of gender in family therapy training programs was conducted by the Women's Task Force of the American Family Therapy Association (AFTA) in order to determine the extent to which gender issues were included in the curriculum. Questionnaires were sent to 285 programs in the U.S., Canada, and overseas. Only 19% (n = 55) of the original sample participated, with the East Coast representing the largest proportion of respondents. Findings revealed that the three most frequently addressed gender issues are: 1) the impact of cultural and economic conditions on single, female-headed families; 2) gender issues associated with wife abuse; and 3) an examination of the implications of the therapist's gender in therapy interventions. Only 27 programs identify with a feminist model or have a clearly defined sense of gender awareness. A significant finding associated with the introduction of feminist content was the difficulty of integrating gender issues with major theoretical models. Trainee resistance and lack of faculty awareness were also considered obstacles to including gender in program curriculum.     

Further thoughts on second-order family therapy--this time it's personal

A series of articles has recently appeared in which implications of second-order cybernetics for the practice of family therapy have been discussed. In this article, we attempt to advance the discussion by addressing ideas that we think have not been adequately emphasized thus far. Specifically proposed are ideas about conditions that might facilitate the emergence of consciously pragmatic strategy informed by the kind of systemic wisdom that delicately balances natural systems without the benefit of human planning. It is argued that a shift in the personal habits of knowing and acting that typically organize individual human experience is required. After attempting to specify what this shift might involve, implications of these ideas for the practice of family therapy and for human action in general are discussed.     

Reflections during a study on family therapy with drug addicts

This article presents ideas and reflections emerging during a project on family therapy with drug abusers. Initially inspired by the writings of Stanton and Todd on the subject, the project developed into a recursive and self-reflective process, characterized by increasing doubts about the usefulness of categorization of families, of pre-planning therapy, and of the therapist as an "expert." The limitations of approaches that emphasize the importance of understanding the family structure as the basis for changing it are discussed, particularly with respect to how they decrease therapist flexibility and may block the family's finding their own solution. Alternative approaches to practice and research are also discussed, bearing on ideas particularly formulated by theoreticians and practitioners inspired by second-order cybernetics.     

CULTURE AND WORK ALIENATION: WESTERN MODELS AND EASTERN REALITIES

This paper argues that the existing theoretical explanations of work alienation and corrective management practices developed in the Western world have limited cross-cultural applicability. This argument is supported first by identifying the cultural bias inherent in the Western explanatory models of alienation and then by indicating how such a bias fails to adequately explain work alienation and its opposite work involvement phenomena in Eastern societies like India. Finally, the paper probes into the role of some critical indigenous variables responsible for the development of alienation among workers in India. The case of Indian workers provides an illustrative example of what is needed for alienation research in a developing country context: to avoid the folly of uncritically accepting the Western explanatory models and to encourage the discovery of indigenous explanations.     

Peer-group association and adolescent tobacco use

Mosbach & Leventhal (1988) examined the relation of cigarette smoking to peer-group identification in rural Wisconsin adolescents. They found that among dirts (problem-prone youth), regulars (average youth), hot-shots (good social or academic performers), and jocks (athletes), youth most likely to smoke were dirts and hot-shots. We performed a replication with a Southern California cohort and also for use of smokeless tobacco. We hypothesized that jocks would be the main users of smokeless tobacco. We identified the same groups and an additional one, skaters (skateboarders or surfers). As Mosbach & Leventhal found, cigarettes were used most by dirts. Contrary to their results, but consistent with other research, we found that hot-shots were least likely to smoke. Contrary to our prediction, we found that skaters and dirts were more likely to use smokeless tobacco than were jocks. Our data show that both tobacco forms are used by problem-prone youth.