An Assessment of Ethnocultural Beliefs Regarding the Causes of Birth Defects and Genetic Disorders

With the expansion of genetic services to various cultural groups, genetic counselors encounter clients who hold diverse beliefs inscribed by their culture about health conditions. Thus, clients may attribute the cause of a birth defect or genetic condition to a culturally-based health belief. This present study was conducted as a pilot study in order to assess the beliefs about the causes of birth defects and genetic disorders held by women of different ethnocultural backgrounds. This study proposed that women who do not have a family history of a disorder will differ in their knowledge about the cause of a birth defect or genetic disorder compared to women who have an affected child. In addition, this study determined to what extent culturally-based health beliefs are attributed to being the cause of a birth defect or genetic disorder in the 1990s.     

The effect of affine transformation on redundancy analysis

Canonical redundancy analysis provides an estimate of the amount of shared variance between two sets of variables and provides an alternative to canonical correlation. The proof that the total redundancy is equal to the average squared multiple correlation coefficient obtained by regressing each variable in the criterion set on all variables in the predictor set is generalized to the case in which there are a larger number of criterion than predictor variables. It is then shown that the redundancy for the criterion set of variables is invariant under affine transformation of the predictor variables, but not invariant under transformation of the criterion variables.     

Movement control and maturation in elementary-grade children.

Serial tapping by 5-, 7- and 9-yr.-old boys and girls, as measured by Fitts' Law, was recorded. 60 Ss performed a reciprocal tapping task and were assessed developmentally via hand-wrist X-rays. No significant relationship was found between the fine motor task and skeletal age. The results of the motor task suggest an improvement in movement time, with age, due to an ability to plan subsequent movements rather than simply an increase in speed of arm movement.     

Visual signal detection and the locus of foreperiod effects

The effect of alertness on S's sensitivity to external signals was determined by varying the foreperiod in a visual signal detection task. Discriminability increased with increasing foreperiods up to an optimal foreperiod, beyond which it decreased slightly. This pattern of results parallels closely that of many foreperiod studies in which reaction time was the dependent variable. Because no speeded response was required in this signal detection task, it was concluded that alertness must be affecting an information processing stage prior to those associated with responding. Other evidence indicates that alertness does not affect sensory stages either. Alertness, by elimination, must be affecting the operation of a central stage, Posner's view of alertness which implicates the central stages is discussed.     

Meta‐Analysis of Counseling Outcomes for the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

This meta‐analysis of 152 published posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) clinical trials from 1990 to 2012 concluded that counseling generally produced a small to large effect of treatment across all comparison conditions at termination (d+ = 0.30 to 0.89). These gains were maintained at longest follow‐up (d+ = 0.58 to 0.86) for the wait‐list, treatment‐as‐usual, and single‐group comparisons, but not for the follow‐up placebo comparison (d+ = 0.15), probably because of the low power (j = 3 placebo studies). Clinical trial findings were synthesized using a random‐effects model. No effects of publication bias or moderating variables were evident. No difference was found between trauma‐focused and non‐trauma‐focused approaches. Implications for counseling practice and future PTSD outcome research are addressed.     

Cultural difference,inside and out

Cultural psychologists study the extent to which human psychological experience is shaped by our participation in sociocultural practices, meanings, and products. Cultural psychologists document cultural differences both inside the head (in the form of emotions, cognitions, or motivations) and outside the head (in the form of public behaviors, cultural products, or institutions). Because cultural psychologists argue that culture and psyche “make each other up,” it is appropriate to study cultural difference at many loci—not just the traditional psychological areas in which many of us were trained. In this article, I describe cultural psychological evidence based on its social visibility and tangible nature. One category is collected on private, intangible, inside‐the‐head activities such as emotions, values, or motives. Another category, social interactions and behavioral performances, is intangible, public, and outside the head and includes how people talk to each other and how they walk, drive, or dress. A third category contains cultural products, which are tangible, public, and outside the head; it includes texts, websites, advertising, art, and architecture. These varying loci of cultural psychology allow us to appropriately document cultural differences and also allow us to study how humans are shaped by, and participate in recreating, their cultural contexts.     

Disciplinary Practices in Nebraska's Public Schools

Increasing rates of youth violence and crime have exerted pressure on schools to maintain an orderly learning environment. Exclusionary measures, a common disciplinary procedure, however, have been under intense scrutiny. Our study examined disciplinary practices in elementary and secondary schools by surveying building administrators. Findings indicate strong correlation between level (secondary) and size of school, and socioeconomic status of students and rates of disciplinary actions; significant differences between school levels on disciplinary action for similar offenses and on availability of support programs; and differences in beliefs between elementary and secondary level administrators on the consequences of exclusionary actions.