A short-term longitudinal study of preschoolers' (Homo sapiens) sex segregation: the role of physical activity, sex, and time

The interactive influence of preschool children's level of physical activity, sex, and time on the degree of sex segregation was assessed. A sample of nursery school children was observed across much of a school year, and levels of physical activity and sex segregation were sampled during their free play periods. Following sexual selection theory, we predicted a Sex X Time X Physical Activity interaction on segregation such that high-activity girls early in the school year would interact with boys but, with time, the high-activity girls would be segregated among themselves. Boys (both high- and low-activity) should remain segregated across the year. The hypothesis was supported, and results are discussed in terms of the interactive role of biology and socialization on sex segregation.     

Recommendations of the task force on privacy,human sexuality,and sex education for developmentally disabled persons

This article consists of a report submitted to the Massachusetts Commissioner of Mental Health in 1981 from the members of a citizens task force convened for the purpose of recommending policy to the Department in matters concerning privacy and human sexuality. The Chairman of the Committee was given responsibility for producing the information and resources necessary for the members to debate the issue with some intelligence, of facilitating the process and the deliberations, and of writing the final recommendations and report contained in this article. The need for policy in the areas of privacy and human sexuality for persons living in our state institutions serving the handicapped is a continuing and critical one. Resolution of the issues requires informed, courageous decision making by those who are responsible for the welfare of persons with mental or developmental deficiencies. The policy suggested in this article may serve as a step forward for those decision makers.     

Biofeedback without a technical team--simple and cost effective

An important psychotherapeutic process is that of autogenous training, whose effectiveness can be improved by the use of biofeedback. Biofeedback procedures have hitherto called for considerable expenditure on apparatus and frequent therapy sessions. Despite this, it has not been possible to extend the relaxation effect to more general situations. This paper describes an inexpensive and practical method of utilising all the advantages afforded by the underlying therapeutic concept, on the basis of experience gained with cutaneous thermography. Further information, notably on the preparation of the laminae, can be had on request from the authors.     

Self-estimates of intelligence: a study in two African countries

Black and White South Africans (n = 181) and Nigerians (n = 135) completed a questionnaire concerning the estimations of their own and their relatives' (father, mother, sister, brother) multiple intelligences as well as beliefs about the IQ concept. In contrast to previous results (A. Furnham, 2001), there were few gender differences in self-estimates. In a comparison of Black and White South Africans, it was clear the Whites gave higher estimates for self, parents, and brothers. However, overall IQ estimates for self and all relatives hovered around the mean of 100. When Black South Africans and Nigerians were compared, there were both gender and nationality differences on the self-estimates with men giving higher self-estimates than women and Nigerians higher self-estimates than South Africans. There were also gender and nationality differences in the answers to questions about IQ. The authors discuss possible reasons for the relatively few gender differences in this study compared with other studies as well as possible reasons for the cross-cultural difference.     

Toward A New Eternalist Paradigm for Afterlife Studies: The Case of the Near-Death Experiences Argument

In contemporary Western culture, death has been widely censured because of its conceptual implications; it lies at the boundaries between reductionism and metaphysics. There is not yet an efficacious epistemology able to solve this contraposition and its consequent collision with science and tradition. This article analyzes Near Death Experiences (NDEs) as a prototypical argument in which the two perspectives conflict. Specifically, it analyzes the epistemological antinomies of the ontological representations of death, inhering in passage versus absolute annihilation. Indeed, the NDEs theme permits the examination of the logical contradiction between monistic reductionism and its ontological counterpart to improve the discovery of a new paradigm that integrates the ecological with eternalist views.     

Characteristics of personally important episodic memories,counterfactual thoughts,and future projections across age and culture

We have limited knowledge as to whether the phenomenological differences between episodic memories, counterfactuals, and future projections show the same pattern across age groups and diverse samples. Here we compared the characteristics of these mental events, reported by younger and older participants in a Turkish (Study 1) and in an American sample (Study 2). In both studies, memories contained more sensory-perceptual-spatial details, were easier to bring to mind, and more specific. Future projections were the most positive, whereas counterfactuals were the least emotionally intense. In Study 1, older participants rated the events more positively and experienced them with more perceptual detail, whereas younger participants reported the future to be more voluntarily rehearsed, important, and central. These age differences did not replicate in Study 2. Overall, phenomenological differences between the events are robust and replicate across diverse samples. However, age differences are more sensitive to cultural or individual differences.     

Eating disorder NOS (EDNOS): an example of the troublesome "not otherwise specified" (NOS) category in DSM-IV

The “Not Otherwise Specified” (NOS) category within DSM-IV is designed for disorders of clinical severity that are not specified within broad diagnostic classes. “NOS” diagnoses are intended to be residual categories and they tend to be neglected by researchers. This can be inappropriate. The problems associated with certain NOS diagnoses are well illustrated by “Eating Disorder NOS” (sometimes termed EDNOS), which is the most common category of eating disorder encountered in routine clinical practice yet it has barely been studied. Indeed, there has been no research on its treatment. Interim and longer-term conceptual and practical solutions to the anomalous status of eating disorder NOS are proposed including the creation of a new diagnosis termed “mixed eating disorder”. Several of these solutions are of relevance to NOS categories in general. All the solutions should fulfil criteria for clinical utility.     

Orbital prefrontal cortex and guidance of instrumental behavior of rats by visuospatial stimuli predicting reward magnitude

The orbital prefrontal cortex (OPFC) is part of a circuitry mediating the perception of reward and the initiation of adaptive behavioral responses. We investigated whether the OPFC is involved in guidance of the speed of instrumental behavior by visuospatial stimuli predictive of different reward magnitudes. Unoperated rats, sham-lesioned rats, and rats with bilateral lesions of the OPFC by N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) were trained in a visuospatial discrimination task. The task required a lever press on the illuminated lever of two available to obtain a food reward. Different reward magnitudes were permanently assigned to lever presses to respective sides of the operant chamber; that is, responses to one lever (e.g., the left one) were always rewarded with one pellet and responses to the other lever with five pellets. On each trial, the position of the illuminated lever was pseudorandomly determined in advance. Results revealed that OPFC lesions did not impair acquisition of the task, as the speed of conditioned responses was significantly shorter with expectancy of a high reward magnitude. In addition, during reversal, shift and reshift of lever position–reward magnitude contingencies and under extinction conditions, performance of the OPFC-lesioned and control groups did not differ. It is concluded that the OPFC in rats might not be critical for adapting behavioral responses to changes of stimulus–reward magnitude contingencies signaled by visuospatial cues.     

Traumatization of group leaders in their work with displaced persons

Displaced persons are a special, threatened group of people, participants in this war, who were suddenly forced to abandon their homes. The majority of them were, overnight, left without anything they had, some even without their closest family. They all have one thing in common: they have all lost so much. Work with such people is directed toward overcoming their feelings of loss and abandonment and preventing psychical decompensation. Groups of displaced persons temporarily sheltered in the Rijeka region have been observed to be markedly regressed, with increased sensitivity, a low degree of tolerance, great demands on society and strongly expressed projective tendencies. Therapists suffer personal traumatization in working with displaced persons. This paper describes the reactions and feelings of group leaders caused by manifestations of group dynamics in different phases of exile.