Defective stimulus set attention in generalized epilepsy

This study examined auditory selective attention in primary generalized and complex-partial (temporal lobe) epileptics using binaural and dichotic versions of the Continuous Performance Test. The patient groups did not differ from normal controls when only one channel was presented or when divided attention (simultaneously monitoring two channels) was required. However, generalized epileptics had significantly depressed hit rates when directed attention (responding to critical stimuli in only one channel) was required. These results suggest a contribution of brain stem “arousal” mechanisms to stimulus set attention. In addition, right ear perceptual advantages were found on these dichotic monitoring tasks, lending support to the contention that short-term auditory memory and verbal report are not required for the dichotic ear effect.     

Exploring Counselor-Client Agreement on Clients’ Work Capacity in Established and Consultative Dyads

Counselor-client agreement on the work capacity of clients living with serious mental illnesses informs the counseling relationship and facilitates accurate assessments of client eligibility for public programs. In this exploratory mixed-methods study, we assessed counselor-client agreement on clients’ work capacity in 61 established therapeutic dyads and compared it with 30 dyads involved in an initial assessment session. Intraclass correlation coefficients and mountain plots were used to examine counselor-client agreement. Results revealed moderate counselor-client agreement of work capacity for both dyads. Counselor interviews illuminated sources of discordance. These results have practical implications for assessing the work capacity of clients.     

En-Gendering the Couple-Deity Relationship: Clinical Implications of Power and Process

Spiritual practices are increasingly accommodated by therapists working with religious couples. While research documents potential benefits, spiritual practices such as prayer may invoke an interpretive couple-God relationship distorted by pathogenic processes in one or both spouses. A survey administered to 78 religious couples examined the influence of power/gender as it relates to couples’ harmful triangulation with Deity. Results suggest that harmful triangulation with Deity does occur to some degree in couple relationships, that there are significant differences by gender, and that spouses’ tendencies to triangulate are correlated with one another. We discuss these results from a systemic-feminist perspective, and offer some clinical applications for working with religious couples.

Sellars and Quine on empiricism and conceptual truth1

I compare Sellars’s criticism of the ‘myth of the given’ with Quine’s criticism of the ‘two dogmas’ of empiricism, that is, the analytic–synthetic distinction and reductionism. In Sections I to III, I present Quine’s and Sellars’s views. In IV to X, I discuss similarities and differences in their views. In XI to XII, I show that Sellars’s arguments against the ‘myth of the given’ are incompatible with Quine’s rejection of the analytic–synthetic distinction.     

Sexism and gender inequality across 57 societies

Theory predicts that individuals' sexism serves to exacerbate inequality in their society's gender hierarchy. Past research, however, has provided only correlational evidence to support this hypothesis. In this study, I analyzed a large longitudinal data set that included representative data from 57 societies. Multilevel modeling showed that sexism directly predicted increases in gender inequality. This study provides the first evidence that sexist ideologies can create gender inequality within societies, and this finding suggests that sexism not only legitimizes the societal status quo, but also actively enhances the severity of the gender hierarchy. Three potential mechanisms for this effect are discussed briefly.     

The Impact of Conflict Issues on Fixed-Pie Perceptions, Problem Solving, and Integrative Outcomes in Negotiation

It is argued that a negotiator's fixed-pie perception, cooperative motivation, problem-solving behavior, and integrative outcomes are influenced by the content of the negotiation—the conflict issue. Negotiation involves conflicting interests, conflicting ideas about intellective problems, or conflicting ideas about evaluative problems. Study 1 showed that individuals in a negotiation about interests have a stronger fixed-pie perception and have a lower cooperative motivation than individuals in an evaluative negotiation, with intellective negotiations taking an intermediate position. Study 2 showed that individuals in a negotiation about interests made more trade-offs and reached higher joint outcomes than individuals in an intellective or evaluative negotiation. Study 3 replicated this finding in a field study. The studies bridge insights from negotiation research and decision-making research and show that the conflict issue has important effects on the negotiation process.     

Enhancing Narrative Couple Therapy Process with an Enactment Scaffolding

Despite the growing popularity of narrative approaches to couple and family therapy and the demonstrated effectiveness of enactments—a clinical process typically articulated and utilized in more modern or positivistic approaches to therapy—there is very little, if any, literature exploring how enactments may fit within a narrative therapeutic framework. In this paper we suggest: That narrative therapy theoretical assumptions, principles, and therapeutic processes may coexist within an enactment framework articulated by Butler and Gardner; that such assumptions and processes may be enhanced when clinicians use an enactment scaffolding throughout the therapeutic process; and that this enactment framework empirically informs the narrative therapy process and strengthens the stance of narrative therapy under the scrutiny of those claiming a need for an evidence basis in psychotherapy.     

Perspectives on Genetic Testing and Return of Results from the First Cohort of Presymptomatically Tested Individuals At Risk of Huntington Disease

This qualitative study gathered opinions about genetic testing from people who received presymptomatic testing for Huntington’s disease (HD) 20–30 years ago and have lived with the implications of that testing for decades. During the last section of a semi-structured interview, participants were asked open-ended questions about their opinions on the importance of autonomy in the decision to be tested for HD, whether a formal HD testing protocol is necessary, whether physician ordering for HD is acceptable without a formal protocol, whether online direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing for HD is acceptable, and whether incidental/secondary findings should be returned in the context of whole exome/genome sequencing. Most—but not all—participants were in favor of an individual’s right to decide whether and when to pursue HD testing, use of a formal HD testing protocol, and returning medically actionable secondary findings. However, the majority of participants were opposed not only to physician ordering and DTC HD testing in the absence of a formal protocol but also to returning a secondary finding of an expanded HD allele. This study presents the opinions of a unique and extremely well-informed cohort on issues that need to be taken into careful consideration by genetic counselors and other medical professionals who are developing genetic testing protocols, making decisions about the availability of genetic tests, and making decisions about whether and how to return incidental findings.     

Mental Health Research in K–12 Schools: Translating a Systems Approach to University–School Partnerships

The authors discuss the challenges that researchers from university and community systems face in gaining access to and partnering with K–12 school systems to conduct research. Borrowing from Szapocznik, Hervis, and Schwartz's (2003) brief strategic family theory and therapy and Bronfenbrenner's (1979, 1986) ecological systems theory, the authors outline a model for diverse research communities in the United States that can be used by counselors and other mental health services researchers who plan to conduct research in K–12 schools.     

Secularity,gender, and emancipation: thinking through feminist activism and feminist approaches to the secular

In this article, I engage with feminist discussions about secularity, gender, and emancipation. The feminist study of the secular was spurred by interventions of Saba Mahmood [2005. The Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject. Princeton: Princeton University Press], and can be seen as a critical engagement with at least one basic assumption that underlies much of progressive thinking – that secularism is beneficial for women and LGBTQ subjects. I begin by exploring how the Belgian feminist activist platform Baas Over Eigen Hoofd! (Boss Over One’s Own Head!) builds a locally suited theory and practice of emancipation. I analyse how BOEH! raises questions about gender and secularity. Second, I zoom-out by mapping feminist studies of the secular in Western European contexts, distinguishing various analytical approaches and visions on social-political secular emancipatory alternatives. To conclude, I relate local feminist activism to feminist academic discussions, and argue that there is a continued need for thinking about shared emancipatory futures.