An Analysis of Significant Events in Counseling

Using an interview/questionnaire procedure, 19 clients reported 200 helpful, significant events that occurred in ongoing counseling. Each event consisted of one issue presented by the client, the counselor's response to that issue, and the immediate impact the client received from the counselor's response. With the use of qualitative analysis, 9 prominent patterns describing sequences of client change emerged from the data. These patterns were grouped into 3 superclusters of events: Dissonant, Question—Answer, and Congruent. These superclusters and the 9 prominent patterns were used to develop a model for counseling change. Implications for counseling theory and practice are discussed.     

Measurement of recovery of function in the hemiparetic upper limb following stroke: A preliminary report

Although stroke poses major problems to the rehabilitation professions, little is understood about the processes of recovery of movement. We report here on research in progress aimed at documenting in detail the restitution of movement in the upper limb. The results presented are preliminary in nature since our main aim is to detail the methods by which we have embarked on this study.     

Categorization and metaphor understanding.

Glucksberg and Keysar (1990) have proposed a class-inclusion model of metaphor comprehension. This theory suggests that metaphors are not understood as implicit similes but are seen as class-inclusion statements in which the topic of a metaphor is assigned to a diagnostic, ad hoc category, whereas the metaphor's vehicle is a prototypical member of that category. The author claims that verbal metaphors are not simply instantiations of temporary, ad hoc categories but reflect preexisting conceptual mappings in long-term memory that are metaphorically structured. Various evidence from cognitive linguistics, philosophy, and psychology are described in support of this claim. Evidence is also presented that supports, contrary to Glucksberg and Keysar's position, the role of tacit conceptual metaphors in the comprehension of verbal metaphors in discourse.     

Differential effectiveness of explicit verbal feedback on children's communication skills

In order to specify by which combination of content and form dimensions the explicit verbal feedback comes to be most effective in enhancing communication skills, a training experiment was designed where both dimensions were factorially manipulated. Forty children (mean age, 5–10) were randomly assigned to one of four treatment conditions: Interrogative Cognitive feedback, Declarative Cognitive feedback, Interrogative Perceptual feedback, and Declarative Perceptual feedback. The Cognitive type of feedback specified the successive cognitive steps underlying the comparison activity whereas the Perceptual type of feedback stressed only the necessity of describing perceptual differences when communicating. These two contents of feedback were either provided by a set of standardized questions or of declarative statements, after each trial of a speaking training task. Subjects were given a pretest, and immediate and delayed posttests comprised of a speaking task and a listening generalization task. A 2 (Contents) × 2 (Forms) × 2 (Tasks) × 2 (Post-tests) analysis of variance showed that all subjects performed significantly better on the speaking task than on the listening generalization task and that subjects in the Interrogative Cognitive condition performed better than subjects in the three other conditions, on both post-test tasks. Results emphasize the mutual facilitating effects of the Interrogative Form and the Cognitive Content of explicit feedback and are discussed in terms of the generalization and stability of the induced learning.     

God, Tragedy, and the Near-Death Experience: Evaluating Kushner's Perspectives on Theodicy

This article evaluates Harold Kushner's original and reconstructed perspectives on God and the theodicic problem on the basis of research on the near-death experience (NDE) and related phenomena. In response to a personal tragedy, Kushner reconstructed his thinking about God and tragedy from his original Causation-Power perspective to an Inspiration-Love perspective. The Causation-Power perspective posits that God causes human events and that tragic events do not actually contradict God's purpose or will, although tragic events may result from the human freedom to disobey God and suffer punitive consequences. In the Inspiration-Love perspective, human freedom expands to mean that God does not cause all events: God does not cause tragedy, suffers with the sufferer, and can intervene against tragic events only by inspiring people to cope with tragedy and care for others. Although the research findings are consistent with Kushner's emphasis on love and inspiration, the theme of divine power and purpose is also evident. Hence, Kushner should not have rejected entirely his early (Causation-Power) perspective. Identified in the research are forms of inspiration that Kushner did not take into account in his reconstructed (Inspiration-Love) view. The Causation-Power and Inspiration-Love perspectives seem incompatible and neither alone solves the theodicic problem. Nonetheless, they do complement one another; a resolution would permit an integrative understanding of God and tragedy.     

Ethics of field research: Do journals set the standard?

To determine whether ethical issues concerned with field research are addressed in the peer-review process, instructions to authors and reviewers of 141 (mainly natural science) journals were examined to ascertain how often ethical issues were mentioned. Only one-third (n=41) of responding journals addressed ethical issues in their instructions to authors or reviewers. When ethical issues were considered, most of the journals limited their concerns to ethical issues associated with animal and general human experimentation. No journal mentioned ethical practices in working with indigenous peoples or on traditional lands. Only two journals addressed the ethics of research in sensitive areas in their instructions to authors, only one in its instructions to reviewers. We suggest that peer-reviewed journals respond to an emerging issue in ecological research by formally incorporating research ethics into their instructions to authors and reviewers. Furthermore, these instructions should address the ethical issues associated with field research and in working with indigenous peoples and on traditional lands.     

A comparison of flooding and thought stopping in the treatment of obsessional neurosis

Flooding in vivo and thought stopping were compared in patients with obsessional neurosis, in a cross-over design. It was hypothesized that the two techniques would have different effects on symptomatology. However, although both seemed to be effective treatments, there were no significant differences between them. Reasons for this finding are discussed. There was, however, a slight tendency for flooding to produce more overall improvement, and a greater reduction in avoidance behaviour. There was also a tendency for the first treatment to produce more effect. A worthwhile clinical finding was that a fair amount of improvement occurred after only eight out-patient sessions.     

Cholecystokinin elicits the complete behavioral sequence of satiety in rats.

The behavior of intact rats and rats with chronic gastric fistulas was observed and scored during a 60-min test period when they were offered liquid diet after 17 hr of food deprivation. Intact rats and rats with closed fistulas displayed a specific behavioral sequence at the end of each meal: They stopped eating, engaged in grooming and exploration for a short time, and then rested or slept. Thus, a fixed behavioral sequence characterizes satiety in the rat. Although the behavioral sequence of satiety was fixed, the cessation of feeding was not a sufficient condition for the appearance of the rest of the sequence: Quinine adulteration of the liquid diet stopped sham feeding but did not elicit the complete sequence. Intraperitoneal injection of the intestinal hormone cholecystokinin during sham feeding, however, elicited the complete sequence of satiety. The observation that cholecystokinin not only stops feeding but elicits the complete sequence of satiety supports our hypothesis that endogenous cholecystokinin is a satiety signal for the rat.