Psychoanalytic ecumenism and varieties of psychoanalytic experience.

Using the metaphor of ecumenism, the current status of psychoanalysis and the American Psychoanalytic Association is examined. The dialectical tendencies to oppose and to unify are noted in psychoanalytic theory, technique, and practice, as well as in the administrative and political life of our organization. Fostering tolerance for new hypotheses without sacrificing empirical discrimination, and promoting broad participation without lowering standards confront us as major tasks demanding continuing vigilance and effort.     

Home,school, and playroom: Training grounds for adult gender roles

Gender differences in children's play activities, preferred school subjects, and occupational goals were examined in relation to such parental variables as toy-giving and chore assignment. Subjects were 245 children in grades K, 3, 6, and 8. Subjects completed questionnaires before and after Christmas asking what gifts they wanted, asked for, received, and liked best. They also were asked to name their friends and play activities, favorite and least-liked school subjects, occupational aspirations, and chores at home. Children generally wanted, asked for, received, and most-liked gender-typical toys. They were less likely to receive requested gender-atypical toys. Children's preferred activities, job aspirations and assigned chores were along gender-typical lines. Girls preferred masculine toys and jobs more than boys preferred feminine ones. With increasing age, both girls and boys increasingly preferred masculine toys and male friends. No gender differences in favorite or least-liked school subjects were found. School subject preference was related to gender-typing of occupational choice for girls but not boys.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Anaheim, California, 1983.     

The effects of baby bath and massage by fathers on the family system: The sunraysia australia intervention project

Instruction in baby massage and the Burleigh Relaxation Bath technique was given to one-half of our sample of 32 couples who had just had their first child. This brief intervention, given at 4 weeks post-partum, led to beneficial behavioural and psychological effects for the family system when assessed at 12 weeks postpartum. Depression and marital satisfaction were assessed with mothers and fathers at 4 weeks and 12 weeks after the birth of their child, and self-esteem was measured at 12 weeks only. The mothers and fathers who were shown baby bathing and massage techniques showed higher degrees of marital satisfaction and self-esteem, as well as lower levels of depression at 12 weeks post-partum, than parents who did not receive instruction. It seems likely that brief interventions which educate new parents concerning functional techniques of baby care may favourably affect their feelings of competence and be of benefit to the entire family system.     

Perceptions of women: Effects of employment status and marital status

Eighty-four female and 84 male college students evaluated a briefly described female stimulus person on 20 seven-point bipolar scales which described personality traits and professional competencies. Each subject rated 1 of 12 women who were described as either never married, divorced, widowed, or married and as either employed full-time, employed part-time, or unemployed. As hypothesized, the personal traits and professional competencies of employed women were evaluated more favorably than those of unemployed women, and the personality traits of married women were perceived more positively than those of unmarried women. Contrary to predictions, unmarried and married women were perceived as equally competent.Portions of this paper were presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C., August 1982.     

SERIOUS DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR AS PART OF A SIGNIFICANTLY HANDICAPPING CONDITION: CURES AND SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENTS

The past 20 years have been productive ones for the field of applied behavior analysis. A brief review of our own efforts during this period reveals that we have accomplished several but not all of our goals for the Teaching-Family approach. In this context, we note that the setting of realistic and appropriate goals is important for the field and for society. Moreover, we suggest that the realistic goal for some persons with serious delinquent behavior may be extended supportive and socializing treatment rather than permanent cure from conventional short-term treatment programs. We base this suggestion on the accumulating evidence that serious delinquent behavior may often be part of a significantly disabling and durable condition that consists of multiple antisocial and dysfunctional behaviors, often runs in families, and robustly eludes effective short-term treatment. Like other significant disabilities such as retardation, autism, and blindness, the effects of this condition may be a function of an interaction of environmental and constitutional variables. We argue that our field has the wherewithal to construct effective and humane long-term supportive environments for seriously delinquent youths. In this regard, we explore the dimensions, rationales, logistics, and beginnings of a new treatment direction that involves long-term supportive family treatment. We contend that such supportive families may be able to provide long, perhaps even lifetime, socializing influences through models, values, and contingencies that seem essential for developing and maintaining prosocial behavior in these high-risk youths.     

New wave or second stage? Attitudes of college women toward feminism

The attitudes of female subjects toward gender roles, gender inequality, and the women's movement were measured using a 24-item attitudinal inventory. Subjects tended to hold nontraditional but only moderately feminist attitudes toward gender roles. They were, however, highly aware of gender inequality and supportive of the women's movement, although they were also reluctant to identify themselves as feminists. T tests revealed that subjects most supportive of feminism were advanced students (juniors and seniors) and students who had personally experienced discrimination. But when personal experience of sex discrimination was controlled for, the strength of the relationships between class level and gender role attitudes, and between class level and support for the women's movement, diminished. Students who had personally experienced sex discrimination are less traditional and more feminist in their gender role attitudes, and show stronger support for the women's movement, regardless of their class level, than students who have not had such experiences. These findings are interpreted and their implications for the future of the women's movement are discussed.     

An analysis of some sensitizing agents in the pathogenesis of stress-induced gastric erosive disease

Prior surgical implantation of a venous catheter sensitized rats to coldimmobilization stress. Three of six catheterized females succumbed during the stress. The remaining rats fell into two groups in terms of their core temperature at the end of the stress period: Male uncatheterized rats had higher temperatures than rats in the other three groups. No relation was found between catheter patency and magnitude of hypothermia. Degree of gastric disease paralleled the core temperature findings in that the male uncatheterized rats had significantly fewer gastric erosions than the rats in the other three groups. Additionally, a robust effect of gender was found with uncatheterized females showing more hypothermia and more gastric disease than uncatheterized males. A subsequent experiment was conducted to evaluate whether anesthesia or wearing the protective spring was responsible in part for the sensitization seen. Here, the gender difference was less although females consistently averaged lower core temperatures after stress than did males. Despite similar core temperatures after stress, females that were prepared with the protective spring apparatus developed more gastric disease than female controls or similarly treated males. Thus, the additional sensitization exhibited by females in the first experiment may relate to the fact that both catheterization and the taping procedure were sensitizers while only catheterization was a sensitizer for males.     

TRAINING AND GENERALIZATION OF REACH-GRASP BEHAVIOR IN BLIND,RETARDED YOUNG CHILDREN

The effects of a graduated prompting treatment procedure were analyzed in three phases of an experiment on the training and generalization of reaching-grasp responding in 2- to 4-year-old blind, severely or profoundly retarded children. In Phase 1, we used a multiple-baseline across-subjects design to investigate the effectiveness of the treatment on midline reach-grasp responding. In Phase 2, we used a reversal design to investigate the effects of repeated implementations and withdrawals of the treatment. In both phases, generalization to right and left positions was measured. In Phase 3, in a multiple-baseline across-responses design, the treatment was implemented in right and left positions. Also in Phase 3, shift of stimulus control from toy-sound to verbal instructions was measured. The results showed that (a) the graduated prompting procedure was effective in training reach-grasp responding in all three children; (b) for one child, the effects were durable over repeated applications of the treatment procedure, but were not maintained during withdrawals; (c) for another child, the treatment procedure was effective in teaching reach-grasp responding in all three positions; and (d) for the same child, training of reach-grasp responding generalized to toys presented without sound, given only the verbal instruction.