Reliability in Dream Research: A Methodological Note

The coefficients of internal consistency and retest reliability had been rarely investigated within the methodology of dream content analysis. Analyzing a dream series of elderly, healthy persons obtained from weekly telephone interviews, the internal consistency of a series of 20 dreams and retests after 4 or 22 weeks, respectively, had been computed. The findings indicate that dream recall and dream length are quite stable, but dream characteristics such as bizarreness and emotional tone underlie large intraindividual fluctuations. In order to obtain reliable measures for these variables which will be important for correlational studies, including waking-life trait measures, one has to obtain as many dreams as possible (about 20) in a very short time period. Further research is needed to extend the present findings to diary dreams and laboratory dreams.     

The Ethical Potential of Love in the Wake of Sexual Violence

The Journal of Ethics - The myth that sexual violence is perpetrated by strangers in dark alleyways has long since been debunked; the vast majority of sexual assaults are committed by someone known...     

Need satisfaction,work–school interference and school dropout: An application of self-determination theory

Background. In many parts of the world, it is common for secondary school students to be involved in part-time employment. Research shows that working can have a negative impact on school engagement. However, the majority of studies have focused on the amount of time that students spend working rather than on the quality of work experience and its influence on school engagement. Aims. This study explored the relation of part-time work and school experiences to dropout intentions among secondary school and junior college students. The study was conceptualized from a self-determination theory perspective (Deci & Ryan, 2000). Sample. Participants were 3,248 students from rural and suburban schools in the greater region of Montreal, Canada. Method. Questionnaires were used to assess the number of hours worked, the extent to which work interfered with or facilitated school functioning, autonomy, competence, and relatedness experienced in the work and school domains. School performance and school dropout intentions were also assessed. Results. A curvilinear relation between work hours and dropout intentions was found, reflecting that part-time work began to be associated with higher dropout intentions only when students worked more than 7 hr per week. Analyses also showed that work–school interference was related to dropout intentions, and that this variable served to mediate the relation of employer autonomy support to dropout intentions. Conclusions. These results suggest that both the quantity and the quality of students’ part-time work experiences need to be considered when examining the relation of work to school engagement.     

Presidential Address: 21st International Congress of Applied Psychology

In 1920, 66 years ago, in Geneva, on Claparede's initiative, 16 psychologists coming from 7 countries met to discuss "Nature and Nurture in Aptitude Development". They had a fruitful meeting, decided to create IAAP, and immediately started to organise the second Congress of Applied Psychology which took place in Barcelona in 1921. IAAP is, therefore, the oldest international association of psychologists. Thirty-five years later, and after a period of inactivity due to the war, there was a big step forward. Five hundred psychologists from 29 countries met in London for the 12th IAAP Congress, and Dr. Frisby, opening the Congress, could already take pride in the diversification of our field, quoting educational, clinical and social issues.     

Die akute Therapie des ischämischen Schlaganfalles

Seit Etablierung unserer ersten Stroke Units als Spezialstationen zur Akutbehandlung von Schlaganfallpatienten 1996 und 1998 sind die Herausforderungen an das Management im Bereich der akuten Schlaganfalltherapie durch steigende Patientenzahlen, zunehmende Lyseraten und abnehmende Liegedauer in Kombination mit neuen, Erfolg versprechenden Therapieoptionen stetig angestiegen.