Paradoxical preference for more frequently occurring negative stimuli and for less frequently occurring positive stimuli as a function of amount of training in simultaneous discrimination learning

Development of a preference for more frequently occurring negative stimuli was found in a within-subject design. In this experiment, pigeons learned two simultaneous problems with an unequal number of training trials. At various stages in training, for example, the more-trained negative stimulus was paired with the less-trained negative stimulus for a single preference trial. These probe trials pointed to a swing in stimulus function in negative stimuli which also occurred at an earlier stage in positive (reward-correlated) stimuli. The paradoxical preference for less-trained positive over more-trained positive stimuli was found in this study, confirming the earlier reported phenomenon. The paradoxical preference for more-trained negative stimuli was discussed in terms of a frustration analysis. A symmetrical, albeit positive, emotional factor was discussed with regard to the paradoxical findings with positive probe trials.     

Students' Perceptions of Multicultural Training in Counseling Psychology Programs

The Multicultural Competency Checklist (Ponterotto, Alexander, & Grieger, 1995) was used to assess counseling psychology students' perceptions of multicultural training in their programs. Results revealed that most students perceived their programs to (a) have a required multicultural counseling course, (b) employ diverse teaching strategies and procedures, (c) use varied methods of evaluating performance, and (d) have faculty members whose primary research interest was in multicultural issues. Alternatively, many students reported that their programs did not (a) have appropriate representation of bilingual individuals on the faculty, (b) demonstrate adequate leadership and support with regard to multicultural issues, (c) use assessment instruments in evaluating their level of multicultural competency, and (d) make available a “multicultural resource center” for their use. The importance of integrating multicultural issues throughout academic programs is also discussed.     

Challenges to the Career Development of Urban Racial and Ethnic Minority Youth: Implications for Vocational Intervention

Urban racial and ethnic minority youth experience a variety of internal and external challenges to their career development. This article discusses several potential barriers to successful career attainment experienced by racial and ethnic minority youth and identifies a series of recommendations that vocational counselors may wish to consider in addressing the career development needs of this population.     

Multicultural Issues in Predoctoral Internship Programs: A National Survey

The present study examined the extent to which internship training directors (ITDs) addressed multicultural issues in their predoctoral training programs. Regarding the overall sample, ITDs reported varied levels of attention to specific multicultural issues. By internship agency type, ITDs at university counseling centers reported significantly greater attention to multicultural issues than did ITDs at community mental health centers, state hospitals, medical schools, and private psychiatric hospitals. Results clearly indicated the need for increased attention to multicultural issues in all internship programs.     

Racism's Impact on Counselors' Professional and Personal Lives: A Response to the Personal Narratives on Racism

The author identifies common themes among the personal narratives pertaining to racism (Journal of Counseling & Development, 77[1], 1999) and discusses implications of some themes for counselors' professional and personal development.     

Intake Concerns of Racial and Ethnic Minority Students at a University Counseling Center: Implications for Developmental Programming and Outreach

The presenting concerns of racial and ethnic minority students at a university counseling center were examined. Results revealed that family and romantic relationship issues, academic concerns, and depression were among their primary concerns. Implications for developing outreach programs to address the mental health needs of similar college students are discussed.     

The Influence of Culture,Self‐Reported Multicultural Counseling Competence,and Shifting Standards of Judgment on Perceptions of Family Functioning of White Family Counselors

This study examines the perceptions of 163 White family counselors who reported their overall impressions of family functioning in response to a fictitious case report. On the intake summary, the family was identified as either Latino or White. Aside from the names used for family members, the cases were identical. Participants assigned significantly higher (i.e., healthier) ratings to the Latino family as compared with the White family. However, this effect was moderated by self‐reported multicultural counseling knowledge and awareness. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Self‐esteem moderates preferences for accepting versus rejecting interaction partners

Two experiments compared the social orientations of people with high and low self‐esteem (HSEs vs. LSEs). In Experiment 1, participants received positive or negative interpersonal feedback from an accepting or rejecting evaluator. HSEs chose to interact with a rejecting evaluator more often than LSEs did. In Experiment 2, participants received solely negative interpersonal feedback from an accepting or rejecting evaluator of high or low social status. This time, both HSEs and LSEs chose an accepting/high‐status evaluator over a rejecting/low‐status one, but only HSEs chose a rejecting/high‐status evaluator over an accepting/low‐status one. Implications are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluating the evidence for pancultural self-enhancement

We do not regard the better-than-average effect as 'the only acceptable measure of self-enhancement' (Heine, Kitayama, & Hamamura, 2007b). Rather, we object to meta-analytical inclusion of effects that are incapable of testing the tactical self-enhancement hypothesis. In Investigation 1 of Sedikides, Gaertner, and Vevea (2007a), 12 of the 24 effects involved attributes that were unvalidated for domain (collectivistic vs individualistic): these effects are uninformative. The 12 domain-validated effects supported the hypothesis. In Investigation 2 of Sedikides et al. (2007a), 12 of the 29 effects were deemed irrelevant. None of these effects involved a correlation between: (a) a participant's rating of self and his/her rating of another person; and (b) idiographic importance rating of the comparison attributes. These effects, then, cannot test whether the self–other comparison varies with the personal importance of the comparison attributes. The 17 relevant effects supported the hypothesis. The weight of the evidence points to the panculturality of self-enhancement.