Connotative Interpretations of Sexuality-Related Terms

In this study we examined the connotative interpretations of selected sexuality-related terms by a cohort of university undergraduate students (n=567). Forty-two sexuality-relevant constructs were rated on thirty 7-point semantic differential scales. Means of the scale sum scores for men and women were compared using t tests. Among women the most favorably rated constructs were orgasm, vaginal sex, sexual intercourse, virginity, masturbation, oral sex, pro-choice, pregnancy, erection, and heterosexual. The most negatively evaluated terms were date rape, sexual abuse, rape, sexual assault, HPV, and HIV/AIDS. For men, the most favorably rated constructs were sexual monogamy, virginity, orgasm, vaginal sex, and heterosexual. The most negatively evaluated terms were rape, HPV, date rape, and sexual abuse. There were statistically significant gender differences in the evaluation of 12 terms (p<.05). The evaluations assigned to 30 possible attributes suggest that some sexuality-related terms elicit strong visceral responses from university students. A discussion of the psychological and emotional impact of sexuality-related terms (i.e., connotative meanings) may be warranted whenever dictionary definitions (i.e., denotative meanings) are presented to students, other groups of learners, and persons in health care and other settings. Moreover, a practitioner's use of language may elicit connotatively different responses for women and men.     

The differential outcomes effect in children with autism

The differential outcomes procedure uses reinforcement unique to each alternative in a conditional discrimination, leading to faster and more accurate learning relative to non‐differential outcomes procedures. In this study, the differential outcomes procedure was used to teach novel tacts of musical instrument sounds to children with autism. For one set of instruments, response‐specific reinforcers were used in combination with social reinforcement. For the other set, reinforcers were provided non‐differentially. Two out of three participants showed enhanced learning in the differential outcomes condition, providing some support of the differential outcomes procedures as a useful tool for teaching individuals with autism. Future research into the differential outcomes effect is warranted to identify the procedural and individual factors that predict its effectiveness.     

Are Psychiatric Residents Still Interested in Psychoanalysis? A Brief Report

In spite of the efficacy of the psychodynamic psychotherapies, the number of young psychiatric residents interested in psychodynamic therapies is decreasing. Our psychoanalytical group, Genden (Genève-Denver), explored the possible reasons for psychiatric residents' hesitation to get psychoanalytic training. Five psychoanalytical psychotherapists met weekly for a year in order to debate that question, focusing on personal feedbacks from all of our 100 residents in psychiatry working with us for at least 4 years. Following the residents' responses, our focus group proposed ten commonsense feedbacks for psychoanalysts regarding stimulating young psychiatric residents' interest in psychoanalytic approaches.     

Time Points: A Gestural Study of the Development of Space–Time Mappings

Human languages typically employ a variety of spatial metaphors for time (e.g., “I'm looking forward to the weekend”). The metaphorical grounding of time in space is also evident in gesture. The gestures that are performed when talking about time bolster the view that people sometimes think about regions of time as if they were locations in space. However, almost nothing is known about the development of metaphorical gestures for time, despite keen interest in the origins of space–time metaphors. In this study, we examined the gestures that English‐speaking 6‐to‐7‐year‐olds, 9‐to‐11‐year‐olds, 13‐to‐15‐year‐olds, and adults produced when talking about time. Participants were asked to explain the difference between pairs of temporal adverbs (e.g., “tomorrow” versus “yesterday”) and to use their hands while doing so. There was a gradual increase across age groups in the propensity to produce spatial metaphorical gestures when talking about time. However, even a substantial majority of 6‐to‐7‐year‐old children produced a spatial gesture on at least one occasion. Overall, participants produced fewer gestures in the sagittal (front‐back) axis than in the lateral (left‐right) axis, and this was particularly true for the youngest children and adolescents. Gestures that were incongruent with the prevailing norms of space–time mappings among English speakers (leftward and backward for past; rightward and forward for future) gradually decreased with increasing age. This was true for both the lateral and sagittal axis. This study highlights the importance of metaphoricity in children's understanding of time. It also suggests that, by 6 to 7 years of age, culturally determined representations of time have a strong influence on children's spatial metaphorical gestures.     

‘The teachers put effort into teaching us about life,and what’s right and what’s wrong’: values and moral education in publicly-managed schools in Ireland

In light of cultural and demographic changes in the Republic of Ireland, there is an important and urgent need for research on the articulation of values education in Irish publicly-managed schools. This article reports the findings from a research project on the moral, religious and spiritual values and traditions of staff and students in publicly-managed schools. Data was collected from 18 second-level schools throughout the country, using a mixed methods approach involving the named values of participants’ school, as well as the policies and practices employed within the schools to support these named values. Findings show that both teachers and students identify positive values such as respect and well-being, equality and inclusion, and describe values education in practice. However, some differences emerging in the findings highlight the vacuum left by the lack of sectoral guidance. The implications of this vacuum are discussed, as it provides an opportunity for dialogue and consensus-building on values, and also for schools to develop their own context-relevant set of values.     

Learning to Heal from Those Who Know! The “Lived” Experience of a Peer Support Program for Adult Survivors of Childhood Trauma

This study explored the dual phenomenon of experiencing a peer support residential trauma program from the perspective of (a) a client, and (b) a facilitator. It sought both positive and negative subjective interpretations. Participants were former clients and current facilitators of the program. Data were collected through a focus group, and analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. One superordinate theme, altruistic growth, overarched 2 subordinate themes. The first, modeling through respect, included subthemes of respect and hope and empowerment. The second subordinate theme, reciprocal model of care, encapsulated personal challenges such as facing the mirror, old demons, and burnout and breaking points. Conversely, participants mused on these challenges as opportunities for further healing through opportunities for self-nurturing and gratitude. Implications for treatment of adult survivors of childhood trauma are discussed. For facilitators, the program was seen as offering further personal reflection and a giving forward that was interpreted as altruistic growth.     

Pain in the Past and Pleasure in the Future: The Development of Past–Future Preferences for Hedonic Goods

It seems self-evident that people prefer painful experiences to be in the past and pleasurable experiences to lie in the future. Indeed, it has been claimed that, for hedonic goods, this preference is absolute (Sullivan, 2018). Yet very little is known about the extent to which people demonstrate explicit preferences regarding the temporal location of hedonic experiences, about the developmental trajectory of such preferences, and about whether such preferences are impervious to differences in the quantity of envisaged past and future pain or pleasure. We find consistent evidence that, all else being equal, adults and children aged 7 and over prefer pleasure to lie in the future and pain in the past and believe that other people will, too. They also predict that other people will be happier when pleasure is in the future rather than the past but sadder when pain is in the future rather than the past. Younger children have the same temporal preferences as adults for their own painful experiences, but they prefer their pleasure to lie in the past and do not predict that others' levels of happiness or sadness vary dependent on whether experiences lie in the past or the future. However, from the age of 7, temporal preferences were typically abandoned at the earliest opportunity when the quantity of past pain or pleasure was greater than the quantity located in the future. Past–future preferences for hedonic goods emerge early developmentally but are surprisingly flexible.     

Factor structure of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) with an offender sample

One thousand two hundred inmates were given the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) in a midwestern reception and diagnostic center. Two groups of 600 were randomly divided, and their test results were subjected to a principal components factor analysis. Four factors were derived in both groups and were similar, indicating successful cross-validation. Three of the four factors bore similarity to factors found in other samples (drug abusers, psychiatric population, Viet Nam veterans), and the fourth was unique to the offender population.