An Empowerment Evaluation Model for Sexual Assault Programs: Empirical Evidence of Effectiveness

Using an empowerment evaluation approach, the Sexual Assault and Rape Prevention (SARP) Evaluation Project brought together university researchers, public health evaluators, state funders, and program staff to provide evaluation training and consultation to all state-funded rape prevention and victim services programs in Michigan. In this paper, the specific activities of the SARP project are described, and process and outcome data are presented that address the effectiveness of this empowerment evaluation approach. Based on subjective reports from program staff and objective data obtained from state funders, results suggest that this evaluation model was successful in helping 90% of the prevention programs and 75% of the victim services programs successfully develop and launch program evaluations. One-year follow-up data indicate that 90% of the programs had sustained their evaluation efforts after the formal work of the SARP project had ended.     

Bouts of responding: the relation between bout rate and the rate of variable-interval reinforcement

By nose poking a lighted key, rats obtained food pellets on either a variable-interval schedule of reinforcement or a schedule that required an average of four additional responses after the end of tile variable-interval component (a tandem variable-interval variable-ratio 4 schedule). With both schedule types, the mean variable interval was varied between blocks of sessions from 16 min to 0.25 min. Total rate of key poking increased similarly as a function of the reinforcer rate for the two schedule types, but response rate was higher with than without the four-response requirement. Analysis of log survivor plots of interresponse times showed that key poking occurred in bouts. The rate of initiating bouts increased as a function of reinforcer rate but was either unaffected or was decreased by adding the four-response requirement. Within-bout response rate was insensitive to reinforcer rate and only inconsistently affected by the four-response requirement. For both kinds of schedule, the ratio of bout time to between-bout pause time was approximately a power function of reinforcer rate, with exponents above and below 1.0.     

Short- and Long-Term Impact of Receiving Genetic Mutation Results in Women at Increased Risk for Hereditary Breast Cancer

Forty-seven unaffected women from high-risk breast cancer families who had received results for hereditary breast/ovarian predisposition genes between 1 month and 5 years ago were interviewed regarding their experiences. Women responded to open-ended questions. The initial emotional turmoil reported by most was generally short lived. However, the impact of genetic testing went beyond the individual to the extended family and social context, particularly in the short-term. A common theme was the difficulty associated with divulging a result to family members, who were also adjusting to their own result. The majority of carriers reported advantages that were both physical (options for surveillance programs and prophylactic surgery) and emotional (reduced uncertainty, increased awareness of options and knowledge about risk, preparation time). Most carriers reported no change in lifestyle although some reported discovering their mutation status as a positive life-changing experience. Implications for genetic counseling and further research are discussed.     

Reactive vs. proactive antisocial behavior: differential correlates of child ADHD symptoms?

This study examines the relation between proactive and reactive antisocial behavior with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptoms. Caregivers of children aged 8 to 15 (n = 84) being evaluated at a child psychiatry outpatient clinic served as participants. Given the conceptual similarity between reactive antisocial behavior (ASB) and particular ADHD symptoms, we hypothesized that ADHD symptoms would be more closely related to reactive than to proactive ASB. Based on peer deviancy training models of ASB, we also hypothesized that the relation between ADHD symptoms and proactive ASB would increase from middle childhood to adolescence. Both hypotheses were supported. These findings suggest that reactive ASB is relatively specific to ADHD symptoms, and that intervening before early adolescence may be critical to prevent the onset of comorbid proactive ASB.     

Optimizing treatment in social phobia: a review of treatment resistance

Over the last 25 years, there has been a rapid expansion of our knowledge base of social phobia (SP). Although there are a number of well-validated treatment modalities, including pharmacotherapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy, significant gaps remain in our ability to achieve full remission in most patients. Despite advances in the neurobiology of SP, the etiology has yet to be determined. Investigations examining potential predictors of response have provided little guidance in selecting an appropriate treatment modality. These gaps in our knowledge have pushed us to examine issues related to treatment resistance. This paper presents a review of the current literature and issues related to treatment-resistant SP, including a discussion of the functional impairment associated with SP, definitions of treatment response and remission, as well as outcome measures that have been used in clinical investigations of SP. In addition, criteria for a standard treatment trial, predictors of treatment response, a review of treatment resistance studies, and potential directions for future research are examined. The most promising strategies to attain remission, will likely involve augmenting selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors with agents such as anticonvulsants, benzodiazepines, and antipsychotics as well as combining pharmacotherapy with cognitive-behavioral therapy. Our current treatment target of simply attaining a response needs to be refocused, so that an asymptomatic state and high end state functioning become the final goal of treatment.     

Event memory and misinformation effects in a gorilla (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Gorilla gorilla gorilla</Emphasis>)

Event memory and misinformation effects were examined in an adult male gorilla ( Gorilla gorilla gorilla). The gorilla witnessed a series of unique events, involving a familiar person engaging in a novel behavior (experiment 1), a novel person engaging in a novel behavior (experiment 2), or the presentation of a novel object (experiment 3). Following a 5- to 10-min retention interval, a tester gave the gorilla three photographs mounted on wooden cards: a photograph depicting the correct person or object and two distractor photographs drawn from the same class. The gorilla responded by returning a photograph. If correct, he was reinforced with food. Across three experiments, the gorilla performed significantly above chance at recognizing the target photograph. In experiment 4, the gorilla showed at-chance performance when the event was followed by misinformation (a class-consistent, but incorrect photograph), but significantly above-chance performance when no misinformation occurred (either correct photograph or no photograph). Although the familiarity can account for these data, they are also consistent with an episodic-memory interpretation.     

A stereo advantage in generalizing over changes in viewpoint on object recognition tasks

In four experiments, we examined whether generalization to unfamiliar views was better under stereo viewing or under nonstereo viewing across different tasks and stimuli. In the first three experiments, we used a sequential matching task in which observers matched the identities of shaded tube-like objects. Across Experiments 1-3, we manipulated the presentation method of the nonstereo stimuli (having observers wear an eye patch vs. showing observers the same screen image) and the magnitude of the viewpoint change (30 degrees vs. 38 degrees). In Experiment 4, observers identified "easy" and "hard" rotating wire-frame objects at the individual level under stereo and nonstereo viewing conditions. We found a stereo advantage for generalizing to unfamiliar views in all the experiments. However, in these experiments, performance remained view dependent even under stereo viewing. These results strongly argue against strictly 2-D image-based models of object recognition, at least for the stimuli and recognition tasks used, and suggest that observers used representations that contained view-specific local depth information.     

Changes in functional status among older adults in Japan: successful and usual aging

This research aimed to chart the trajectories of functional status in old age in Japan and to assess how self-rated health and cognitive functioning differentiate these trajectories and account for interpersonal differences. Data came from a 5-wave panel study of a national sample of 2,200 Japanese older adults between 1987 and 1999. The sample as a whole showed an accelerated increase in functional limitations with age. approximated by a quadratic function. More important, 3 major trajectories of functional change were identified: (a) minimal functional decrement, (b) early onset of functional impairment. and (c) late onset of functional impairment. These findings may serve as useful benchmarks for observations derived from other developed nations.     

Preference for novel flavors in adult Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus)

The authors fed rats 1 of 2 distinctively flavored, roughly equipalatable diets for 3 days then offered them an ad libitum choice between the 2 diets. For 3 days, subjects exhibited a reduced relative intake of whichever diet they had previously eaten (Experiment 1). Such reduction in relative intake was as effective as a toxicosis-induced conditioned aversion in determining subjects' food choices (Experiment 2). The strength of exposure-induced reduction in relative intake did not depend on similarity of the 2 diets offered for choice either to each other or to subjects' maintenance diet (Experiment 3) but did require continuous exposure to a diet (Experiment 4). These experiments provide the first evidence of a robust, exposure-induced decrease infood preference in rats lasting for days rather than minutes.     

Behavioural genetics: why eugenic selection is preferable to enhancement

Criminal behaviour is but one behavioural tendency for which a genetic influence has been suggested. Whilst this research certainly raises difficult ethical questions and is subject to scientific criticism, one recent research project suggests that for some families, criminal tendency might be predicted by genetics. In this paper, supposing this research is valid, we consider whether intervening in the criminal tendency of future children is ethically justifiable. We argue that, if avoidance of harm is a paramount consideration, such an intervention is acceptable when genetic selection is employed instead of genetic enhancement. Moreover, other moral problems in avoiding having children with a tendency to criminal behaviour, such as the prospect of social discrimination, can also be overcome.