Integration: A coming of age

Integration is one of the most prevalent contemporary themes in the field of family therapy. This discussion proposes a process-based model of integration which transcends theoretical content. A brief review of integrative efforts in the field of marriage and family therapy is followed by an exploration of issues related to theoretical content. A model for understanding the personal process of integration is developed which articulates a five stage process of integration. Finally, after a brief character development to illustrate the different stages, some initial implications for a process-based model of integration are explored.David J. Moultrup, MSW, LICSW, is in private practice in Arlington, Massachusetts.     

Book reviews

Current Psychology -     

A simple infrared photocell device and its interface to an Apple computer

This paper describes a simple infrared photocell circuit that is inexpensive and easy to construct. The light source and detector are housed inexpensively and are focused so the light and detector may be separated over significant distances. The circuit may be used in a variety of conditions, including total darkness and bright fluorescent lighting, without having to readjust or recalibrate the circuitry. Output from the circuit may be used to drive other transistors or electromechanical relays. With minimal additional circuitry and hardware the signal may be interfaced with an Apple computer.     

Duration of negative practice and the reduction of leg pounding of a traumatically brain-injured adult

This study evaluated the relative efficacy of long (1 minute) and short (15 seconds) durations of negative practice for reducing self-stimulatory leg pounding of a traumatically brain-injured adult. In individual social skill training classes, long negative practice and short negative practice were administered concurrently in an alternating treatments design. Generalization of treatment effects outside of training sessions was assessed during the client's lunch period. The results revealed that both durations of negative practice were equally effective in reducing leg pounding during training sessions. However, the effects of training did not generalize to settings in which the practice contingency was not enforced. Pounding was more frequent and negative practice somewhat less effective during periods of high social stimulation.     

Training non-native speech contrasts in adults: Acquisition of the English /ð/-/θ/ contrast by francophones

Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics - Speech perception abilities are modified by linguistic experience to maximize sensitivity to acoustic contrasts that are important for one’s...     

Evidence for disparity change as the primary stimulus for stereoscopic processing

Subjects were able to respond to a lens-induced stereoscopic slant more quickly and more accurately when it was imposed on only part of a surface rather than on the whole surface. This shows that the presence of a stereoscopic boundary, where disparity is discontinuous, increases the efficiency of stereoscopic processing. This finding is not consistent with many current models of stereopsis.     

Minicomputer-administered tasks in the study of effects of sustained work on human performance

Six tasks administered on a MINC-11 minicomputer were used in studying the effects of long, continuous work periods and fatigue on physical and cognitive task performance. Submaximal physiological workload measurement was done during one of these tasks for a subject walking on a treadmill. The MINC-11 system is described, as are the six tasks programs. Four of these tasks measured various types of reaction times, another involved complex information processing, and one appraised moods, physical symptoms, fatigue, and the physiological status of subjects.     

Simulation analyses of space use: Home range estimates,variability, and sample size

Simulations of space use by animals were run to determine the relationship among home range area estimates, variability, and sample size (number of locations). As sample size increased, home range size increased asymptotically, whereas variability decreased among mean home range area estimates generated by multiple simulations for the same sample size. Our results suggest that field workers should ascertain between 100 and 200 locations in order to estimate reliably home range area. In some cases, this suggested guideline is higher than values found in the few published studies in which the relationship between home range area and number of locations is addressed. Sampling differences for small species occupying relatively small home ranges indicate that fewer locations may be sufficient to allow for a reliable estimate of home range. Intraspecific variability in social status (group member, loner, resident, transient), age, sex, reproductive condition, and food resources also have to be considered, as do season, habitat, and differences in sampling and analytical methods. Comparative data still are needed.     

Critical levels and magnitude of effects

Researchers sometimes report an effect of an experimental manipulation on a dependent variable in terms of the difference between levels of a certain nuisance variable required in the different experimental conditions to reach a given criterion of behavior. This method, however, may yield illusory impressions about magnitude of effects.