Distinguishing between cognitive and somatic trait and state anxiety in children

The study was conducted to develop self-report measures of cognitive and somatic trait and state anxiety for children and to evaluate the utility of distinguishing between cognitive and somatic anxiety. Sixty-seven fourth grade children anticipated and then performed a mathematics task either in a high- or low-stress condition. While the children anticipated performing the task, measures of seven cognitive behaviors were obtained by means of both a think aloud procedure and a questionnaire. The results of the study indicated that reliable trait and state measures of cognitive and somatic anxiety were successfully developed. Further, the trait measures of cognitive and somatic anxiety were found to be relatively impervious to induced anxiety states. As expected, cognitive trait anxiety but not somatic trait or state anxiety was found to be related to task performance. High cognitive state and/or trait anxiety was found to be associated with more preoccupation and performance denigration as well as taking less of an analytic attitude toward the situation. Somatic trait and state anxiety were found to be associated with preoccupation. In general, the results support the construct validity of the measures developed and the utility of distinguishing between cognitive and somatic anxiety in children.     

Book reviews

The I?varapratvabhijñākārikā of Utpaladeva with the Author's Vrtti. Critical edition and annotated translation. Serie Orientale Roma LXXI. Raffaele Toreha, 1994, Roma, Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, LIV+ 273 pp., pb L. 110.000

Jung and Eastern Thought: a Dialogue with the Orient. John James Clarke, 1994, London, Routledge, vii +217 pp., £12.99

Abu Ya^cqub al‐Sijistani: Intellectual Missionary. Paul E. Walker, 1996, London, I. B. Tauris, xv + 132 pp.

Religious Pluralism and Truth: Essays on Cross‐cultural Philosophy of Religion. Edited by Thomas Dean, 1995, Albany, SUNY Press, xi + 271 pp., 0 7914 2123 6 hb, 0 7914 2124 4 pb, $19.95

The Body, Self‐cultivation, and Ki‐energy. Yuasa Yasuo, trans, by Shigenori Nagatomo and Monte S. Hull, 1993, Albany, SUNY Press, xxxvi + 229 pp. 814.95     

Reflex and reflectivity: Wuwei in the Zhuangzi

I will explicate Zhuangzi's conception of wuwei as it is articulated in the image of the ‘hinge of dao.’ First, I will discuss the few actual instances of the term “wuwei’ in the Zhuangzi. Second, I will show that the text uses this imagery to suggest an adaptive or reflective mode of conduct. Third, I will analyse the metaphor of the hinge, and show how this metaphor can illuminate Zhuangzi's notion of wuwei and the behaviour of the realised person. I will show that the hinge represents the way in which the ideal person responds to inevitability, and that Zhuangzi's ideal person could be described as “perfectly well‐adjusted”. Finally, I will demonstrate that this reading offers new meanings and textures to a text that has long been read in only certain ways, so that many of its subtleties have been overlooked.     

Maternal depressed mood and stress as related to vigilance,self-efficacy and mother-child interactions

Parenting self-efficacy, maternal vigilance, competence and child behaviour were studied in a community sample of mothers of 18-36-month-old children. Thirty dysphoric mothers had elevated Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores (12–16) and 30 nondysphoric mothers had BDIs <5. Dysphoric mothers were more stressed, less happily married, less effective as parents and described their children as less competent and responsive than did non-dysphoric mothers. When completing a distracting questionnaire task, all mothers were less vigilant and their children less well behaved than during free play. Stressed, dysphoric mothers were observed to be less sensitive, responsive, warm, vigilant and effective in controlling their children, and their children were more destructive, and less happy, responsive and compliant. Combined maternal stress and dysphoria were associated with generally negative perceptions of self and child, and negative mother-child interactions.     

Interference and negative priming from ignored distractors: The role of selection difficulty

The relation between distractor interference and negative priming from identical distractors was examined in two experiments. Subjects responded to a target letter, which was indicated by an adjacent bar marker, and attempted to ignore a distracting letter. Onprime trials, distracting letters were either compatible or incompatible with the target, allowing for a measure of interference. On subsequentprobe trials, previously ignored distractors were sometimes presented as targets, allowing for a measure of negative priming. Reducing the spatial separation between targets and distractors on the prime trial increased the magnitude of interferenceand negative priming, but these effects appeared to be independent of each other (Experiment 1). In Experiment 2, the prime target location was precued on some trials, but not on others. Precuing attenuated the magnitude of interference, but not that of negative priming effects. This pattern indicates that measures of negative priming and measures of distractor interference on the immediately preceding trial are independent. The results are discussed in terms of a selective inhibition model of selective attention.     

The Role of Biodata and Intelligence in the Predictive Validity of Assessment Centres

The present study assessed three of Klimoski and Brickner's ¹ 1 See Klimoski and Brickner (1987) in reference list.
explanations for assessment centres' predictive validity: criterion contamination, the influence of biodata, and the effect of assessed intellectual level. Data were collected in a major Israeli industrial organisation on the job performance and advancement of 91 managers who had participated in an assessment centre four to seven years earlier. Little empirical support was garnered for Klimoski and Brickner's claims. Assessment centre scores were found to be similarly correlated in a significant fashion with both contaminated and uncontaminated criteria of later management performance. Although biodata and intelligence variables were correlated with assessors' evaluations, they did not notably contribute to the predictive validity of assessment centre scores. It seems that information reached by observing behaviours reflected during exercises and simulations are the main factors affecting the validity of assessment centres.     

Negative priming depends on prime-probe similarity: Evidence for episodic retrieval

It is well established that requiring a person to respond to a recently ignored object in a visual selection task leads to slower responding (i.e., negative priming). In the present experiment, subjects identified target letters flanked by incompatible distractor letters on prime and probe displays. Prime display distractors appeared as the target letter on one third of subsequent probe displays. We manipulated stimulus strength by means of intensity contrast between letter displays and their background. Displays were presented with either high contrast (white against a black background) or low contrast (dark gray against a black background). The important finding was that negative priming was maximal when prime and probe displays shared the same intensity contrast. These results suggest that greater similarity between prime and probe displays results in improved retrieval of prime display information. The results provide strong support for an episodic retrieval account of negative priming.     

Lesbian motherhood and genetic choices

Rhonda, a physician, and Clara, a registered nurse, have been lovers for the past 7 years. Both women are in their 30s, in good health, and financially stable. Clara has contacted Dr. Robinson, a highly regarded obstetrician and geneticist, with an unusual request. Clara is seeking to become pregnant by means of in vitro fertilization (IVF) with an embryo transfer (ET) technology. She proposes being implanted with ova harvested from her partner, Rhonda, and fertilized in vitro with donor sperm from a local medical-school sperm bank. Dr. Robinson explains the relatively low success rate involved in IVF and ET techniques and suggests artificial insemination of Clara's own ova. Clara and Rhonda understand the low success rates but are undeterred. Their mutual goal is not merely to have a child but to share in the maternity of their children. What ethical issues are raised by the plan Clara and Rhonda propose? What are Dr. Robinson's ethical responsibilities with respect to the request by Clara and Rhonda?