Focus and process in supervision

Key dimensions of the supervisory process are not fully articulated in the literature or in the practice of supervision. Three particular areas are identified: the purpose of supervision, the importance of the supervisory relationship, and the development of competence. In relation to purpose, it is suggested that a superordinate focus should be on the 'quality of service' to the client. The supervisory relationship is discussed in terms of a process which unfolds over time through a series of stages. The challenge of defining competence is reviewed within a framework of developing 'reflective practitioners'.     

AN INDEX FOR ASSESSING WEIGHT CHANGE IN CHILDREN: WEIGHT/HEIGHT RATIOS1

Weight and height data from two studies were recomputed, and original data were computed using a Weight Index formula that accounts for the interaction of actual weight/height changes in growing children and compares this ratio with that of normed weight/height ratios for equal-aged children. Recomputing the data of one study showed that the Weight Index is a more sensitive procedure for assessing long-term behavioral treatment of obesity for girls than weight alone. Recomputing the data of a second study showed that the Weight Index formula is consistent for boys and girls and is a more sensitive procedure for assessing long-term effects of a variety of medical treatments for obesity than the Ponderal Index or weight alone. Computation of the data for 17 “normal” children in a preschool class showed a zero Weight Index score before and after a six-month interval elapsed without treatment. The procedure may be useful in assessing ponderosity or anorexia over intervals of six months or more with growing children or difference between actual and normed weight over shorter intervals.     

Four pathways to young-adult smoking status: adolescent social-psychological antecedents in a midwestern community sample.

Evaluated the ability of social-psychological factors, measured in adolescence, to predict young-adult smoking outcomes. Results showed substantial continuity in the antecedents of adolescent and young-adult smoking but important discontinuities as well. Beliefs in the negative social consequences of smoking and beliefs about academic success and independence were important to adolescent but not to adult smoking. Conversely, beliefs in the negative health consequences of smoking were more important to adult smoking than to adolescent smoking. Results also showed an appreciable amount of smoking onset after the high school years, as well as an appreciable amount of adolescent smoking that did not persist into young adulthood. Antecedents of late-onset smoking and of nonpersistent smoking are described.     

An ethics of suffering: does it solve the problems we want to solve?: commentary

Erich H. Loewy proposes to elevate the moral obligation to prevent and relieve suffering to the level of a prima facie moral duty by delineating which beings are of primary moral worth and which are of secondary moral worth. Sentient beings have a capacity to suffer and are therefore of primary moral worth. Beings that are insentient cannot suffer; therefore such beings are only of secondary moral worth. Objects of secondary moral worth include patients in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) and brain-dead patients. This proposal, he says, would solve a number of problems in clinical bioethics. First, it would help to clarify our moral duties at the bedside. And secondly, by creating a hierarchy of moral values, it helps to differentiate which patients are owed our primary allegiance and resources. Despite his extensive and painstaking proof, I believe several questions remain about the use of the "capacity of sentient beings to suffer" as a basis for a universal grounding in ethics.     

Abstinence or control: The outcome for excessive drinkers two years after consultation

This report presents the two-year follow-up results for a sample of married male alcoholics who had been the subjects of a controlled treatment trial. Cumulative relapse curves for the two-year period were found to be similar in form to those which Hunt and Matarazzo (1970) have drawn for drug addicts, alcoholics and smokers. Outcome at 12 and 24 months were compared: changes from good to bad outcome, or vice versa, were rare. The degree of hardship reported by wives remained predictive of outcome two years later. Not all drinking reported at two years was uncontrolled. Of 26 men with a good outcome. 11 were agreed by husband and wife to be abstaining, and 10 were agreed to be controlling their drinking. Most of the latter had not shown lengthy periods of abstinence prior to resuming drinking. Controlled drinkers reported fewer symptoms at intake (morning drinking, shakes, secret drinking, hallucinations etc.), were more likely to have been sub-diagnosed as Alpha alcoholics (psychologically dependent), and were more likely to have been only briefly counselled. Abstainers reported more symptoms at intake, were more likely to be sub-diagnosed as Gamma alcoholics (physically dependent), and were more likely to have been intensively treated. These results suggest an interaction between degree of dependence, type of treatment, and goal of treatment. If confirmed by future research this would have strong implications for the planning of comprehensive alcoholism treatment services.     

Training teachers as mediators: Efficacy of a workshop versus the bug-in-the-ear technique

The implementation of behavior modification techniques in school settings often relies on effective training of teachers as mediators. At the conclusion of Phase I, the performance of an experimental group of 13 teachers who were taught behavior modification by means of an inservice workshop was compared with a no-treatment control group. Although the experimental group scored higher on a paper-and-pencil test of behavior modification, there were no differences between the two groups on selected observed in-class behaviors. During Phase II, half of the experimental group of teachers received two hours of bug-in-the-ear (BIE) training in their own classrooms. BIE resulted in changes in the classroom behaviors of praise and contingency statements. These results are discussed in terms of the situation and response mode specificity of behavior and in terms of the implications for future workshops and research.     

Action representation deficits in adolescents with developmental dyslexia

Developmental dyslexia (DD), a severe and frequent disorder of reading acquisition, is characterized by a diversity of cognitive and motor deficits whose interactions still remain under debate. Although deficits in the automatization of sensorimotor control have been highlighted, internal action representation allowing prediction has never before been investigated. In this study, we considered action representation of 18 adolescents with pure DD and 18 age-matched typical readers. Participants actually and mentally performed a visually guided pointing task involving strong spatiotemporal constraints (speed/accuracy trade-off paradigm). While actual and mental movement times of typical readers were isochronous and both conformed to Fitts’ law, the movement times of dyslexics differed between conditions, and only the actual movement times conformed to Fitts’ law. Furthermore, the quality of motor imagery correlated with word reading abilities. This suggests that the process of action representation is impaired in pure DD and supports the sensorimotor perspective of DD. Theoretical implications are discussed.