Investigation of Body Comparison Among Adolescent Girls1

Grade differences in appearance and nonappearance social comparisons, and targets for body comparison were examined in adolescent girls. A model describing potential contributors to, and consequences of, body comparison tendency was examined. Girls (n= 545) completed measuring social comparisons, targets for comparisons, dieting in response to comparisons, body attitudes, eating patterns, psychological variables, height, and weight. Appearance and nonappearance social comparisons increased with age. Girls reported comparing their bodies most frequently with peers and fashion models. Body comparison tendency was significantly predicted by: importance of thinness, internalization of socio‐cultural ideal, friend concern with weight, body image instability, competitiveness, grade, public self‐consciousness, perfectionism, and family concern with weight. Predictors of dieting in response to body comparison were also explored.     

An ‘Extra Legible Illustration' of the Christian Faith: Medicine,medical ethics and missionaries in the Arabian Gulf1

This article presents a view of missionary medicine in the Gulf and the ethical issues missionary medical practices evoked. It shows that, as both physicians and missionaries, and seeing themselves as an 'extra legible illustration' of the Christian faith (Paul Harrison, Doctor in Arabia, New York, John Day Co., 1940, 23-4), the missionary physicians gave selflessly to provide the best medical care possible according to their individual abilities and given the environment in which they worked. At the same time, they experimented, took risks that were sometimes unnecessary and were forced to make ethical choices that challenged their Christian moral compass. Furthermore, given the remoteness of their stations, they were absolved from professional oversight and second-guessing by patients who had nowhere else to turn. Drawing on this paradox of self-sacrifice and self-service, of Christian benevolence and imperial posturing, the article considers to what extent the mission was an exercise in altruism or imperialism.     

Randomized Controlled Trial of Cognitive–Behavioral Group Therapy for Irritable Bowel Syndrome in a Medical Setting

Standard medical treatments have not been effective for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) patients. Though individualized cognitive–behavior therapy is an empirically supported treatment option, cognitive–behavioral group therapy (CBGT) has yet to be established as an effective alternative in a randomized controlled trial. This study compared the efficacy of a 10-session CBGT with a home-based symptom monitoring with weekly telephone contact (SMTC) treatment for IBS, extending previous quasi-experimental research in this area. Twenty-eight refractory IBS patients, evaluated and referred by gastroenterologists using the Rome criteria, participated in the study. IBS symptoms, psychological functioning, and health-related quality of life were assessed pre- and posttreatment, and at 3-month follow-up. CBGT patients reported significantly more gastrointestinal (GI) symptom improvement than SMTC patients on posttreatment global measures and had significantly reduced daily diary pain scores at 3-month follow-up. Based on MANOVA, there was significant improvement in psychological distress and health-related quality of life for the CBGT patients in comparison to the SMTC patients. These improvements were also maintained at the 3-month follow-up. Reductions in GI symptoms, psychological distress, and improved health related quality of life may contribute to less behavioral avoidance, disability, and health care utilization in refractory IBS patients.     

Cork Older Adult Intervention Project: Outcomes of a gestalt therapy group with older adults

The study investigated the effects of a gestalt therapy group with older adults. A total of 43 adults, 65 years or older, were randomised into treatment and assessment control groups of 22 and 21 respectively. ANCOVA results indicated that group therapy participants reported less anger control and more overall expression of anger than the control participants. In addition, they were significantly more agreeable and less hostile and more clear-headed and less confused at the end of the group. These findings were supported by reported emotional changes. Younger group participants were significantly more composed and less anxious than younger control group members. Qualitative results further illustrated this reduction in anxiety. Participants significantly increased their level of clear-headedness and were less confused. Qualitative evidence also illustrated their clear-headedness and agreeableness. Exploratory analysis illustrated substantial learning about oneself by group participants.     

Cognitive reference points

Two methods were used to test the hypothesis that natural categories (such as colors, line orientations, and numbers) have reference point stimuli (such as focal colors, vertical and horizontal lines, and numbers that are multiples of 10) in relation to which other stimuli of the category are judged. In Experiment I, subjects placed pairs of stimuli into sentence frames consisting of linguistic “hedges” such as “— is essentially—.” Results were that the supposed reference stimuli were most often placed in the second (reference) slot. In Experiment II, the subject placed a stimulus in physical space to represent his feeling of the psychological distance of that stimulus from another spatially fixed stimulus. Results showed that, when supposed reference stimuli were fixed, other stimuli were placed closer to them than vice versa. The results have substantive implications for the understanding of internal structure of categories and methodological implications for the mapping of reference points, quantification of linguistic intuitions, and the assumption of symmetry in psychological distance judgments.     

Quintupling the speed of the PDP-8 DF32 disk system for real-time use

The author has noted some inefficiencies in the operation of the DF32 hardware/software disk system on the PDP-8. While such inefficiencies are not significant when the disk is used only as a store for programs which are called into core from the keyboard, they become important when the disk is used as a real-time backup for core. This paper isolates some of the problems, gives rules for avoiding them, and then describes how the system software was modified to obey these rules. The speed of the modified system is noticeable even when SAVEing and CALLing programs from the keyboard; successive blocks can be transferred between disk and core in one-fifth the previously required time.