From page to program: Some typographical and temporal variables in radio homilies

Punctuation in 20 radio homilies by four speakers accounted for 76% of pause time and 64% of pause number. Pause duration varied systematically according to punctuation type. Commas accounted for 82% of punctuated positionsnot used for pausing.RRelevance for theories of text unitization is discussed. Both typographical and temporal measures are compared with a similar corpus of German homilies.     

Measuring the activity of severely and profoundly mentally-handicapped adults in ordinary housing

Earlier work on the quality of care in settings for severely and profoundly mentally-handicapped adults raised the question whether any useful purpose is served by promoting the extensive use of simple recreational materials to occupy people. Data were collected by direct observation on the activity of 6 adults living in a staffed house organized to promote engagement in household activities. Observations were taken over 5 weekdays from 07.00 to 10.00 and 15.00 to 23.00hr. The results showed that Ss spent between 22 and 67% of available time in purposeful activity. Between 27 and 65% of purposeful activity was engagement in domestic or housework tasks. Even the most handicapped people spent more time engaged in housework than in leisure and recreational tasks. The implications of these data are commented on and measurement issues which arise in ordinary housing as opposed to institutional settings are discussed.     

Beliefs about and experiences with battering: Women and men in two populations

A questionnaire was developed to measure beliefs about and experiences with violence in the family. Two groups of persons in two different states who had attended conferences on battered women participated in this research. Of the 177 subjects (84% women, 16% men), none of the men had been battered, yet over one-third of the women had been; more older women reported having been adult battering victims than did younger women; the women had less formal education than the men; the women in the lower educational groups were more likely to have been battered and to report fear of becoming victims; and the social service workers reported little fear of battering.     

Development of hand preference in the Colorado Adoption Project

A longitudinal study of the development of hand preference in 152 adopted and 120 nonadopted (control) infants measured in natural behavioral situations at both 12 and 24 mo. of age is reported. Significant developmental trends were observed for both increasing strength and direction of handedness. Less than 10% of the infants exhibited a clear preference at 12 mo. of age, whereas about 30% were lateralized at 24 mo., with more boys than girls being left-handed. In contrast, over 90% of the parents of these children (both biological and adoptive parents of the adopted children and parents of the nonadopted children) were lateralized. Perhaps because so few infants were lateralized at either age, parent-offspring resemblances were inconsistent and the number of significant parent/child correlations was about that expected on the basis of chance alone.     

A detailed study of sequential saccadic eye movements for normal- and poor-reading children

This paper presents the results of an in-depth study of parameters characterizing sequenced saccadic eye movements for a group of dyslexic children and a comparative normal control group with ages in the range greater than 8.0 yr. and less than 13.0 yr. No parameters were statistically different for the two groups, which supports the findings of Brown, et al. and contradicts the findings of Pavlidis. Our results indicate that sequenced saccadic eye movements are not diagnostically useful for early detection of dyslexia.     

A general structural equation model with dichotomous,ordered categorical,and continuous latent variable indicators

A structural equation model is proposed with a generalized measurement part, allowing for dichotomous and ordered categorical variables (indicators) in addition to continuous ones. A computationally feasible three-stage estimator is proposed for any combination of observed variable types. This approach provides large-sample chi-square tests of fit and standard errors of estimates for situations not previously covered. Two multiple-indicator modeling examples are given. One is a simultaneous analysis of two groups with a structural equation model underlying skewed Likert variables. The second is a longitudinal model with a structural model for multivariate probit regressions.This research was supported by Grant No. 81-IJ-CX-0015 from the National Institute of Justice, by Grant No. DA 01070 from the U.S. Public Health Service, and by Grant No. SES-8312583 from the National Science Foundation. I thank Julie Honig for drawing the figures. Requests for reprints should be sent to Bengt Muthén, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90024.     

Effects of family therapy for substance abuse: A systematic review of recent research

One of the most serious psychosocial problems worldwide is substance abuse because of its repercussions not only on the physical and psychological health of the abuser but also on their relational functioning. Among the well-established therapeutic approaches for the treatment of substance abuse is family therapy, which, in addition to influencing personal variables, promotes changes in family dynamics. The main objective of this study is to review the scientific literature published from 2010 to the present on the efficacy and effectiveness shown by family-based treatment approaches for substance use problems both in adolescent and adult samples. In addition, the effect on secondary variables such as family functioning and behavioral problems is evaluated. The empirical evidence accumulated in the last decade and reviewed in the present study indicates that the incorporation of family members in the treatment of substance abuse produces benefits by diminishing consumption and improving family functioning. Limitations of this study and of the research reviewed are discussed and directions for future research are provided.     

Trauma,protest, and therapeutic culture in Algeria since the 1980s

This article focuses on the shift in sensitivities that took place between the 1980s and 2019 toward psychological suffering in Algeria. Promoters of psychotherapy showed an increase in receptivity—via the media, public authorities, and the general population—to their practices and discourses during this period. Based on professional literature, interviews with psychologists, psychiatrists, and psychoanalysts, and newspaper articles and essays, this article considers the following aspects: the use of psychotherapy, the authority of psychoanalytic/psychopathological analyses, and the ethics of relation in politics. Taking a social and cultural history of politics approach, it traces the discontinuous politicization of psychotherapy over the course of events (namely the uprising of 1988, the civil war of the 1990s, and the 2019 popular movement) and examines the interactions between the state, popular mobilizations, and the psychotherapists. The civil war of the 1990s coincided with the normalization of “trauma” on a global scale, and procedures for the prevention of posttraumatic stress disorder were put in place in Algeria from 1997 onwards. In this process of legitimizing psychological suffering and its treatment, the promoters of psychotherapy who belonged to the less visible margins gained authority. The year-long protest movement (2019) against the regime performed the ethics of relation, focusing on human relations, reflexivity, and living together. Promoters of psychotherapy identified consistently with the political subjectivities produced within the 2019 popular movement characterized by massive pacifist marches against the regime.     

Playing to their strengths: Can focusing on typical in-group strengths be detrimental to people of colour?

With increasing awareness about racism, portrayals of communities of colour are shifting away from negative representations. Emphasizing their strengths could counter negative stereotypes about who they are and low expectations for who they can be, but could also backfire. In two experiments centring adolescents (n = 198) and adults of colour (n = 321), the effect of reflecting on a typical strength was moderated by perceived misalignments between racial/ethnic and ideal future selves (i.e., ethnic–ideal self-discrepancy). For participants perceiving them as aligned, reflecting on a typical in-group strength reduced actual–ideal self-discrepancy. However, for participants perceiving them as misaligned, reflecting on a typical in-group strength increased actual–ideal self-discrepancy. Reflecting on a typical strength also indirectly influenced engagement, through actual–ideal self-discrepancy. Reflecting on an atypical in-group strength did not yield significant effects. Thus, emphasizing typical aspects of stigmatized communities, even when positive, sometimes impede identity and motivation.     

Sheldon Smith on Newton’s Derivative: Retrospective Assignation,Externalism and the History of Mathematics

To illustrate the view that a speaker can have a partial understanding of a concept, Burge uses the example of Leibniz’s and Newton’s understanding of the concept of derivative. In a recent article, Sheldon Smith criticizes this example and maintains that Newton’s and Leibniz’s use of their derivative symbols does not univocally determine their references. The present article aims at challenging Smith’s analysis. It first shows that Smith misconstrues Burge’s position. It second suggests that the philosophical lessons one should draw from the practice of the historians of philosophy are more ambivalent than what Smith thinks.