Allergy and spirituality

This article considers the relationships of allergic reactions to substances and emotions. It deals with spiritual sensitivity as well. Resistance is a key to allergic reactions: Allergic reactions involve the body's resistance to substances, emotions, and their energies. A major problem in spiritual formation is resistance to giving up the prideful and self-centered position and moving into loving relationships. It is sometimes possible from an alternative approach to promote spirituality by treating allergy. In spiritual formation, one may sometimes decrease allergic tendencies by giving up pride and other negative emotions. I propose that the alternative method I advocate not only reduces symptoms but deals with causes on an energetic level. It works with physical, emotional and spiritual factors. It provides new ways for counselors and spiritual directors to quickly get to basic issues and clear negative emotions and beliefs. This may be accomplished within or in connection with the therapists' or directors' particular religions, practices and/or therapeutic approaches.     

Polynomial psychophysics of group risk perception

The Coombs and Huang (1970) distributive theory of perceived risk is reinterpreted as a more robust statistical hypothesis to describe central tendencies of noisy replicates drawn from a homogeneous population. Barron's (1976) sample of 13 business faculty rank-order responses are pooled to obtain a replicated complete 3 × 3 × 3 design which is analyzed by a new stochastic conjoint measurement (SCJM) approach to axiomatic data analysis. SCJM implements statistical analogues of the deterministic Krantz and Tversky (1971) diagnostics for error-free data. SCJM diagnosis based on a series of one-sided nonparametric two-cell comparisons at the α = 0.04 level supports the hypothesis of interaction between the expected-value and number-of-plays attributes of gambles yet contradicts Barron's odd-even effects hypothesis. SCJM diagnosis with two-cell α < 0.04 supports an additive statistical model.     

Positive body image is positively associated with hedonic (emotional) and eudaimonic (psychological and social) well-being in British adults

Studies examining associations between positive body image and well-being have used a limited array of measures of each construct. To rectify this, we asked an online sample of 1148 U.K. adults to complete a range of measures of positive body image (body appreciation, body image flexibility, body pride, body acceptance from others) and a multi-dimensional measure of well-being (emotional, psychological, and social). Results showed that, once the effects of age and body mass index (BMI) had been accounted for, body appreciation significantly predicted all dimensions of well-being. Other positive body image measures emerged as significant predictors, but patterns of associations were mixed across sex and well-being dimension. Additional analyses showed that women had significantly lower scores than men on most body image measures, and that BMI was negatively associated with all body image measures. These results have implications for the promotion of well-being, which we discuss.     

Field Trial of a Complicated Grief Psychosocial Program for Adolescents in Occupied Palestine

The current study evaluated the new “Children and Grief” program for Palestinian adolescents (n = 158), aged 10–18, referred to counselors for complicated grief. A mixed methods quasi-experimental design involved non-randomized intervention group (n = 79), waitlist (n = 79), and measures of program fidelity and cost. Traumatic loss was identified from case files. Standardized measures assessed complicated grief, posttraumatic stress, and depression at pre and post-test. Interviews of 9 adolescents and 9 presenters explored subjective experience of program delivery. Analysis involved multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and quasi-qualitative analysis of interviews. A large effect size was found for reduced complicated grief. Randomized control trials, longitudinal research, and studies that explore the impact of martyrdom on coping with grief are needed.     

Towards an ecology of consciousness∗

Forms characteristic of the earth itself are inherent in the design of man. Man's being emerged out of a cosmic matrix whose morphic aspects man himself expresses. These forms and their functional interrelationships are the very conditions of consciousness. This paper proposes that the relationship between human consciousness and its complete environment should be the subject matter of an emerging discipline, the ecology of consciousness. Constructs useful in the ecology of plants and animals should be coordinated to psychological constructs. These coordinating constructs should be based upon study of the most pervasive morphic regularities at the biophysical level. An analysis of the design of man suggests many possibilities, especially when one considers the known neurophysiological and biochemical conditioners of consciousness. Educational (experiential) strategies for the transformation of consciousness should also be explored. These might include the manipulation of variables such as volume, duration, and intensity of sensory stimulation, including various combinations of modalities. A systematic effort should be made to state the fundamental problems to which a scientific ecology of consciousness might address itself. New methods must be devised. A preliminary program for an ecology of consciousness is proposed.     

Aptitude and Trait Predictors of Manned and Unmanned Aircraft Pilot Job Performance

Sixty-seven United States Navy maintainers (55 men and 12 women) representing both the aviation and surface communities participated in an experiment examining the efficacy of a simulation to assist technicians in rapidly understanding a system's state. Participants were assigned to one of three groups based on the technicians' experience and one of two experimental conditions: simulation (SIM) or technical manual (TM). The experimental task consisted of a series of eight questions regarding the condition of the S-3 aircraft's nose wheel steering (NWS) system given a set of initial aircraft conditions. To aid in performance of the experimental task, participants assigned to the TM condition were given a paper copy of the S-3 aircraft's organizational maintenance manual for the NWS system, and participants assigned to the SIM condition were given a laptop computer running a computer-based interactive model of the S-3 NWS system. Results showed that regardless of level of expertise, participants assigned to the SIM condition answered questions significantly faster than participants assigned to the TM condition. Further, technicians experienced in nonaviation maintenance assigned to the SIM condition answered questions significantly more accurately than experienced nonaviation technicians assigned to the TM condition.     

Job Analysis of United States Air Force Military Training Instructor Duty: Identification of Screening Criteria for Instructor Candidate Suitability

Initial military training-instructor duty places noncommissioned officers (NCOs) in a critical position of trust to safely, effectively train and transition recruits into military service. In this context, ineffective or inappropriate behavior by instructors has been shown to impact trainee mental health, unit cohesion, and integration ( Foran &; Adler, 2013 Foran, H. M., &; Adler, A. B. (2013). Trainee perceptions of drill sergeant qualities during basic combat training. Military Psychology, 25, 577–587. 10.1037/mil0000023[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). Abuse of power, specifically exploitative and criminally and sexually abusive behavior by even a small number of instructors, as occurred in United States Air Force (USAF) basic military training (BMT) between 2010 and 2012, may result in a broad loss of public trust. Assessment of suitability for these duties is not consistently pursued across military services, with scant empirical work to best target what is necessary for safe, effective service as a BMT instructor. This article describes 3 job-analytic studies conducted to identify criteria for screening NCOs for USAF military training-instructor duty, as well as planned methods for evaluation.