The Relationship Between Multicultural Counseling Training and the Evaluation of Culturally Sensitive and Culturally Insensitive Counselors

In a study, multicultural counseling training contributed significantly to the variance in ratings of a culturally sensitive counselor. No significant contribution was made to the variance in ratings of the culturally insensitive counselor. Possible explanations and implications of these results in multicultural counseling supervision are discussed.     

What kind of bias is hindsight bias?

When people are asked to recollect a former response after having received feedback information, their recollection tends to approach the feedback answer. This phenomenon is referred to as hindsight bias. Recently, Erdfelder and Buchner proposed a multinomial model designed to independently measure the contributions of reconstruction and recollection processes. On its basis, they only found firm evidence for the contribution of reconstruction biases to hindsight effects. In the present study, we tried to experimentally enhance the probability of recollection biases by (a) reducing the depth of processing of the original estimate, (b) minimizing the distinctness of the original estimate and feedback, and (c) combining both treatments. The empirical data were analyzed using a variant of the Erdfelder and Buchner model which allows for the experimental manipulation of the feedback answer. This model is shown to adequately describe the data of our experiment. Moreover, although both treatments were effective in that the first one reduced correct recollections in general and the second one diminished differences between original estimates and recalled estimates, the parameter estimates indicate that the probability of recollecting the original estimate is not hampered by feedback information, even under conditions which are thought to enhance memory impairments. Received: 10 December 1995 / Accepted: 29 October 1997     

Visualization of multivariate data: Human-factors considerations

Recent software provides new tools for visualizing multivariate data that facilitate data analysis. We focus on (1) the learnability and use of visualization systems, and (2) the perceptual and cognitive processes involved in viewing visualizations. Effective visualization systems support a broad range of user tasks and abilities, are easy to learn, and provide powerful and flexible output formatting. Effective visualizations incorporate Gestalt and other perceptual and cognitive principles that encourage more rapid, automatic processing, and less slow, controlled processing.     

A simplified technique for conditioning respiratory mouth movements in fish

This report describes a simple technique and restraining device for investigating classically conditioned inhibition of respiration in the fish. The restraining device is seen as having wide applicability for investigations which necessitate the immobilization of the S.     

Student Socio-Economic Status and Counselor Contact in Junior High School

Cumulative records over 3 years for 196 junior high school sophomores were analyzed to assess the effect of socio-economic status of students on counseling exposure. Statistical significance was found between socio-economic status of the student and both the frequency with which he was referred to the counselor and the problem areas discussed. Frequency of counselor contact was not significantly associated with student socio-economic status. Where the counselors initiated the interviews, they apparently did so only in keeping with administrative policies. The differences that did occur arose when parents or, less frequently, the students themselves, initiated the interviews. Here, socio-economic status appeared to play a crucial and singular role.     

Work planning and performance review as a basis for merit pay decisions: An evaluation

The Work Planning and Performance Review (WPPR) System, developed in a midwestern state as a basis for pay-for-performance decisions in the state government, is described. The WPPR's job relevance was evaluated in one state agency by comparing WPPR scores with scores on a behavioral checklist developed for that purpose. Supervisor and subordinate perceptions of the relevance of the two systems are described. Comparison and perception data indicate the WPPR lacks content validity. Probable impact on the merit pay system is discussed.     

Body figure preferences of men and women: A comparison of two generations

Inspired by the earlier work of Rozin and Fallon (1988), this study investigated some potential determinants of the most recent increase of eating disorders among women in this country. Measures of current, preferred attractive, and acceptable body images for opposite- and same-gender figures, in addition to the thinnest and heaviest figures the subjects found attractive, were obtained from the same generation cohort as these students' parents. While gender differences were found, so were cohort differences. These cohort differences speak to factors relevant to understanding why there has been such an increase in the frequency of eating disorders in Western culture since the late 1960s, especially among adolescent women. Possible implications for treatment of eating disorders are discussed. However, the authors note that further studies are needed to determine if the cohort differences found might reflect a developmental or a definite cohort effect.     

PARENT EDUCATION PROJECT III: INCREASING AFFECTION AND RESPONSIVITY IN DEVELOPMENTALLY HANDICAPPED MOTHERS: COMPONENT ANALYSIS,GENERALIZATION, AND EFFECTS ON CHILD LANGUAGE

We evaluated the effects of a parent training program consisting of verbal instruction, modeling, and feedback on the affection and responsivity of 3 developmentally handicapped mothers towards their children. The results indicated the following: First, the training package increased maternal physical affection, praise, and imitation of child vocalizations. These parenting skills increased to levels found in comparison groups of nonhandicapped mothers. Second, the training package was more effective than verbal instruction alone, the latter being the predominant method presently used by social service workers. Third, most maternal gains were maintained over a 3- to 18-month follow-up period, although one mother required a reinforced maintenance procedure. Fourth, instructing mothers to generalize served to increase the generalization of newly acquired skills from play times (the training context) to child-care tasks (e.g., diapering, feeding). Fifth, teaching the parents to imitate child vocalizations was related to gains in both the frequency and quality of verbal behavior of the two language delayed children as measured by standardized developmental tests and in vivo comparisons with age-matched children (who had nonhandicapped parents). These results show that behavioral instruction can improve important child-rearing skills of developmentally handicapped mothers, with corresponding benefits to their children.