Changes in human figure drawings during intensive treatment.

This article examines change in the human figure drawings (HFDs) of 32 seriously disturbed young adults during the course of intensive inpatient treatment. HFDs drawn at the time of admission were compared with HFDs obtained more than 1 year after intensive treatment began; both sets were scored on the Goodenough-Harris Scale (GH) and the Robins Balance-Tilt Scale (RBT). The findings indicate that the HFDs significantly improved over the course of treatment, but only for those patients judged introjective, not anaclitic. These findings are consistent with prior research on the same population that were based on analyses of clinical case records and Rorschach protocols (Blatt, Ford, Berman, Cook, & Meyer, 1988). Significant change in the HFDs over the course of treatment suggests that the HFDs provide a unique and independent dimension for assessing therapeutic change.     

The perceptual magnet effect in Australian English vowels

Recent research (Kuhl, 1991) has suggested that the internal structure of vowel categories is graded in terms of stimulus goodness. It has been proposed that a best instance stimulus reflects a central point or prototype, which effectively renders within-category members perceptually more similar. Discrimination experiments suggest a nonlinear relationship between acoustic and perceptual space near category centers (Iverson & Kuhl, 1995b). This phenomenon has been described as the perceptual magnet effect. The present study investigated the presence of the perceptual magnet effect in five Australian vowel categories. Australian English speakers identified, rated, and discriminated between a pool of 32 vowel stimuli that varied in F1 and F2 values. The results from Experiments 1 and 2 showed that subjects were able to judge the quality and identify of each stimulus and that a general grading of stimulus quality was reported. This was not symmetrical, and the subjects' responses varied considerably. In Experiment 3, closer control of the methodology in the discrimination task and of contextual factors influencing the test materials was exercised. Despite this, evidence of the warping of perceptual space in discrimination data was not found. In general, these results do not provide support for the existence of the perceptual magnet effect, and explanations for this finding are discussed.     

The effects of nutritional supplements on the symptoms of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome

This article reports the results of a within-subject design. Fifty subjects with a physician diagnosis of fibromyalgia (FM) and/or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) were interviewed using a structured interview form. Each subject was interviewed initially, and again nine months later (follow-up). Subjects had, on their own, consumed nutritional supplements including freeze-dried aloe vera gel extract; a combination of freeze-dried aloe vera gel extract and additional plant-derived saccharides; freeze-dried fruits and vegetables in combination with the saccharides; and a formulation of dioscorea complex containing the saccharides and a vitamin/mineral complex. With medical treatments, approximately 25 percent of FM patients improved, but the beneficial effects of medical treatment rarely persist more than a few months. All subjects in this study had received some form of medical treatment prior to taking the nutritional supplements, but none with enduring success. Nutritional supplements resulted in a remarkable reduction in initial symptom severity, with continued improvement in the period between initial assessment and the follow-up. Further research is needed to verify these results, specifically crossover designs in well-defined populations.     

Self-limited and unlimited word usage during problem solving in two telecommunication modes

Subjects using oral modes of communication generate far more verbiage than do subjects using handwittenn or typewritten modes to solve the same problems. This study tested two alternative hypotheses to account for this disparity: (1) written modes produce a hard copy of interchanges, thereby compensating for the limitations of short-term memory and reducing the need to repeat information, and (2) talking is so easy that there is no incentive to be concise in oral modes. Two-person teams solved problems either by voice or by teletypewriter. Half the teams were given a monetary incentive to use as few words as possible. No such request was made of the control teams. Subjects in the brevity condition, regardless of the communication mode, greatly reduced verbiage with no increase in time or decrease in accuracy. Moreover, subjects in the brevity-voice condition used even fewer words than did subjects in the control-teletypewriter condition. These results, then, lend weight to the second hypothesis.     

Parental Perceptions of Child Development Among Low-Income Mexican American Families

Parents' perceptions of child development are influenced by complex interactions among cultural, social, and economic factors. Insights into how parents from culturally diverse societies perceive the development of their children might explain why different cultural groups foster or value the development of different skills in their children. In this study, we explored the perceptions of child development among low income Mexican American parents. A series of ethnographic interviews were conducted with eight Mexican American families who had preschool children. Qualitative data analyses yielded three main themes that were important to these parents: family attitudes and values, changes, and adaptations. For these parents, the development of social attributes in children, that will enable them to function within their own cultural group, was as important as the development of cognitive or motor skills. Service providers, such as school and mental health personnel, should take into account cultural differences in parents' perceptions of the importance of various developmental milestones for their children when suggesting interventions typically used by parents in the dominant culture.     

A comprehensive model and measure of compensation satisfaction

We describe the results of two studies designed to develop a comprehensive theoretical model and measure of compensation satisfaction. Our typology of compensation satisfaction consists of seven dimensions: four for pay (level, structure, raises, and variable pay procedures satisfaction) and three dimensions for benefits (level, determination, and administration satisfaction). We used new and existing items to develop the Comprehensive Compensation Satisfaction Questionnaire. In Study 1, we report the results of exploratory factor analysis that supports a seven‐factor structure. In Study 2, confirmatory factor analysis supported the same seven‐factor structure in a different sample. We examined relationships between the compensation satisfaction dimensions and their antecedents and consequences. Seven hypotheses regarding differential antecedents of compensation satisfaction were supported. Satisfaction with aspects of compensation procedures were related to perceived organizational support, and perceived organizational support mediated the relationships between these compensation satisfaction procedures and affective commitment and turnover intentions. Our final analysis yielded a 29‐item scale (including eight new items) which we recommend for use in future compensation satisfaction research.     

The Non-Existent God: Transcendence, Humanity, and Ethics in the Philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas

This paper considers three essential gestures in Levinas’s theology, highlighting in each case how Levinas’s thinking allows him to either incorporate or sidestep some of the fiercest modern criticisms of traditional theism. First, we present Levinas’s vision of divine transcendence, outlining his ontological atheism and explaining how this obviates proving the existence of God and avoids the tangles of traditional theodicy. Second, we describe Levinas’s idea of the trace, showing how a non-existent God still leaves its mark in the face of the other person and explaining how this vision of divine immanence accords with the agendas of thinkers such as Feuerbach and Nietzsche, who criticized theology that elevated God while debasing humanity. Third, we present Levinas’s insistence on the philosophical primacy of ethics, showing how he infuses his ethical philosophy with religious themes, elevating moral philosophy to the level of ultimate concern in a way that even atheist social theorists such as Marx or Freud could appreciate. We close by briefly considering limitations of Levinas’s model, discussing problems with its practical applicability and suggesting that its scope might be too narrow: both for its failure to acknowledge potential ethical demands manifest by non-human animals and the natural world and for its inability to recognize solitary or aesthetic experiences as religiously significant. This paper was delivered during the APA Pacific 2007 Mini-Conference on Models of God.