Talking about race in a scientific context

There are at least two approaches that assist students in understanding complexity and differing interpretations about human diversity and race. Because differing perspectives emerge from data perceived at different levels, different scales provide a tool for understanding relationships among perspectives and understanding the differential importance of specific factors. Constructivist listening, which assists students in examining their own experiences, feelings and understanding, provides a tool for digesting complex new material and learning emotional literacy. It can be applied to dialogue about race and to classroom situations. These approaches can help students master the conceptual and interpersonal skills needed for successful scientific practice. This article was adapted from a presentation made at the “Communicating Science Conference” held at Hamilton College, Clinton, NY, October 1998.     

Gender differences in orthographic, verbal, and compositional fluency: Implications for assessing writing disabilities in primary grade children

Measures of oral verbal fluency (word finding), written orthographic fluency (alphabet task), and written composition (narrative and oral expository) were administered to 300 children (50 girls and 50 boys each in the first, second, and third grades). Both oral verbal fluency and written orthographic fluency correlated significantly with the number of words (fluency) and the number of clauses (microorganization) in the compositions, but boys performed significantly better than girls on oral verbal fluency and girls performed significantly better than boys on written orthographic fluency. Girls consistently outperformed boys on the number of words and the number of clauses produced in narrative and expository composition. Thus, in beginning writing, orthographic fluency may be relatively more important than verbal fluency and boys may be at greater risk for writing disabilities. However, more boys were identified as having a disability in composition when absolute criteria (lowest 5% of normal distribution) were used, but about the same number of boys and girls were identified as having a disability in composition when relative criteria (significant discrepancy between Verbal IQ and compositional skill, based on the Mahalanobis statistic) were used. School psychologists are encouraged to use standardized measures of othographic, verbal, and compositional fluency to identify primary grade children needing early intervention to prevent more severe writing disabilities.     

Positive interaction between mothers and conduct-problem children: Is there training for harmony as well as fighting?

Child behavior therapists have concentrated largely on the study of family conflict in conduct-problem children. Positive interactions, such as play and conversation, and the impact these might have on problem behavior have been neglected in theoretical work, although some therapists (e.g., Sanders & Dadds, 1982) have paid attention to alternative family activities. In this study a sample of preschool conduct-problem children not only fought more with their mothers but also were quite deficient in all kinds of positive activities, compared to their normal counterparts. This result supports the notion that young conduct-problem children may be missing out on certain forms of harmonious experience with their mothers, which might otherwise help to prevent conflict. It is argued that the quality of these positive processes, like the better-known coercive ones (Patterson, 1982), demands further study, to broaden our theories and therapies for conduct problems.This work was supported by the Medical Research Council of Great Britain and forms part of a Ph.D. awarded by Oxford University to the author. I am particularly indebted to Dr. K. D. Sylva for her helpful suggestions, and to Prof. P. E. Bryant, who assisted during the early stages of this research.     

DSM-IV Literature reviews: Rationale,process, and limitations

DSM-IV will benefit from the extensive research and interest in diagnosis generated in large part by DSM-III. The development of DSM-IV is proceeding through three stages of empirical documentation, including literature reviews, analysis of unpublished data sets, and field trials. This paper discusses the rationale, process, and limitations of the literature reviews. The purpose of the literature reviews is to provide and to document a comprehensive review of the clinical and empirical literature to facilitate objective and empirically based decisions. The review process is guided by the explicit and systematic methods developed within meta-analysis. Limitations of the reviews are also discussed.The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of the American Psychiatric Association and its Task Force on DSM-IV.     

The MCMI and DSM-III: a brief rejoinder to Million (1985)

Millon (1985) presented eight criticisms of the article by Widiger, Williams, Spitzer, and Frances (1985) on the MCMI as a measure of DSM-III. This article is a brief rejoinder. The major point we wish to make is that one should be cautious in interpreting the MCMI as a measure of DSM-III disorders because there has not yet been any research published on the relationship between the MCMI and DSM-III. We believe this position has not been refuted by Millon's critique.     

Inconsistent parenting: Is there evidence for a link with children's conduct problems?

Traditional interview studies of inconsistent parental discipline show a strong link with young children's conduct problems. Observational studies of inconsistency show weaker links with problem behavior and suffer from methodological problems. This study proposed a new observational definition of parental inconsistency, which analyzed whether mothers follow through their demands during sequences of mother-child conflict. A home observational study showed that mothers of conduct-problem preschoolers acted inconsistently during a greater proportion of conflict episodes than did their normal counterparts. There was a strong correlation between inconsistency and amount of family conflict. Inconsistency varied as a function of the context from which conflict arose. Results are discussed in terms of both coercion (Patterson, 1979) and predictability theories of problem behavior (Wahler & Dumas, 1986).This work was supported by the Medical Research Council of Great Britain and was part of a Ph.D. awarded to the author by Oxford University. I am particularly indebted to Dr. K. D. Sylva for her helpful suggestions, and to Prof. P. E. Bryant, who assisted during the early stages of this research.     

The role of the hemispheres in closed loop movements

The purpose of these experiments was to determine if the two hemispheres play different roles in controlling closed loop movements. Subjects were asked to move to a narrow or wide target in the left or right hemispace. Reaction time (RT) was faster for the left arm of normals, only in the right hemispace, but there were no differences between arms in movement execution. Right but not left hemisphere stroke (CVA) patients showed longer RTs for the contralateral but not ipsilateral arm. The right CVA group's ipsilateral movement, especially to narrow targets was less accurate. The left CVA group's RT did not benefit from advanced information, but ipsilateral movement execution was normal. These results were discussed in terms of inter- as well as intrahemispheric control of programming and execution of closed loop movements.     

Helmet restraint and visual screening as treatment for self-injurious behavior in persons who have profound mental retardation

Enhancement of sensory, cutaneous stimulation may be one reason for self-injurious behavior among persons with mental retardation. For self-injury involving head or face, a contingently applied helmet prevents access to the sensitized skin area. Such a restraint procedure, with visual occlusion superimposed on the helmet, was tested with two women who are profoundly retarded. Helmet and transparent shield reduced target responses by both women to approximately 7% of baseline rates. When the helmet's face shield was made opaque, a small, further response reduction was obtained. Stable, low rates were maintained over a 6-month maintenance period.