“Family Matters”: A Conceptual Framework for Genetic Testing in Children

Genetic testing in minor children presents a complex ethical and social problem. Current guidelines state that genetic testing of children is recommended only under circumstances where a clear medical or psychosocial benefit to the child can be demonstrated. Because of the difficulty in determining a psychosocial benefit, the discussion about genetic testing of minors ultimately tends to focus on who has the right to make the decision and whose right to autonomy is jeopardized, the parent's or the child's, when there is no identified medical benefit. Historically, a western bioethics paradigm, Principlism, has been used to guide genetic counseling sessions and genetic-testing guidelines for minors. This bioethics paradigm is guided by the principles: respect for autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. Genetic testing in children, when viewed through a traditional bioethics filter is limited by its focus on the individual because children are not only individuals, they are also integral parts of a larger social context, that of their family. Because this bioethics paradigm places a strong emphasis on individual autonomy, the family's beliefs and values and the parents' concern for their children may be overshadowed by the medical community's attempt to preserve the child's "right" to an autonomous decision about genetic testing. The purpose of this paper is to present a theoretical and ethics-based conceptual framework that may be useful in the development of genetic counseling interventions.     

The endowment-institutional affinity effect

The endowment effect occurs when ownership of a good leads consumers to value the good more than its market value. Students who were given College of Business Administration insignia mugs to keep valued them significantly more than students who were given the same mugs to examine and return (nonendowment condition). The endowment effect also occurred for plain white mugs. Students who were given plain white mugs to keep valued them more than students who were given the same mugs to examine and return. Ownership of insignia mugs not only resulted in the endowment effect but also resulted in an institutional affinity effect: Students provided higher satisfaction ratings with the College of Business Administration than did students endowed with plain white mugs and students in nonendowed conditions. This study demonstrates the impact of the endowment effect on institutional affinity for insignia goods. However, the tandem endowment-affinity effect occurs at the attitude formation stage, not when an attitude has already been formed.     

A diffusion model analysis of the effects of aging in the lexical-decision task

The effects of aging on response time (RT) are examined in 2 lexical-decision experiments with young and older subjects (age 60-75). The results show that the older subjects were slower than the young subjects, but more accurate. R. Ratcliff s (1978) diffusion model provided a good account of RTs, their distributions, and response accuracy. The fits show an 80-100-ms slowing of the nondecision components of RT for older subjects relative to young subjects and more conservative decision criterion settings for older subjects than for young subjects. The rates of accumulation of evidence were not significantly different for older compared with young subjects (less than 2% and 5% higher for older subjects relative to young subjects in the 2 experiments).     

Integrating biological and social processes in relation to early-onset persistent aggression in boys and girls

This study examined the relationship between biological and social risk factors and aggressive behavior patterns in an Australian high-risk sample of 370 adolescents. Perinatal, temperamental, familial, sociodemographic, and behavioral data were collected during interviews completed during pregnancy. immediately postpartum, and when the children were 6 months old and 5, 14, and 15 years old. Youths were given tests of verbal and neuropsychological functioning at the age 5 and age 15 follow-ups. Youths were divided into early-onset persistent aggression, adolescent-onset aggression, and nonaggressive behavior groups. Results revealed that the interaction of biological and social risk factors was significantly related to early-onset persistent aggression. Gender and developmental phase of measurement moderated the relationship between biosocial risks and the outcomes of early-onset persistent aggression and adolescent-onset aggression.     

Arguments for adjuncts

It is commonly assumed across the language sciences that some semantic participant information is lexically encoded in the representation of verbs and some is not. In this paper, we propose that semantic obligatoriness and verb class specificity are criteria which influence whether semantic information is lexically encoded. We present a comprehensive survey of the English verbal lexicon, a sentence continuation study, and an on-line sentence processing study which confirm that both factors play a role in the lexical encoding of participant information.     

Eternity in an hour: experiences of time related to psychotherapy sessions

In this paper I consider the individual nature of the way a person develops senses of time. I suggest that something of a patient's early, unvoiced, experience is revealed through the temporal rhythms of interaction with the therapist. I refer to development, cycles of experience, metabolism, transgenerational emotions, experiences of beginnings and endings, early interactions with (m)other, together with narrative and its relation to unconscious processes. Experiences of time within the session indicate the nature of the feelings that are being lived, or refused life. I consider the paradox of living in the present and its relation to chronology. Lastly I give an example of the difficulty of timing comments when there is no flow of feeling, which is, itself, a communication.     

Organizational Attractiveness and Individual Differences: Are Diverse Applicants Attracted by Different Factors?

Recruiting is a critical staffing activity for organizations, but its impact on the job seeker is poorly understood. Much remains to be learned about individual differences in reactions to recruitment efforts. This paper discusses the results of a study of MBA candidates that examined (a) the relative importance of various job, organizational, diversity, and recruiter characteristics on assessments of organizational attractiveness, and (b) the extent to which these assessments differed when applicant race and gender are taken into account. Results confirmed that relative to organizational, diversity, and recruiter characteristics, job factors were reported as most important to organizational attraction. However, within the job, diversity, and recruiter characteristics categories interesting gender and/or race differences emerged. The implications of these differences for research and for practices are offered.     

Models of self and others and their relation to positive and negative caregiving responses

The burden of providing informal care to a family member can lead to caregiver depression and potentially harmful caregiving behavior. Given the interpersonal nature of caregiving, the relationship between caregivers and care recipients may impact caregiver responses. We applied attachment theory to understanding caregiver depression, and both potentially harmful and exemplary caregiving responses. We present data from 430 caregivers in the Family Relationships in Late Life (FRILL 2) Project, a multisite, longitudinal study of caregiving. Age, gender, and model of self were related to caregiving responses, suggesting that model of self may help identify caregivers at risk for poor responses.     

The Effect of Embodied Temperature on Perceptions of Global Warming

Recent research has established that individuals?? perception of global warming is malleable such that individuals report that it is a more serious problem when they experience higher outdoor or indoor temperatures (Li et al. Psychological Science, 22(4), 454?C459, 2011; Risen and Critcher Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100(5), 777?C793, 2011). We extend these findings on the experience of actual temperature by testing whether the embodied experience of temperature, manipulated by participants chewing cinnamon or mint gum, can activate the concept of temperature and influence perception of global warming. As predicted, compared to those who did not chew gum, those experiencing embodied temperature through chewing gum reported greater concern for global warming, but not other social problems, and were more likely to volunteer for a global warming group on campus. This suggests that the physical experience of tasting cinnamon or mint gum activated the larger conceptual system of temperature changes that subsequently influenced beliefs about global warming.