The initial counseling interview

Conclusion There is no doubt that the initial interview puts maximum demands upon the counselor's skill, knowledge, and abilities. How the initial interview is structured and developed will have a strong influence upon the subsequent developments and outcomes of a counseling relationship. Errors made in the first session are usually much more costly than those made after a good working relationship has been established. If the initial interview has developed toward goals as outlined herein, then the counselee will find he has been able to express and explore some of life's difficulties which have been bother-some or disturbing to him. He is likely to feel some progress has been made. The counselor should rcognize that a major counseling goal has been achieved when, at the end of the initial interview, he feels he has established a helping or working relationship with the counselee. Such a relationship is the crucible in which personality change can evolve.     

Emotional crises of those facing the draft

Summary While emotional responses will vary among young men, for many of them the draft constitutes some kind of crisis. Although it may be very difficult, most young men will be able to cope with the complicating factors of the draft and will take it in stride along with other disturbing events in the normal course of life. A young man may be able to cope with his feelings resulting from the draft in ways akin to his coping with similar situations. However, if the threat is too intense, and if there is not sufficient time to mobilize his usual coping mechanisms, the young man will be thrown into a state of crisis. In view of the nature of the developmental process, a young man between the ages of 18 and 22 has rarely developed an adequate sense of identity. Hence, he may be especially vulnerable to the emotional threat of the draft because of the very nature of the process of personality development.In such a crisis he will need someone to help him cope with the new situation. There are some guidelines which should help the counselee to mobilize his own emotional resources to cope constructively with the crisis. A pastoral counselor may help such a person to honestly face his fears and conflicts, and to face them gradually. Increasing his knowledge about the available possibilities in a particular situation will help him to increase his power to cope with the crisis. Being enabled to face his negative feelings with a sense of responsibility, he will be enabled to accept himself in terms of the situation in which he finds himself. Discovering significant other persons as supportive may give him the necessary time and support to enable him to develop a means of coping with the situation which he faces.     

Frequency ratios and the perception of tone patterns

We quantified the relative simplicity of frequency ratios and reanalyzed data from several studies on the perception of simultaneous and sequential tones. Simplicity of frequency ratios accounted for judgments of consonance and dissonance and for judgments of similarity across a wide range of tasks and listeners. It also accounted for the relative ease of discriminating tone patterns by musically experienced and inexperienced listeners. These findings confirm the generality of previous suggestions of perceptual processing advantages for pairs of tones related by simple frequency ratios.     

Computer-administered versus paper-and-pencil surveys and the effect of sample selection

Airport patrons answered a self-administered questionnaire regarding their satisfaction with various airport facilities and operations. The questionnaire was administered either by a computer touch-sensitive screen or by a contextually identical paper-and-pencil version. For the latter method, respondents were selected randomly, and for the former, they were either randomly selected or self-selected. The effect of the method of questionnaire administration on the rating scales was very small when the samples were selected at random. However, there were substantial differences in ratings between self-selected and randomly selected respondents: The former gave consistently more negative ratings. These differences are probably due to psychological factors such as motivation to participate. Also, it was found that self-selected persons using the computer were more likely to make comments. The findings of this study are discussed with emphasis on their implications for computer interactive surveys.     

A computer-based Personalized System of Instruction course in applied behavior analysis

Microcomputer laboratories are becoming more common in psychology departments because they provide an alternative instructional medium and a resource to help combat decreasing funding and increasing student:teacher ratios. By using microcomputers to perform the testing, we were able to conduct a Personalized System of Instruction course for 51 students, without the five proctors that would normally be required. Students had low rates of procrastination and positive attitudes toward the course, and none of the students dropped out. This paper describes how the course was organized and the hardware and software employed. Difficulties arising in the course and how they might be overcome are also discussed.     

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way Through the Sermon

Abstract :  The purpose of this article is to give thought to the listener as co-creator of meaning with the preacher during the sermon event. The underlying conviction of the author is that preachers and listeners have always been co-creators but have not been recognized as such. The author sketches the history of the task of preaching as a movement from getting something said to getting something heard , and suggests that, building on this, preaching can now be viewed as getting something created . Finally, the qualities of humility, imagination , and a "catalytic consciousness" are seen as essential for any preacher willing to take up this task.     

Criteria for a comprehensive model of spiritual development in secular educative care

This paper argues that to fulfil what is required of a model of children's spiritual development in the context of secular educative care, six criteria must be met: the meaning of the terms and nature of the phenomenon must both be specified; the relationship to an underlying ontology must be clarified and the status of alternatives characterized; the sense in which spirituality is developmental and open to change through intervention must be identified and which specific developmental changes are 'spiritual' designated; there must be consistency with an accepted paradigm for the understanding and study of human development; the role and status of spiritual development within a secular system of educative care needs explanation; consequential practical implications must be specified. In suggesting this is an unfulfilled requirement, the challenges posed by each of these criteria are identified.