Maternal and child utilization of memory strategies

This study sought to examine the mechanisms employed by mothers as they engage in teaching their children to remember the names of characters, how to wrap a gift, and the location of zoo animals. The specific relationships included an examination of mothers’ pre-teaching instructions, mothers’ use of memory strategies, child strategy use and the child’s correct performance. Participants were 25 mothers and their four-year-old preschoolers. Results suggest that maternal preteaching instructions vary in complexity depending on the nature of the information being taught. In addition, mothers employ a variety of task-dependent memory strategies. In contrast to mothers, the children use proportionately fewer strategies than their mothers. However, their use of strategies is effective in helping them recall names, order, and location. Implications for adult guidance in assisting preschoolers with developing regulatory memory skills are discussed.     

AIDS: ethics, justice and social policy

ABSTRACT Principles of justice and equality demand that HIV seropositive individuals and those with AIDS should not be discriminated against in any area of social provision. If social policy on AIDS is constructed in terms of reciprocal obligations, that is if obligations to the HIV seropositive individual and obligations of the HIV seropositive individual are given equal weight, the civil rights of HIV seropositive individuals may be secured and this may create a climate in which HIV seropositive individuals will more readily notify partners, and others at risk of infection, of their HIV status. It is conceivable that such a climate could facilitate greater control of the spread of HIV/AIDS.     

A team format for the Global Assessment Scale: reliability and validity on an inpatient unit

The Global Assessment Scale (GAS) is a 100-point rating instrument which purports to measure psychological adjustment on a continuum from self-actualization to severe regression. Its reliability and validity were examined on the admitting ward of a state hospital where GAS ratings are assigned to patients by computing a mean of the individual ratings assigned by a team of clinicians. Results showed such team GAS ratings to have good reliability. As for validity, team GAS predicted the outcomes of court hearings at two stages of the civil commitment process and showed construct validity in its relevant correlations with the Psychotic Inpatient Profile. A predicted association between team GAS and a ward atmosphere measure was not obtained. Taken as a whole, the results support the use of team GAS ratings in inpatient settings.     

The will and the ways: development and validation of an individual-differences measure of hope

Defining hope as a cognitive set that is composed of a reciprocally derived sense of successful (a) agency (goal-directed determination) and (b) pathways (planning of ways to meet goals), an individual-differences measure is developed. Studies demonstrate acceptable internal consistency and test-retest reliability, and the factor structure identifies the agency and pathways components of the Hope Scale. Convergent and discriminant validity are documented, along with evidence suggesting that Hope Scale scores augmented the prediction of goal-related activities and coping strategies beyond other self-report measures. Construct validational support is provided in regard to predicted goal-setting behaviors; moreover, the hypothesized goal appraisal processes that accompany the various levels of hope are corroborated.     

Otto Fenichel and the left opposition in psychoanalysis

David Rapaport's collection of Otto Fenichel's Rundbriefe (1934-1945) is described as a recently rediscovered, 2,500-page primary source for studying the intellectual and organizational history of European-American psychoanalysis. Beginning as the confidential newsletter of the Reich-Fenichel "Left opposition" within the International Psychoanalytic Association, its function became primarily intellectual as Fenichel's group ceased to function as a caucus. It ended when its editor decided to devote himself to the struggle against neo-Freudianism within psychoanalysis, and to practice as a licensed physician.     

Simple software for impedance cardiography

Simple software techniques for the digital analysis of impedance cardiography data are described. The software digitizes simultaneous impedance and ECG signals, averages these signals over time on a beat-by-beat basis, processes the averaged signals to locate relevant features, and computes heart rate, stroke volume, and cardiac output for the averaged period. The source and executable code, written in Pascal for a PDP-11 with standard peripheral addressing and a VT125 graphics terminal, is available from the authors.     

The consistency of a class of coercive child behaviors across school settings for individual subjects

This study addressed the problem of the intraindividual consistency of a class of coercive child behaviors across two school settings. Observational data were collected on eight coercive behaviors of 53 boys in classrooms and on the playground. Previous Guttman scale analyses had shown that these eight coercive behaviors constituted a response class. The rates of the eight coercive responses in the response class were rank ordered separately for each of the 53 subjects in each of the two settings. The intraindividual rank order correlations were all positive, and 37 were statistically reliable. This number of significant correlations was further shown to be significantly greater than chance. It was concluded that there is a substantial amount of crosssituational consistency if intraresponse class analyses are done for individuals.This study was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, through Grants l RO1 MH 31017 and 1 ROI MH 33067. The authors wish to thank all of the people at the Oregon Social Learning Center for their support. Particular appreciation is given for the continued help and encouragement received from Gerald R. Patterson.     

Central and peripheral vision in early infancy

The size of the effective visual field during the first weeks of life is found to depend on two factors: It increases with age, but it contracts in the face of competition from ongoing activity such as fixation of a central stimulus or non-nutritive sucking.