TEACHING RETARDED WOMEN A CLOTHING SELECTION SKILL USING COMMUNITY NORMS

Five institutionalized retarded women were taught a clothing selection skill to coincide with popular fashion. Normative data concerning popular styles of color-coordinated clothing were collected through observations of women's apparel in a local community. Using a puzzle simulation of a woman with alternative pieces of colored clothing, color coordination training was conducted using modelling, instructions, practice, praise, and feedback to teach popular selections of color combinations. A generalization training component with actual clothing was also included. Training was accompanied by large increases in percentage of popular color selections with the puzzle and actual clothing. The increases maintained over a seven- to 14-week followup period. Time efficiency measures supported the use of the simulation procedure as opposed to total reliance on actual clothing. The results underscore the utility of local norms in community preparation programs and the efficacy of instructional procedures for severely and profoundly retarded persons as part of their participation in the deinstitutionalization movement.     

Children's self-presentations with infants: Gender and ethnic comparisons

The assumption of differential socialization experiences lead to the hypothesis that African American children would be less stereotyped in their responses to infants than White American children. This study of fifty-three 8–10-year-old children from African American and White American working-to-middle class families supported the hypothesis. The children were photographed with a peer, an infant, and with an infant while acting as a parent. All children stood significantly closer to the infant in the role condition and exhibited more attraction behavior. As predicted, gender differences were evident between White girls and boys, but not between African American girls and boys. Findings suggested that social preferences for infants cannot be necessarily linked to gender. Discussion of the findings from earlier study with younger children (Reid et al., 1989) supported this conclusion.We gratefully acknowledge Carol S. Tate for her assistance in data collection and analysis, and Jeannie M. Shook for coding. This research was supported in part by a faculty research grant given to the first author by the University of Chattanooga Foundation (R04-106830)     

POOR WOMEN IN PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

For the most part, theory and empirical study in the psychology of women have failed to recognize many distinctions among women. Indeed, the focus of feminist theory and research has been directed to the explication of women's essential experience of gender, as if this could be separated from the confounds of class and race. This presentation raises the issue of the diversity among poor women, the need to disentangle ethnicity and class, and the limitation of adopting a middleclass White perspective. In addition to racism, other possible causes of exclusion are explored. Silencing of poor women is also discussed in terms of causes and impact on the discipline of psychology. We have not provided sufficient mechanisms to allow diverse groups of women to tell their own stories; instead, we have felt comfortable in making assumptions and drawing parallels that may be inappropriate and incorrect. Suggestions for achieving feminist goals are provided.     

TEACHING PERSONS WITH PROFOUND MULTIPLE HANDICAPS: A REVIEW OF THE EFFECTS OF BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH

The behavioral research on teaching individuals who have profound multiple handicaps is reviewed. The primary focus is on determining the degree to which behavioral research has demonstrated the teaching of meaningful skills to this population. Results of the review indicate that investigations have demonstrated, albeit inconsistently, that behavior change has resulted from contingency management interventions with persons who have profound multiple handicaps. However, there is little evidence that such interventions have resulted in meaningful behavior change according to currently accepted criteria for beneficially affecting the quality of life of persons with serious handicaps. Potential explanations for the lack of such evidence are offered, including the relative lack of research attention given to this issue, the possible ineffectiveness of the components of the technology applied, and possible ineffective application of the potentially effective technology. Suggestions for future research are discussed in terms of developing more effective educational and habilitative services for persons with profound multiple handicaps. In particular, we suggest research on a wider variety of behavioral teaching procedures, providing more comprehensive evaluations of the applications of procedures and developing treatment programs that do not focus solely on traditional skill acquisition.     

Does online social support uniquely buffer effects of stress during the COVID-19 pandemic?: A natural experiment

In-person sources of social support buffer effects of stress on mental health. However, online social support inconsistently demonstrates stress-buffering effects. Highly stressful circumstances, such as the first month of COVID-19 lockdown, may be necessary to benefit from support received from online networks. We investigated whether online support demonstrated an increased stress-buffering effect on depressive symptoms during the first month of COVID-19 lockdown. We collected cross-sectional data on three distinct groups of participants from February to April 2020—preceding lockdown (pre-COVID; n = 53), up to four weeks following university closures (initial lockdown; n = 136), and the final weeks of the semester (later lockdown; n = 127). Initial lockdown participants reported significantly more stress than pre-COVID but not later lockdown participants. The online social support by stress by COVID phase interaction was only significant for the initial versus later lockdown comparison. Online support buffered stress during initial lockdown but not later lockdown. Stress-buffering effects of offline support were observed and did not depend on COVID phase. Online support may only buffer stress when stress is heightened and offline support is less available.     

Positive Life Events as a Moderator of Stress‐Related Depressive Symptoms

This study examines the relationships among positive life events, negative life events, and depressive symptoms in a sample of college students. Consistent with predictions, the results of a hierarchical multiple regression indicated a significant main effect for negative life events in predicting depressive symptoms such that increases in negative life events were associated with increases in depressive symptoms. There was also significant interaction between positive and negative life events such that the depressive effects of higher levels of negative life events seem to be reduced for subjects who had also experienced higher levels of positive life events.     

A prework assessment of task preferences among adults with autism beginning a supported job

A prework paired-task assessment was evaluated for identifying work preferences among 3 adults with autism beginning a supported job. When the workers began the job, choices were provided between more and less preferred tasks (determined by previous assessment). Results supported the assessment for identifying single task preferences, but did not reveal preferences of 2 workers for alternate tasks. Results are discussed in terms of evaluating other prework assessments that may reveal task-alternation preferences.     

Hypoglycemia-induced suppression of luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion in intact female rhesus macaques: role of vasopressin and endogenous opioids

The first objective of this study was to determine whether insulin-induced hypoglycemia (IIH) inhibits LH secretion in unrestrained female macaques during the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle. There was a consistent inhibitory effect of hypoglycemia on LH secretion within 3 h in these females. This inhibition was likely an indirect effect since low glucose levels did not inhibit GnRH secretion from GT1-1 neurones in vitro. We next investigated whether administration of a vasopressin antagonist (AVPa) either alone, or with naloxone could reverse the IIH-induced inhibition of LH release. Females were studied in the follicular phase during 10 h periods with blood samples collected every 10 min. Experimental groups were IIH (n=6), IIH+AVPa (n=5) and IIH+AVPa+naloxone (n=4). The first 5 h of each study served as a control and hypoglycemia was then induced with insulin. The AVPa was given as a bolus (180 microg) just before the insulin and was followed by a continuous infusion (180 microg/h) for 5 h. Naloxone (5 mg/kg) was given with the AVPa and followed by a continuous infusion (5 mg/kg/h) for 5 h. In the IIH group, LH reached its lowest value 3-4 h after insulin. Neither AVPa nor AVPa+naloxone infusion reversed the inhibitory action of hypoglycemia on LH release. These data suggest that if there are inhibitory actions of vasopressin and endogenous opioids on GnRH release induced by hypoglycemia, they are not sufficient to explain the suppression of GnRH/LH release in intact female primates.