The ontogeny of defensive reactions in the rat: Influence of the monoamine transmission systems

The effects of neonatal treatment of rats with the neurotoxins 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine and 6-hydroxydopamine on the ontogeny of the ultra sound vocalization and the immobility response were studied. The 5,7-dihydroxytryptamine treated rats showed reduced strength of both reactions indicating involvement of the serotonin system in their ontogeny. This hypothesis was supported by experiments with depletion of serotonin by para-chlorophenylalanine followed by replenishment with 5-hydroxytryptophan. The 6-hydroxydopamine treated rats showed normal defensive reactions, but displayed hyperactivity from their second week of age. The role of the dopamine system in the defensive reactions was studied by variations of the dopamine activity level by traditional tools: depletion by α-methyl-tyrosin followed by replenishment by l -DOPA; stimulation or inhibition of the dopamine receptors by apomorphine or haloperidol. The results suggested an inhibitory function of the dopamine system in both defensive reactions, antagonistic to that of the serotonin system.     

Measures of interobserver agreement: Calculation formulas and distribution effects

Seventeen measures of association for observer reliability (interobserver agreement) are reviewed and computational formulas are given in a common notational system. An empirical comparison of 10 of these measures is made over a range of potential reliability check results. The effects on percentage and correlational measures of occurrence frequency, error frequency, and error distribution are examined. The question of which is the best measure of interobserver agreement is discussed in terms of critical issues to be considered     

Transfer of therapeutic effects from institution to home: faith, hope, and behavior modification.

Effective transfer of therapeutic results from institutional to home settings is a demanding problem facing family therapists. The issues involved and one approach to their solution are examined through the case of a 10-year-old boy hospitalized for severe antisocial behavior. Once results were obtained in an institutional setting, the therapeutic program there was faded out and concurrently faded into the home. Three- and 12-month follow-ups revealed continued improvement.     

Parent training for young Norwegian children with ODD and CD problems: Predictors and mediators of treatment outcome

Participants were 121 children, aged 4–8 years referred for conduct problems, and their mothers. A parent training intervention was implemented in two outpatient clinics in Norway. Treatment responders were defined as children scoring below a cut-off on the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory, a score below an optimal cut-off for children in day-care and school as reported by teachers, in addition to a 30% reduction or greater in observed negative parenting. Self-reported parenting practices were explored as potential mediators. The results of logistic regression analyses showed that high levels of maternal stress, clinical levels of ADHD, and being a girl predicted a poorer outcome in conduct problems at home, while pretreatment clinical levels of ADHD predicted a poorer outcome as perceived by the teachers. Harsh and inconsistent parental disciplining emerged as significant partial mediators of changes in conduct problems, highlighting the importance of altering parenting practices to modify young children's conduct problems.     

Mathematics beliefs and instructional strategies in achievement of elementary-school students in Japan: results from the TIMSS 2003 assessment

Recent findings concerning mathematics assessment indicate that students in Japan consistently score above international averages. Researchers have examined specific mathematics beliefs and instructional strategies associated with mathematics achievement for students in Japan. This study examined relationships among self-beliefs, classroom instructional strategies, and mathematics achievement for a large national sample of students (N=4,207) from the TIMSS 2003 international sample of fourth graders in Japan. Several significant relationships between mathematics beliefs and test scores were found; a number of classroom teaching strategies were also significantly associated with test scores. However, multiple regression using the complete set of five mathematics beliefs and five instructional strategies explained only 25.1% of the variance in mathematics achievement test scores.     

The place of psychotherapy and counselling in a healthy European social order: A commentary on Tantam and Van Deurzen

This commentary on Tantam and van Deurzen's vision for psychotherapy in Europe (this issue, pp. 228-235) interrogates their seeming modernity-driven, rights-obsessed convictions. Specifically, their uncritical advocacy of control-fixated political intrusions into the cultural-spiritual sphere is challenged; and critical reflections are offered on institutional professionalization; the authors' profession-centred, grandiose discourse; and therapy's alleged scientificity. Some dangers associated with individualised therapy's becoming a fetishized, institutionally sanctioned ‘regime of truth’ are voiced — one practicable antidote to which is the deliberate cultivation of an ongoingly deconstructive, ‘New Paradigm’ approach to therapy which, not least, mistrusts therapy's tendency towards delusory, self-interested exaggeration of its own cultural indispensability.     

A review of: “Breach of trust: Sexual exploitation by health care professionals and clergy”

John C. Gonsiorek (ed.) (1995) Breach of Trust: Sexual Exploitation by Health Care Professionals and Clergy, Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, $21.95