Trauma healing in refugee camps in Guinea: a psychosocial program for Liberian and Sierra Leonean survivors of torture and war

From 1999 to 2005, the Minneapolis-based Center for Victims of Torture (CVT) served Liberian and Sierra Leonean survivors of torture and war living in the refugee camps of Guinea. A psychosocial program was developed with 3 main goals: (a) to provide mental health care, (b) to train local refugee counselors, and (c) to raise community awareness about war trauma and mental health. Utilizing paraprofessional counselors under the close, on-site supervision of expatriate clinicians, the treatment model blended elements of Western and indigenous healing. The core component consisted of relationship-based supportive group counseling. Clinical interventions were guided by a 3-stage model of trauma recovery (safety, mourning, reconnection), which was adapted to the realities of the refugee camp setting. Over 4,000 clients were provided with counseling, and an additional 15,000 were provided with other supportive services. Results from follow-up assessments indicated significant reductions in trauma symptoms and increases in measures of daily functioning and social support during and after participation in groups. The treatment model developed in Guinea served as the basis for CVT's ongoing work with survivors in Sierra Leone and Liberia. ((c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).     

Eliciting and measuring children's anger in the context of their peer interactions: ethical considerations and practical guidelines

Ecologically valid procedures for eliciting and measuring children's anger are needed to enhance researchers' theories of children's emotional competence and to guide intervention efforts aimed at reactive aggression. The purpose of this article is to describe a laboratory-based game-playing procedure that has been used successfully to elicit and measure children's anger across observational, physiological, and self-report channels. Steps taken to ensure that participants are treated ethically and fairly are discussed. The article highlights recently published data that emphasize the importance of provoking and assessing children's anger across multiple channels using laboratory-based procedures. Finally, it presents preliminary data that suggests that the safeguards taken to protect children were successful in making both children and their parents feel well treated and comfortable.     

The effect of context on visual representational momentum

Effects of background context on representational momentum -were examined in six experiments. In each experiment, three orientations of a target rectangle undergoing implied rotation (i.e., the inducing stimuli) were presented, and subjects judged whether the orientation of a fourth rectangle (i.e., the probe) was the same as or different from that of the third inducing stimulus. Target rectangles were enclosed within a larger square frame context during induction (i.e., presentation of the inducing stimuli), judgment (i.e., presentation of the probe), or both induction and judgment. If context during induction moved in the same direction as the inducing stimuli or if context during judgment was rotated slightly forward from the orientation of the final inducing stimulus, representational momentum was increased. If context during induction moved in the direction opposite to the inducing stimuli or if context during judgment was rotated slightly backward from the orientation of the final inducing stimulus, representational momentum was decreased or reversed. If context was present during both induction and judgment, direction of representational momentum was biased toward the context at judgment Implications of context for accounts of representational momentum are discussed, and a tentative model is proposed.     

The effects of size,clutter, and complexity on vanishing-point distances in visual imagery

Summary The portrayal of vanishing-point distances in visual imagery was examined in six experiments. In all experiments, subjects formed visual images of squares, and the squares were to be oriented orthogonally to subjects' line of sight. The squares differed in their level of surface complexity, and were either undivided, divided into 4 equally sized smaller squares, or divided into 16 equally sized smaller squares. Squares also differed in stated referent size, and ranged from 3 in. to 128 ft along each side. After subjects had formed an image of a specified square, they transformed their image so that the square was portrayed to move away from them. Eventually, the imaged square was portrayed to be so far away that if it were any further away, it could not be identified. Subjects estimated the distance to the square that was portrayed in their image at that time, the vanishing-point distance, and the relationship between stated referent size and imaged vanishing-point distance was best described by a power function with an exponent less than 1. In general, there were trends for exponents (slopes on log axes) to increase slightly and for multiplicative constants (y intercepts on log axes) to decrease as surface complexity increased. No differences in exponents or in multiplicative constants were found when the vanishing-point was approached from either sub-threshold or suprathreshold directions. When clutter in the form of additional imaged objects located to either side of the primary imaged object was added to the image, the exponent of the vanishing-point function increased slightly and the multiplicative constant decreased. The success of a power function (and the failure of the size-distance invariance hypothesis) in describing the vanishing-point distance function calls into question the notions (a) that a constant grain size exists in the, imaginal visual field at a given location and (b) that grain size specifies a lower limit in the storage of information in visual images.     

Muscular Force in Reciprocal Movements

(Cameron, N. The Psychology of Behavior Disorders. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1947. Pp. 622.) Reviewed By W. Drayton Lewis     

Reactive and Proactive Aggression in Childhood and Adolescence: Precursors, Outcomes, Processes, Experiences, and Measurement

ABSTRACT. This paper reviews and critiques the growing literature on the distinction between reactive and proactive aggression in children and adolescents. Empirical findings suggest that the subtypes of aggression are (a) preceded by different familial precursors, (b) associated with different behavioral outcomes, (c) driven by different social–cognitive and emotional processes, and (d) related to different social experiences. Because measurement difficulties have been a prominent concern in the study of reactive and proactive aggression, a discussion of various assessment approaches is included. Suggestions are made for future research directions, including a greater use of observational and laboratory-based methods, more longitudinal designs, and a greater focus on the careful assessment of the subtypes of aggression.