Family criticism and self-starvation: a study of expressed emotion

The measure Expressed Emotion (EE) has been established as an exceptionally useful indicator of relapse in people with schizophrenia and depression. EE is now also being applied more broadly for the investigation of other disorders. EE is usually rated by conducting the Camberwell Family Interview, i.e. in the course of separate individual interviews with the relatives of the symptomatic individuals. This paper reports the rating of EE in adolescents with eating disorders within a semi-structured family schedule - the Standardized Clinical Family Interview. Consecutive referrals for eating disorders were assessed prior to family therapy and again at regular intervals during therapy. EE ratings for this sample, the prognostic value of EE, and the changes in EE that took place during the course of therapy are presented and their clinical implications discussed. The findings suggest that even low levels of Critical Comments from the parents to the anorexic adolescent are associated with continuing symptoms.     

Should reason be fragmented?

Cognitive relativists‐pragmatists (Stich, Churchland) claim that human cognitive strategies, lacking a common goal, are in addition divergent to the point of incommensurability. They appeal to the study of reasoning heuristics for evidence on cognitive diversity and incorrigibility. It is here argued that no such evidence is offered by the research, which, on the contrary (1) presents heuristics as uniform across great variations; (2) offers advice for correcting and improving human reasoning; and (3) very often postulates a uniformity of core logical strategies, built into reasoning competence. Cognitive research thus supports a moderate rationalism rather than relativism‐pragmatism.     

“The Turkish minority in Bulgaria”: A clarification

These short notes are not meant to justify the recent repression of the Muslims in Bulgaria; rather, they try to explain them objectively and in all their aspects, including external conditions and factors. Dr. Michel, the author of the article here examined, has worked on a rich data base in the form of history and chronicle of events. And yet he gives the impression of floating on the surface of things and here and there presents somewhat one‐sided and subjective evaluations. Using and quoting as evidence material mainly from the Turkish side he deprives the article in question of the objectivity and impartiality that are obligatory for scholarly research. I am very grateful for the opportunity of having access to Dr. Michel's article in advance of its publication and for being invited to present and interpret the interrelations of Muslims and Christians of Bulgaria in recent times from my point of view.     

Relationship between the Delay Task and Rating Scale measures of Inattention and Hyperactivity

A group of 187 elementary school children were administered a microcomputer version of the Delay Task (Gordon, 1979) in which responses were reinforced only when they followed the preceding response by at least 6 seconds. They were also rated on the Conners Teacher Rating Scale (CTRS) by their classroom teacher. Performance on the Delay Task was not correlated with any of the CTRS subscales for the overall sample. Sex differences were found in the Conduct, Inattention, and Hyperactivity factors of the CTRS. No sex difference was found for performance on the Delay Task. When performance on the Delay Task was correlated with the four CTRS factors by sex, correlations between the Delay Task and the inattention subscale and hyperactive subscale were significant only for the male subsample. Implications of the findings for assessment of hyperactivity are discussed.The research was supported by an equipment grant from the University of Auckland Research Committee. The first author's contribution was supported by a postgraduate scholarship from the Medical Research Council of New Zealand. We thank Lisa Tapp and Julia Rooke for assistance with data collection. We also acknowledge the support and cooperation of the staff of Mt. Eden Normal Primary School.