When the solution becomes a part of the problem in the psychosocial management of an AIDS patient

This paper describes the important role a professional has in defining the nature of psychosocial problems with patients. An example is described in which a patient with AIDS was referred to a psychiatrist. The effect of this on the patient was that he believed that his problems were more serious than how he usually viewed them. This created a new problem in the management of the patient. The authors stress the importance of counsellors and their referrers discussing patient management issues in advance, so that different views do not impede the care of patients.     

Improved localization of moving targets with prior knowledge of direction of target motion

In dynamic environments in which many stimulus elements are in motion, visual search may depend upon specific characteristics of target motion that are known in advance. When stimulus elements move in various directions but each element can move in only one direction, prior knowledge of the target's direction of motion reduces search time.     

Masking by combination tones and bands

Masking of a pure tone by a cubic difference tone or band generated by two pure tones or by a pure tone and a narrow band of noise as a function of the level of the masker was measured for three subjects at three ratios of f₂/f₁, 1.125, 1,2, and 1.3. The three maskers used were f₁ alone, f₁ + f₂, and f₁ + NBN (60-Hz band of noise centered at f₂). At ratio 1.125, the amounts of masking produced by f₁ alone and f₁ + NBN were not significantly different for all subjects. For ratios = 1.125 and 1.2, f₁ + f₂ produced the least masking at least in two of the subjects. f₁ + NBN was the best masker at ratios 1.2 and 1.3. These results show that the masking data on cubic difference tone at very small ratios of f₂/f₁ are not reliable due to the masking effect contributed by f₁. For higher ratios, the combination band has to be used instead of combination tone because of the interaction between the signal and the cubic difference tone. Also the divergence of the effectiveness in masking by the three maskers gives an estimation of the levels of primaries at which the cubic difference tone is generated.     

Bases of young children's judgments about more

While the young child's difficulties in correctly comprehending the term less are well known, it appears less widely recognized that young children may also encounter difficulties with the term more. The present study shows that in a task which requires judgments about more to be based on the relative numerosity of sets, 3–4-year-old children may base their judgments on other parameters, such as the extent to which the sets are homogenous with respect to the color of their components. The implications of such findings are briefly considered.     

Patterns of adolescent involvement in problem behaviors: Relationship to self-efficacy,social competence,and life events

Using a sample of 556 adolescents from a suburban community, patterns of various adolescent problem behaviors (e.g., delinquent behavior, smoking, use of alcohol or drugs) and their links to self-efficacy, social competence, and life events were examined. Cluster analysis was conducted to identify four subgroups of adolescents who showed distinct patterns of problem behaviors. These clusters were compared on the measures of self-efficacy, social competence, and life events. Overall results suggest there are meaningful links between adolescents’ problem behavior patterns and self-efficacy, the amount and quality of participation in various after school activities, and life events. For example, a subgroup of adolescents who showed uniformly low prevalence of all problem behaviors reported more positive academic self-efficacy, more active participation in sports and nonsports activities, more positive life events, and fewer negative events than adolescents who were involved in multiple problem behaviors. Implications for prevention and future research on adolescent problem behaviors are discussed.     

Psychiatric and Psychological Morbidity as a Function of Adaptive Disability in Preschool Children with Aggressive and Hyperactive-Impulsive-Inattentive Behavior

Children with high levels of aggressive-hyperactive-impulsive-inattentive behavior (AHII; n = 154) were subdivided into those with (n = 38) and without (n = 116) adaptive disability (+AD/–AD) defined as a discrepancy between expected versus actual adaptive functioning. They were compared to each other and a control group of 47 normal children. Both AHII groups were more likely to have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), oppositional defiant disorder, and conduct disorder than control children; more symptoms of general psychopathology; greater social skills deficits; more parental problems; and lower levels of academic achievement skills. Compared to AHII – AD children, AHII + AD children had (1) more conduct disorder; (2) greater inattention and aggression symptoms; (3) more social problems, less academic competence, and poorer self-control at school; (4) more severe and pervasive behavior problems across multiple home and school settings; and (5) parents with poorer child management practices. Thus, adaptive disability has utility as a marker for more severe and pervasive impairments in AHII children.     

The role of offender profiling in classifying rapists: Implications for counselling

The offender profiling process is an investigative technique used to identify the major personality and behavioural characteristics of the offender based upon an analysis of the crime(s) he or she has committed (Douglas & Burgess, 1986). Attempts have been made in both England and America to classify rapists into various subgroups. Instead of definitive groups of offenders a suggestion is made as to the formation of a dimensional typology of rapists. This would allow for the difficulties in defining boundaries for subgroups and accounting for individual differences and heterogeneity of both the rapist and the assault. The various criteria that attempt to distinguish the different types of offender are discussed including behavioural and motivational characteristics of the offender, lay theories of rape and the victim-offender relationship. The implications of the dimensional typology are outlined. There are indications that some factors may contribute to a longer and more complicated recovery process. Macnab (1993) neatly outlines eleven contributory factors: financial stress, various long term stresses, the degree of violence, the use of weapons, the sense of violation, the threat of death, multiple assailants, threats of greater or continuing harm and a later death, medical complications, problems with police, medical and criminal systems and lack of adequate professional and informed support. As well as this, the important issue of self-blame is discussed along with the subsequent problem of post-traumatic stress disorder: the recurring distressing memories, dreams and events and signals that can provoke a further cycle of distress.     

Space-time accuracy of rapid movements

The space-time accuracy of an elbow flexion movement task was examined in two experiments over a range of motion extents (1 degrees through 100 degrees ) and short-duration movement times (100, 125, 150, and 400 ms). Nonlinear speed-accuracy functions emerged for both spatial and temporal error over all the movement conditions examined. The results showed that the timing error and spatial error had a high degree of complementarity as predicted by a space-time model of the speed-accuracy relation (Hancock & Newell, 1985). The findings confirm that the frame of reference for measuring movement error determines in part the error functions observed.     

Creating Suspects in Police Interviews1

In 3 studies, the idea was tested that an increase in a police officer's movements in an interview will lead to an increase in movements made by the suspect. This increase in movements may then be interpreted by the police officer as suspicious behavior. In Study 1, interviewees were interviewed by 1 male police officer who either made some movements or no movements at all. The movements made by the suspects were investigated. In Studies 2 and 3, police officers were asked to judge the credibility of interviewees who were interviewed by a lively or a nonlively interviewer. The results supported the process described.