Conceptual Metaphors in Internship: Creative Journeys in Counselor Development

The use of metaphors is considered a cognitive and affective process in which individuals can creatively explain and understand unfamiliar experiences. Through the Metaphor Identification Procedure, 453 metaphors were identified within semester-long reflective journals from 49 students enrolled in a clinical mental health internship course. Six overarching categories resulted, highlighting creativity used in processing, understanding, and describing events within internship. Implications for supervision and counselor education are provided.     

Callous-Unemotional Traits,Relational and Social Aggression,and Interpersonal Maturity in a Sample of Behaviorally Disordered Adolescents

The authors examined the degree to which callous-unemotional traits and narcissism predict relational aggression, social aggression, and prosocial skills in a sample of 79 adolescent offenders (13–18 years old; 26% girls; 74% boys) attending a school for youth with behavior disorders in the Mid-Atlantic United States. Narcissism made a significant contribution to the prediction of both relational aggression and social aggression, accounting for most of the unique variance in the prediction of these indirect forms of aggression. Conversely, callous-unemotional traits—but not narcissism—made a significant contribution to the prediction of lower prosocial skills. Furthermore, in contrast to the large number of studies indicating gender differences in the expression of aggression, no significant gender differences in the present study were found.     

Virtual conversation partner for adults with autism

Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is notable for severely impaired reciprocal social interaction skills relative to language and intellectual abilities, presenting a major barrier to social integration and vocational success. Evidence-based interventions to address these needs are lacking. We report on the development of a small, prototype conversation simulation to teach conversational skills to adolescents and adults with ASD and average to superior intellectual abilities. We also report on a test of the feasibility and acceptability of the simulation approach with a sample of the target population. The simulation engages the user in a virtual conversation with an on-screen partner whose reactions provide naturalistic feedback geared to the appropriateness of the learner's response choices. The prototype simulation, which provides for up to 12 potentially unique multi-turn conversations, was used over a period of 2 weeks by 16 adolescents and adults who then rated statements about the system on a linear scale of 1 (disagreement) to 5 (high agreement). The participants highly endorsed the majority of positive statements about the quality and credibility of the interaction and the virtual conversation partner. In contrast, agreement with positive statements about instructional features external to the conversation was moderate. Unexpectedly, most participants strongly agreed that using the simulation had been helpful to them. Further development and testing in the context of a controlled study with randomized assignment to control and experimental groups are needed to determine whether this approach is effective in improving real-world pragmatic language behavior of high-functioning adults with ASD.     

Brain rCBF and performance in visual imagery tasks: Common and distinct processes

The present study was designed to discover whether variations in normalised regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in different brain areas predict variations in performance of different imagery tasks. Positron emission tomography (PET) was used to assess brain activity as 16 participants performed four imagery tasks. These tasks were designed so that performance was particularly sensitive to the participant's ability to form images with high resolution, to generate images from distinct segments, to parse imaged forms into parts while inspecting them, or to transform (rotate) images. Response times and error rates were recorded. Multiple regression analyses revealed that variations in most brain areas predicted variations in performance of only one task, thus demonstrating that the four tasks tap largely independent imagery processes. However, we also found that some underlying processes were recruited by more than one task, particularly those implemented in the occipito‐parietal sulcus, the medial frontal cortex, and Area 18.     

The Impact of the American and British Equal Pay Guarantee on Job Evaluation

Aux USA et en Grande-Bretagne, la legislation a prevu de garantir aux femmes un salaire egal pour un travail egal. Ceux qui veulent respecter cette garantie sont confrontes a la tache de definir ce que veut dire legalement travail egal. Des questions se posent sur la definition officielle du terme travail egal ou travail de valeur egale. Cet article passe en revue la plupart des cas ou le travail est d'egale valeur, et attire l'attention particulierement sur la methode d'evaluation des taches et la maniere d'etablir des taux de salaires a discuter dans ces cas. L'analyse est realisee pour expliquer la pensee legale, et ne signifie pas que Ton applaudisse ou que Ton critique des methodes particulieres d'evaluation de taches ou d'etablissement de grilles salariales. Le but de cette recherche est de savoir quelles methodes d'evaluation seront trouvees par les lois americaines et anglaises et reconnues comme methodes legalement accep-tables pour determiner les valeurs.     

Gender Differences in Trauma Types and Themes in Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Background: This study aimed to determine whether there were gender differences in trauma types and cognitive-emotional themes among veterans with deployment-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Methods: Case notes or writing excerpts from two pilot studies were reviewed to determine types of traumas and emerging themes, with 20 women and 31 men comprising the sample. Results: Most women developed PTSD after sexual assault, with reactions emphasizing mistrust, betrayal, and anger. Men experienced more combat, with reactions including survivor guilt, moral injury, and horror. Conclusions: Both genders developed PTSD, but the causes of and reactions to their traumas differed. Emerging themes can be useful treatment foci.     

Adolescent girls' sex role development: Relationship with sports participation,self-esteem,and age at menarche

This study investigated the development of sex role orientation among adolescent girls, and explored its relationship with sports participation, self-esteem, and age at menarche. The instruments were administered to 134 girls yearly from Grades 6 to 10 (ages 11 to 15). The results obtained with the Bem Sex Role Inventory showed group mean increases in the masculine and feminine scale scores, and considerable shifting in sex role categorizations over the five years. However, individual differences were quite consistent during the five-year study, suggesting some degree of stability in sex role orientation during adolescence. Sports participants and girls with high self-esteem had greater masculine sex role orientations throughout adolescence, with no differences in feminine orientations. It was concluded that the relationship of sex role orientation with sports participation and self-esteem was not an interactive one, but was reflective of individual differences. These individual differences begin in late childhood, with the variables developing concurrently. Age at menarche did not affect sex role orientation.