The Trajectory of Counseling in China: Past,Present, and Future Trends

This article surveys the past, present, and future trends of counseling in China. Historically, mental health problems were addressed within the family. Currently, psychotherapy from trained practitioners is available on a limited basis, at least in urban settings. The challenge of mental health in China is tremendous, and the efforts to meet that challenge are encouraging. The authors recommend that in the future, prevention and intervention services be offered that are ecosystemic, strengths‐based, and culturally appropriate.     

大学生自主学习、成就目标定向与学业成就关系的研究

采用大学生自主学习量表、学业成就自评量表和自编的大学生成就目标定向问卷,以安徽省、江苏省、山东省667名大学生为被试,调查分析了大学生自主学习、成就目标定向与学业成就的关系。结果显示:(1)大学生自主学习对学业成就具有预测作用;(2)掌握目标、成绩接近目标对大学生自主学习具有预测作用;(3)掌握目标对大学生学业成就具有预测作用;(4)成就目标定向对学业成就既有直接作用,又有间接作用;自主学习在成就目标对学业成就的影响中发挥着重要的中介作用。     

A modular geometric mechanism for reorientation in children

Although disoriented young children reorient themselves in relation to the shape of the surrounding surface layout, cognitive accounts of this ability vary. The present paper tests three theories of reorientation: a snapshot theory based on visual image-matching computations, an adaptive combination theory proposing that diverse environmental cues to orientation are weighted according to their experienced reliability, and a modular theory centering on encapsulated computations of the shape of the extended surface layout. Seven experiments test these theories by manipulating four properties of objects placed within a cylindrical space: their size, motion, dimensionality, and distance from the space’s borders. Their findings support the modular theory and suggest that disoriented search behavior centers on two processes: a reorientation process based on the geometry of the 3D surface layout, and a beacon-guidance process based on the local features of objects and surface markings.     

Social Anxiety Disorder and Social Support Behavior in Friendships

Relationship quality is a strong predictor of health outcomes, and individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD) report increased interpersonal impairment. However, there are few studies testing the effect of SAD on friendships and it is thus unclear whether there are behavioral differences that distinguish friendships in which a target individual has SAD from friendships in which the target individual does not have SAD. We tested for differences in the provision and receipt of support behaviors as a function of having a SAD diagnosis and accounting for comorbid depressive symptoms. Participants with SAD (n = 90) and their friends engaged in support conversations that were coded using the Social Support Interaction Coding System. Structural equation modeling revealed some differences between participants and friends when accounting for depression. Specifically, friends of participants with SAD and comorbid depression engaged in fewer positive helper behaviors than the friends of participants who did not have SAD or comorbid depression. Additionally, dyads in which the primary participant had SAD engaged in more off-task behaviors. Results suggest that SAD does not result in global interpersonal impairment, but that receipt of positive support behaviors from friends may differ as a function of SAD and comorbid depression. Interpersonal interventions aimed at increasing adaptive friendships and aspects of CBT that target subtle avoidance (e.g., safety behaviors) may be useful in facilitating more satisfactory relationships for these individuals.     

Visual persistence and code selection in short-term memory for letters

Four experiments were conducted to examine temporal changes in visual and name codes and the relationship between them. Unlike earlier studies, the design included (a) several levels of visual similarity in addition to the conventional same case and different case conditions and (b) physical- as well as name-match tasks to provide direct evidence about subjects' retention of form information. The main results were as follows: First, the presence of multiple typefonts in the stimulus set does not eliminate convergence between the reaction time functions for the physical- and name-match conditions in a name-match task. Second, inclusion of a physical-match task, requiring subjects to retain form information, does not necessarily eliminate convergence in a primary, name-match task. When the secondary task does reduce convergence, however, the results suggest that it does this through its effect on the name-match function rather than on the physical-match function. Third, apart from difficulties with within-cluster typefont combinations, particularly at long interstimulus intervals, subjects can generally retain and use reliable information about letter form over the ISI range (.5--4.0 sec) used in the experiments. The results were thought to be consistent with the conclusion that convergence results from a combination of (a) a nonoptional decrease in the accessibility of the visual code as a function of increasing ISI and (b) an optional increase in the accessibility of the name code. Under ISI conditions at least, convergence cannot be attributed to either generation of a visual code of the alternative form of the target letter or to the absence of relevant form information.     

Temporal and interactional effects in short-term storage

The operation of temporal and interactional processes in short-term storage was studied under conditions which require that information about all items presented be stored and the relative retention of all be evaluated concurrently, but preclude further interference after presentation by testing or retrieval effects. Random sequences of twelve two digit numbers from a known set of thirteen were presented visually at 1, 2, or 4 per sec. for full interval and .25 sec. presentation durations to 15 Ss who reported the missing number that was not presented from the set. For 1/sec. full duration presentations the missing scan serial position error distribution shows a linear decrease in errors from first through last presented items. As rate of presentation increases there is a linear increase in total errors, a linearly increasing primacy effect, and an increase of errors over at least the last half of the sequence such that the error distribution remains linear with the same slope. These findings are compatible with the operation of time dependent interactional and perceptual processes in short-term storage but not with autonomous decay.     

Mentoring,job satisfaction,gender, and the legal profession

We examine the prevalence of mentoring among lawyers and the effect mentoring has on their employment situations, with special attention to gender differences. The data come from a 1989 cross-sectional survey of 1132 Georgia lawyers (80% white and 18% black). No significant difference in having mentors was found across racial categories. Results initially show female lawyers are more likely than males to have mentors, but this is due to gender differences in type of law practice and position in them; among associate-level lawyers in law firms there is no gender difference in having a mentor. Having a mentor improves lawyers' job satisfaction; and the size of this benefit is the same for both sexes.A revision of a paper presented at the 1992 annual meeting of the Southern Sociological Society, New Orleans, Louisiana, April 12.