The relationship between role concerns,preferences for slimness,and symptoms of eating problems among college women

Eating problems and body dissatisfaction among women have been associated in the literature with both slim standards of female bodily attractiveness and concerns about success and failure. This study demonstrates that among college women the desire for slim, noncurvaceous bodies associated with dieting and binging is correlated with an emphasis on physical attractiveness, and thus may be related to the desire to match the currently fashionable slim standard of female bodily attractiveness. A similar desire for slim, noncurvaceous bodies associated with purging and underweight is correlated with an emphasis on intelligence or professional success, and thus may be related to a desire to avoid the curvaceous figures that have been found associated in the minds of males and females with a perceived lack of intelligence.     

FATHERING IS A FEMINIST ISSUE

Feminist theory has not yet addressed the ways in which the ideology of fatherhood has contributed to interlocking inequalities for women in both the workplace and family life. This paper is an effort to inject a feminist voice into the redefinition of fathering, which I see as essential both to the achievement of equality for women and to the reconstruction of the masculine gender role. I begin by describing how our unconscious gender ideology pressures all families to become traditional patriarchal families. I address feminist concerns about the dangers of over-valuing fathers'contributions to child development. I review the research evidence on whether fathers have the same potential for nurturing as mothers, and examine gay fathering in particular. Finally, I suggest that redefining fathering to emphasize nurturing as well as providing will place attachment and connection at the center of gender socialization for men. Masculinity would then become much less oppressive for men as well as for women.     

Perceptual organization in schizophrenia spectrum disorders: empirical research and theoretical implications

The research into perceptual organization in schizophrenia spectrum disorders has found evidence for and against a perceptual organization deficit and has interpreted the data from within several different theoretical frameworks. A synthesis of this evidence, however, reveals that this body of work has produced reliable evidence for deficits in schizophrenia, as well as for the clinical, stimulus, and task parameters associated with normal and abnormal performance. Recent models of cognition have also advanced understanding of the underlying pathophysiological processes of perceptual organization dysfunction in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. These suggest that deficits in perceptual organization may be one manifestation of a wider disturbance in the integration of contextually related information across space and time.     

Convergence of biological and psychological perspectives on cognitive coordination in schizophrenia

The concept of locally specialized functions dominates research on higher brain function and its disorders. Locally specialized functions must be complemented by processes that coordinate those functions, however, and impairment of coordinating processes may be central to some psychotic conditions. Evidence for processes that coordinate activity is provided by neurobiological and psychological studies of contextual disambiguation and dynamic grouping. Mechanisms by which this important class of cognitive functions could be achieved include those long-range connections within and between cortical regions that activate synaptic channels via NMDA-receptors, and which control gain through their voltage-dependent mode of operation. An impairment of these mechanisms is central to PCP-psychosis, and the cognitive capabilities that they could provide are impaired in some forms of schizophrenia. We conclude that impaired cognitive coordination due to reduced ion flow through NMDA-channels is involved in schizophrenia, and we suggest that it may also be involved in other disorders. This perspective suggests several ways in which further research could enhance our understanding of cognitive coordination, its neural basis, and its relevance to psychopathology.     

Gender Differences in Depression: The Role Played by Paternal Attitudes of Male Superiority and Maternal Modeling of Gender-Related Limitations

A reanalysis of a large multi-generational,predominantly Caucasian sample of adults found a largegender difference in self-reported depression involvinganxiety, appetite and sleep disturbance, and fatigue (anxious somatic depression) butnot in pure depression unaccompanied bymany of these other symptoms, replicating earlierfindings on high school and college samples. Anxioussomatic depression was prevalent among women whosefathers reported attitudes of male superiority and amongwomen whose mothers reported emphasizing the importanceof professional success but feeling that the jobs they held were not respected by others. Anxioussomatic depression, but not pure depression, was foundto be prevalent among women who did not attend collegeand among those who attended college but felt that the jobs they held were not respected byothers.     

Attitudinal versus ecological approaches to the characterization of institutional treatment environments

The relational and discriminative properties of attitudinal and ecological measures of environments were examined within the context of a state hospital for mentally retarted clients. Three hypotheses were advanced, and the results gave substantial support for one of these and partial support for a second: (a) that the correlations between attitudinal and ecological measures should not differ significantly from zero, and (b) that differences among hospital treatment programs and living units should be reflected in ecological but not in attitudinal measures. However, the results did not provide clear confirmation for a third hypothesis: that differences among staff demographic characteristics and employment history should be reflected in attitudinal but not in ecological measures. It was suggested that these background variables may not be appropriate measures of personality-linked attributes.