Discovering what it all means

This article deals with appropriate communication and interpersonal skills that nurses may use in order to support patients who are experiencing self-concept changes related to their health problems. Three areas of patient need related to self-concept are explored. The stages of adaptation to loss and the crucial task of grief work are reviewed, and nursing interventions designed to strengthen the self-concept and support patients as they adapt to loss are suggested. Sensitive communication, although a low-visibility nursing skill, is cited as critical in assisting the patient to achieve an optimum level of wellness.     

Spiritual issues in mental health care

Religious and spiritual issues in mental health are explored in the context of four conceptual models: the medical, the nursing, the humanistic, and the pastoral. This is done by looking at each model in terms of content, diagnostic focus, language and treatment goals, and primary qualities in the health provider.The models are illustrated by case studies gathered from a multidisciplinary setting. The discovery that each model can incorporate the religious and spiritual dimension in mental health care, but that each model does this in distinctive ways, is a key point.     

Computer-generated psychological reports: a look at the modern psychometric machine

The proliferation of computer-generated psychological reports prompts an examination of the presuppositions of such reports and what they offer in the way of understanding individual clients. This topic is approached primarily through a review of some basics of psychological testing and psychological assessment. Major differences are noted between these two approaches to evaluating clients: They are different processes, and they yield different products. Assessment is a complex set of activities that seeks solutions to specific problems, whereas testing fits a straightforward actuarial paradigm. Testing is readily adapted to an automated data processing system, whereas the complex of assessment procedures cannot be so managed. Serious questions about the validity of computer reports are raised, however, and ethical concerns are expressed over the use of these reports by persons without adequate psychological training to understand them correctly. Limited uses for computer reports are suggested along with the need for further studies of validity and ethics.     

The representation of nonuniform motion: induced movement

Induced motion occurs when there is a misallocation of nonuniform motion. Theories of induced motion are reviewed with respect to the model for uniform motion recently proposed by Swanston, Wade, and Day. Theories based on single processes operating at one of the retinocentric, orbitocentric, egocentric, or geocentric levels are not able to account for all aspects of the phenomenon. It is therefore suggested that induced motion is a consequence of combining two different types of motion signals: one provides information by registering the motion with respect to the retina, orbit, and egocentre; the other provides information only on the relational motions between the pattern elements. Simple rules are given for defining a frame of reference for the relational motion process, which can result in a reallocation of the motion signals. It is proposed that the two signals in combination are weighted differentially, with the greater influence coming from the relational signals. Procedures for determining the weighting factors are described, and predictions from the model are examined.