An explication of the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC) code of ethics

This article reviews the work carried out by the NSGC ad hoc Committee on Ethical Codes and Principles between 1986 and 1991 and serves as a guide for interpreting the NSGC Code of Ethics. The NSGC Code of Ethics is written from the ethic of care perspective. It is based on the responsibilities that arise from the four primary relationships genetic counselors experience in their work: genetic counselors and themselves, their clients, their colleagues, and society. The values selected for each relationship and the resultant guidelines are explained. The Code of Ethics became effective January 1, 1992.     

Secrets versus privacy in group psychotherapy

Secrets lead to subgroup formation and premature termination in group psychotherapy. Privacy is the right of each individual to choose the appropriate time and manner in which he or she reveals intimate knowledge about him/herself. Secrets are the conscious or unconscious withholding of information, often as a protective mechanism to avoid fear and shame. Holding secrets is a form of acting out in groups. When secrets are revealed, working through occurs and shame is overcome. This occurs when boundaries are maintained and safety develops as a result of acceptance within the group.     

Perceptual-motor development and prevention of clumsiness

Summary This longitudinal study, following children's development over three years, examines the developmental trends in the processes underlying perceptual-motor behaviour. Entry into the study was at first year of primary school, at age 6. The study has three aims: (1) to obtain developmental trends in kinaesthesis and motor-programming processes; (2) to examine the relationship between slow kinaesthetic and motor development; (3) to establish the effect of accelerated kinaesthetic development and prevention of perceptual-motor dysfunction (clumsiness). The results to date show that over 60% of children entering primary school have not developed the kinaesthetic ability necessary for the acquisition and learning of educationally demanded motor skills. Kinaesthetic development is accelerated spontaneously in some children as a response to educational demands; in others a single exposure to kinaesthetic input triggers significant improvement. In the remaining 17% kinaesthetic training can alleviate the kinaesthetic dysfunction. At age 5–6 years only 25 children (8.1%) performed the Perceptual-Motor Abilities Test at levels indicative of perceptual-motor dysfunction. Of these, 13 children (4.2%) were identified as having motor difficulties. These low incidence rates indicate that a low level of kinaesthetic ability has no effect on general motor function at the beginning of schooling, and that only when competence in complex motor skills is expected, from the third year of schooling, does perceptual-motor dysfunction (PMD) become manifest.The work reported in this article was supported by Australian Research Council Grant number A78931998     

On the nature of the span of apprehension

Summary Typically, people can only report about four or five items from a briefly presented array of alphanumeric items. A new span task was used to explore the basis of this limitation. In Experiment l, performance suffered when very brief display durations were combined with a verbal-load task, but no significant effects of display duration were found when there was no verbal load. In Experiment 2, a similar interaction was observed between verbal load and the presence of a visual suffix; performance was worse in the verbal-load condition with a visual suffix, but no such effect was observed without verbal load. In both experiments, poorer performance was associated with enhanced serial-position effects. The results can be explained on the assumption that the verbal-load task required some processing resources, and that the quality of information in visual working memory depends on available resources. Thus, both brief-array presentation and the visual suffix degrade the information in visual working memory, but span performance is impaired only when processing resources are relatively scarce.     

The use of decomposition in probability assessments of continuous variables

In this study, decomposition is used as a tool for the assessment of continuous probability distributions. The goal of using decomposition is to obtain better calibrated probability distributions by expressing a variable as a known function of several component variables. Three target quantities were used in the study. Each was assessed holistically and using two different decompositions. Thus, each subject provided three distributions for each of the three target quantities. The recomposed assessments were compared to holistic assessments. The distributions obtained using decomposition were found to be much better calibrated than those obtained holistically. Two methods of aggregating distributions from multiple subjects were also examined. One involves aggregating (averaging) distributions before recomposing while the second method involves recomposing and then averaging distributions for the target variable. The second method was found to be slightly better, although both showed better calibration than was found in the individual assessments.     

VIDEO-BASED TRAINING OF RESPITE CARE PROVIDERS: AN INTERACTIONAL ANALYSIS OF PRESENTATION FORMAT

We conducted two studies to evaluate a video-based instructional package for training respite care providers and the role of presentation format (viewing the videotapes alone, with a partner, and with structured group training) as a contextual variable. In Study 1, the results of a within-subjects Latin square design nested within a multiple baseline showed that performance during simulated (role-played) respite care situations improved in five of the six skill areas for the 12 trainees following presentation of the videotape, with no differences between presentation formats. Correct responding generalized to respite care situations involving a developmentally disabled child, and in most cases, acquired skills were maintained for up to 6 months. In Study 2, we conducted a clinical replication of Study 1 under conditions more closely approximating those in which the training program would be implemented by respite care agencies. Results of the between-groups analysis were consistent with the findings of Study 1.     

Adults' evaluations of children caring for a baby: The effects of gender and behavior

In this study adult subjects evaluated the behavior of a 5- or 8-year-old child interacting with his or her baby “sibling.” The adults saw a 5-minute videotape in which the child interacted in a minimal or active fashion with the baby. The eight tapes consisted of all possible combinations of older child and infant sex and behavior style. The adults evaluated the active interaction with the infant very differently than the minimal interaction, but found each behavioral style equally typical of girls and boys in this age range. The active children were seen as more positive, more expressive, more intstrumental, more active, and more tender. The gender of the subject and older child played small roles in some of the evaluations.     

Adolescents' attitudes toward family and gender roles: An international comparison

Adolescents' attitudes toward gender and familial roles were examined using the Attitudes Toward Women Scale for Adolescents [N. L. Galambos, A. C. Petersen, M. Richards, & I. B. Gitelson (1985) “The Attitudes Toward Women Scale for Adolescents (AWSA): A Study of Reliability and Validity,” Sex Roles, Vol. 5/6, pp. 343–356] and the Historic-Sociocultural Premises scale [R. Díaz-Guerrero (1975) Psychology of the Mexican: Culture and Personality, Austin: University of Texas Press]. Participants were 265 international students (11 to 17 years of age) from 46 different countries attending schools in the Netherlands. The countries of origin were grouped into two categories of cultural values based on G. Hofstede [(1983) “Dimensions of National Cultures in Fifty Countries and Three Regions,” in J. B. Deregowski, S. Dziursawiec, & R. C. Annis (Eds.), Expiscations in Cross-Cultural Psychology, Lisse Netherlands: Swets & Zeitlinger]: Wealthier, more individualistic countries comprised Group 1 and less wealthy, more collectivist countries Group 2. Girls responded less traditionally than did boys on both scales. Students from Group 2 countries had more traditional attitudes than did students from Group 1 countries.     

Gender differences over time in medical school stressors,anxiety, and the sense of coherence

Gender differences in the perception of medical school stressors, trait anxiety, and the sense of coherence were investigated in a longitudinal study in an Israeli medical school. The overall stressor score increased for both sexes from orientation to the second year of studies. The increase in the stressor score among women was due primarily to their increasing concern about professional status issues; for men, the academic demands factor contributed most to their increased overall stressor score. Trait anxiety increased and the sense of coherence decreased over time for both sexes. The gender difference in anxiety was significant in the first two stages, but disappeared in the third stage, indicating that although men had lower scores at all stages, their scores increased relatively more than women's over time. The findings suggest that the stressors of medical education have a negative effect on two personality resources needed to deal with life's demands.