Exploratory study of black psychological health

Three groups of black men and women (primarily student groups) participated in this exploratory study which was designed to help participants define psychological health or wellbeing for themselves. Spirituality and religion were cited as being primary components of psychological health for all groups. However, the results are only suggestive given the small number of subjects. Finally, I discuss a distinction between spirituality and religion, developmental implications, and the role of oppression in defining black psychological health.     

The meaning of prayer: A Christian physician's experience

Christians in health care need a habit of prayer that allows them to express to God the full range of their reactions to daily experience. All of life can become the occasion for prayer when understood as communion or conversation. After brief commentary on this view of prayer, actual prayers are shared, demonstrating one Christian physician's attempts to pray without ceasing.This paper is part of a forthcoming book to be published by Broadman. All personal references in the article are to Dr. Elkins.     

The influence of context and UCS intensity on the UCS preexposure effect in a flavor aversion paradigm

Three studies were conducted to evaluate the influence of environmental context and UCS preexposure intensity on the acquisition of a flavor aversion. In the first study, rats were exposed to two UCS-alone presentations at one of three dose levels of LiCl. The rats were given the two UCS preexposures in one of two contexts (familiar or novel). Following the UCS-alone treatment, all of the subjects received two pairings of sucrose and LiCl (1.25 meq) in the familiar context. Animals receiving UCS preexposures in the same context as used during conditioning consumed significantly more sucrose than did saline control animals. In contrast, the influence of prior UCS preexposure was not evident when UCS preexposure was experienced in a context different from that experienced during conditioning. In Experiment 2, all animal received UCS preexposure and conditioning in the novel room. Animals received either two or four preexposures at 0, 1.25, or 3.75 meq dose of LiCl. Two UCS preexposures at 3.75 meq dose produced a stronger UCS preexposure effect than did the 1.25 meq dose. Animals in Experiment 3 received two exposures to either 0-, 1.25-, or 3.75-meq LiCl in one of two contexts, followed by conditioning with the 1.25-meq LiCl dose in the same context as preexposure. Greater UCS interference occurred in animals preexposed to LiCl in the novel rather than familiar environment, with no specific dose effects in either context. These observations are discussed in terms of context blocking and generalization decrement models of the UCS preexposure effect.     

A test of reciprocal risk between undesirable economic and noneconomic life events

The proposition that undesirable life experiences are risk factors for each other was explored by testing several hypotheses concerning the temporal relationships between economic and noneconomic life events. The tests were conducted using data describing the incidence of stressful experiences among approximately 3,500 Anglo and Hispanic residents of Los Angeles County. Findings suggested that Anglo men who have undesirable economic life experiences are at increased risk of subsequent undesirable noneconomic experiences. Anglo women, however, exhibited the opposite pattern in that those with undesirable noneconomic experiences were at greater risk of subsequent undesirable economic experiences. Implications for theory and practice are also discussed.     

Attention and social problem solving as correlates of aggression in preschool males

This study examined the relationship between two cognitive processing variables-attention and social problem solving-and aggression in preschoolage boys. The 43 participants were administered two selective attention tasks that assess children's tendency to focus on aggressive versus cooperative social situations, the Preschool Interpersonal Problem Solving Test developed by Shure and Spivack, and the information and block design subtests of the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence. Aggressive behavior was measured by teacher ratings and observational data. Results indicated that, in contrast to their nonaggressive peers, aggressive preschool boys tend to focus their attention on aggressive social interactions in their environment. They also provide aggressive solutions to hypothetical interpersonal conflict situations more often than their less aggressive peers. Intelligence does not appear to play a mediating role in these relationships. Implications of these results for understanding and remediating aggressive behavior in young boys are discussed.This study is based upon data collected as part of the author's doctoral dissertation submitted to the Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota. It was supported, in part, by a Bush Fellowship from the University of Minnesota. I would like to thank the parents, teachers, and children of the New Life Day Care and Joyce Child Care Centers in Minneapolis, and the Jack and Jill Preschool and Children's Home Society Day Care in St. Paul for their cooperation. I would also like to thank Judith List, Michael Reiner, and David Michell for help in stimulus preparation; Sally Westby, Andrea Easter, and Allyson Pearling for help with data collection; and W. Andrew Collins and Daniel Keating for their assistance throughout the study.     

The effects of natural category size on memory for episodic encodings

Previous findings indicate that natural category size affects cued recall but not recognition performance. Words that define or belong to larger categories are not as likely to be recalled in the presence of an extralist cue. However, category size has no effect on recognition in the presence of the target as the cue. Theoretically, this difference could be due to inherent differences between these tasks, to the use of different types of test cues, or to differences in the nature of the required responses (naming compared with “yes/no”decisions). Three experiments indicated that none of these factors is a sole determinant. Natural category size effects were found in cued-recall and recognition tasks, with extralist and target cues and regardless of the required response. The critical factor is whether the testing conditions require or encourage subjects to search the category defined by the cue. With the initiation of such a search, information represented in semantic memory is likely to influence memory for episodic information.     

Release from Pl in running memory: What does this tell us about developmental STM?

Several theories consider the development of short-term memory (STM) in children to reflect the development of processing operations. This article reports an experiment that tested some of these theories, using a release from proactive interference (PI) procedure in conjunction with a running memory task, to track down age-related improvements in the processing of various kinds of information. Although evidence for the development of PI release with age appeared for two kinds of information, namely class of item and acoustic similarity, there was no evidence whatsoever for the existence of a relationship between STM performance and PI release. It was concluded that the development of STM on the one hand, and of the capacity to process item or acoustic information on the other, proceed independently of each other. The discussion deals with the apparent conflict between this conclusion and the theoretical positions.     

The timing of major life events: Effects of departing from the social clock

It is widely believed that social norms govern the timing of major life events, such that events experienced off time are considerably more stressful than events experienced on time. Experiencing life events either earlier or later than one's peers presumably reduces opportunities for social support and may also invite social disapproval. Relatively few empirical studies have investigated these ideas, however, and those that have suffer from several limitations. The present study made use of a general population survey to investigate the effects of normative versus nonnormative timing of major life events on psychological functioning, interpersonal resources, and interpersonal tensions. Desirable and undesirable events were examined separately, as were the effects of departures from perceived versus statistical age norms. The results of the study offered only limited support for social clock theory. Implications for further research and for the relevance of the theory in a less age-differentiated society are discussed.     

Epistemology of brain death determination

This article assesses what standards of safety and certainty of diagnosis need to be met in the determination of brain death. Recent medical, legal, and philosophical developments on brain death are summarized. It is argued that epistemologically adequate standards require the finding of whole-brain death rather than destruction of the cortex. Because of the possibility of positive error in misdiagnosing death, a tutioristic approach of ‘being on the safe side’ is advocated. Given uncertainties in diagnosis of so-called vegetative states like the apallic syndrome, anything less than whole-brain death, especially given the present state of diagnostic capability, should not qualify as an argument for removing therapy specifically on grounds that the patient is dead.