Voice-onset time as a clue to the nature of Broca speech errors

Blumstein, Cooper, Goodglass, Statlender, and Gottleib (Brain and Language, 9, 153–170 (1980)) attempt to determine by an examination of the VOTs of aphasic speakers whether Broca's aphasics make phonemic substitutions in addition to their well-known phonetic errors. There are a number of problems with this study, mostly due to an apparent failure to fully appreciate the fact that VOT is a cover term for several acoustic features. It is suggested that VOT measurement in any given position in a word cannot solve this problem and that future studies should include glottographic observations as well as VOT measurements made in all positions in the word.     

Women in families: feminist therapy and family systems*

Current family therapy has as its basis the concept of the family as a system. Systems theory has developed a set of explanations that are frequently functional in nature; they are often applied as though they assume that within a system a common goal is worked towards as in biological systems. For example, the concept of homeostasis is used in much the same way as Cannon (1929) used it to describe the mechanisms of stability within biological systems such as body temperature regulation. Here all the components of the system co-operate to maintain body temperature within certain limits. This functional assumption of a common aim amongst components of a system to achieve balance should be compared with a pluralist systems analysis which does not assume such commonality of goals. For example, a pluralist analysis could highlight the conflict inherent amongst different subsystems when one subsystem has more power than the other. At a theoretical level it can be seen that family systems theory has restricted itself to a limited set of assumptions about the explanatory concepts it uses. An analysis of women's psychology which has emerged through the developments of feminist therapy can enrich the theory and practice of family therapists.     

Rorschach assessment of purging and nonpurging bulimics

Research in bulimia has flourished in recent years, and yet minimal attention has been devoted to explorations of the bulimic's basic personality organization. We utilized the Rorschach to differentiate between purging and nonpurging bulimics and controls. There were 15 subjects in each group. The Comprehensive System (Exner, 1986) was used for the scoring of the protocols. Statistically significant differences were not found between the two bulimia groups, but interesting trends were detected in the areas of depression, anger, and self-preoccupation. Results appear to be constrained by the low rate of purging behavior. Comparisons between the combined bulimia groups and the controls resulted in solidly characterizing the bulimics as displaying perceptual inaccuracies, disordered thinking, a vulnerability to interpersonal problems, a damaged self-image, and a pessimistic outlook. The strengths of the study were its use of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev. [DSM-III-R]; American Psychiatric Association, 1987) nonpatients bulimic subtypes and a control group that was comparable in terms of demographics. Future Rorschach studies with bulimics displaying higher frequencies of binging and purging behaviors are suggested.     

Consequences of person-environment incongruence: absenteeism, frustration, and stress

Two correlational studies using English nurses and working adults are reported that examined the relationship between the three measures of person-environment (P-E) fit as derived from Holland's (1973) theory and three dependent work-related variables. In the first study, the P-E fit measures of congruence, consistency, and differentiation were correlated with two measures of absenteeism, frustration, and various demographic variables. Contrary to predictions, two measures of absenteeism were positively correlated with congruence and consistency. In accordance with the hypothesis, however, frustration was highly negatively correlated with congruence and consistency. In the second study, consistency, but not congruence or differentiation, was significantly negatively correlated with stress, as predicted. These studies provide some support for Holland's theses, although not all hypotheses were supported, both for methodological and theoretical reasons. It is argued that P-E fit measures are useful predictors of occupational behavior in conjunction with other major determinants.     

Breaching of family generation boundaries by schizophrenics,disturbed, and normals

This study tested the hypothesis that the breaching of generational boundaries, whereby the child assumes mate-like or parent-like role relations with parents, is one of the dysfunctional family processes linked to schizophrenia. Presence of child-as-mate and parentification fantasies was systematically assessed in individual and conjoint projective stories of young adults and their parents in schizophrenic (N=23), disturbed non-schizophrenic (N=19), and normal (N=20) comparison groups. The variable parentification was not found to discriminate groups. Child-as-mate fantasies strongly differentiated the schizophrenic group. Significantly more than controls, schizophrenics and their parents failed to see generationally appropriate family relationships between parent-like and child-like figures, instead projecting mate-like bonds, often explicitly sexual and usually involving a love triangle. In the conjoint family process, although members were equally likely to communicate a child-as-mate fantasy, those introduced by parents received more agreement and less disagreement in response. Methodological and conceptual issues are discussed.This study was part of a comprehensive schizophrenia research program conducted jointly by the Departments of Psychiatry of Michael Reese Hospital and the University of Chicago, R. R. Grinker, Sr., Principal Investigator, supported in part by USPHS grant MH05519-14. Cohler, William Henry, Roy Grinker, Sr., and Martin Harrow for support and consultation.     

Revitalizing Academic Advisement

Academic advisement has traditionally been thought of as limited to such routine functions as course registration and academic record-keeping. Advisement, however, should be redefined so that developmental functions are central. It would then perform a much-needed service in higher education, for students need assistance in planning academic programs and integrating academic, career, and life goals. Faculty and advisors will need to learn some unaccustomed roles (counselor, advocate, and guardian) as well as some new skills. With appropriate support, however, acceptance of developmental advising will be possible.     

Concurrent validity of Holland's theory for college degreed working women

The study was designed to explore two areas: (1) the concurrent validity of Holland's theory for employed college degreed women using two different operational definitions (Vocational Preference Inventory and the Self-Directed Search) of vocational orientation; and (2) the relationships among same named scales across the VPI and the SDS. Concurrent validity was studied by administering the VPI and the SDS to 179 women workers in occupational environments consistent with Holland's six vocational environments. In general, the findings indicate that the VPI and SDS scales tend to effectively discriminate among the occupational groups consistent with Holland's theoretical framework. In addition, the correlation coefficients for same named scales for the two inventories were all found to be significant. In sum, the results of the study lend some support to the concurrent validity of Holland's theory for employed college degreed women.