Cancer Risk Counseling: How Is It Different?

Fifty-six of 80 (70%) full members of the National Society of Genetic Counselors with interest in cancer genetics responded to a 1994 survey regarding their cancer risk counseling practices. This study was undertaken to describe cancer risk counselors and the services they provide and to identify possible differences from general genetic counseling that warrant further study. Of 56 respondents, 41 (75%) were providing CRC. The components of CRC programs are described. Our results found significant differences between CRC and general genetic counseling in terms of training and experience of genetic counselors providing CRC and length and number of counseling sessions per consultand. 51% of respondents had 1–2 years of working in CRC, compared to 17% with 1–2 years experience in genetic counseling (p<0.05). Over one-third had 10 or more years genetic counseling experience. Counselors were more likely to see individuals at risk for cancer for longer counseling sessions (p<0.05) and for additional sessions (p<0.05).     

Improving Migrant Students' Spelling of English and Spanish Words with Error Correction

We examined the effects of error correction on spelling accuracy of culturally and linguistically diverse students enrolled in summer Migrant Education. In an error correction strategy, students spelled a word, viewed a correct model, and corrected specific errors. In a traditional strategy, students wrote words three times each while viewing a correct model. Words were presented in Spanish or English. Results showed that students with and without learning disabilities, whose primary language was English, correctly spelled more English words in the error correction condition than the traditional. Students whose primary language was Spanish correctly spelled Spanish words equally well in both conditions, possibly because of the phonetic nature of the Spanish language.     

Exposure in vivo vs applied relaxation in the treatment of blood phobia

Eighteen patients with phobia for bloodt, wounds and injuries were treated with exposure in vivo or applied relaxation. They were assessed on different self-report, behavioral and physiological measures before and after treatment. The patients were treated individually for 9 sessions, 1 per week. The within-group comparisons showed that both groups had improved significantly on most of the measures and that these improvements were sustained or furthered at the 6-month follow-up. Furthermore, 10 of the 16 who completed the treatment became blood donors. The between-group comparisons showed exposure to be better than applied relaxation on three of the self-report measures at post-treatment assessment, but not at follow-up. The groups did equally well on the behavioral and physiological measures. The conclusion that can be drawn is that the coping-orientated method of applied relaxation is as effective as exposure in vivo in the treatment of blood phobia.     

The Importance of Written,Verbal, and Nonverbal Communication Factors in Employment Interview Decisions

This study explored dimensions of influential factors in employment interviewing from the recruiter's (N = 423) perspective in hiring new college graduates for an entry-level position. A factor analysis of 28 communication items was conducted. Study results suggest that there are six dimensions of influential communication factors in employment interviews.     

The Defense Mechanism Test in clinical and personality research.

Different research strategies are used for the application of the Defense Mechanism Test in clinical and personality research. It is argued that the harvest of useful information would be greater if the effort of different research groups could be coordinated.     

认知与情绪过程的脑诱发电位研究——情绪的适应性假说

本研究观测了30名女性被试在月经周期中的不同激素时相对图像刺激的情绪价值的主观评估和脑诱发电位反应。调节刺激的情绪价值的五类幻灯片分别为普通人像、婴儿像、皮肤病人像、男模特儿像和女模特儿像。实验发现只有脑诱发电位的P3成份随刺激的情绪价值和激素的时相而变化。被评为喜爱与不喜爱的图像(婴儿像和皮肤病人像)所诱发的P3波在幅度上均明显高于中性图像(普通人像)所致的P3反应。在高孕激素时相,对婴儿像和男模特儿像的P3反应高于在低孕激素时相对同类刺激的P3反应。高孕激素时相还伴有对各类图像性感程度评估值的降低。对各类图像喜爱程度的评估则随雌激素水平的上升而增高。上述实验结果表明,P3波敏感于刺激的情绪价值并反映了认知与情绪过程中受生理状态调节的适应性变化。     

Word shape,orthographic regularity,and contextual interactions in a reading task

In an investigation of the interaction between three sources of information about a printed word, skilled readers performed a simple naming task. The naming latency was observed as a function of case of presentation, orthographic regularity, and the congruency of context supplied in a previously presented sentence. Differences between regular and irregular words were observed for upper case presentations only, suggesting that lexical access can proceed via a direct visual route only when the distinctive features of the global word envelope are available. Incongruent sentences inhibited word naming, and congruent sentences facilitated naming, but this effect was more apparent for upper case than for lower case words. These results suggest an interaction of information during word recognition, with the removal of the word envelope leading to a greater dependence upon other intrinsic and extrinsic information.     

Discriminative stimulus properties of drugs: a brief history and a selective review

A brief history of the background of drug discrimination research is given, focusing on the concepts of "drug dissociation" or state-dependent learning; an alternative explanation to the state dependency concept is to view the drug as a discriminative stimulus. In drug discrimination learning both a qualitative and a quantitative dimension is identified as governing the discrimination, examples of which are provided in the text. Examples of how drug discrimination techniques may assist in future research are outlined.