Factors in the referral of children for behavioral treatment: A comparison of mothers of clinic-referred deviant,clinic-referred non-deviant and non-c

The purpose of this study was to compare a non-clinic sample of mothers and children to two groups of clinic-referred children and their mothers. The two clinic-referred groups differed from one another in that the selection criterion for one group of children (Clinic Deviant) was that they were significantly more deviant and non-compliant than the non-clinic group whereas the selection criterion for the second group of children (Clinic Non-deviant) was that they did not differ significantly from the non-clinic group on deviant and non-compliant behavior. Home observations by independent observers and parent questionnaires examining parental adjustment and parental perceptions of child adjustment were completed. The results indicated that both clinic groups perceived their children as more maladjusted than parents in the non-clinic groups perceived their children. Parents of the children in the Clinic Non-deviant group were significantly more depressed than those in the remaining two groups, whereas parents in the Clinic Deviant group issued more vague, interrupted commands than those in the Clinic Non-deviant group. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

Depression and engagement in a residential home for the elderly

Traditional residential care environments for the elderly have been criticized because of the observed low levels of residents' engagement. Behavioural models of depression suggest an inverse relationship between engagement in pleasant activities and depression. The present study examined the relationship between depression and engagement in the residents of a home for the elderly. Correlational analyses indicated no relationship between level of depression and level of engagement but an association was found between level of depression and engagement in activities subjectively most enjoyed. There was considerable variation in the residents' perception of their behaviour; some residents viewed active engagement negatively whilst clearly enjoying behaviour that is technically disengaged. It is suggested that the results of the study emphasize the importance both of individual differences in behaviour and of covert behaviour. Implications for the engagement concept are discussed. In particular it is suggested that programmes in care environments aimed at increasing engagement in order to enhance the quality of life should focus more on the individual and on his perception of his behaviour.     

Duration of visible persistence in relation to range of spatial frequencies

Five experiments examined the relationship between range of spatial frequencies contained in a visual display and duration of visible persistence. The high spatial frequency contents of the display were reduced by defocusing the image at the retina. Duration of visible persistence was measured by a task that required perceptual integration of a pattern whose parts were displayed sequentially in time. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that progressive reductions in the high-frequency contents of the display produced corresponding decrements in the duration of visible persistence. Experiments 3, 4, 5 showed that decrements in the duration of visible persistence could not be attributed to changes in the apparent size or in the brightness of the display brought about by defocusing. The results were interpreted in terms of the temporal response properties of perceptual mechanisms attuned to separate ranges of spatial frequencies. Strong parallels were drawn with the multichannel theory of visual information processing proposed by Breitmeyer and Ganz.     

ISRO: A scale to measure sex-role orientation

Sex-role research has been hampered by a lack of valid and reliable research tools to measure the construct being studied. This article describes the development of a research scale (ISRO) to measure women's sex-role orientation. This 16-item questionnaire has been shown to be internally consistent and to have fairly high temporal stability over 30 days. The high sensitivity (96.2%) and specificity (95.5%) suggest that it differentiates feminist from traditional women. Three factors assess attitudinal domains of conflict between family responsibilities and having a career; male/female division of household responsibilities; and women's work roles outside the home. Education appears to be the strongest predictor of ISRO scores.This study was supported in part by a grant from the American Nurses Foundation.     

Perceptions of primary supervisor interpersonal skills: A critical incident analysis

This study surveyed a randomly selected group of Approved Supervisors of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (n = 280) and their supervisees (n = 266) on their perceptions of the primary supervisor interpersonal skill used in supervisory incidents that had a positive effect on supervisee development. Supervisor directiveness was the most identified skill by both supervisors and supervisees.This study was funded in part by grants from the Research Committee of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy; the Agricultural Experiment Station, Purdue University; and the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Purdue University Calumet.     

Assessment of human obesity: The measurement of body composition

The most common methods of assessing degree of obesity in humans are reviewed. These include anthropometry, somatotyping, bodyweight, skinfold calipering, densitometry, and several nondensitometric procedures. The evidence suggests that bodyweight may often be an unreliable and invalid index of obesity. The parameters influencing its inaccuracy are discussed. These include age, height, sex, muscularity, and degree of obesity or amount of recent weight loss. The most reliable and valid measures of human bodyfat are generally the most complicated and impractical. Compromise assessment procedures involving nonintrusive measurement of subcutaneous fat and selected anthropometric dimensions may offer an incomplete but welcome improvement over sole reliance on bodyweight as an index of obesity.     

Systems use to objectify program evaluation,clinical, and management decisions

The utility of the observational assessment systems at different levels — from local clinical to systemwide management — is outlined. An overview is provided of TSBC information applied to individualized problem identification and programming/monitoring, discharge and competency determinations, and both absolute and comparative program evaluation. The utility of SRIC information for prgoramming/monitoring and for staff training and evaluation is outlined in addition to the applied uses of the information of the assessment systems in combination. Once implemented, the continuous data from the systems allow for empirically based self-corrective improvements in the quality of mental health services while automatically providing a basis for legal documentation and accurate cost/effectiveness comparisons of mental health programs.Preparation of this article and the research and development on which the article is based were supported, in part, by Public Health Service Grants MH-15553 and MH-25464 from the National Institute of Mental Health, and by grants from The Joyce Foundation and the Illinois Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities.Presented at the 87th Annual Meetings of the American Psychological Association, New York City, September 1979, as part of a symposium on New assessment systems for residential treatment, management, research, and evaluation.     

Stimulus context and duration discrimination

The ability of human observers to discriminate duration was assessed in two types of tasks: (1) pulse tasks, in which the observer compared the duration of two brief increments in an ongoing sinusoid, and (2) gap tasks, in which the observer compared the duration of two brief interruptions in an ongoing sinusoid. Performance in these tasks was assessed in three different contexts: noise alone, noise plus continuous sinusoids, and noise plus continuous sinusoids chosen to induce a pitch segregation effect. Performance in the pulse task was independent of the changes in context; however, performance in the gap task changed as a function of context condition. There was a large decrement in the observers’ ability to discriminate duration when the stimulus ensemble induced the pitch segregation effect. The results are discussed in terms of the relationship between duration discrimination and stimulus variations which do not carry duration information.