An inexpensive circuit for beta,alpha, theta,or delta EEG biofeedback

An inexpensive circuit is described for EEG biofeedback or measurement. The circuit is designed to interface easily with most basic EEG machines. It taps the output from a single recording channel of the basic EEG instrument and provides the following for each EEG band (beta, alpha, theta, and delta): (a) very selective bandpass discrimination, (b) variable center frequency, (c) variable threshold at which feedback will be provided, or the measurement made, and (d) use with any biofeedback stimulus or measurement device that one wishes to switch contingent with S’s EEG rhythms.     

Prevalence of behavioral symptoms in rural elementary school children

Third- and fourth grade children attending rural midwestem elementary schools were assessed for the presence of fiftyfive behavior symptoms. In general, prevalence rates were higher for boys and reflected behavioral patterns commonly associated with conduct problems and immaturity. More neurotic forms of behavior were reported for girls. Additionally, an increase in symptoms per sex across grade level was found with fourth grade girls showing an increase common to the conduct disorder cluster.     

A comparison of coping strategies in patients with fibromyalgia,chronic neuropathic pain,and pain‐free controls

Patients suffering from chronic pain may benefit from learning adaptive coping strategies. Consensus on efficient strategies for this group of patients is, however, lacking, and previous studies have shown inconsistent results. The present study has examined coping strategies in two distinctly different groups of chronic pain patients and a group of healthy controls. Thirty neuropathic pain (NP) patients, 28 fibromyalgia (FM) patients, and 26 pain‐free healthy controls completed the Coping Strategy Questionnaire (CSQ‐48/27) and rated their daily pain. The results showed that FM and NP patients did not cope differently with pain. The only difference between the groups was that FM patients felt more in control of their pain than NP patients. Both patient groups used more maladaptive/passive coping strategies, but surprisingly also more adaptive/active coping strategies than healthy controls. However, FM patients with high levels of passive strategies felt less in control than FM patients with low levels of passive strategies. This was not seen in NP patients. An important implication for clinical practice is therefore that passive coping strategies should be restructured into active ones, especially for FM patients. Otherwise, the same psychological treatment model can be applied to both groups since they use similar coping styles.     

Predictors of maternal reactions to excessive crying of newborns. Findings from a prospective study in a naturalistic situation

The prospective study examines which factors assessed in pregnancy predispose mothers to seeing their newborn crying more as a problem and to more mental health problems in response to excessive baby crying. A total of 2140 pregnant women participated in the study, of which 1798 delivered a living singleton. Data was collected by means of a series of written questionnaires. The duration of the baby crying as well as the maternal reactions to the crying were assessed at a mean time of 1–2 months following delivery. The maternal reactions were related to several variables assessed at the end of the first trimester of pregnancy. Data was analysed by means of the method of stepwise multiple regression. Four factors were found to be associated with the reactions of mothers to newborn crying. These are: the duration of the crying, a first-born baby, a relatively high maternal age, and a relatively high score on ‘neuroticism’ in mothers. It was concluded that it is possible to indicate to a certain degree which mothers of excessive crying babies are prone to report more impact of the crying or more mental health symptomatology. It might be worthwhile to offer those mothers some extra support in order to try to prevent the situation from becoming worse. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

CAUSATION,DISPOSITIONS, AND PHYSICAL OCCASIONALISM

Even though theistic philosophers and scientists agree that God created, sustains, and providentially governs the physical universe and even though much has been published in general regarding divine action, what is needed is a fine‐grained, conceptually coherent account of divine action, causation, dispositions, and laws of nature consistent with divine aseity, satisfying the widely recognized adequacy conditions for any account of dispositions.¹ Such an account would be a basic part of a more comprehensive theory of divine action in relation to the fundamental concepts of science and of mathematics. Our aim in this article is simply to present such a theory.     

Researching Women's Groups: Findings,Limitations, and Recommendations

Although most counselors believe that women's groups are helpful and important, there is little empirical research in this area. The purpose of this article is to report the current state of published research on women's groups. An overview of previous reviews of the literature is discussed, and 26 articles that were located through PsycINFO and ERIC and are analyzed and discussed. Recommendations for future research are included.     

Young,unassimilated hispanic offenders: Absolutist vs. relativist cultural assumptions

California State Law §288(a) defines any sexual contact between a person 18 or older with someone under the age of 14 as illegal and punishable by incarceration. Data from the State Department of Justice shows that Young, Unassimilated Hispanic Offenders (YUHO) are arrested for these crimes at rates disproportionately greater than their numbers in the population. Through a review of the pertinent literature and clinical archives, we argue that YUHOs have been acculturated into a sexual morality that violates legally codified American sexual standards. While their sexual behavior is deemed morally deviant and illegal in the United States, this same behavior is not considered morally deviant or illegal within their internalized, home culture. This contrasts with the typical §288(a) offender who is motivated by a sexual perversion. Should the criminal justice system regard YUHOs differently from typical §288(a) offenders? “relativists” suggest that cultural considerations should be taken in the adjudication of these cases. Our preliminary work is to inform and articulate this debate at the crossroads of psychology, anthropology and criminal justice, without advocating either of the above perspectives. We suggest that legislatures did not anticipate the population of YUHO sexual offenders when these laws were written, and argue that YUHOs differ significantly from the typical pedophile for which these statutes were intended.     

On the foundations of beliefs in free will: intentional binding and unconscious priming in self-agency

The concept of an ability to make choices and to determine one's own outcomes fits well with experiences that most people have, and these experiences form the basis for beliefs in free will. However, the existence of conscious free will is challenged by modern research findings highlighting the unconscious origins of goal-directed behavior that gives rise to free-will beliefs. This report expands on these insights by revealing that both conscious and unconscious processes play an important role in free-will beliefs. Specifically, Experiment 1 demonstrates that free-will beliefs are strengthened when conscious intentions to produce action outcomes bind the perception of action and outcome together in time. Experiment 2 shows that these beliefs are strengthened when unconscious priming of action outcomes creates illusory experiences of self-agency when the primed outcomes occur. Together, these findings suggest that beliefs in free will are associated with self-agency and are enhanced by both conscious and unconscious information processing of goal-directed behavior.