An Elementary Syllabus of Psychological Tests

The purpose of this study was to examine the universality of the “inverse square root law” insofar as it purports to show a constant relationship between emotional involvement and subjectively perceived geographical distance. It was argued that the square root exponent in the “law” was derived from experiments that used a limited range of stimuli (place names). With students as subjects, two experiments were conducted in order to discover the relationship between emotional involvement and subjective distance when both very close and very distant places were considered. It was shown that the inverse square root function was not constant but rather varied with the range of stimuli.     

Transformation on the Pacific Crest Trail: A Review of Cheryl Strayed’s Narrative “Wild”

Cheryl Strayed shares her experience of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in her book, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. Strayed’s narrative provides readers with insights into her arduous adventure and offers occupational therapy practitioners some understanding of personal transformation through her daily mundane occupations and exceptional accomplishments. Strayed transforms her self-identity, acknowledges the “gifts” given to her during the trek, and shares the epiphanies she discovers.     

Utilization of Individual versus Family Therapy Among Adolescents with Severe Emotional Disturbance

Service utilization patterns among children with severe emotional and/or behavioral disturbances are described for 89 children and families, interviewed at two time points across a 6-month period. Children received a greater number of individual therapy sessions than family therapy sessions, and children significantly decreased their levels of internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Family therapy was associated with decreases in internalizing behaviors when children reported outcomes. Individual therapy was not associated with changes in either internalizing or externalizing behaviors regardless of reporter. Symptom severity did not dictate whether children were provided individual or family therapy. Recommendations for individualized treatment plans are offered.     

The Chinese Version of the Self-Report Family Inventory: Reliability and Validity

The reliability and validity of the Chinese Self-Report Family Inventory (C-SFI) were examined in three studies. In Study 1, data based on 361 adolescents showed that the C-SFI was temporally stable and internally consistent and there was support for its concurrent and construct validities. In Study 2, data analyzed from a clinical group and a nonclinical group (N = 281 and 451, respectively) showed that the C-SFI scores were able to discriminate these two groups. With data pertaining to 3649 secondary school students, Study 3 gives support for the internal consistency, concurrent validity, and construct validity of the C-SFI in different adolescent samples. These studies strongly suggest that the C-SFI possesses good psychometric properties in different Chinese adolescent samples.     

BOOK REVIEW

The Evolving Mind BEN GOERTZEL, Gordon and Breach, 1993, cloth. ISBN 2–88124–587–0, pp. 260, index

From Power to Partnership: Creating the Future of Love, Work, and Community ALFONSO MONTUORI AND ISABELLA CONTI San Francisco: HarperSanFrisco. 1993, paper. ISBN 0–06–250548–3, $13.00 USD pp. 281 includes index

Applied Chaos Theory: A Paradigm For Complexity A. B. CAMBEL, Academic Press, 1993, cloth; pp. 260, index; 38 USD     

Affective facilitation and inhibition of cultural influences on reasoning

Research in South Korea and the United States examined how affective states facilitate or inhibit culturally dominant styles of reasoning. According to the affect-as-information hypothesis, affective cues of mood influence judgements by serving as embodied information about the value of accessible inclinations and cognitions. Extending this line of research to culture, we hypothesised that positive affect should promote (and negative affect should inhibit) culturally normative reasoning. The results of two studies of causal reasoning supported this hypothesis. Positive and negative affect functioned like “go” and “stop” signals, respectively, for culturally typical reasoning styles. Thus, in happy (compared to sad) moods, Koreans engaged in more holistic reasoning, whereas Americans engaged in more analytic reasoning.     

Preschoolers’ emotion knowledge: Self-regulatory foundations,and predictions of early school success

Preschoolers (N=322 in preschool, 100 in kindergarten) were assessed longitudinally to examine the self-regulatory roots of emotion knowledge (labelling and situation) and the contributions of emotion knowledge to early school adjustment (i.e., including social, motivational, and behavioural indices), as well as moderation by age, gender, and risk. Age, gender, and risk differences in emotion knowledge were also examined. Emotion knowledge skills were found to be more advanced in older children and those not at economic risk, and in those with higher levels of self-regulation. Overall, the results support the role of emotion knowledge in early school adjustment and academic success even with gender, age, and risk covaried, especially for boys, older preschoolers, and those at economic risk.     

The Superego and the Two-System Model

The authors note that Freud's clinical struggle with the sadomasochism of his patients led directly to his theory of the superego, which in turn affected his ideas on sadomasochism. The authors use their dual-track model of two systems of self-regulation—the “closed,” sadomasochistic, omnipotent system and the “open,” competent, loving, reality-attuned system—to trace the origins, development, and functions of the “closed” and “open” superego. They suggest that the application of this model will help restore the importance of the superego in psychoanalytic theory and technique, and they provide clinical illustrations from the analysis of an older adult.     

Research Quality: Critique of Quantitative Articles in the Journal of Counseling & Development

The purpose of this study was to examine the quality of quantitative articles published in the Journal of Counseling & Development. Quality concerns arose in regard to omissions of psychometric information of instruments, effect sizes, and statistical power. Type VI and II errors were found. Strengths included stated research questions and appropriateness of analyses. Implications of these results are provided.     

Psychological Climate,Organizational Commitment and Morale: Implications for Army Captains' Career Intent

The purpose of this research was to examine how work experiences contribute to junior officers' intentions to leave the Army. Specifically, we hypothesized that psychological climate perceptions have direct and indirect effects on intent to leave through affective commitment and morale and that affective and continuance commitment interact to predict intent to leave the Army. The sample for this study was 649 captains who responded to an Army-wide survey, the Fall 2002 Sample Survey of Military Personnel. Results demonstrate support for full mediation, indicating that psychological climate impacts intent to leave the Army by influencing captains' affective commitment and morale. The psychological climate dimension of leadership had the largest impact on affective commitment, morale, and intent to leave the Army. Affective commitment did not interact with continuance commitment to predict intent to leave. Implications for Army retention policies and leadership are discussed.