The Children's Firesetting Interview with psychiatrically referred and nonreferred children

This study evaluated the Children's Firesetting Interview (CFI). The measure was developed to operationalize multiple domains of functioning derived from a riskfactor model of firesetting. The model poses that child, parent, and family characteristics promote firesetting and continuation of a pattern of firesetting. Major factors include curiosity about fire, involvement in and exposure to firerelated activities, and knowledge about first safety The CFI, consisting of 46 questions reflecting six a prioridimensions, was administered to 519 children (ages 6–13) recruited from nonpatient, outpatient, and inpatient samples. Internal consistency and testretest reliability of the measure were satisfactory. Criterion validity was supported by the findings that firesetters showed greater curiosity about fire, involvement in firerelated activities, exposure to models/materials, and knowledge about things that burn than did nonfiresetters. These findings did not vary as a function of the child's patient status or level of antisocial behavior. Implications for the evaluation of firesetting risk are discussed.This study was supported by grant MH-39976 from the Antisocial and Violent Behavior Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health and by a Research Scientist Development Award (MH00353) from the National Institute of Mental Health. The authors acknowledge the constructive suggestions of two anonymous reviewers.     

Aggressiveness and hyperactive behaviour as related to adrenaline excretion

The central question concerns the relationship between aspects of behaviour and physiological reactions. Measures of sympathetic-adrenal activity in terms of adrenaline excretion in a normal and a stressful situation as well as teacher ratings of behaviour were analysed for a representative group of 86 boys aged 13. Adrenaline excretion was in both situations significantly negatively related to ratings of aggressiveness, motor restlessness, and concentration difficulties and also to the sum of the latter two, used as an indicator of hyperactive behaviour. The association between hyperactive behaviour and adrenaline excretion persisted in the stressful situation when aggressiveness was controlled, whereas there was no significant relationship between aggressiveness and adrenaline output when hyperactive behaviour was controlled. Furthermore, hyperactive boys differed significantly from non-hyperactive boys in displaying lower adrenaline excretion in both situations. The results are discussed in terms of low sympathetic-adrenal reactivity to external demands as a risk factor and as a possible indicator of vulnerability for social and/or pervasive conduct disturbances.     

Psychiatric malpractice in the military

Available data indicates that the incidence of malpractice in military psychiatry, involving both civilian and active duty beneficiaries, is the lowest of all specialties and may be lower than in the civilian sector. Recovery for malpractice damages by means of claim versus suit is restricted to civilian patients; active duty service members recover through a special disability system. The federal government provides military psychiatrists with considerable protection from personal financial loss when involved in malpractice, but there may be limits to that protection. There have been recent efforts to criminally prosecute military physicians in some instances. A registry review of military psychiatry malpractice cases from 1978 to 1987provides a profile of the malpractice situation and suggests areas of practice that need vigilance. The Department of Defense has established a broad-based, comprehensive program of quality assurance and risk management in the interest of maximizing the benefit of medical care and minimizing substandard practice.     

How and when to correct for juror hindsight bias in mental health malpractice litigation: Some preliminary observations

This article examines the hindsight bias in the context of mental health malpractice litigation, analyzes various legal mechanisms for dealing with the bias, and discusses whether the law should strive for debiasing in all mental health malpractice cases.     

Sign language as cognition for deaf people: Pitfalls and prospects

With a tradition reliance on verbal paradigms cognitive psychology has repeatedly rediscovered the centrality of verbal processes in the cognitive representation of the world. Frequently it has been considered that non-speaking groups offer the proof of such psychological theories. Deaf people, because of their apparently poor memory, retardation in reading, relative lack of speech, yet cognitive viability, have offered an ideal test population for cognitive paradigs. Unfortunately deaf people turn out not to be a non linguistic control. We have now discovered sign language—a visual, spatial representation form used naturally by profoundly deaf people. This apparently offers the key the deaf people's cognition without speech. This paper describes some aspects of what we know of deaf people and their language, critically examines some of the evidence for sign representation in memory, and discusses the methodological problems to be faced by anyone searching for conclusive evidence on deaf people's working memory. Despite the attractiveness of ‘sings for words’ in cognition, this paper argues that the evidences is weak and signs may not be equated easily with words.     

Automation of learning-set testing: The video-task paradigm

Researchers interested in studying discrimination learning in primates have typically utilized variations in the Wisconsin General Test Apparatus (WGTA). In the present experiment, a new testing apparatus for the study of primate learning is proposed. In the video-task paradigm, rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) respond to computer-generated stimuli by manipulating a joystick. Using this apparatus, discrimination learning-set data for 2 monkeys were obtained. Performance on Trial 2 exceeded 80% within 200 discrimination learning problems. These data illustrate the utility of the video-task paradigm in comparative research. Additionally, the efficient learning and rich data that were characteristic of this study suggest several advantages of the present testing paradigm over traditional WGTA testing.     

A TEST OF SHAVELSON'S HIERARCHICAL MULTIFACETED SELF-CONCEPT MODEL IN A FILIPINO COLLEGE SAMPLE

Shavelson's hierarchical, multifaceted self-concept model (HMFM) has proven useful to educational and psychological researchers. The reliability and factorial validity of a well-known HMFM instrument - the Fleming-Courtney Self-Rating Scales (SRS) - were examined for a sample of 198 Filipino college students. Confirmatory factor analysis compared six structural models. A six-factor, oblique model that included two social factors (Social Acceptance and Social Anxiety) fit the data best, and a second-order factor analysis supported the hierarchical structure of the SRS. The men were significantly higher than the women on three self-concept scales, but the only large effect was for Physical Abilities, consistent with findings in a U.S. college sample. Results provided some support for the utility of both the SRS and HMFM for Filipinos.     

Violent Men In Intimate Relationships: An Analysis of Risk Markers1

In the family violence literature, a number of risk markers associated with men's use of violence against women have been identified. Using the 1975 National Family Violence Survey, a multivariate analysis was performed to examine which risk markers best differentiated among nonviolent men, verbally aggressive men, men who exhibit minor physical violence, and severely physically violent men. High levels of marital conflict, lower socioeconomic status, and greater exposure to violent role models in the home of origin emerged as primary correlates of levels of violence between intimates. Theoretical and research implications are discussed.