Index of suspicion: feeling not believing

Throughout the U.S., state laws require professionals who work with children to report cases of suspected child abuse to child protection services. Both practically and conceptually, however, significant problems arise from a lack of clarity regarding the threshold that has been set for reporting. Specifically, there is no consensus as to what constitutes reasonable suspicion, and little direction for how mandated reporters should gauge their legal and professional responsibilities when they harbor suspicion. In this paper we outline the context of the problem, discuss the nature and scope of its conceptual underpinnings, and offer recommendations for moving towards a concrete, practical solution.     

Senior capstone design and ethics: A bridge to the professional world

A senior level capstone design experience has been developed and offered with a particular emphasis on many of the professional issues raised in Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) Engineering Criterion IV. The course has sought to develop student awareness of the ethical foundation of the engineering profession, the global and societal framework within which engineers practice, and the environmental impact on engineering. The capstone design course also focused upon improving the technical communications skills of the graduating senior class with both extensive instruction in writing and multiple workshops dealing with the art of making an effective oral presentation. The effectiveness of the design course was assessed using Kirkpatrick’s model for evaluating training programs. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the “Ethics and Social Responsibility in Engineering and Technology” meeting, New Orleans, 2003.     

Improving computer skill training: behavior modeling, symbolic mental rehearsal, and the role of knowledge structures

Effective computer skill training is vital to organizational productivity. Two experiments (N = 288) demonstrated that the behavior modeling approach to computer skill training could be substantially improved by incorporating symbolic mental rehearsal (SMR). SMR is a specific form of mental rehearsal that establishes a cognitive link between visual images and symbolic memory codes. As theorized, the significant effects of SMR on declarative knowledge and task performance were shown to be fully mediated by changes in trainees' knowledge structures. The mediational role of knowledge structures is expected to generalize to other training interventions and cognitive skill domains. Our findings have the immediate implications that practitioners should use SMR for improving the effectiveness of computer skill training.     

Psychoanalytische Therapie

A statement of the professional umbrella society DGPT is presented that was formulated in cooperation with the various professional societies and with the German Society of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy and the Society of Child and Adolescent Therapy. The statement is a reaction to the public claim for effective evidence of psychotherapy and takes the opportunity for a comprehensive presentation of this field. In the introduction Alf Gerlach, as chairman of the umbrella society at the time of the formulation of this statement and now executive chairman responsible for coordinating research, describes the history of the development of the statement.There were two particular moments prompting this statement. On the one hand the Scientific Advisory Board for Psychotherapy as an advisory committee based on the law of psychotherapy, has presented demands for effective evidence that are incompatible with psychoanalysis. Thus, the recognition of psychoanalysis as a treatment method for illnesses was put in doubt. On the other hand, a suggestion was put forward to the Board to recognize psychodynamic psychotherapy as an independent entity. This questioned the unity of the psychotherapeutic field.The statement was passed onto the Scientific Advisory Board last autumn. It is intended for a professional audience and includes answers to important issues of this field. It will have an important role to play in future discussions about professional politics. For this reason, we have decided to begin the present issue of our journal with this statement and thus to open a wide discussion forum.

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Deutsche Gesellschaft für Psychoanalyse, Psychotherapie, Psychosomatik und Tiefenpsychologie e.V. (DGPT)In Verbindung mit:Deutsche Gesellschaft für Analytische Psychologie (DGAP)Deutsche Gesellschaft für Individualpsychologie (DGIP)Deutsche Gesellschaft für Psychotherapeutische Medizin (DGPM)Deutsche Psychoanalytische Gesellschaft (DPG)Deutsche Psychoanalytische Vereinigung (DPV)Vereinigung Analytischer Kinder- und Jugendlichen-Psychotherapeuten (VAKJP)Redaktion: Stephan Hau und Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber

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Brief maternal interaction increases number, amplitude, and bout size of isolation-induced ultrasonic vocalizations in infant rats (Rattus norvegicus)

The number, amplitude, duration, and bout structure of isolation-induced ultrasonic vocalization (USV) of infant rats (Rattus norvegicus) were measured on postnatal Day 10. Measurements were made before and after a brief, 1-min, active interaction with their mother or before and after a "pick-up" control procedure. Consistent with prior studies, the number of USVs emitted was significantly increased in the period following the maternal reunion but not after the control procedure. The average amplitude of USVs was also greater following maternal reunion. Finally, analyses characterizing the bout structure of USV production indicated that the average bout size (i.e. number of USVs/bout) was increased severalfold following the reunion with the mother, accounting for the greater rate of USV production during the second isolation period.     

Cognitive vulnerability to depression: a taxometric analysis

Although there is increasing support for the hypothesis that negative cognitive styles contribute vulnerability to depression, it remains unclear how best to conceptualize the heterogeneity in cognitive vulnerability to depression. Specifically, does this heterogeneity reflect quantitative or qualitative differences among individuals? The goal of this study was to address this question by examining whether the underlying structure of cognitive vulnerability to depression is best conceptualized as dimensional or categorical. Taxometric analyses provided consistent support for the dimensional nature of negative cognitive styles. It appears, therefore, that cognitive vulnerability to depression is best conceptualized as a dimensional construct, present to a greater or lesser extent in all individuals. Despite this, the strength of the relationship between negative cognitive styles and depressive symptoms does appear to vary as a function of where along the cognitive style continuum one falls.     

Multimodal classical conditioning of fear: contributions of direct, observational, and verbal experiences to current fears

The authors propose that a multimodal classical conditioning model be considered when clinicians or clinical researchers study the etiology of fears and anxieties learned by human beings. They argue that fears can be built through the combined effects of direct, observed, and verbally presented classical conditioning trials. Multimodal classical conditioning is offered as an alternative to the three pathways to fear argument prominent in the human fear literature. In contrast to the three pathways position, the authors present theoretical arguments for why "learning by observation" and "learning through the receipt of verbal information" should be considered classical conditioning through observational and verbal modes. The paper includes a demonstration of how data, commonly collected in research on the three pathways to fear, would be studied differently using a multimodal classical conditioning perspective. Finally, the authors discuss implications for assessment, treatment, and prevention of learned fears in humans.     

Perceptions of Ethical Behaviour among Business Faculty in Canada

Faculty members at Canadian business schools were surveyed regarding their ethical perceptions of behaviours related to undergraduate instruction. Fifty-five behavioural statements were listed and respondents were asked to rate the extent to which they felt each behaviour was ethical or unethical. The only item that respondents endorsed as unequivocally unethical (90% indicated it was definitely unethical) was Becoming sexually involved with an undergraduate in one of your classes. We also compared the results of our sample to those of an American sample. Overall, an interesting pattern of differences emerged between the responses obtained in Canada and the U.S. In general, the direction of the significant differences was such that Canadian professors viewed the behaviours in question as less ethical than did their American counterparts.     

How are social identities linked to self-conception and intergroup orientation? The moderating effect of implicit theories

Social identity approaches assume that social identification affects both self-conception and intergroup orientation. The authors contend that such social identification effects are accentuated when people hold a fixed view of human character and attribute immutable dispositions to social groups. To these individuals, social identities are immutable, concrete entities capable of guiding self-conception and intergroup orientation. Social identification effects are attenuated when people hold a malleable view of human character and thus do not view social identities as fixed, concrete entities. The authors tested and found support for this contention in three studies that were conducted in the context of the Hong Kong 1997 political transition, and discussed the findings in terms of their implications for self-conceptions and the meaning of social identification.     

A dog's got personality: a cross-species comparative approach to personality judgments in dogs and humans

This research offers a blueprint for how a cross-species comparative approach can be realized empirically. In a single design, parallel procedures and instruments were used in 2 species, dogs (Canis familiaris) and humans (Homo sapiens), to test whether personality differences exist and can be judged in dogs as accurately as in humans. Personality judgments of humans and dogs were compared on 3 accuracy criteria: internal consistency, consensus, and correspondence. Results showed that, on all 3 criteria, judgments of dogs were as accurate as judgments of humans. These findings are consistent with the evolutionary continuity hypothesis and suggest an important conclusion not widely considered by either personality or animal researchers: Personality differences do exist and can be measured in animals other than humans.