Expanding the ecological validity of WAIS-IV and WMS-IV with the Texas functional living scale

Assessment of functional status is an important aspect of clinical evaluation. As part of the standardization of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) and Wechsler Memory Scale-Fourth Edition (WMS-IV), participants completed the Texas Functional Living Scale (TFLS), a measure of Instrumental Activities of Daily Living. The relationships between TFLS and WAIS-IV and WMS-IV were examined in both normally developing and clinical samples. In general, the highest correlations were between TFLS and measures of general cognitive ability (WAIS-IV FSIQ [Full Scale IQ] and GAI [General Ability Index]) and working memory (WAIS-IV WMI [Working Memory Index] and WMS-IV VWMI [Visual Working Memory Index]). Across the clinical populations, working memory subtests were generally strongly related to TFLS performance, although this relationship was more consistent with WAIS-IV than WMS-IV. Contrast scaled scores are presented for the TFLS based on WAIS-IV or WMS-IV performance. These scores allow the evaluation of functional abilities within the context of cognitive and memory ability, enhancing and expanding the utility of the WAIS-IV and WMS-IV.     

Linda Stein??s ??Fluidity of Gender?? (2009?C2010)

Linda Stein??s recent sculptures are abstracted human figures tightly encased in black leather. Some hang on the wall, some are free standing; all are headless, armless, and have truncated legs. The scavenged leather ??skin?? is old jackets and bags that reveal their original uses in the embossing, zippers, and buckles that Stein uses for textural accents. This paper will survey the new work??s claim, as stated in the exhibition title, to represent the ??Fluidity of Gender.?? The tactile nature of the medium itself prompts certain questions about the role sensuality plays in gendered experience, and how sexuality and power are intertwined. The distressed surfaces of the sculptures suggest the paramount significance of experience as contributing materially to body image. In conclusion, this essay will explore the way representations of bodies whose gender is unfixed may influence the viewer??s body image.     

Biculturalism and Academic Achievement of African American High School Students

Biculturalism was examined as a factor that may positively affect the academic achievement of African American high school students, beyond cultural identity and self‐esteem. Hierarchical regression analyses determined that cultural identity and academic self‐esteem were important factors for academic achievement, but not biculturalism. Implications and future research are discussed. Se examinó el biculturalismo como un factor que puede afectar positivamente al rendimiento académico de los alumnos de educación secundaria Afroamericanos, más allá de la identidad cultural y la autoestima. Los análisis de regresión jerárquica determinaron que la identidad cultural y la autoestima académica fueron factores importantes para el rendimiento académico, pero no el biculturalismo. Se discutieron implicaciones e investigaciones futuras.     

Activation During Observed Parent–Child Interactions with Anxious Youths: A Pilot Study

Parent–child interaction paradigms are often used to observe dysfunctional family processes; however, the influence of such tasks on a participant’s level of activation remain unclear. The aim of this pilot project is to explore the stimulus value of interaction paradigms that have been commonly used in child anxiety research. Twenty-nine parent–child dyads with clinically anxious (n = 16) and non-anxious (n = 13) youths engaged in a series of tasks (threat and non-threat) used in previous studies of parenting and youth anxiety. Heart rate (HR) data, as an indicator of physiological activation, were collected across tasks, and participants rated the perceived representativeness of their interactions in the laboratory to their usual behavior at home. Significant HR changes were observed for both parent and child. Change in child HR from baseline to non-threat task was smaller than change in HR from baseline to threat tasks. Change in parent HR from baseline to ambiguous situations tasks was smaller than changes from baseline to other threat tasks. Differences in HR change between anxious and non-anxious children were explored. Participants rated laboratory interactions as similar to those experienced in the home. Results suggest that presumably emotionally-charged discussion tasks may produce increased activation compared to tasks that were designed to be more neutral. Implications for future research and limitations are discussed.     

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wind? Origins of Severe Weather Phobia

Natural Environment phobia include fears cued by events such as severe weather. Given the limited research in this area, the present study sought to assess the prevalence and learning history origins of these fears, as well as their relation to anxiety sensitivity (AS). Study One participants included 533 (66%F) undergraduates who completed the Weather Experiences Questionnaire. Overall, 42?% reported exposure to a severe weather event (e.g., hurricanes); 16?% reported high- and 44?% low-fear about weather. Thirty-three from each group participated in Study Two, wherein one high-fear participant approximated the diagnostic criteria for severe weather phobia. High-fear participants cited direct conditioning (43?%) followed by vicarious conditioning (39?%) as the most common learning pathways. The remaining18% could not recall the source of their fear and none identified operant conditioning. One-third cited mothers (versus 8?% fathers) as sharing similar fears. Most had not witnessed parents hurt, frightened, or distressed by severe weather but claimed parents had warned them about severe weather. High- (vs. low-) fear participants revealed more AS-somatic versus AS-cognitive or AS-social concerns. The importance of such research in light of the increasing frequency of severe weather events is discussed.     

Play as co‐created narrative in computer game consumption: The hero's journey in Warcraft III

Computer games are now a significant consumption activity in consumer culture. Informed by interdisciplinary studies and drawing on data from in‐depth interviews with players of the Warcraft III computer game, we explore the relationship between play and storytelling during digital play. Understanding that such play is determined by systems of game rules and that computer game characters and settings are capable of conveying cultural meanings to players, we found that the rules of play in computer games can be designed in ways that encourage consumers to co‐create meaningful story plots derived from their knowledge of myth and fiction. In the case of Warcraft, these plots resembled the archetypal plot of the hero's journey. We conclude that computer games immerse consumers in a form of playful consumption that engages them in memorialised, co‐authored storytelling. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Is Parent-Offspring Conflict Sex-Linked? Freudian and Darwinian Models

Freud's Oedipal theory sees parent-offspring conflict as a within-gender rivalry, whereas most modern evolutionary models interpret it as a gender-blind disagreement about resource allocation. New analyses of family homicides and a critical review of prior evidence do not support the central Freudian claim of a same-sex contingency in parent-offspring antagonism during the Oedipal phase. Several errors of fact and interpretation in psychoanalytic theorizing about family relations are discussed. We argue that psychoanalysts mistake substantive conflicts between nonrelatives for symbolic manifestations of family conflicts.     

Gender in the college classroom: An assessment of the “chilly climate” for women

Previous research suggests that female students participate less often and less assertively than male students in college classrooms, and that teachers' discriminatory behaviors are partly responsible. Two in-class surveys of college students (N = 1375)—one at a university and one at a small college—assessed perceptions of student-teacher interaction. Factor analysis revealed a number of analytically distinct dimensions of classroom climate: what the class is like in general, what the class is like for the individual student, and what specific positive and negative teacher behaviors affect interaction. Class size affected each of these dimensions. Gender of student was significant only in the college survey, with males participating more, but this gender difference was not due to teachers' discrimination. Female teachers were more likely to create a participatory climate for all students. Creating a better classroom climate for female students creates a better learning environment for all students.We wish to thank Lawrence G. Rosenberg, Jean Dowdall, and Penelope J. Davis for their help and support during this research project. Mary Crawford was responsible for designing and carrying out the university survey, and Margo MacLeod for designing and carrying out the college survey.     

Handling greedy clergy roles: A dual clergy example

Striking changes have occurred in the number of women who have been ordained as clergy in the Protestant denominations in North America. With these changes has come a concomitant increase in the number of dual clergy couples. These couples are a new variant on the dual career theme. They share some of the same strains which have been identified for dual career couples in general; namely, identity issues, work and role overload, role cycling problems, social network dilemmas and discrepancies between personal and social norms. In addition, particular qualities of the clergy role create problems which these couples must address. One such problem is handling the ambivalent boundary between work and family roles. Two aspects of this issue are the absorptiveness of the role and the embeddedness of both work and family roles. The present paper discusses these boundary issues using data from a study of a population of dual clergy couples in two synods of the Lutheran church in two western Canadian provinces. Strategies for handling these issues are suggested for couples, church leaders and congregational representatives.Thanks are expressed to Les Vaala, Director of Student Life, Camrose Lutheran College, Camrose Alberta who was a cooperating researcher in the study.     

Orientations of School Counsellors: An Evaluative and Comparative Study

Law's measures of counsellor orientation were administered to a national sample of New Zealand guidance counsellors. Factor analyses revealed a generally similar factor structure to that found by Law. By using factor scores it was possible to show that the New Zealand counsellors had a balanced but slightly open orientation. Data from counsellor responses to hypothetical counselling situations gave further evidence of balance in the New Zealand sample. Few significant relationships were found between relevant counsellor variables and either the factor scores or the responses to situations.