Exploring Genetic Counseling Communication Patterns: The Role of Teaching and Counseling Approaches

The educational and counseling models are often touted as the two primary professional approaches to genetic counseling practice. Yet, research has not been conducted to examine how these approaches are used in practice. In the present study, we conducted quantitative communication analyses of BRCA1 genetic counseling sessions. We measured communication variables that represent content (e.g., a biomedical focus) and process (e.g., passive listening) to explore whether genetic counselor approaches are consistent with prevailing professional models. The Roter Interaction Analysis System (RIAS) was used to code 167 pre-test genetic counseling sessions of members of a large kindred with an identified BRCA1 mutation. Three experienced genetic counselors conducted the sessions. Creating composite categories from the RIAS codes, we found the sessions to be largely educational in nature with the counselors and clients devoting the majority of their dialogue to providing biomedical information (62 and 40%, respectively). We used cluster analytic techniques, entering the composite communication variables and identified four patterns of session communication: Client-focused psychosocial, biomedical question and answer, counselor-driven psychosocial, and client-focused biomedical. Moreover, we found that the counselors had unique styles in which they combined the use of education and counseling approaches. We discuss the importance of understanding the variation in counselor communication to advance the field and expand prevailing assumptions.     

An anatomically constrained, stochastic model of eye movement control in reading

This article presents SERIF, a new model of eye movement control in reading that integrates an established stochastic model of saccade latencies (LATER; R. H. S. Carpenter, 1981) with a fundamental anatomical constraint on reading: the vertically split fovea and the initial projection of information in either visual field to the contralateral hemisphere. The novel features of the model are its simulation of saccade latencies as a race between two stochastic rise-to-threshold LATER units and its probabilistic selection of the target for the next saccade. The model generates simulated eye movement behavior that exhibits important characteristics of actual eye movements made during reading; specifically, simulations produce realistic saccade target distributions and replicate a number of critical reading phenomena, including the effects of word frequency on fixation durations, the inverted optimal viewing position effect, the trade-off between first and second fixation durations of refixated words, and the dependence of parafoveal preview benefit on eccentricity.     

An event-related brain potential study of inhibition of return

Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded during two spatial-cuing experiments using nonpredictive cues. Our primary goal was to determine the electrophysiological consequences of inhibition of return (IOR). At long (> 500 msec) cue-target intervals, subjects responded more slowly to targets that appeared at or near the cued location, relative to targets that appeared on the opposite side of fixation from the cue. This behavioral IOR effect was associated with cue-validity effects on several components of the target-elicited ERP waveforms. The earliest such effect was a smaller occipital P1 on valid-cue trials, which we interpret as a P1 reduction. The P2 component was also smaller on valid-cue trials, indicating that nonpredictive spatial cues influence multiple stages of information processing at long cue-target intervals. Both of these effects were observed when sensory interactions between cue and target were likely to be negligible, indicating that they were not caused by sensory refractoriness. A different effect of cue validity, the posterior negative difference, was found when sensory interactions were likely to be greatest, indicating that it could arise from sensory refractoriness.     

Best univocal estimates of orthogonal common factors

A general formulation is presented for obtaining conditionally unbiased, univocal common-factor score estimates that have maximum validity for the true orthogonal factor scores. We note that although this expression is formally different from both Bartlett's formulation and Heermann's approximate expression, all three, while developed from very different rationales, yield identical results given that the common-factor model holds for the data. Although the true factor score validities can be raised by a different non-orthogonal transformation of orthogonalized regression estimates—as described by Mulaik—the resulting estimates lose their univocality.     

The effect of dimension content on observation and ratings of job performance

Recent theory and research in the performance appraisal area (e.g., Denisi, Cafferty, & Meglino, 1984; Feldman, 1986; Ilgen & Feldman, 1983; Williams, Denisi, & Blencoe, 1985) have suggested that providing information regarding the performance dimension to be rated will cause raters to select appropriate observational schemata and, as a result, produce higher quality ratings. A study was conducted to determine if giving raters dimension-relevant information prior to performance observation would affect their attention processes and rating quality. Prior to watching a videotape of an instructor giving a lecture, 156 subjects were given either: 1) correct information, 2) incorrect information, or 3) no information regarding dimensions of performance they would subsequently be asked to rate. The results indicated that giving prior information regarding dimension content affected subjects' attention processes. Further, raters receiving no information and those receiving misinformation prior to performance observation produced less accurate ratings compared to expert raters. Ratings produced by subjects receiving correct information did not differ significantly from experts' ratings. These results are discussed in terms of both their practical and theoretical implications.     

Reducing the Biological and Psychological Toxicity of Poverty-related Stress: Initial Efficacy of the BaSICS Intervention for Early Adolescents

This proof-of-concept study tests the initial efficacy of the Building a Strong Identity and Coping Skills (BaSICS) intervention, a selective prevention of internalizing problems program for early adolescents exposed to high levels of poverty-related stress. Eighty-four early adolescents (M_age = 11.36 years) residing in very low-income neighborhoods were randomized to receive the 16-session intervention (n = 44) or to an assessment-only control condition (n = 40). BaSICS teaches coping skills, social identity development, and collective social action to empower youth with the ability to connect with members of their communities and cope with poverty-related stress in positive and collaborative ways. Pretest–posttest analyses showed that intervention adolescents acquired problem-solving and cognitive-restructuring skills and reduced their reliance on avoidant coping. In addition, HPA reactivity was significantly reduced in the intervention youth, but not controls. Finally, intervention youth's internalizing and somatic symptoms as reported by both youth and their parents, showed significant reductions over time, whereas control youth had no such changes. Results provide strong support for this approach to strength-building and symptom reduction in a population of early adolescents exposed to poverty-related stress.     

Assessment of family functioning in Caucasian and Hispanic Americans: reliability, validity, and factor structure of the Family Assessment Device

The purpose of this study was to examine the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the Family Assessment Device (FAD) among a national sample of Caucasian and Hispanic American families receiving public sector mental health services. A confirmatory factor analysis conducted to test model fit yielded equivocal findings. With few exceptions, indices of model fit, reliability, and validity were poorer for Hispanic Americans compared with Caucasian Americans. Contrary to our expectation, an exploratory factor analysis did not result in a better fitting model of family functioning. Without stronger evidence supporting a reformulation of the FAD, we recommend against such a course of action. Findings highlight the need for additional research on the role of culture in measurement of family functioning.     

Alphabetic sequence decisions for letter pairs with separations of one to three letters.

The alphabet storage and retrieval theory of Klahr, Chase, and Lovelace (1983) was tested for applicability to letter-order decisions. Ss judged whether letter pairs with sequential separations of 1, 2, or 3 letters were in correct or incorrect order. Ss made decisions either in a continuous- or intermittent-attention mode. The results for alphabetic letter-order decisions with a letter separation of 1 were in conformance with the theory of Klahr et al. in both attention modes. However, at letter separations of 2 and 3 letters, Ss made decisions that were more compatible with a symbolic-distance mechanism. Speculation on how Ss could make alphabetic-order decisions in either a memory-consultation or a symbolic-distance manner is made.