THE EFFORTS TO REVIVE HASHOMER

The Hashomer organization, established in April 1909 and officially disbanded in May 1920, had undertaken to guard Jewish settlements throughout Palestine. The former members of Hashomer were not easily reconciled to exclusion from the inner circle where decisions were made concerning the defence of Jews in Palestine and made repeated efforts from 1920 to 1938 to reclaim what they perceived as their destiny as individuals and pioneers within the labour movement: to lead security operations on the Yishuv. This article examines various aspects of those efforts, revealing the pattern of the actions taken over the years by the members of Hashomer. The central argument is that the efforts to resuscitate Hashomer had a common denominator: every practical programme the Hashomer veterans promoted remained an alternative channel of military activity, with implications for the use of force and relations with the Arabs that the labour movement chose not to implement.     

Treatment with medications affecting dopaminergic and serotonergic mechanisms: effects on fluency and anxiety in persons who stutter

Medications with dopamine antagonist properties, such as haloperidol, and those with serotonin reuptake inhibitor properties, such as clomipramine, have been shown to improve fluency. To examine the degree to which each of these two pharmacological mechanisms might independently affect fluency, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, paroxetine, and a selective dopamine (D-2) antagonist, pimozide, were evaluated. Both types of medications also affect mood and anxiety, factors that could influence fluency levels. Therefore, we also evaluated the medications’ effects on generalized and speech-related anxiety and the relationships between changes in anxiety and changes in fluency in 11 subjects with a history of developmental stuttering. The randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled crossover study that was designed had to be terminated prior to completion due to severe side effects following withdrawal from paroxetine. Even with a reduced sample size (n = 6), significant improvement in percent fluent speaking time (p = 0.02) was found using a telephone task between baseline and pimozide (n = 6), with average duration of dysfluencies significantly shorter (p = 0.04) but no significant difference in the estimated number of dysfluencies per minute. This significant improvement was associated with non-significant increases in generalized anxiety, but non-significant decreases in speech-related anxiety. No significant differences were found in fluency between baseline and paroxetine (n = 5). These preliminary results suggest that fluency improvement is more likely to be mediated by dopaminergic rather than serotonergic mechanisms. Due to its side effects, however, pimozide may be considered a risk for treatment of stuttering.

Educational objectives: As a result of reading this paper the reader will describe and explain: (1) how medications may affect fluency and the rationale for selecting medications for treatment trials; (2) the interrelationship between fluency and anxiety; and (3) factors important in developing clinical trials using medications.     

The relationship between interests-job incongruity and selection of avocational activity

The present paper presents two independent studies (n₁ = 240, n₂ = 66, respectively) conducted in two different countries, and which were designed to investigate the function of leisure activities for people with varying degrees of vocational congruence. The results of the studies showed similar trends and thus, provided a cross validation to the findings. Following S. Parker (The future of work and leisure. New York, Praeger, 1971), a distinction was made between extension compensation, and neutral functions for avocational activity choice, with corresponding inventories measuring each of them. Little more than a third of the people reported their leisure activities to be neutral avocations pursued for relaxation and tension release. Taken together, the results show the following trends: (1) people tend to select leisure activities congruent with their personality pattern; (2) people in congruent occupations were vocationally satisfied and conceived their preferred activities as an extension of the type of activities they do at work; (3) people in incongruent occupations are vocationally dissatisfied, and compensate for this by selecting compensatory leisure activities and they tend to show higher salience for their avocational activities. The distinction amongst the various leisure activity functions seems to be crucial for further research in selection of avocational activities; this may prove useful in counseling people to choose an appropriate leisure activity. It may especially benefit those in incongruent occupations.     

Fostering a career in engineering

The purpose of the present study was to examine J. Holland's (Making vocational choices: a theory of careers, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1973) congruence hypothesis within the context of intraoccupational rather than interoccupational differences. One hundred and nine engineers were tested on an interest inventory which was designed to measure the vocational interest in six different job functions of the engineering occupation. Reliability coefficients range between .66 and .93. Results confirmed the congruence hypothesis: Correlations between job satisfaction and three measures derived from the interest inventory were .45, .44, and .62, respectively (p < .01). The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Measuring women's interests using Holland's vocational classification

A Hebrew interest inventory for females in Israel, based on Holland's 1966 1973 vocational classification, was examined on 322 female pupils and 167 working females. Results showed that: (a) with the exception of the Conventional and Enterprising fields, subjects occupied in a field had their highest interest score in that field; (b) for all six interest fields, the highest interest score was the score of those who were engaged in that field; (c) in a smallest space analysis, the activities, competencies, and occupation sections of the interest inventory formed the Investigative, Realistic, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional circular arrangement; (d) a correlation of .38 between interest score and job satisfaction was found.     

Participant modelling training programme: Tutoring the paraprofessional

A participant modelling training programme designed to improve self-efficacy and the ability to cope effectively with stressful situations was implemented with paraprofessional young counsellors who work in conjunction with youth advancement counsellors. Self-efficacy was measured by assessing their beliefs about their ability to cope effectively and successfully with various situations. Their motivation to engage in such a task was also assessed before and after the training programme. Contrary to prediction, following the training the self-efficacy of subjects decreased significantly. However, their motivation to get started and become involved with the disadvantaged youth significantly increased. The results are discussed in terms of reality perception and participant modelling training.     

The predictive validity of a vocational interest inventory-“Ramak”: Seven year follow-up

The purpose of this study was to test the predictive validity of the Ramak-a vocational interest inventory based on Roe's (1956) classification of occupations. In this follow-up, 81% of the original sample, tested 7 yr earlier, was located. These Ss responded to a questionnaire which inquired into their vocational choice and vocational choice satisfaction, together with retesting of the Ramak. Results showed that: (a) The median interpersonal test-retest reliability was .412 for males and .401 for females, while the median within-the-person profile stability was .535 for males and .700 for females; (b) With few deviations, for each occupational field the Ss occupied in that field had the highest interest in that field; (c) With the exception of Arts and Entertainment in both sexes, for each interest field Ss who had the highest score were those engaged in that field; (d) The correlation between vocational choice satisfaction and the interests in the relevant field was .405 and .294 for males and females, respectively; (e) For both sexes, Ss occupied in their highest-scoring interest field were more satisfied with their vocational choice than those who were not. The effectiveness of the Ramak in vocational counseling is evaluated.