Rorschach Comprehensive System data for 100 nonpatient children from the United States in two age groups

Building on our previously published study (Hamel, Shaffer, & Erdberg, 2000), which provided data on 100 nonpatient children aged 6 to 12 from the United States, we here provide reference data for two more homogeneous age subgroups: 6 to 9 (N = 50) and 10 to 12 (N = 50). Inclusion criteria are described, and expanded interrater reliability statistics at the response level are presented along with scores for the Rorschach Comprehensive System (CS; Exner, 2001) at each age grouping. In addition to the children being administered the Rorschach, their parents were given the Conners' Parent Rating Scale-93 (CPRS-93; Conners, 1989), and these results are presented as well.     

False memories in Lewy‐body disease

Recently, de Boysson, Belleville, Phillips et al. (2011) found that patients with Lewy‐body disease (LBD) showed significantly lower rates of false memories than healthy controls, using the Deese–Roediger–McDermott (DRM) experimental procedure. Given that this result could be explained by the practically null rate of true recognition in the LBD group (0.09), we decided to replicate the study by de Boysson et al. (2011), but including a new condition that would maximize the true recognition rate (and analyze its effect on the rate of false memories). Specifically, in a DRM experiment, we manipulated (within subjects) two study and recognition conditions: in the “immediate” condition, both the LBD patients and the control group of healthy older people received a different recognition test after each study list (containing twelve words associated with a non‐presented critical word), while in the “delayed” condition (similar to the one in de Boysson et al., 2011), the participants received the entire series of study lists and then took only one recognition test. The results showed that, in both samples, the “immediate” condition produced higher corrected rates of both true and false recognition than the “delayed” condition, although they were both lower in the LBD patients, which shows that these patients are capable of encoding and recognizing the general similitude underlying information (gist memory) in the right conditions.     

College students' memory for vocabulary in their majors: evidence for a nonlinear relation between knowledge and memory.

The effect of domain knowledge on students' memory for vocabulary terms was investigated. Participants were 142 college students (94 education majors and 48 business majors). The measure of domain knowledge was the number of courses completed in the major. Students recalled three different lists (control, education, and business) of 20 words. Knowledge effects were estimated controlling for academic aptitude, academic achievement, and general memory ability. Domain-specific knowledge consistently predicted recall, above and beyond the effect of these control variables. Moreover, nonlinear models better represented the relation between knowledge and memory, with very similar functions predicting recall in both knowledge domains. Specifically, early in the majors more classes corresponded with increased memory performance, but a plateau period, when more classes did not result in higher recall, was evident for both majors. Longitudinal research is needed to explore at what point in learning novices' performance begins to resemble experts' performance.     

Possibilities and pitfalls of pastoral diagnosis

Models of pastoral diagnosis have been proposed in recent literature as a way of enhancing the effectiveness of pastoral care and giving the discipline of pastoral care increased distinctiveness. The authors attempt an analogical comparison of ministerial assessment and the risks and benefits of diagnosis within the context of medicine and psychiatry, in an effort to point out what might be conceivable positive possibilities as well as pitfalls of such models of pastoral diagnosis.The authors wish to acknowledge the helpful comments and review by E. Mansell Pattison, M.D.     

Grammatical properties of sentences as a basis for concept formation

A concept-formation study was run using sets of sentences in eight different syntactic patterns as target categories. These were based on all possible combinations of voice (active or passive), mood (declarative or interrogative), and modality (affirmative or negative). Subjects were 32 senior high school students who participated as volunteers in the computer-controlled experiment. Subjects were able to categorize sentences based solely on sentence types rather than semantic content, but an analysis of the errors committed in the course of learning showed that it was the semantic significance of different types rather than pattern differences as such to which a subject responded. The implications of this for grammatical formulations and the interpretation of psychological research were discussed.     

Factorial confirmatory models of Ryff's scales in a sample of elderly people

Several recent works have analysed the factorial structure of well-being measures. The aim of our study is to analyse the factorial structure of a widely used well-being scale, Ryff's Scales of Psychological Well-being, but in a specific subpopulation of the Spanish population, the elderly. For this particular subpopulation, the construct of well-being has been employed in most theoretical models that explain quality of life, and its role is therefore pivotal. The sample comprised 169 elderly people (65 years or more), sampled within the Valencian Community. The 54-item version of Ryff's scales was used. An item parcelling process was analytically employed before confirmatory factor analyses, allowing a total of 18 well-being indicators. Confirmatory factor analyses were specified and tested, including all theoretical and empirical solutions found in the literature, either in the general population or in specific populations of different cultural contexts. Goodness-of-fit results were similar to the ones found in the literature. Best solutions were a six-factor model with correlated factors, as defended by the authors, and a five-factor correlated solution, collapsing environmental mastery and self-acceptance into a single factor.     

The Significance of Identity in Muslim–Christian Encounter

Encounters between Muslims and Christians are influenced by many factors. In this article a contextual study of a religiously diverse neighbourhood in Leeds, a northern English city, is used to illustrate some of the patchwork of related and overlapping identities which Muslims and Christians negotiate in their everyday encounters. Ethnicity, socio-economic status, and encounter with people of other religions are all found to influence how Muslims and Christians relate to each other and to the secular environment.     

Phonetic discrimination ability of a native vowel contrast in preterm infants

Preterm birth is considered a risk factor for cognitive and linguistic development; however, research focusing on the comparison between preterm and full term infants' early abilities in speech perception is still scarce. In this study, the ability to perceive and discriminate a native vowel contrast by a sample of preterm infants at 4 and 8 months of age (corrected for gestation) has been analyzed using the familiarization-preference procedure and complex stimuli (CV.CV, multispeakers). Results reveal differences at 4 months of age between pre-term and control groups; only the latter successfully categorize and react to the vowel change. By 8 months of age, preterm infants are able to solve the task. A positive correlation was observed between duration of attention (visual fixation measures) and a number of neonatal risk factors. Results show the effects of preterm birth on the processing of complex stimuli and suggest the need to further explore the connection between early speech perception capacities and language development in this at-risk population.     

Grandparent-grandchild relationships from the children's perspective: shared activities and socialization styles

The objective of this study is to describe the relationships between grandchildren and their favourite grandparents, by studying the socialization styles used by latter and the shared activities undertaken. The participants were 360 children between 10 and 12 years old, who completed the grandparent-grandchild relationship questionnaire of Rico, Serra and Viguer (2001) and the socialization questionnaire of Rey and Ruiz (1990). The results demonstrate the importance of gender and family line in the selection of the favourite grandparent, differences being shown in the types of shared activities and in socialization styles. It is concluded that in the majority of cases the profile of the favourite grandparent is the maternal grandmother, retired or a house wife, aged between 60-70, who lives in the same city as his/her grandchild, and who has contact with them several times a week. Furthermore, favourite grandparents get more involved with granddaughters than with grandsons, both in support and care activities and in cultural-recreational activities, and they primarily employ a democratic style. However, there are differences depending on the gender of the grandchild, with democratic principles being used more with girls and authoritarian ones with boys.     

Family Centred Brief Solution-focused Therapy with Chronic Schizophrenia: a Pilot Study

The purpose of the study was to pilot a family centred brief solution-focused therapy model (BSFT) with families and clients diagnosed with schizophrenia. A control group of clients and their families received traditional outpatient therapy, while an experimental group of clients and their families were treated with a BSFT model. All participants were pre-tested and then post-tested with the Family Environment Scale after five therapy sessions over a ten-week period. Significant differences between the groups were found on expressiveness, active-recreational orientation, moral-religious emphasis and family incongruence. The participation of families and clients with schizophrenia in family centred brief solution-focused therapy produced encouraging results and demonstrated the need for expanded studies using BSFT with other chronically mentally ill clients and their families.