Identifying the multi-risk family prenatally: Antecedent psychosocial factors and infant developmental trends

Little is known about the relationship between mother and infant within multiproblem, so-called “hard to reach” families. In an effort to understand factors contributing to problems in caring for the young children of these parents, a group of 47 families was recruited for study by the Clinical Infant Development Program of the National Institute of Mental Health. Serious social pathology was found within 75 percent of families. The lives of mothers in these families was marked by long term disruptions: 64 percent were from families characterized by recurring poverty and psychiatric illness, and 69 percent reported disruptions in parental care prior to age twelve, while more than two-thirds reported a history of being physically and/or sexually abused as children. More than 75 percent of this group of women presently showed psychiatric distress. Many of these women have difficulty in providing adequately for their young children and require innovative intervention programs in order to facilitate parenting.     

The effects of limited and intensive school psychologist-teacher consultation

Effects of two modes of school psychological consultation were examined against four main outcomes: (1) changes in teacher understanding of the child, (2) the direction of the changes in teacher understanding of the child, (3) teacher satisfaction with consultation, and (4) teacher follow-through on psychologist's recommendations. The two consultative modes were differentiated by the amount of time and by the length and elaboration of the psychological report. Eight school psychologists alternated in acting out the different consultative modes, plus a control condition, with a total of 120 teachers who had referred children. Data were obtained through paper and pencil questionnaires completed pre- and postconsultation by teacher and psychologist. The results strongly supported the intensive over the limited consultation, and any consultation over no consultation.     

Parallel and competing operations in visual and memory search

Two adjacent probe letters exposed at variable asynchrony are searched for the presence of one target letter drawn from a set of one, three, or five memorized targets. Latency of decision was longer at 70-msec ISI than at 150, 300, and 500, except that at 300-msec ISI there was also an elevated response lateney to a target when it occurred as the first of two probes. Models of search through successive probes must be qualified to accommodate these divergences from monotonicity. Interference between near-simultaneous inputs may account for the longer lateney at 70-msee ISI, and competition for processing capacity by operations at different processing stages could be involved in the effeet at 300-msec ISI. 1972, Psychonomic Society, Inc., Austin, Texas     

Coping Activities in Solitary Confinement of U.S. Navy POWs in Vietnam1

A questionnaire was developed and administered to 137 Navy aviators, who were repatriated prisoners of war (RPWs) from North Vietnam, to investigate the usefulness of specific “time-killing” activities or adaptational strategies for coping with extensive periods of solitary confimement during captivity. Factor analysis of the usefulness scores resulted in the derivation of four factors accounting for 32% of the variance: (1) Captor-Captive Relationship, (2) Reliving the Past, (3) Repetitive Behavior, and (4) Self-development Activities. Factor 1 coping activities were rated as most useful, and Factor 3 as least useful. Factor 2 activities were used by most RPWs during the first few weeks in solitary, while Factor 4 activities were not used until later. In addition, the usefulness of all four factors increased significantly over time. The results were discussed in terms of the personality characteristics of aviators, and theoretical formulations emphasizing the individual's need for optimal stimulation.