Sex differences in children's time use

A sample of children (410 on a school day and 347 on a non-school day) was examined to determine differences in time spent in household work, leisure activities, school, paid work, personal care, and sleep by males and females. Males spent more time in leisure activities and less time in household work and personal care than females. Differences in time allocation appeared to be in accordance with traditional male-female roles. These patterns were established at early ages.     

Contributions of the care-giving role to women's development

It was hypothesized that older widows (N=309) who had been care givers to their husbands would have undertaken a greater number of household responsibilities than had women who had not been care givers. Findings indicated that, prior to the husband's death, more traditionally male and more traditionally female tasks were performed by the care-giving wives (n=158). This was particularly true in the case of Alzheimer's care givers (n=21). More importantly, widows' present feelings of competence were related to undertaking household responsibilities, with those who had been care givers expressing significantly higher levels of competence.     

Interpersonal loss and self-mutilation

Self-mutilation was hypothesized to increase in frequency during periods of interpersonal loss in a treatment program for seriously disturbed adolescents. The study examined changes in the frequency of acts of self-mutilation, aggression, and running away for 32 teenagers who experienced interpersonal loss when staff members left employment. Data were collected for a 4-year period. Statistical findings indicated that the frequency of self-mutilation increased significantly during the time period of anticipated loss, 2 weeks prior to staff terminations. There was no significant increase in the frequency of self-mutilation immediately following the staff terminations. Also, there was no significant change in the rates of aggression or running away either before or after the loss events. It was concluded that the time of anticipated loss was the period of highest risk for these adolescents in terms of self-mutilative behavior.     

Light-dark variation and changes across the lactational period in the behaviors of undisturbed mother and infant guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus)

Lactating guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) and their litters were observed by videophotography across the light/dark cycle at 1, 11, 21, and 31 days postpartum. The highest level of behavioral activity was seen in the dark, particularly in the hour after light offset. This circadian pattern was evident from Day 1 in mothers and from Day 11 in pups. Contact between mothers and pups was inversely related to activity, occurring more frequently during light. Maternal grooming of pups occurred on Day 1 and then declined: self-grooming by pups increased across days. Intake of solid food and water by pups occurred on Day 1 and increased thereafter. A nearly complete transition from nursing to independent ingestion was observed between 21-31 days of age. Overall, we document several ontogenetic changes in young guinea pigs and demonstrate that under laboratory conditions mother and infant guinea pigs exhibit a nocturnal activity pattern.     

Animal research in psychology: declining or thriving?

From Dialog's PsychINFO database the number of studies with 6 species reported in the Psychological Abstracts was calculated for each year from 1967 to 1988. Also, the number of studies with an additional 11 species were calculated for each year from 1973 to 1988. A hand search in the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and Learning and Motivation was also conducted to explore trends in studies on 12 species from 1970 to 1987. The numbers of studies on many species (e.g., baboons, bats, chimpanzees, dolphins, gerbils, guinea pigs, gorillas, hamsters, lemurs, mice, pigeons, rats, seals, and snakes) have remained stable. There has, however, been a steady decline in the numbers of studies on selected species (e.g., cats, dogs, and rabbits). Possible reasons for changing trends in studies on selected species include: increased costs, the cognitive emphasis in psychology, and arguably, animal rights activism.     

A demonstration of gaze following in 3- to 6-month-olds

An adult, with a puppet held at shoulder height on either side (within the infant's visual field), interacted with 3- to-6-month-olds, turning her head intermittently to talk to a puppet. Seventy- three percent of infants' first eye-turns were in the direction of the adult head-turn.     

Notes on the Tenacity of Therapeutic Presuppositions in Process Research: Examining the Artfulness of Blamings in Family Therapy

In their recent contribution to the Journal of Family Therapy , Frosh et al . apply discourse analytic methods to the study of 'process' in family therapy. While we welcome this contribution, we suggest that the authors' reading of the data has been affected by a number of fundamental presuppositions, which have led them to neglect the skilful rhetorical work taking place in the session. In this paper, we have undertaken an alternative analysis of the data, examining its rhetorical features and suspending judgement on the efficacy of the therapeutic project and on the truth status of statements made by participants in the session. While acknowledging that our microanalytic method has some shortcomings, we contend that attention to the situated and strategic nature of 'therapy talk' has exposed the primacy of notions of responsibility and blame in family work, and has shown how these issues are artfully negotiated by therapist and family in the cut and thrust of the therapeutic interview.     

Form symbolism, analogy, and metaphor

Simple forms, such as a square and a circle, can be symbolic; for example, a square can be deemed to behard and a circle to besoft. The relation between form symbolism and the comprehension of metaphors and analogies was studied in three experiments. Subjects were asked to rate matches between terms such assoft andhard andcircle andsquare as symbols (Experiment 1), metaphors (Experiment 2), and analogies (Experiment 3). The results show that a highly rated symbolic relation could be a poorly rated metaphorical relation. Ratings of analogies were similar to ratings of symbols. We argue that apt metaphors, analogies, and symbolic forms claim that the vehicle and the topic of the comparisons have common features, but that metaphoric representation entails more common features than does either symbolism or analogy, because metaphor requires that the vehicle be an especially apt example of a superordinate class. Thus, metaphor is a particularly strong claim about common features shared by the topic and the vehicle.