An analysis of the effectiveness of university counselling services

It is important to demonstrate replicable evidence of the effectiveness of counselling procedures. The study aimed to contribute to the currently limited evidence base examining the effectiveness of university student counselling in the UK. Information on therapeutic outcome [based on Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation-Outcome Measure (CORE-OM) scores] for 305 individuals attending a large UK university counselling service was analysed. Following counselling intervention: there was a statistically significant improvement in CORE-OM scores with 63% of individuals showing a reliable improvement and only 2% showing a reliable deterioration. Of those who began with a score in the clinical range, 49% showed a clinically significant change. These results provide additional evidence for the effectiveness of university counselling interventions. Future research should aim to build on this preliminary research using randomised controlled trial designs.     

Repeated challenge studies: A comparison of union-intersection testing with linear modeling

Challenge studies are often implemented for assessing whether a subject is sensitive to a certain agent or allergen. In particular, researchers test groups of subjects to determine if there really exists a causal relationship between some agent of interest and a response. To answer such a question, we need to detect the presence of the phenomenon in just one individual. Typically, however, there are a large number of unknown risk factors associated with the response and a potentially small population prevalence. Hence, standard statistical techniques, by averaging the treatment effect across the group, may miss a significant response of a single individual and lead to inconclusive results. We develop an alternative approach based on union-intersection testing that will allow a practitioner to correctly examine observations on an individual apart from the other subjects and test the hypothesis of interest: Does the phenomenon exist in the population? More specifically, we show how this technique adjusts for the multiple number of tests encountered when analyzing data for each individual subject separately. Furthermore, we demonstrate power calculations for the determination of sample size prior to performing the study. The performance of the union-intersection approach in comparison to linear models and semiparametric techniques is considered through sample size calculations and simulations. The union-intersection testing methodology out performs the Kolmogorov tests. However, the nested linear model performs as well if not better than the union-intersection tests. To illustrate the ideas presented in the paper, we provide an application in which we analyze psychological data collected by way of a challenge study design.     

Social dominance and play patterns among preschoolers: Gender comparisons

Gender differences in dominance and play among preschoolers were examined. Forty-eight children in girl-girl or girl-boy dyads engaged in masculine and feminine stereotyped activities. Girl-girl dyads displayed more cooperative play than girl-boy dyads. Adventure themes predominated in boys during both activities but in girls only during the masculine activity. Boys had higher functional play compared to girls while engaged in the feminine activity, and lower constructive play overall. Girls engaged in more dramatic play during the feminine activity whereas boys engaged in more dramatic play during the masculine activity. There was a trend for boys to refuse to follow the leads of girls during the masculine activity. Implications and interventions in play are discussed. The authors wish to express appreciation to the directors of the preschools that participated in this study. We would also like to thank Sheri Wilhite for her help in the coding of the data.     

Effect of Interleukin-1beta on Pituitary-Adrenal Responses and Body Weight in Neonatal Rats: Interaction with Maternal Deprivation

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis of the infant rat is normally hyporesponsive during postnatal days (pnd) four to fourteen. This interval is termed the stress hyporesponsive period (SHRP). The HPA axis, however, does respond to selective stimuli, such as interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) during this period. Furthermore, maternal deprivation has been shown to alter the system so that it is responsive to mild stimuli. The present studies examined the interaction between 24 h of maternal deprivation and intraperitoneal administration of recombinant human (rh) IL-1beta (4 μg/kg) at 3 ages (i.e., pnd 6, 12, 18) during or after the SHRP. The results demonstrate that maternal deprivation modifies the response of the HPA axis induced by IL-1beta in an age-dependent fashion: 1) a greater response at pnd 6; 2) a quicker response at pnd 12; and 3) a suppressed response pattern at pnd 18. Moreover, these responses across ages differ as a function of maternal contact postinjection: 1) deprivation augments the ACTH and CORT response and maternal contact postinjection further augments this response at pnd 6; 2) deprivation increases the ACTH and CORT response to vehicle and the CORT response to IL-1beta in 12 day-old pups and the mother has a modest inhibitory effect; and 3) at pnd 18 deprivation leads to lower ACTH concentrations, but higher overall CORT levels and maternal contact postinjection effectively suppresses both the ACTH and CORT response to IL-1. These differences in the HPA response do not appear to be due to differences in the immune response. Plasma concentrations of endogenous rat IL-1beta determined 1 and 2 h after injection of rhIL-1beta were not modified by deprivation and were reduced at pnd 18 compared to pnd 6 and 12 in NDEP pups. Finally, IL-1beta reduced food intake, as reflected by a decrease in body weight, in deprived pups at all 3 ages. The findings in the present experiments suggest that there are additional pathways through which IL-1beta can act on the CNS to activate the HPA axis besides direct action at the hypothalamus.     

Herbart's mathematical psychology

J.F. Herbart (1824/1890b) provided a mathematical theory about how mental ideas (Vorstellungen) in consciousness at Time 1 (T1) could compete, possibly driving 1 or more Vorstellungen below a threshold of consciousness. At T1 a Vorstellung A could also fuse with another, B. If at a later T2, A resurfaced into consciousness, it could help B to re-resurface into consciousness. This article describes the historical and mathematical background of Herbart's theory, outlines the mathematical theory itself with the aid of computer graphics, and argues that the theory can be applied to the modern problem of predicting recognition latencies in short-term memory (Sternberg's task; Sternberg, 1966)     

Effects of hue,brightness, contrast with background,and observation time on figural dominance in ambiguous patterns

Ambiguous patterns composed of two alternate crosses of different hues and brightness on two different brightness backgrounds were viewed for 120 sec by 10 female college students. Each subject observed 92 pattern presentations (23 patterns, each pattern presented in 2 orientations and on each of 2 backgrounds). Effects of hue and brightness contrast with background were clearly demonstrated: blue was the most dominant, red the least, and green and yellow located in between. Brightness contrast of patterns with background accentuated figural dominance of the darker figures. The number of alternations increased over the observation time for hues of equal brightness; however, the relation of this measure to total duration of seeing a figure in studies of figural dominance is unclear. Theories of neural satiation, fatigue, and interaction were used in interpreting the results.