A study of presidential assassins

Twenty-two people who were presidential assassins and other similarly dangerous persons were assessed from information contained in Secret Service files and in published accounts. These documents were studied in order to determine common characteristics as well as other clues to the identification of potentially dangerous persons. Although there was no single pattern of development, there was a pattern of maladjustment that embraced common feelings of inadequacy or persecution, which led to similar patterns of behavior when attempting to resolve frustration. In practical terms, these profiles show:

• 1 A systematic pattern of inadequacy in dealing with social, intellectual, and vocational challenges.
• 2 A corresponding absence of any positive channel for achieving satisfaction or a sense of accomplishment.

In uniquely personal ways, each of these chronically frustrated individuals came to view his or her target either as the personification of the oppressive system, or as the agent through whom he or she could achieve “one great act,” or otherwise gain instant attention and status.     

Postpartum and lactational estrus: a comparative analysis in rodentia

Virgin rodents exhibiting cycling estrus have traditionally been used for comparative studies of reproductive behavior. However estrus occurs in other life-history contexts, some of which differ from cycling estrus (CE) in that (a) the female is disposed to behave both maternally and sexually and (b) they result in litter overlap (i.e., the simultaneous gestation and lactation of two litters). In this report, two of these other modes of estrus are examined, with emphasis on their evolutionary and ecological implications. By means of a literature search of the order Rodentia, postpartum estrus (PPE) and lactational estrus (LE) were documented in 15 families, 71 genera, and 141 species. Analysis of these data showed that PPE and LE were nonrandomly distributed across taxa. They were statistically overrepresented in the family Cricetidae and underrepresented in squirrels (Sciuridae) and in pocket mice and kangaroo rats (Heteromyidae). Analysis of the phenotypes by which PPE and LE are achieved suggests important differences between them and CE in several parameters of female reproductive effort and breeding strategy, including maternal and copulatory behavior, optimal timing of litters, and hormonal control of heat and lactation.     

Perceived variability and symbol use: a common language-cognition interface in children and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Analysis of two chimpanzees' conversations with their teacher during a tool-use training task demonstrated that chimps use lexigrams, a humanly devised visual symbol system, selectively to encode perceived variability; that is, they generally used their symbols to differentiate alternative possibilities or to represent change or novelty in a situation. In contrast, they tended to leave unsaid what was unchanging, repetitive, or the unique possibility in a situation. Perceived variability influenced not only which symbols were selected but also utterance length: A single dimension of variability in a situation leads to single-lexigram utterances; multiple dimensions are associated with multi-lexigram utterances. This pattern of results indicates that the absence of formal grammatical structure in chimp language does not imply that utterances beyond one word in length are either rote strings or imitations. The chimps' tendency to mention the variable while leaving the constant or redundant unsaid is, moreover, strong support for the position that their use of a humanly devised symbol system is more than a series of conditioned responses.     

Belief, its inconsistency, and the implications for the teaching faculty

The traditional concept of belief is analyzed and compared with a behavior analytic concept of belief. Beliefs and belief statements are differentiated and relationships between them are examined. The often troublesome inconsistencies in people's beliefs are examined in general and explained, including the phenomena of compartmentalization and repression. Social implications are pursued relative to both punishment for inconsistency in belief and counter-controls thwarting such punishment. The role of teachers in shaping beliefs is analyzed, and appropriate teaching strategies are reviewed.     

Perspectives on individual-family-social network interrelations

The author focuses on the trend in the family therapy field toward an expanded view of families in the context of their social environments. Within this broader eco-system perspective attention is given to individual-family-social network interrelations with implications for the family therapist.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, Dallas, Texas, October 29, 1982. Appreciation is expressed to Alice Lynn for her comments and suggestions on an earlier draft of this paper. The author has also benefitted from discussions with Douglas Sprenkle on paradigms and contexts.     

Follow-up of a full-scale network assembly

The authors conducted two full-scale network assemblies for the family network of a suicidal adolescent. Findings from the clinical follow-up and telephone interviews with 21 of 65 participants revealed benefits for the index family and the network members who participated in the meetings. A ripple effect in which the participants' own personal networks improved was also demonstrated. Benefits included resolution of a suicidal crisis, better understanding of depression and family stress, more adaptive responses to depression and suicidal risk, and improved personal relationships. No casualties from this intervention were discovered. This report is intended to stimulate future, more systematic outcome studies.