The treatment of childhood encopresis by conditioned gastro-ileal reflex training

The indications for conditioned gastro-ileal reflex training are discussed and the method of treatment for childhood encopresis is described. Twenty-four children were treated by this method. Nineteen were successfully treated in less than 1 year (mean = 5 months), three were successfully treated in more than 1 year (mean = 17 months) and two children made no response. During a follow-up period ranging from 6 months to 6 years (mean = 29 months) the symptom had recurred in 4 children.     

A critical evaluation of coercive persuasion as used in the assessment of cults

An intense controversy regarding new and unpopular religious movements, or cults, continues to involve professionals at the juncture of psychiatry, religion, and the law. As the cults come under increasingly critical scrutiny, the concept most often used for assessing them is that of coercive persuasion. Briefly, such persuasion is seen as a means of psychological manipulation that leaves individuals without the normal control of their own minds. Considering recent pertinent cases and literature, the authors find major weaknesses in this theory. When applied it proves elastic, and it is regularly identified in cults for conduct that, on close examination, is similar to that of established religious groups. The concept of coercive persuasion as a means of thought control fails to pass scientific muster, and it serves poorly as a means of evaluating the connection between alleged harm and the cults. Instead, the authors suggest that a search for an alternative theory might well begin with one based on the individual as competent or not to make a choice regarding religion.     

Holistic attitudes of high school students toward themselves and their school experiences.

This study was based on an analysis of essays written by 47 teacher education students in response to the question, "If you could live your high school days over again, what, if anything, would you change?" The responses were organized into 20 different categories and tabulated according to students' age and sex. In retrospect, 38% of these students would have improved their attitude toward high school. Thirty-six percent indicated that high school was a positive experience, though this attitude was often unrelated to academic achievement. The responses strongly suggest that for many high school students, general attitude toward school affects achievement more than do attitudes toward specific school characteristics.     

The Society for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology

The Society for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology     

Similarity-scaling studies of dot-pattern classification and recognition.

Classification performance in the dot-pattern, prototype-distortion paradigm (e.g., Posner & Keele, 1968) was modeled within a multidimensional scaling (MDS) framework. MDS solutions were derived for sets of dot patterns that were generated from prototypes. These MDS solutions were then used in conjunction with exemplar, prototype, and combined models to predict classification and recognition performance. Across 3 experiments, an MDS-based exemplar model accounted for the effects of several fundamental learning variables, including level of distortion of the patterns, category size, delay of transfer phase, and item frequency. Most important, the model quantitatively predicted classification probabilities for individual dot patterns in the sets, not simply general trends of performance. There was little evidence for the existence of a prototype-abstraction process that operated above and beyond pure exemplar-based generalization.