Effects of movie violence on aggression in a field setting as a function of group dominance and cohesion.

In this quasi-experimental field study, delinquent members belonging to two cottages viewed aggressive commercial movies every evening for a week, while at the same time, subjects from two other cottages were exposed to neutral commercial movies. Behavioral observations were obtained through a nonhier-archical, minimally inferential procedure of a time-sampling nature; they were taken during a baseline week (at noon and in the evening), a treatment week (noon and evening) and a posttreatment week (noon). The main immediate effects of the violent films were an overall increase of both active behaviors and physical aggression; the effects on verbal aggression were more persistent but limited to one of the two cottages. On the other hand, more interactions occurred as an immediate consequence of viewing the films in both neutral treatment cottages; moreover, one of these two cottages also decreased its level of physical (short-term effect) and verbal (short- and long-term effects) aggression. In the aggressive treatment cottage, which was most affected, subjects who were most dominant, most popular, and least popular were influenced the most: an opposite effect was exhibited by those subjects who were judged as least aggressive by their peers. Complementary data are presented and discussed; the difference between the single individual laboratory paradigm and the existing group field paradigm is especially stressed.     

Parent-child physical play: The effects of sex and age of children and parents

Physical play is an important vehicle for differential socialization of boys and girls into appropriate sex roles. The aim of the study was to examine developmental changes in patterns of parent-child physical play as a function of the sex of parent and child. Three hundred ninety families with a total of 746 children ranging in age from under 1 year to 10 years were contacted by telephone and questioned about the frequency of physical-play interactions with their children. The results indicated that the strongest variable affecting the frequency of physical play was the age of the child. This developmental effect was curvilinear, with comparatively low levels prior to age one, a peak in the early childhood years, and the decline thereafter. Fathers tended to engage in more physical play than mothers. Effects of child sex were less evident, but tended to indicate that girls participated more often in nonstrenuous physical games with their parents, such as pattycake and being bounced on the parent's knee, while boys participated more often in activities such as wrestling and ball playing. There was a modest but significant tendency for older parents to engage less often in physical play with their children at each age level. The implications of parent-child physical play for sex role typing were noted.     

Equivalence of mother and father ratings of ADHD in children

Obtaining data from multiple informants provides a more comprehensive diagnostic picture in the assessment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Differences in symptom ratings have been observed between parent- and teacher-report scales, though less information is available regarding differences between mothers and fathers. To address this gap, this study examines the rater agreement between mothers and fathers on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) ADHD Symptom Rating Scale (DSM-ADHD-SRS). The participants consisted of 337 children diagnosed with ADHD who underwent comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. Confirmatory factor analysis indicates that a three-factor model comprising inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity symptoms provides the best fit for both mothers’ and fathers’ ratings. Mothers provided higher mean ratings for the inattention scale. These results suggest that the factor structure for the DSM-ADHD-SRS is the same, regardless of parent gender. However, symptoms of inattention may vary depending upon which parent completes the ratings. This discrepancy could lead to differences in diagnostic impressions in clinical evaluations.     

Acquisition, development, and maintenance of online poker playing in a student sample.

To date there has been very little empirical research into Internet gambling and none relating to the recent rise in popularity of online poker. Given that recent reports have claimed that students may be a vulnerable group, the aim of the current study was to establish basic information regarding Internet poker playing behavior among the student population, including various motivators for participation and predictors of problematic play. The study examined a self-selected sample of student online poker players using an online survey (n=422). Results showed that online poker playing was undertaken at least twice per week by a third of the participants. Almost one in five of the sample (18%) was defined as a problem gambler using the DSM-IV criteria. Findings demonstrated that problem gambling in this population was best predicted by negative mood states after playing, gender swapping whilst playing, and playing to escape from problems.     

Book reviews

Institutions represent both the conscious and unconscious aspects of the interacting members. Psychotherapists need to address their unconscious position in the institution as well as the conscious aspects of their work. This paper describes the possible relevance that psychotherapy may have at the unconscious level. The notion of the ‘social defence system’ is extremely useful in finding one's way in the engulfing emotional attitudes, and for tolerating the often dismaying sense of irrelevance that psychotherapy appears to attract. The social defence system of a prison and a mental hospital are considered in this light and some thought are devoted to the changing state of the National Health Service at present.     

Punishment revisited--science,values, and the right question: comment on Gershoff (2002)

In this comment on E. T. Gershoff (2002), the author notes the historical phases of punishment research. Punishment as a disciplinary tactic is best viewed as a packaged variable and therefore needs to be investigated in the context of other socialization practices. The role of parental values in this debate about punishment utilization and effectiveness merits more consideration. New directions in punishment research are also noted. These include the need for a family-systems perspective, a family-typology approach, a transactional model of punishment, the use of innovation observation and self-report methods, and more culturally sensitive paradigms.     

Ethical aspects of the safety of medicines and other social chemicals

The historical background of the discovery of adverse health effects of medicines, food additives, pesticides, and other chemicals is reviewed, and the development of national and international regulations and testing procedures to protect the public against the toxic effects of these drugs and chemicals is outlined. Ethical considerations of the safety evaluation of drugs and chemicals by human experimentation and animal toxicity studies, ethical problems associated with clinical trials, with the falsification of clinical and toxicological data, and with inadequate experimental methodology, are reviewed, and the ethics of the marketing of drugs and their post-marketing surveillance, are similarly considered. These ethical problems are illustrated with many specific examples, including the drugs neoarsphenamine, chloramphenicol, thalidomide, diethyl stilboestrol and benoxaprofen.     

The Hypothesis Of Ether And Reid's Interpretation Of Newton's First Rule Of Philosophizing

My object is to question a recurrent claim made to the point that Thomas Reid (1710–1796) was hostile to ether theories and that this hostility had its source in his distinctive interpretation of the first of Newton's regulæ philosophandi. Against this view I will argue that Reid did not have any quarrel at all with unobservable or theoretical entities as such, and that his objections against actual theories concerning ether were scientific rather than philosophical, even when based on Newton's first rule. I argue further that Reid's insistence on Newton's rule concerns, not direct observation, but rather the notion of explanation itself.     

Favourite objects of autistic children

Favourite objects (FOs) of autistic children were compared with the FOs of healthy preschool and school children as well as mentally handicapped children. Three clusters of objects were obtained for normal children (comprising primary transitional objects and their forerunners, secondary transitional objects, and non-cuddly toys). When autistic children and mentally handicapped children were included, a fourth cluster of deviant objects was found. Frequency distributions of the two handicapped groups in the clusters were similar. Similarities between the two handicapped groups were also found within each cluster. The occurrence of secondary transitional objects was rare in the handicapped groups. The characteristics of "autistic" FOs reported in earlier case studies (e.g. being hard, often having an exciting effect, not being used in their adequate functions) were typical only of objects in the fourth cluster.