Clients' perceptions of how reorientation therapy and self-help can promote changes in sexual orientation

Presented is a summary of 882 homosexual people's responses to 5 open-ended questions about sexual reorientation therapy. Of the 882 participants, 726 reported that they had received reorientation therapy from a professional therapist or a pastoral counselor. As a group, 779 (89.7%) of the participants viewed themselves as "more homosexual than heterosexual," "almost exclusively homosexual," or "exclusively homosexual" in their orientation before receiving reorientation therapy or making self-help efforts to change. The majority reported they believed sexual reorientation therapy and various forms of self-help were helpful to them, psychologically, spiritually, and sexually.     

How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world

To investigate the process of habit formation in everyday life, 96 volunteers chose an eating, drinking or activity behaviour to carry out daily in the same context (for example ‘after breakfast’) for 12 weeks. They completed the self‐report habit index (SRHI) each day and recorded whether they carried out the behaviour. The majority (82) of participants provided sufficient data for analysis, and increases in automaticity (calculated with a sub‐set of SRHI items) were examined over the study period. Nonlinear regressions fitted an asymptotic curve to each individual's automaticity scores over the 84 days. The model fitted for 62 individuals, of whom 39 showed a good fit. Performing the behaviour more consistently was associated with better model fit. The time it took participants to reach 95% of their asymptote of automaticity ranged from 18 to 254 days; indicating considerable variation in how long it takes people to reach their limit of automaticity and highlighting that it can take a very long time. Missing one opportunity to perform the behaviour did not materially affect the habit formation process. With repetition of a behaviour in a consistent context, automaticity increases following an asymptotic curve which can be modelled at the individual level. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Hippocratic Oath,Medical Power,and Physician Virtue

Philosophia - In this paper, I supplement T. A. Cavanaugh’s arguments against physician-assisted suicide in his book, Hippocrates’ Oath and Asclepius’ Snake, by focusing more...     

The community alcohol use scale: A scale for use in prevention programs

The Community Alcohol Use Scale (CAUS) was developed as a continuous, reliable, valid, and acceptable measure for primary prevention studies. Items were written following a comprehensive review of the literature on alcohol dependence and alcoholism. Based upon the responses of 315 respondents to the 100-item initial version of the scale, the 45-item CAUS was developed. The CAUS was then cross-validated on a local sample (n = 274) and a provincial sample (n = 745). Estimates of internal consistency were .91, .96, and .94, respectively, for the initial and cross-validation samples. Correlations of .48 and .69 were obtained between the CAUS and the Michigan Alcohol Screening Test for the initial and local cross-validation samples. In the provincial cross-validation sample a correlation of .62 was obtained between the CAUS and the Usual Weekly Alcohol Index. Preliminary cutting scores were developed to identify those at risk for alcoholism, and alcoholics. The CAUS has potential use as an evaluative and predictive instrument in a variety of primary prevention programs.     

The effects of television form and violent content on boys' attention and social behavior

An experiment is reported that examined the independent effects of television content (violence) and television formal features (action level) on children's attention to programs and their postviewing social behavior. Pairs of preschool boys participated in two experimental sessions in which they saw animated and live television programs that varied in violent content (high or low) and formal features (high or low action level). They then played with toys that contained cues for either aggressive or prosocial interaction. Rapid character action facilitated visual attention to the programs; violent tv content did not facilitate attention. On measures of social behavior, strong effects of toy cues were found independently of television treatment effects. Aggressive toys produced aggressive behavior, and prosocial toys produced prosocial behavior; these patterns included some nonspecific, generalized influences in addition to direct demands of the play materials. Violent tv content led to changes in subjects' style of interaction and was also associated with increases in some prosocial behaviors. Television action level had no systematic effects on subjects' behavior. Results are discussed within the theoretical frameworks of observational learning and general arousal. Implications for children's television programming are also discussed.     

Ogden R. Lindsley and the historical development of precision teaching

This paper presents the historical developments of precision teaching, a technological offshoot of radical behaviorism and free-operant conditioning. The sequence progresses from the scientific precursors of precision teaching and the beginnings of precision teaching to principal developments since 1965. Information about the persons, events, and accomplishments presented in this chronology was compiled in several ways. Journals, books, and conference presentations provided the essential information. The most important source for this account was Ogden Lindsley himself, because Lindsley and his students established the basic practices that define precision teaching.     

My Friends Are My Estate: Friendship Experiences Mediate the Relationship Between Perceived Responses to Capitalization Attempts and Happiness

Emerging adults share the positive events in their lives with their friends, a process that is related to higher levels of happiness when they perceive their friends’ responses as more positive and less negative. What might explain this association? The four studies (N = 2997) in this research tested the proposal that positive friendship experiences mediate the relationship between perceived responses to capitalization attempts (PRCA) and happiness. Study 1 showed that same-sex friendship quality mediated the relationship between PRCA and happiness. Study 2 supported the model for cross-sex friendships. Study 3 tested the generalizability of the model for the immediate social network of emerging adults and showed that the model was only applicable to best friendships. Study 4 documented that satisfaction of basic psychological needs in a same-sex friendship was another mediator of the PRCA-happiness link. Although the friendship experiences and PRCA scores of women were higher compared to men in every study, the associations of PRCA with friendship experiences and happiness were generally similar and the model was supported for both men and women. The implications of the findings were discussed and suggestions for future research were provided.     

Truthfulness in transplantation: non-heart-beating organ donation

The current practice of organ transplantation has been criticized on several fronts. The philosophical and scientific foundations for brain death criteria have been crumbling. In addition, donation after cardiac death, or non-heartbeating-organ donation (NHBD) has been attacked on grounds that it mistreats the dying patient and uses that patient only as a means to an end for someone else's benefit.     

Spatial frequency discrimination in schizophrenia

Pathways within the visual system can be distinguished on the basis of selectivity for low or high spatial frequencies. Spatial frequency discrimination was evaluated in 17 medicated male patients with schizophrenia and 19 male control subjects. Subjects were required to discriminate whether pairs of high contrast, sinusoidally modulated gratings were the same or different in spatial frequency. Accuracy performance was compared at high, medium, and low spatial frequencies on tasks matched for control performance. Patients showed a greater performance decrement of 12% on low as compared with 4% on high spatial frequencies. These findings suggest a disturbance of right hemisphere mechanisms involved in spatial perception and attention in schizophrenia.