Direct assessment of quality of care in a geriatric nursing home

Direct observation was used to examine multiple aspects of care provided in a proprietary nursing home. The samples were taken at random intervals, 7 days per week for 5 weeks, across several categories of environmental and resident conditions as well as staff and resident activity. Results showed a high degee of compliance with predefined standards (based on current federal regulations) for environmental and resident conditions. Overall distributions of resident and staff activity showed results similar to those found in previous studies, with residents spending most of their time engaged in nonsocial activity and staff spending the majority of their time engaged in nonresident work. When data were analyzed across areas of the facility, times of day, and weekdays versus weekends, some differences were noted. Weekend versus weekday comparisons showed higher resident:staff ratios on weekends and more resident inactivity, but no significant differences in environmental or resident conditions. In addition, more frequent resident care, resident interaction, and resident activity were observed in Medicare units than in non-Medicare units. Results are discussed in terms of federal requirements for monitoring the quality of care in nursing homes and the potential use of time sampling expressly for this purpose.     

The Rotter Locus of Control Scale in 43 Countries: A Test of Cultural Relativity

A databank of 9140 responses to the Rotter (1966) locus of control scale was analyzed, using multidimensional scaling techniques. Respondents were employees in business organizations in 43 countries. Three interpretable dimensions were identified. The first was interpreted in terms of Schwartz's (1992) dimensions of mastery over the environment versus harmony with the environment. It also correlated significantly with country means for internality. The second distinguished responses from countries identified by Hofstede (1980) as individualist and collectivist. The third referred principally to the role of luck and chance. Parallels with the results of Levenson (1981) and the implications of convergence with the results of cross-cultural studies not based upon the concept of locus of control are discussed.     

Peer Group and Family Relationships in Early Adolescence

This study explored the possible interface between family and peer group systems in early adolescence. Sixth-graders who were identified as group members were interviewed and given questions regarding their attitudes toward the group and group dynamics. Family atmosphere and parent-adolescent relationships were evaluated from the parents' perspective. The results show two different linkages of peer and family processes: On the one hand, family relationships are related to the perception of the peer group as a source of support, especially when individual growth is respected within an atmosphere of acceptance and support in the family. On the other hand, family life characterized by conflict and lack of support for individual development is related to an increased involvement with groups and more conformity to group pressure. Results are discussed in line with theories dealing with the role of the family in adolescent development.     

Speed-accuracy decomposition yields a sudden insight into all-or-none information processing

The existence of discrete all-or-none information processing has often been assumed as a basis for stage models and also as an important characteristic of nonlinear connectionist models; however, there has been little or no hard empirical evidence supporting the existence of this phenomenon. In search of such evidence, we applied speed-accuracy decomposition (Meyer et al., 1988), a technique for detecting partial response information, to the examination of the time-course of processing in a (Gestalt) insight-like task, namely, anagram solution. This task was chosen because the Gestalt psychologists conjectured that insight is a sudden, discrete phenomenon. Supporting this view, we found little or no evidence of partial information in two experiments, thereby providing what may be the strongest evidence to date for all-or-none processing.     

Childhood abuse and spiritual development among women religious

Childhood abuse is known to have a negative influence on human development. This study expected to find a spiritual attitude of acceptance, as measured by the Ego Grasping Orientation scale, would help mitigate effects of childhood abuse in the realm of spiritual development. Spiritual Experience Index (SEI) scores for 350 religious women were treated as a measure of spiritual maturity. Contrary to expectation, however, the sexually and the physically abused groups with a more accepting attitude scored lower on the SEI than the abused with a more controlling attitude and the nonabused. Implications for spiritual development and well-being are discussed.     

A Property Level Analysis of Lexical Semantic Representation in Alzheimer′s Disease

In order to assess the hypotheses that Alzheimer′s disease (AD) results in a property level restructuring, loss, or degradation of lexical-semantic knowledge, Alzheimer′s patients and normal elderly subjects were presented with a property verification task in which they were asked to judge the truth value of telegraphic statements which paired objects with their properties (e.g., "Apple is red"). Objects with either high- or low-typical exemplars of categories (e.g., "oak" is a high typical exemplar of the category "tree," while "palm" is a less typical item). Properties were varied with respect to normatively determined dominance (e.g, "fins" is a high dominant property of "trout," while "slimy" is a less dominant property) and whether they were distinctive (i.e., served to distinguish between subsets of exemplars within a category) or shared among most or all category members (e.g., "stem" for the category "fruit"). Analyses of accuracy and reaction time data suggested that AD results in neither a loss per se of representation of properties, nor a reorganization of relations between objects′ properties. However, results were consistent with a property level degradation of AD patients′ object concepts. While there was no evidence for a differential degradation of distinctive vs shared properties, results suggested that AD patients have degraded representations of lower dominant properties and properties of low-typical category exemplars.     

Rational cognitive therapy with public offenders

In addressing the issue of how offenders may help themselves face the world in prison and outside, this article outlines how the principles of rational emotive therapy as outlined by Ellis and Maultsby can be simplified for use with this population in order to provide them a method for understanding and alleviating unhelpful emotional reactions. An example is provided to illustrate how a rational self-analysis model can be taught as written homework in individual or group sessions. Using the RSA model, offenders are taught to review and better understand the meanings of irrational words and how they upset themselves. Overall, our experience has been that offenders of many persuasions can be taught to be more rational and logical—an essential foundation for successful rehabilitation. This article is reproduced with permission in a slightly modified form from an earlier article authored by Smith and Lombardo “Rational Cognitive Therapy: An Executive Summary” that appeared inThe Correctional Psychologist, 27, 1995, pp. 2–5.     

A comparison of on-the-scene coping mechanisms used by two culturally different groups

Five groups of participants from Mississippi (n = 101) completed a questionnaire based on 11 coping mechanisms used most often by Norwegian rescuers (Dyregrov & Mitchell, 1992). Eight significantly different strategies were endorsed by the Mississippians and the Norwegians. Mississippians used more altruistic, cognitive, and social coping mechanisms while the Norwegians tended to endorse emotional distancing and task oriented methods of coping. The strategy judged most important by both Mississippians and Norwegians was maintaining contract with other helpers. It is argued that differences in on-the-scene coping strategies used by rescue workers are based on cultural, social, and individual differences. Researchers concluded that data from one cultural group cannot necessarily be generalized to another group. An examination of differences between the jive groups of Mississippians has been published elsewhere (Holaday, Warren-Miller, Smith & Yost, in press).     

A system of program evaluation and the use of feedback as a means of improving service delivery

Agencies providing services to individuals with developmental disabilities must demonstrate quality programing as evidenced through a high level of staff compliance to organizational, licensing, and accreditation standards. In addition, economic and practical considerations impose the need for cost-effective procedures for evaluating and improving staff performance. This study utilized a combination of checklists, as an evaluative tool to measure staff performance, and private feedback to improve staff performance. A multiple baseline design was used to determine the effects of providing staff with (a) orientation training, (b) task-analyzed checklists of job skills, (c) private feedback from the agency trainer, and (d) private feedback from their immediate supervisor. Results indicate that training alone does not ensure competency; checklists alone do not ensure competency; private feedback from trainers improves competency; and private feedback from direct supervisors improves competency even further.     

Reading practices,reading skills,and cognitive growth in adulthood

Reading is assumed to play an important role in the development of literate persons in that it is consciousness-altering activity. The manner by which reading contributes to development is unclear, however, and has been debated by social scientists for some years. Despite the importance of reading in adult life, only recently have researchers devoted significant attention to what and how well adults read. Less scrutiny has been directed toward understanding what sorts of benefits may be gained from reading in adult life and how reading contributes to adult development. This paper describes adults' reading practices across a variety of social contexts, the types of skills employed in these practices, and how reading may contribute to adult cognitive development. Implications deriving from a better understanding of adult reading practices and skills across the life span are discussed.