Animal innovation defined and operationalized

Innovation is a key component of most definitions of culture and intelligence. Additionally, innovations may affect a species' ecology and evolution. Nonetheless, conceptual and empirical work on innovation has only recently begun. In particular, largely because the existing operational definition (first occurrence in a population) requires long-term studies of populations, there has been no systematic study of innovation in wild animals. To facilitate such study, we have produced a new definition of innovation: Innovation is the process that generates in an individual a novel learned behavior that is not simply a consequence of social learning or environmental induction. Using this definition, we propose a new operational approach for distinguishing innovations in the field. The operational criteria employ information from the following sources: (1) the behavior's geographic and local prevalence and individual frequency; (2) properties of the behavior, such as the social role of the behavior, the context in which the behavior is exhibited, and its similarity to other behaviors; (3) changes in the occurrence of the behavior over time; and (4) knowledge of spontaneous or experimentally induced behavior in captivity. These criteria do not require long-term studies at a single site, but information from multiple populations of a species will generally be needed. These criteria are systematized into a dichotomous key that can be used to assess whether a behavior observed in the field is likely to be an innovation.     

Systemic Practice

In this paper we propose to develop a methodology, based on a set of isomorphic patterns of practice, for studying the operational competencies of systemic therapists. By attending to the therapists' actions at the level of practice, we have identified unifying principles that run across the different models of systemic family therapy. This is a pattern of action that we call "systemic practice." In order to show the application of this methodology in the art of practice, we have analyzed excerpts from two videotaped sessions.     

Features of Families with Major Affective Disorders

This article reports the authors' observations on 22 families in which a young adult member has been diagnosed as manic-depressive, and on 11 families in which a member has been diagnosed as suffering from major schizoaffective disorder. All families could be described as extremely rigid and bound-up systems. Many of them were characterized by a "restrictive parental complementarity" and reciprocal delegation, and they shared certain cognitive features and assumptions. "Manic-depressive" families showed similarities as well as differences when compared with families in which there were schizophrenic and serious psychosomatic disorders.     

Taking the practicum beyond the public school door

A unique teacher preparation component is operated by the Albany State College Graduate Program in Special Education at the nearby Turner Job Corps Center. Student teachers learn a foundation of remedial interventions appropriate to most mildly handicapped young adult learners in a comprehensive, residential teaching environment.