Internal Inconsistency in the Eysenck Psychoticism Scale

We explored emotional accompaniments to stages of a musician's cycle of creativity through interviews with musicians. Creativity was defined in terms of performance or composition. These musicians described strong emotional vacillations that occur across the creative cycle and discussed ways of dealing with emotional issues involved in moving from one work to the next. Parallels were drawn between emotional aspects of completing a performance or composition to emotional aspects of termination in psychotherapy. Suggestions were offered to musicians for means of dealing with naturally occurring but powerful emotional components of creativity. In addition, some of the musicians suggested that music educators consider teaching students about potential emotional issues that may accompany creative effort. An integration of these issues into music education programs might better prepare students for careers as professional musicians.     

The Influence of Differing the Paths to an Incentive on Third Graders’ Reading Achievement and Attitudes

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of four incentive paths on third graders’ reading vocabulary and comprehension achievement and recreational and academic reading attitude. One hundred and twenty third-grade students were assigned to one of four incentive path treatment conditions. Data were analyzed using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) with Fisher's least significant difference (LSD) post hoc comparisons. An effect size of .09 was calculated using a partial η² (eta squared) statistic. Findings indicated that the four incentive path treatment conditions did not differentially impact student vocabulary, comprehension, and recreational reading. A significant difference for students’ academic reading attitudes was identified across the four incentive path treatment conditions.     

Parental Role Portrayals in Twentieth Century Children’s Picture Books: More Egalitarian or Ongoing Stereotyping?

Gender role stereotyping continues to dominate within many media forms. This research examined the portrayals of mothers and fathers as companions, disciplinarians, caregivers, nurturers, and providers in 300 twentieth century children’s picture books randomly selected from the Children’s Catalog (H.W. Wilson Company, 2001). The books were published in the United States between the years of 1902 and 2000. The list of texts was stratified by time periods before sampling. The impact of time of publication upon each of the five parental role constructs was assessed using cross-tabulations. Previous analyses suggest traditional parental role portrayals are commonplace, but by employing time of publication as an independent variable, the researchers questioned whether an evolvement of roles would be noted. By examining the father and mother role performances independently over time it was expected that some progression toward egalitarianism would be noted. Overall, mothers did outperform fathers in nurturing and caregiving, and fathers outperformed mothers in companion and providing behaviors. However, when these behaviors were cross-tabulated with time of publication, no significant role evolvement was found. For example, while not statistically significant, father characters were most likely to nurture, provide care, and act as a child’s companion in books published in the 1970s, but these behaviors declined in subsequent time periods. The role evolvement of mother characters also lacked statistical significance, suggesting that the traditional male breadwinner-female homemaker model has been consistently portrayed in children’s picture books.     

Group-based interpersonal psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder: theoretical and clinical aspects

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a condition that engenders both symptomatic distress and severe disruption in interpersonal and social functioning. Most of the empirical research on treatment has emphasized interventions that aim to alleviate the symptoms of PTSD, despite the persisting impairments in social, occupational, and interpersonal functioning. In clinical practice, achieving relief from symptoms such as irritability or phobic avoidance is a worthwhile goal, yet significant distress and disability derived from disruptions to interpersonal attachments, social networks, and confiding intimate relationships persist. Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) has been shown to be efficacious in research settings for depression and eating disorders, in both group and individual formats. Recent pilot data also suggests the potential usefulness of IPT in anxiety disorders. The aim of this paper is to provide a rationale for the use of group-based IPT as an intervention for PTSD as part of a management package, arguing from theoretical and clinical viewpoints. The integration of IPT therapeutic processes with the therapeutic group process is discussed, and a detailed case discussion is presented as an illustration.     

Comparison of isokinetic peak force and power in adults with partial and total blindness

For many populations the ability to move efficiently is compromised by an impaired muscular functioning. Strength development is necessary to overcome the effects of gravity to maintain posture and generate movement responses for mobility. The strength and power capabilities of individuals with total blindness (n = 12) were compared to those with partial vision (n = 12) to evaluate effects of vision on performance. Results indicate that (1) no significant differences were apparent between total blindness and partial vision, (2) significant sex differences were evident in each group, and (3) better performance was apparent at lower velocities. It was concluded that physical performance in individuals with blindness and partial vision are equally deficient.     

The capacity for music: what is it, and what's special about it?

We explore the capacity for music in terms of five questions: (1) What cognitive structures are invoked by music? (2) What are the principles that create these structures? (3) How do listeners acquire these principles? (4) What pre-existing resources make such acquisition possible? (5) Which aspects of these resources are specific to music, and which are more general? We examine these issues by looking at the major components of musical organization: rhythm (an interaction of grouping and meter), tonal organization (the structure of melody and harmony), and affect (the interaction of music with emotion). Each domain reveals a combination of cognitively general phenomena, such as gestalt grouping principles, harmonic roughness, and stream segregation, with phenomena that appear special to music and language, such as metrical organization. These are subtly interwoven with a residue of components that are devoted specifically to music, such as the structure of tonal systems and the contours of melodic tension and relaxation that depend on tonality. In the domain of affect, these components are especially tangled, involving the interaction of such varied factors as general-purpose aesthetic framing, communication of affect by tone of voice, and the musically specific way that tonal pitch contours evoke patterns of posture and gesture.     

Risk-Reduction Surgery Decisions in High-Risk Women Seen for Genetic Counseling

Women at greatest risk for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer may consider prophylactic removal of breasts or ovaries as a risk-reduction measure. This report describes uptake of risk-reduction mastectomy (RRM), risk-reduction oophorectomy (RRO), and related factors in 62 high-risk women who received genetic counseling. Seven (11%) participants underwent RRM and 13 (21%) underwent RRO. Of these women, 37% did not have BRCA testing, suggesting other factors influence decisions to undergo surgery. Women who had indicated (pre-genetic counseling) their intent not to have surgery chose not to have surgery. Information received during genetic counseling that women perceived as being most important for influencing risk-reduction surgery decisions was BRCA test result (positive or negative), followed by discussion of family cancer history. Reasons for indecision about risk-reduction surgery included genetic testing results, concerns about surgery, timing in life, and early menopause. The findings enhance our understanding of information that is helpful to women considering this surgery.     

Birth order among homosexual men

Nicolosi and Byrd in 2002 summarized empirical research on birth order and sexual orientation in men, which research has documented that homosexual men have a later birth order than heterosexual men. They did not, however, note a more refined analysis of an earlier null finding by Siegelman. This 1998 reanalysis by Blanchard, Zucker, Siegelman, Dickey, and Klassen also confirmed the later birth order of homosexual men.     

Intolerance of ambiguity among psychologists: A comment on maier and lavrakas

Maier and Lavrakas (“Attitudes Toward Women, Personality Rigidity, and Idealized Physique Preferences in Males,” Sex Roles, 1984, 11(5/6), 425–433) claim to have shown that males with a rigid personality structure seek an idealized muscular physique. It is pointed out that their measure of rigidity (the F scale) is based on an oversimplified and extensively disconfirmed theory, which is itself intolerant of ambiguity. Continued acceptance of the theory is also therefore intolerant of ambiguity. It is proposed that the correct interpretation of the Maier and Lavrakas findings should have been that it is old-fashioned to idealize a muscular physique.